NHTSA Complaint #11495488 — 2015 KIA SOUL

While driving my father-in-law in his 2015 Kia Soul to ironically get a lube and oil service done on the vehicle, there was a loud "pop," immediately followed by smoke coming out of the engine compartment and rear of the vehicle. Almost immediately, the engine shut down, and I pulled the vehicle over. There were no warning lamps indicating any kind of problem with the engine up to that point. Thankfully, there were two off-duty wild land firefighters that had been traveling the same roadway behind us, and they pulled over to help us. They got us out of the vehicle and immediately called 911. Once we were far enough away from the vehicle, they told us that when they heard the "pop" they saw flames shooting out the back of the vehicle. While waiting for the fire department to arrive, they checked to make sure that the fire was out, which it was. The fire department arrived, and determined that it was safe to have the vehicle towed, which we did, to our local Kia dealership. The service department inspected the vehicle and determined that there was a piston rod that broke and shot out the engine, leaving a "silver dollar size hole." The service department has since said that it was due to customer neglect, and refuses to help. Similarly, the insurance company is no longer willing to cover anything. My father-in-law tried to have the current recall for the overheating catalytic converter, however our local Kia dealership refused the repair saying the car didn't qualify for the recall, and instead tried to charge $1400 to complete the repair. I believe the necessary repair was a software download. Everyone traveling that roadway was in danger. My father-in-law and I were in danger. The residents in the adjacent neighborhood were in danger. Kia needs to stop blaming these issues on their customers and take care of these problems before they get hit with wrongful death lawsuits.