Kia Soul: which model years to avoid
Complaint and recall totals for every Kia Soul model year we track, ranked by severity.
| Model year | Complaints | Recalls | Crashes | Fires | Severity | Most-reported system |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 513 | 3 | 25 | 23 | 101.0 High | ENGINE |
| 2013 | 659 | 3 | 22 | 44 | 83.8 Medium | ENGINE |
| 2014 | 892 | 5 | 34 | 69 | 93.0 Medium | ENGINE |
| 2015 | 898 | 4 | 36 | 81 | 103.1 High | ENGINE |
| 2016 | 802 | 2 | 29 | 34 | 63.8 Medium | ENGINE |
| 2017 | 269 | 1 | 17 | 14 | 113.0 High | ENGINE |
| 2018 | 211 | 1 | 14 | 14 | 130.8 High | ENGINE |
| 2019 | 133 | 1 | 11 | 8 | 141.4 High | ENGINE |
| 2020 | 364 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 120.9 High | ENGINE |
| 2021 | 222 | 2 | 12 | 3 | 47.7 Medium | ENGINE |
| 2022 | 88 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 234.1 High | ENGINE |
| 2023 | 48 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 387.5 High | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM |
| 2024 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 21.4 Low | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM |
Across 13 model years, the 2023 Kia Soul carries the highest severity index (387.5, driven by electrical system), while the 2024 is the cleanest at 21.4.
Source. NHTSA public complaint and recall APIs. Complaint counts are not normalised by units sold; a high-volume seller will attract more filings than a rare trim.