What 512 owners told NHTSA about the 2012 Kia Soul

WAS GOING DOWN TEN, KIA CAN'T DETERMINE IF MY POWER STEERING WANT BOUT WHILE GOING DOWN THE HIGHWAY GOING 55, AND THEN HITTING A DEER. THE BODY WORK HAS BEEN FIXED BUT MY VEHICLE HAS NO POWER STEERING. POWER STEERING IS NOT RESPONDING - MDPS WILL NOT COMMUNICATE WITH VEHICLE. FAILURE IN ELECTRONIC MDPS AT TOP OF STEERING COLUMN. THEY CHECKED ALL CONNECTORS, AND NO PHYSICAL DAMAGE TO COLUMN ITSELF. FOUND C1503 -ESC/ECS (ESP) ERROR AND C1687 - TIME OUT VSM2 (MDPS) FAILURE. DIAGNOSIS SAYS I NEED A POWER STEERING COLUMN AND MOTOR ASSEMBLY. GEICO REFUSES TO COVER THIS SAYING IT'S A COMMON ELECTRICAL POWER STEERING ISSUE WITH KIA'S. IF THESE ARE MESSING UP ELECTRONICALLY WHILE DRIVING THIS YEAR FOR 2012 SHOULD BE RECALLED. IT FEELS AS IF INSURANCE HAS FOUND A LOOPHOLE TO NOT COVER KIA SOULS WITH POWER STEERING. I ALSO SAW A CORROSION ISSUE RECALL AND MY CAR WAS FROM OHIO WHICH I LIVED THERE YEARS WITH IT BEFORE MOVING TO VIRGINIA. NO ONE AT THE NEWPORT NEWS VIRGINIA KIA EVEN MENTIONED THE RECALL FOR MY VIN #, I FOUND IT WHILE REGISTERING MY KIA ONLINE.

NHTSA ODI 11155899

TL* THE CONTACT OWNED A 2012 KIA SOUL. WHILE DRIVING AT AN UNKNOWN SPEED, A VEHICLE IN FRONT DEPRESSED THE BRAKES ABRUPTLY CAUSING THE DRIVER TO CRASH INTO THE REAR OF THE PRECEDING VEHICLE. AS A RESULT, THE DRIVER MERGED ONTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC AND CRASHED INTO TWO OTHER VEHICLES. THE DRIVER WAS FATALLY INJURED. THE DRIVER OF THE FIRST VEHICLE THAT WAS IMPACTED ALSO SUSTAINED FATAL INJURIES. THE FRONT PASSENGER IN THE FIRST VEHICLE SUSTAINED SHOCK TRAUMA AND THE CHILD SEATED IN THE REAR SUSTAINED UNKNOWN INJURIES. THERE WERE TWO INJURIES IN THE SECOND VEHICLE. ALL INJURED OCCUPANTS REQUIRED MEDICAL ATTENTION. A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN IMPOUND LOT WHERE IT CURRENTLY WAS PENDING AN INSPECTION TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS DEEMED DESTROYED. PRIOR TO THE CRASHES, THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE TIRE BLEW OUT. THE DEALER DIAGNOSED THAT THE TIRE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED AND IT POSSIBLY ENCOUNTERED AN OBJECT IN THE ROAD, WHICH CAUSED THE BLOW OUT. THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE TIRE WAS REPLACED. PRIOR TO THE FAILURE, THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO A DEALER WHERE THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE TIRE WAS REPLACED. AFTER RETRIEVING THE VEHICLE, THE STEERING WHEEL FELT ABNORMAL. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 50,000.

NHTSA ODI 10957924

I BOUGHT A BRAND NEW KIA SOUL IN NOV OF 2011. WITHIN 200 MILES OF OWNERSHIP, THE ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL MALFUNCTION AND FALSELY ACTIVATED. THE ESC NOT ONLY FALSELY ACTIVATED BUT REMAINED ACTIVATED. THE STEERING WHEEL WAS LOCKED UP AND COULD ONLY BE TURNED IF CONSIDERABLE FORCE WAS APPLIED TO IT. I CAREFULLY PULLED OVER THE TO SIDE OF THE ROAD. I TURNED OFF MY VEHICLE THEN STARTED IT BACK UP HOPING THE ESC WOULD TURN OFF. IT DID NOT. I ENDED UP HAVING TO GET THE VEHICLE TOWED TO MY DEALER. THE KIA DEALER SERVICE SHOP ULTIMATELY HAD TO REPLACE THE ENTIRE STEERING COLUMN TO "FIX" THE PROBLEM. ABOUT TWO MONTHS LATER I WAS DRIVING DOWN THE INTERSTATE AND ATTEMPTED TO DO A LANE CHANGE. AGAIN THE ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL FALSELY ACTIVATED AND CAUSED ME TO COLLIDE WITH THE VEHICLE DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF ME. WHEN THE ESC ACTIVATED, THE STEERING WHEEL LOCKED UP AND CAUSED A SUDDEN LOSS OF CONTROL, RESULTING IN THE ACCIDENT. THESE ARE JUST 2 OF MANY INCIDENTS I HAVE EXPERIENCED. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10450518