2016 KIA SOUL — Complaint #2081004
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:EMISSION CONTROL:CATALYTIC CONVERTOR filed April 7, 2025
NHTSA complaint #2081004 (ODI reference 11653273) concerns a 2016 KIA SOUL and was filed on April 7, 2025. The owner reports the failure occurred on October 7, 2024. The vehicle had 130,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to California based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as engine and engine cooling:exhaust system:emission control:catalytic convertor, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same KIA SOUL cohort independently describe similar engine and engine cooling:exhaust system:emission control:catalytic convertor failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2016 KIA SOUL shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact heard an abnormal ticking sound. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed with engine failure due to a failure of the catalytic converter. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was made aware of the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The contact was informed of an undisclosed recall repair; however, the recall repair had expired. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 2081004 |
| ODI Number | 11653273 |
| Date Filed | April 7, 2025 |
| Failure Date | October 7, 2024 |
| VIN | KNDJN2A2XG7 |
Similar ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:EMISSION CONTROL:CATALYTIC CONVERTOR Complaints for 2016 KIA SOUL
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact became aware that there was oil leaking from th
Catalytic converter may become damaged due to overheating caused by and excessive increase of exhaust gas temperatures.
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal. No warning lights
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving on the highway at 30 MPH, there was an abnormal smoke odor entering the cabin of the vehicle with an unknown warning light illum
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact stated while her husband was driving 45 MPH, the accelerator pedal was depressed, and the vehicle failed to respond. The check engine warning light was il
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.