My son has a 2021 Kia Soul with about 27K miles.

He called me and said it had died on him on the side of the highway. We were able to get it started and limped it home and I pulled the codes. It was showing "cam shaft position sensor" and some MAF codes, there about 9 or 10 total. I had it towed to Kiefer Kia here in Eugene, OR and they sat on it for a few days and the last I heard was that they were seeing "potential engine failure" based on their analysis and that they were waiting to hear back from the Kia "tech line" whether they should tear down the engine or just replace.

A week later and I called and they said they still don't have an answer from the tech line and that they haven't been getting any return calls from them at all.

Is this just BS? and how can I/should I escalate this? They have had the car for almost two weeks and can't seem to provide an answer.

Escalate to Service Manager? Might be time to put on your karen hair. In the very least, they owe you some progress updates.

My wife had a parasitic battery draw from a 17 Sedona that was under warranty. Wouldn't start routinely with dead battery. After a couple battery swaps and a stumped service center, they contacted tech line. They ultimately sent out someone from TN who figured out it was a component in the sliding door. Took 3 months, but it the end they had it fixed, covered our rental car, etc

'21 Telluride with the self-leveling rear shocks as part of the upgraded towing package.

Had a shock failure in '23. Replaced it in a day with no questions asked. Got a letter a few months ago saying the shocks would be covered under an extended warranty for like 10 more years (I forget the exact coverage). Took it in during a routine oil service in November and told them I heard some popping from the rear when going over bumps. They replaced both shocks again without any hesitation.

So far so good.

Oil starvation?

Probably not, and your story sounds like they don't know what the problem(s) are

Previously owned a Kia for 7 years and never had any issues with warranty service. Didn't have too many issues with the car overall, but even as the car aged still no pushback on warranty claims.

nm

Did they give him a rental?

No rental thus far, but having him use my truck daily is getting annoying since he drives more than I do. I usually go through a tank of gas a month since I WFH, he's burning though a full tank in a little over a week.

I may ask when I call for the next update.

yah, I would ask for a rental if it's taking this long.

Yep, full Karen mode will likely be rolled out today.