Cars - For Car Enthusiasts

I am a former Kia and Hyundai dealer tech, worked at a dealer for both for 6 years between 2012-2018.

• Cats failing on Souls was pretty common during the time I worked, most commonly failing with a P0420 code. In fact, this failure became so common that the warranty admin stopped asking us techs if we had checked the O2 sensor before replacing the cat because the O2 sensor was almost never the problem. So its not exactly uncommon for the cat to fail on a Soul, regardless of why or how. Theyre cheap cars.

• Intake cleaning is not really going to have any effect on the cat, and is only needed when you look at the throttle plate and it is dirty

• Carbon build up is only a problem if you drive only short city trips and don't step on the throttle occasionally. Get on a highway and just throttle it up to merging speed quickly, do it a few times a month and carbon build up wont be a problem. If you are worried you can remove the spark plugs and put a camera into the cylinder, turn the engine over by hand via the crank bolt and you can usually peek the valve stems to see if there is carbon build up or not, otherwise if you remove the intake plenum you may need to replace the orange rubber seals

• 2.0L and the 2.0T were the second most reliable engines of 2015, with the 3.3L V6 being the most reliable (in my 6 years of servicing Kias and Hyundais I only ever had to replace one due to no oil changes in 25k miles, with no major repairs on any) until all the 2.4Ls were replaced with the recall for free even 100k miles out of warranty, making them the most reliable by nature of being fresh engines

The thing about Kias and Hyundais I generally tell people is that they are great cars when they're covered under warranty. Its better to lease new and trade in before the warranty expires so you keep it with a warranty, as long as you can afford it. Other than that, its a serious crapshoot because you have to consider if the previous owner actually took care of it or not, if you arent the original owner. These cars, being cheap and relatively new to market, are more sensitive to poor maintenance. As long as you take care of them they should be okay, but if you miss even just one step you will probably pay for it later on. Theyre not as forgiving as a brand like Toyota.

Had to think on this one for a minute, hah. As a mechanic/car guy I do rather like Kia Souls. As far as cheap modern cars go they have always been pretty nice. However we can't ignore that Hyundai/Kia are forever notorious for sudden catastrophic failures and machining mishaps. Plus GDIs are just not long life engines generally unless meticulously cared for. You got good life out of this car, and you probably have time to thoughtfully look for another. But don't procrastinate, start the search now.

That's my overall opinion. If you wanted to see how bad the GDI carbon buildup is you could pay a shop to remove the intake. I'd make sure they have a walnut blaster system; if it's bad they could clean it properly. And a good indy shop could also possibly give you a better sense of how much life she's got left, with a proper thorough evaluation. Though that's money you'd have to spend, and a good mechanic to find. I'd still recommend starting the search for a new used vehicle. And check your oil.

Nothing specific for your car, although my wife’s ’17 Soul has been decent, warranty engine replacement notwithstanding. But with the car at ten years your powertrain warranty has expired or will very soon. I’m assuming you bought it new since it’s a 2015 you’ve had for 10 years. My inclination would be to say you’ve gotten your money’s worth out of it and it’s time to sell it while it still has some value. I would think it’s not necessarily great financially to take a car all the way from new to zero value. If you’re going to drive a car until it’s worth nothing I would think it’s better to buy the car when its value is already pretty low.

At the very least, try to figure out its current value and decide what value is where you want to sell it. Also keep in mind, if you’re going to buy new again and are in the U.S., this game of tariffs could make cars more expensive later this year. I’m not sure if there will be a knock-on effect raising prices outside the U.S. also.