Kia Soul — reported problems
CarFaultIQ holds 13,257 evidence records for the Kia Soul (2010–2025), drawn from official sources and owner complaints.
What owners report: issue areas
Owner complaints are classified by the system they concern: 15,086 classifications in all. One complaint can concern several systems, so these add up to more than the number of complaints.
- Engine6,822 (45.2%)Official recall records for this system: 14, covering model years 2012–2023.
- Electrical system1,046 (6.9%)Official recall records for this system: 4, covering model years 2010–2023.
- Steering1,034 (6.9%)Official recall records for this system: 5, covering model years 2014–2016.
- Powertrain (transmission & drivetrain)850 (5.6%)Official recall records for this system: 4, covering model years 2014–2023.
- Fuel system728 (4.8%)
- Brakes714 (4.7%)Official recall records for this system: 7, covering model years 2010–2019.
Other / uncategorized: 1,264 classifications (8.4%) were not assigned to a specific system by the source. They are counted but not treated as an issue area.
These are counts of records held by CarFaultIQ, not a failure rate. More records can simply mean more vehicles were sold or more owners reported. No vehicles-in-service figure exists in this data, so no reliability or risk score can be derived from it.
What the records are about, by source
Each source is kept separate: owner complaints, recalls, manufacturer communications and investigations are different kinds of record and are never added together. All model years.
- Owner complaints (10,990 records, model years 2010–2025) are most frequently classified under: engine, electrical system and steering.
- Transport Canada recalls (103 records, model years 2010–2024) are most frequently classified under: engine, brakes and air bags (restraint system).
- Manufacturer communications (2,081 records, model years 2010–2025) are most frequently classified under: electrical system, equipment & accessories and engine.
- Investigations (34 records, model years 2010–2023) are most frequently classified under: engine, lights and engine cooling.
"Most frequently classified under" reports how the records are filed by the source. It is not a finding about causes, and a record can be filed under more than one system. Read the individual records
Mileage reported when the issue occurred
- 5,946reports included a mileage
- 79,161average of those mileages
This is the mileage owners recorded at the time they reported, not an expected failure mileage and not a prediction for any individual vehicle. The lowest and highest figures on record are not shown: they are unverified odometer entries that include zeros and implausibly high readings, so they would not describe a real range. A median is not shown either, because the stored figures are group totals and a median cannot be recovered from them.
Evidence by model year
Records held per model year. Select a year to narrow this page to it.
- 2010 220 records for 2010
- 2011 271 records for 2011
- 2012 660 records for 2012
- 2013 806 records for 2013
- 2014 1,090 records for 2014
- 2015 1,077 records for 2015
- 2016 945 records for 2016
- 2017 377 records for 2017
- 2018 313 records for 2018
- 2019 240 records for 2019
- 2020 514 records for 2020
- 2021 350 records for 2021
- 2022 168 records for 2022
- 2023 108 records for 2023
- 2024 58 records for 2024
- 2025 24 records for 2025
Counts are not adjusted for how many vehicles were sold in each year, so a taller year is not necessarily a worse year.
Reports mentioning outcomes
- 532mention a crash
- 644mention a fire
- 522mention an injury
- 36mention a fatality
These are counts of records whose report mentioned the outcome. They are not a severity rating and not a safety assessment of this vehicle.
Official records held
- Safety recalls NHTSA 49
- Manufacturer communications NHTSA 2,081
- Investigations NHTSA 34
- Transport Canada recalls Transport Canada 103
- Owner complaints NHTSA 10,990
Diagnostic codes found in evidence for this vehicle
These codes appear by explicit identifier in official records matched to this exact model and year.
A code appearing in a record means the code was named in that document. It is not a diagnosis of this vehicle, not a fault this vehicle has, and not an indication of urgency. Diagnosis requires reading live data from the vehicle.
Where to go next
- Kia Soul coverage hub Published problems, year windows and buyer guidance for this model.
- Evidence Explorer — the underlying records Read the individual recalls, investigations, manufacturer communications and complaints these counts come from.
- Browse all vehicle coverage Every make and model CarFaultIQ has published coverage for.