NHTSA Complaint #11457512 — 2015 KIA SOUL

I purchased my 2015 Kia Soul at the end of 2014, while living in Florida. I moved out of Florida in 2018, and had the car's registration changed to include my new address as soon as possible upon my arrival in my new state of residence. Kia began notifying owners of this vehicle about recall # 19V120000 in February 2019. Kia, by their own admission, mailed notice of this recall to me using an old Florida address. This letter was never forwarded to my correct address and I continued driving the vehicle unaware of this safety issue, which increases the risk of engine stalling and engine fire, until March 2022. In March 2022 the car began to break down while I was driving approximately 70 miles per hour on a state highway due to the exact problem described in recall # 19V120000, abnormal engine temperatures damaged at least one piston and a piston connector rod to the point that the connector rod broke and punctured a hole in the engine block, allowing engine oil to escape. I immediately got off the highway and returned to my residence, which was only 10 minutes away from my location at that time. The vehicle was then towed to a Kia dealership, where the service department informed me that they would not honor the safety recall because they are only obligated to repair or replace the engine before this issue causes the engine to be damaged, not after the damage has already occurred. I contacted Kia's corporate office and challenged this decision on the basis that I never received the notice of the recall, and therefore it was impossible for me to bring the car in for preventative maintenance of this issue. The response from Kia was that they are not responsible for seeking out an updated address to contact vehicle owners by, and that the single letter sent to the outdated address they had in their internal database was a sufficient and reasonable attempt to inform me of this potentially deadly flaw in their vehicle. Kia did not communicate with my state's RMV for this.