2017 Kia Soul: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed May 4, 2026 · Electrical · FL · fire

After multiple recent services at the dealership, the car caught fire while idle in the driveway. The fire was under the hood in the front part of the engine compartment, just behind the latch mechanism. Fire was extinguished and verified by the local fire department. The parking spaces are close to other cars and townhouses.

Filed Aug 26, 2024 · Electrical, Lights · 63,000 miles · HI · fire

The contact owns a 2017 Kia Soul. While the contact was asleep, they were awoken by an abnormal burning smell. Upon investigation, the contact discovered that the rear end of the vehicle had caught fire. A neighbor called the authorities and the fire department extinguished the fire. The fire department informed the contact that the fire was caused by an electrical wiring failure in the rear taillights. No injuries were reported. A police report was filed. The vehicle remained in the contact's possession. The vehicle had yet to be inspected or diagnosed for the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 63,000.

Filed Feb 6, 2024 · Engine · CA

The car gave no warning, no lights or anything to tell me that there was something wrong with the engine. The engine started to knock very loud while I was driving on the freeway and completely failed. The car could have caught on fire or blew up while I was driving it or I could have gotten into a very bad accident. As soon as I had heard the knocking I immediately pulled over on the freeway dangerously while cars were speeding by me. There was no warning and the car was driving completely fine. I also saw that there was a recall for other years for the kia soul that had the same engine failures that mine had except that my car did not have a recall.

Filed Oct 26, 2023 · Engine · 109,000 miles · AL · fire

The contact owned a 2017 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving at approximately 70 MPH on the interstate, black smoke emanated from the engine compartment. The vehicle was steered to the side of the road and the flames of the vehicle grew larger. The contact exited the vehicle when suddenly it exploded. The low oil pressure, air bag, and ABS warning lights were illuminated. The fire department extinguished the fire. The police department was on the scene and confirmed that the fire department filed a report. There were no injuries sustained. The vehicle was towed to a tow lot where it was deemed destroyed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 109,000.

Filed Aug 31, 2023 · Engine · FL · fire

On 6/30/23 While exiting the highway and waiting at a traffic light he noticed smoke coming from the hood. As he proceeded through the intersection to pull over the dashboard lit up with many lights and then the power went out. He was able to coast to the side of the road. A Police Officer happened to be nearby and called the fire department. When they arrived and opened the hood the engine compartment was in flames. They put the fire out and then the car was towed to a storage yard. A claim was filed with the insurance who then had the car moved to the dealership for repairs. On 7/5/23 Upon arrival, the service advisor proceeded to do their normal intake, put the key in the ignition, and started the car which then burst into flames and became a total loss. The regular driver of the car is disabled and it takes him some time to get in and out of the car, if it had been engulfed in flames he would not have been able to get out as quickly as your average driver. The insurance and manufacturer both have inspected the car and determined it was an engine failure. The car had been to the dealership the week before for an oil change.

Filed Jun 21, 2023 · Engine · CA · fire

The car engine made a clamoring noise and sudden seized up and stopped in the middle of traffic. The hood started smoking and a good Samaritan passed by and alerted me to get out of car. I did and noticed puddle of liquid was in flames and soon the front of the car was also in flames.

Filed Jan 29, 2023 · Engine, Fuel system · VA · fire

On 11/07/22 my car started to sputter & lose power while going up a hill, the incident only lasted a few seconds with no warning lights. Later that same day my car wouldn't start and when it finally did start it started sputtering, had no power with no warning lights, plus there was a strong smell of gas from inside the car. I had the car towed to a local shop. The shop cleaned the injectors, put a fuel treatment in the tank and replaced a bad O2 censor. 8 Days later on another hill it happened again. A hard sputtering followed by loss of power, still no warning lights but also no smell of gas. I drove it back to the same shop and after just one day the shop could not get my car to reproduce the same incident but was having difficulty starting it so they installed a new battery. 5 Days later on Thanksgiving my car sputtered hard while driving with no warning lights or smell of gas. I was barely able to get my car across 2 lanes of oncoming traffic in order to pull into a store's parking lot. I had it towed to a new shop. At this new shop it was diagnosed that the car needed new Spark Plugs, a new High Pressure Fuel Pump and new Injectors but the shop took 3 weeks to give me an estimate and so I went and retrieved my car and towed it KIA of Lynchburg, having only had the Spark Plugs replaced. Once at KIA, I was told I had a Catalytic Converter failure and it needed replacing. KIA said that it would be covered under Emissions Warranty. I had the part installed and 3 days later on New Years Eve as I was driving on the highway, I had to come to a stop due to a stop light and when I halted, the car again sputtered and I limped into a nearby parking lot and had it towed back to KIA. KIA tried to say it was Engine Failure this time but the Engineers said the High Pressure Fuel Pump should be replaced. Once installed and during a test drive by the Master Mechanic, smoke emanated from under the hood. Soon after that my Engine bay was on fire which led to a total loss.

