Hi Doug,  

When an engine starts burning oil it usually means that it's time to move to thicker oil. 

I run the diesel oil (has shear additives) in modern high mileage engines; mandatory for older engines without rollers.  jus' say'in...

Glad it worked out for you Doug!!! Vehicles are a PITA and a headache when there are problems. My 89 yr old,d mother had a Soul and it was her favorite car and she picked the Alien Green color.
Slammer!!!

Just keep checking the oil regardless.

In the military, the duty driver checks the oil, water, fluids before the vehicle is started that morning.

I was a duty driver, a lot, and to this day, I still check the oil at 3 or 4 times a week.

Primarily I'm looking for other things besides level.

CRACKS in the engine block and heads? The tattle tail is water droplets in oil, you'll see it on the dipstick. Grit? Whoa...

Two acquaintances have had Kias with engines that grenaded at about 70,000 miles. The most recent one was told by his mechanic the engine would probably die at around 70,000.

During the Vietnam era, KIA was an acronym for Killed In Action. (maybe it still is)
Coincidence?

If your car burns enough oil and fast enough and you keep adding more then your car will essentially be perpetually performing its own oil change.

Gotta take the small victories where you can.

Doug, for what its worth, I bought a 2012 Kia Soul base model with the 1.6L engine about 16 months ago, it had about 162,000 miles ish when I bought it. After a few months I realized it is an oil burner, and I learned that this seems to be a common issue with Kias. But, it runs great, gets 30 mpg putting around locally and pushes 40mpg when I take it on the road. It currently has 180,000 miles on it and seems to run fine.

I would definitely recommend keeping your oil changed, not just top it off. Only topping it off as needed, does not get rid of the old burned old oil or the particulate matter that is normal wear.

Also, do NOT change to a heavier oil, that will destroy your engine. These modern engines that are designed for thin oil have internal porting (holes drilled inside the engine to allow oil to move around) are much smaller than old school engines like you and I grew up with.

Anyway, the Soul is very popular apparently, people love 'em and there are no less than a dozen Kia Souls in this tiny Pacolet Township where I live.

:ots of videos about Kia/Hyundai piston ring cleaning/soaking with Berryman B-12 to help reduce oil burning. My Hyundai Tuscon uses a qt. every 600-1000 mi and has ruined the original cat. I think Im gonna try this in the near future.

Would "service contract companies" be a fancy name for "extended warranty"?

I am curious, if you don't mind indulging me. How much exactly did you pay for the service contract (including any interest if you took out a loan)? How much was the deductible?

And finally, how much would the repairs cost from a local trusted shop (and not a dealer) be?

I have the same engine in my 2018 Hyundai Accent and always go to Prompto (every 5k) for 5-20 w "synthetic blend".
A bore-scope camera will show cylinder wear.

We can find the history of used cars' maintenance records.
Today's engines are very well equipped/built to go past 200 k on the odo if they are correctly maintained on schedule.
If oil changes never go long and use the right oil as prescribed by the car company the Hyundai/Kia 1600 'plants are warranteed to 100k miles or 10 years.

This fact was important to me when deciding what car to buy in 2018.I love my Hyundai Accent with its 83k miles and drivetrain still covered.No need to buy after-market protection.

If rings were installed in this engine at less than 100k miles and the problem wasn't resolved it would still fall under the warrantee to the original owner.Not sure if the warrantee carries over to subsequent buyers.
But there is no warrantee if the original owner voided the warrantee by not changing the oil often enough or some other infraction.
The 100k miles/10 year warrantee was one of the big reasons I bought my Hyundai Accent.

The owner's manual says oil and filter change at 7,500 miles.

I always have Prompto change my oil and filter at 5,000 miles to make sure I don't exceed 7,500 and because it's so easy to watch 5,000 miles show on the odometer as in 50,000-55,000-60,000...etc.

I've kept a box full of all my service and oil-change receipts since new in case Hyundai ever wants to challenge my warrantee.

quote:

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Originally posted by steve davis

I always have Prompto change my oil and filter at 5,000 miles to make sure I don't exceed 7,500 and because it's so easy to watch 5,000 miles show on the odometer as in 50,000-55,000-60,000...etc.

I've kept a box full of all my service and oil-change receipts since new in case Hyundai ever wants to challenge my warrantee.

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You're the kind of guy I like to buy a used vehicle from! 

(still not buying a kia tho...)

I find it difficult to believe that Kia would do a ring job on an engine with 33k and stand behind it for another 67k/years left on the original 10.
I would think they would instead replace the entire short block or simply replace the whole thing with a new engine.
Somebody voided the original warrantee in my opinion.
10 years/100k is a great warrantee.