NHTSA Complaint #11488252 — 2017 KIA SOUL

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