Owners filed 3,124 complaints about the 2015–2025 Kia Soul with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the 31st-most of any vehicle in our Car Problem Index. The 2015 model year drew the most (897), and the single most-reported problem area is engine, named in 65% of complaints.
Key findings
- Worst model year: 2015, with 897 complaints, led by engine (628).
- Spike years: 2015 (4.1× the typical year), 2016 (3.7× the typical year), 2020 (1.7× the typical year).
- Earliest-failing area: brakes complaints came at a median of 18k mi on the odometer.
- Fire and crash reports: 166 complaints mention a fire and 135 mention a crash; owners reported 135 injuries and 14 deaths.
Kia Soul complaints by model year
| Model year | Complaints | Top problem areas | Median mileage | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 897 | Engine (628), Fuel system (76), Electrical system (75) | 88k mi | 33 | 83 |
| 2016 | 811 | Engine (556), Engine and cooling (106), Fuel system (83) | 82k mi | 28 | 35 |
| 2017 | 271 | Engine (190), Electrical system (19), Transmission / powertrain (19) | 74k mi | 17 | 14 |
| 2018 | 218 | Engine (140), Transmission / powertrain (31), Electrical system (19) | 54k mi | 14 | 14 |
| 2019 | 136 | Engine (87), Air bags (15), Electrical system (14) | 50k mi | 11 | 8 |
| 2020 | 379 | Engine (236), Transmission / powertrain (89), Electrical system (28) | 13k mi | 9 | 6 |
| 2021 | 232 | Engine (132), Engine and cooling (47), Transmission / powertrain (26) | 65k mi | 12 | 3 |
| 2022 | 88 | Engine (51), Engine and cooling (19), Transmission / powertrain (12) | 69k mi | 4 | 1 |
| 2023 | 51 | Electrical system (13), Engine (13), Steering (8) | 20k mi | 5 | 1 |
| 2024 | 29 | Electrical system (9), Engine (4), Lane departure assist (3) | 7k mi | 0 | 1 |
| 2025 | 12 | Exterior lights (4), Brakes (2), Lane departure assist (2) | — | 2 | 0 |
Newer model years have had less time on the road, so their counts are lower partly because owners have had fewer years to report problems.
Most-reported Kia Soul problems, and what they cost to fix
| Problem area | Complaints | Share | Median mileage | Repair estimate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine | 2,038 | 65% | 85k mi | Engine repair cost |
| Transmission / powertrain | 311 | 10% | 33k mi | Transmission repair cost |
| Engine and cooling | 266 | 9% | 99k mi | Engine repair cost |
| Electrical system | 258 | 8% | 55k mi | Alternator / electrical repair cost |
| Fuel system | 233 | 8% | 65k mi | Fuel pump repair cost |
| Steering | 130 | 4% | 33k mi | Power steering repair cost |
| Speed control / acceleration | 105 | 3% | 45k mi | — |
| Brakes | 103 | 3% | 18k mi | Brake repair cost |
One complaint can name several problem areas, so shares add up to more than 100%.
What this data can and can't tell you
These are unverified reports that owners submitted to NHTSA, counted by model year. They are not defect findings, and they aren't adjusted for sales: a best-selling vehicle collects more complaints simply because more of them are on the road. Use the counts to compare model years of the same vehicle and to see which systems owners complain about most, not to compare how reliable two different models are. See the full methodology.
Other Kia models in the index
- Kia Sorento (4,270)
- Kia Optima (2,598)
- Kia Telluride (1,977)
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, consumer complaint files (nhtsa.gov), model years 2015–2025, retrieved 2026-09-23. Free to cite with a link to this page.