NHTSA Complaint #11360260 — 2015 KIA SOUL

ABOUT THREE MONTHS AGO MY ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND THE CODE WAS FOR A CATALYTIC CONVERTER. BUT THE LIGHT WENT AWAY AFTER A COUPLE DAYS AND I FORGOT ABOUT IT. LAST WEEK MY SON BORROWED THE CAR TO DRIVE 200 MILES BECAUSE HIS GRANDFATHER WAS DYING IN DALLAS. HE SAW THE ENGINE LIGHT WAS ON BUT THOUGHT HE COULD MAKE IT THERE AND BACK. BUT THE CAR BROKE DOWN AFTER PUFFS OF BLACK SMOKE AND DECREASED SPEED. TOWED IT TO AUTO REPAIR SHOP WHO SAID THERE WAS NO OIL IN THE CAR AND THE ENGINE WAS LOCKED UP. I TYPED THE VIN NUMBER INTO YOUR DATABASE AND DISCOVERED THAT THE CAR WAS UNDER RECALL FOR A DEFECTIVE PART. YOUR RECALL CODE IS 19V120. MANUFACTURER RECALL IS SC176. CALLED KIA MANUFACTURING AND THEY SAID GET THE CAR TO A KIA DEALERSHIP AND THEY'LL RUN A DIAGNOSTIC. IF THE TROUBLE CAME FROM THE DEFECTIVE PART THEY'D REPLACE THE ENGINE. JUST HEARD BACK FROM UNIVERSITY KIA IN WACO AND THEY SAID THERE WERE TWO LEAKS IN THE ENGINE BLOCK AND THEY DIDN'T GET A CODE FOR THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER SO THEY WEREN'T LIABLE. BUT I GOT A CODE THREE MONTHS AGO. AND THEY COULDN'T TELL ME HOW THE ENGINE BLOCK LEAKS HAPPENED. JUST THAT IT WASN'T THEIR FAULT.