Kia Soul Reliability by Year
Based on 2M+ real complaints filed with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
7,267 NHTSA complaints (2010–2025).Complaint rate: 49.3 per 10,000 vehicles sold in the US.
Should I buy a Kia Soul?
Quick answer from 7,267 NHTSA complaints · 2010–2025
Kia Soul shows elevated crash or fire rates — buy with caution. 5.6% of reported complaints involved a crash — above the ~4% mainstream average. Most complaints relate to engine problems. Inspect carefully or consider a different model in the same class.
- 2023 Kia Soul· 14.4/10K sold
- 2019 Kia Soul· 18.8/10K sold
- 2022 Kia Soul· 20.4/10K sold
Keep scrolling for year-by-year complaint trends, recall campaigns, and component breakdowns — or click any year above for a full report.
Which Years to Buy & Avoid
Years auto-clustered by complaint volume relative to this model's median.
Rankings based on complaints per 10,000 vehicles sold — normalized for production volume so low-sales years aren't falsely rated "good".
Bottom line: Avoid the 2012–2016 Kia Soul (218 crash-related complaints). The 2022–2023 models had significantly fewer reported issues. Most common issue across all years: Engine.
Avoid These Years
Average
Better Years
Too New
Need 3+ years on the road for reliable complaint data.
A model's reputation is just the start.
Even within the “good” years, individual cars can have hidden accidents, title issues, or odometer rollbacks. Check the actual VIN before you buy — full history report for $4.99 (vs. Carfax $44.99).
Complaint Rate per 10,000 Vehicles Sold
Normalized by US annual sales volume — higher = more complaints relative to sales
Show raw complaint counts
Common Kia Soul Problems
Most reported component complaints to NHTSA. Bar length = volume; color = crash-involvement rate.
Show full table
| Component | Complaints | Crash % |
|---|---|---|
| Engine Problems | 2,968 | 0.9% |
| Steering Defects | 505 | 6.3% |
| Electrical Faults | 481 | 2.9% |
| Transmission / Drivetrain | 397 | 2.3% |
| Fuel System | 328 | 2.1% |
| Engine & Cooling | 278 | 0.4% |
| Headlight/Taillight Failures | 229 | 0.0% |
| Airbags | 193 | 72.5% |
| Brakes | 190 | 19.5% |
| Unintended Acceleration | 166 | 7.2% |
When Each Problem Spiked
Year × component heatmap. Darker cells = more complaints that year. Reveals which model years a specific defect concentrated in — useful for spotting redesign-cycle quality dips.
Year-by-Year Breakdown
NHTSA complaint count per model year — click any year for full problems & recalls breakdown.
| Year | Generation | Complaints | Rate | US Sales | Crashes | Fires | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | — | 193 | 28.8 | 67,110 | 31 | 24 | View → |
| 2011 | — | 270 | 26.4 | 102,267 | 43 | 7 | View → |
| 2012AVOID | — | 666 | 57.5 | 115,778 | 41 | 31 | View → |
| 2013AVOID | — | 852 | 72.2 | 118,079 | 32 | 61 | View → |
| 2014AVOID | — | 1,205 | 82.9 | 145,316 | 52 | 108 | View → |
| 2015AVOID | — | 1,202 | 81.7 | 147,133 | 59 | 111 | View → |
| 2016AVOID | — | 1,109 | 76.1 | 145,768 | 34 | 58 | View → |
| 2017 | — | 340 | 29.4 | 115,712 | 21 | 16 | View → |
| 2018 | — | 272 | 26.0 | 104,709 | 19 | 20 | View → |
| 2019GOOD | — | 184 | 18.8 | 98,033 | 20 | 9 | View → |
| 2020AVOID | — | 460 | 64.0 | 71,862 | 12 | 9 | View → |
| 2021 | — | 268 | 35.7 | 75,126 | 24 | 4 | View → |
| 2022GOOD | — | 119 | 20.4 | 58,472 | 5 | 1 | View → |
| 2023GOOD | — | 81 | 14.4 | 56,352 | 9 | 3 | View → |
| 2024TOO NEW | — | 32 | 6.1 | 52,397 | 0 | 3 | View → |
| 2025TOO NEW | — | 14 | — | — | 4 | — | View → |
Year-by-Year Breakdown
Tap any year for full problems & recalls breakdown.
Data Sources & Methodology
Complaints: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation consumer complaint database (7,267 records for this model). Public domain data, updated monthly.
Sales data: US annual vehicle sales from carfigures. Coverage: 94% of model years have sales data. Total US sales: 1,474,114.
Rate calculation: Complaints per 10,000 vehicles sold = (complaint count / US annual sales) x 10,000. This normalizes for sales volume so high-volume models like Civic or Camry aren't unfairly penalized.
Year classifications: AVOID = 1.5x+ the model's median complaint rate. GOOD = 0.6x or below. Years less than 3 years old are marked TOO NEW (insufficient data).
See also: Kia Soulaccident & safety statistics from our vehicle history database.
Buying a Kia Soul?
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