General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Some Thoughts on Buying a Kia Soul Yesterday [View all]MineralMan
(150,521 posts)scheduled maintenance thing. The KIA Soul's 1.6 liter engine never had a timing belt. It uses a timing chain. The 2.0 liter engine did use a timing belt, but they changed the design to a chain in 2012.
For engines with a timing belt, the manufacturer will require a timing belt change at a fixed interval. For most cars, that interval is 60,000 miles, and it's in the scheduled maintenance list in the owner's manual. But, since most cars warranties expire at 50,000 miles it won't matter, since they don't have to fix it if it breaks.
Hyundai owns 49.2% of KIA, it's true. Hyundai has solved most of the issues that plagued it early on, as has KIA. Owners who don't do the maintenance aren't going to have much luck collecting on their powertrain warranties. KIA solved that by dumping the belt for a chain on all its engines for the SOUL.