Filed Nov 27, 2022 · Engine · AZ · fire

I was driving down the interstate and my car made a loud noise, so I pulled over. Smoke started pouring out then it was immediately in flames. No prior issues. No injuries as I was able to get out. If fire recalls were till 2015, clearly my vehicle had issues too. What do I do?

Filed Oct 6, 2022 · Engine · KS

Bought 2017 Kia Soul from Carmax Jan 2021 w/MaxCare extended warranty. All maintenance had been done as scheduled and no problems no warning lights. At approx 79K miles, on 9-14-22 , noticed a slight knocking sound. had already sched an oil change so i asked them to check out the knocking. Tech said there was metal in my oil but it was not a big deal, just get the oil changed more often. 9-15 picked it up, the knocking seemed to go away a little drove approx 10 miles home. 9-16, started it up and the knocking and rattling were terrible engine light came on and car died. luckily i was in my driveway and not on the highway or driving in traffic, i count myself lucky that my car did not catch on fire like many others. 9-19 paid to tow to a repair shop on my warranty plan, they said it is engine rod bearing failure and engine needs to be replaced since it was covered by kia's warranty it had to go to a Kia dealership, i paid to tow again on 9-23. Kia dealership said it is a known issue with these engines that they fail all the time but kia will not cover it. they claim there is a "product improvement campaign" which is different from a recall. since i did not get a notice to install software that would tell me WHEN the engine fails they refuse to cover repairs. asked dealership for repair estimate: $8000. Local repair shop told me Kia Soul engines are on back order, even with a refurbished engine that had 70K miles on it their estimate is $13,000 I've had it less than 2 years and still owe 11K I see online class action lawsuits one was just filed in Sept 2022. Kia is selling a sub standard, defective and dangerous product. refusing to pay for repairs or compensation on something they know is going to fail then hiding behind a software update that does nothing to prevent the damage. whether or not the software is installed the engine will still fail and they know this. Kia is putting drivers at known risk then leaving us with the bills

Filed Aug 24, 2022 · Engine · 61,000 miles · IL · fire

The contact owned a 2017 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving at highway speeds, a cloud of black-colored smoke began to emit from the vehicle without warning. The contact attempted to stop the vehicle by depressing the brake pedal; however, the brakes failed to operate as needed. The contact used his emergency brake to stop and immediately exited the vehicle. Upon exiting the vehicle, the vehicle quickly caught fire; by the time the fire department arrived, the vehicle was incinerated. A fire report and police report were both filed, and no injuries were reported. The vehicle's remains were towed to an independent tow yard. The contact went to the unknown dealer where he was informed that there were no recalls on the vehicle. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle was destroyed. The failure mileage was approximately 61,000.

Filed Jun 23, 2022 · Engine · 80,000 miles · IL · fire · 2 injuries

The contact owned a 2017 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, an abnormal, knocking noise would emit from the engine without warning. The contact notified the dealer and they informed him that the knocking noise was normal vehicle operation. The contact then stated that while driving at 60 MPH as the knocking noise persisted, the noise grew increasing louder without warning. The contact looked out of his rearview mirror and saw a cloud of white smoke coming from underneath the vehicle. As he pulled over, he inspected the hood and saw flames encroaching towards the front driver's seat. The contact instructed his girlfriend to exit the vehicle, as he went back to retrieve a cell phone, he burned the hairs off both arms, and his right leg, as well as some hair on his head and face. The contact called the authorities while the vehicle became engulfed in flames as his children's safety seat and strollers were inside the vehicle. The children were not in the vehicle at the time of the failure. The contact also stated that part of a highway sign was burned due to the fire. The fire was extinguished by the fire department and a police report was filed. The contact sought medical treatment at the scene where paramedics checked his vital signs and the burns to his body. The contact stated that both he and his girlfriend have suffered severe mental anguish as a result of the fire. The contact has suffered from traumatic dreams and hallucinations since the failure. The vehicle was towed to an independent tow yard and deemed a total loss. The dealer was notified of the failure and offered no assistance. The contact then filed a complaint with the manufacturer. The vehicle was destroyed. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.

Filed Apr 20, 2022 · Engine · AR

The exhaust manifold with catalytic converter cracked and almost caught on fire. This after I had at a Kia dealership to diagnose why the car was smoking. They replaced an Oxygen sensor and the valve cover gasket telling me that was all that was wrong with it. It has been less than a month and there was no signs or lights that anything was wrong.