NHTSA lists 816 complaints for the 2016 Kia Soul, 28 of them mention a crash and 35 mention a fire. 17 complaints mention an injury, with 25 injuries and 0 deaths reported.
Data build 2026-10-09.
NHTSA lists this vehicle as KIA SOUL.
At a glance
Complaints
816
With crash
28
With fire
35
With injury (complaints)
17
Injuries
25
Deaths
0
Recalls
2
Do not drive recalls
0
Park outside recalls
0
Recall potential units (maximum)
378,967
Investigations
1
Open investigations
0
Manufacturer communications
132
Complaints per 100k sold: 527.241. Units sold: 154,768; sales year: 2016; basis: calendar_year_us_sales_proxy_for_model_year. goodcarbadcar.net.
Where the complaints are
Top systems
System
Complaints
Share of this vehicle's complaints
ENGINE
561
68.8%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
123
15.1%
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
106
13.0%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
84
10.3%
POWER TRAIN
62
7.6%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
56
6.9%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
33
4.0%
STEERING
30
3.7%
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
18
2.2%
SERVICE BRAKES
18
2.2%
Top subsystems
System
Subsystem
Complaints
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
EXHAUST SYSTEM
39
STRUCTURE
BODY
18
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
HEADLIGHTS
4
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
12V/24V/48V BATTERY
1
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
ALTERNATOR/GENERATOR/REGULATOR
1
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
IGNITION
1
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
COOLING SYSTEM
1
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
ENGINE
1
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
TURN SIGNAL
1
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE
ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
1
One complaint can name several systems, so shares can add to more than 100 percent.
Confidence is the model's own probability for the label it chose (0 to 1), not accuracy.
Model-generated labels on tagged complaints only. Model years 2013 and newer are tagged in full; 2012 in part (see tagged_share); earlier model years have no tags. NHTSA's own flags remain separate in the complaints block.
Date: 2019-02-22. Systems: ENGINE, ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING.
Defect: Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2012-2016 Kia Soul vehicles equipped with 1.6L Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) engines. High exhaust gas temperatures may damage the catalytic converter, possibly resulting in abnormal engine combustion and damage to one or more of the engine's pistons and possible piston connecting rod failure. (excerpt)
Consequence: Piston damage may result in an engine stall, increasing the risk of a crash. A broken connecting rod may puncture the engine block allowing engine oil to escape. The leaking oil may contact the exhaust, increasing the risk of a fire. (excerpt)
Remedy: Kia will notify owners, and dealers will upgrade the Catalytic Overheating Protection Engine Control Unit logic to prevent overheating of the catalytic converter. In addition, the catalytic converter will also be replaced if it has been damaged. Depending on the extent of any damage, the engine may also be replaced, free of charge. The recall began April 17, 2019. Owners may contact Kia custom (excerpt)
Defect: Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2014-2016 Soul and Soul EV vehicles. The pinion plug may allow the pinion gear to separate from the steering gear assembly. (excerpt)
Consequence: If the pinion gear separates, steering will be lost, increasing the risk of a crash. (excerpt)
Remedy: Kia will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and secure the pinion plug or replace the steering gear assembly, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began November 16, 2017. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC155. Note: This recall supersedes campaigns 14V-332 and 15V-736. Vehicles previously remedied under those numbers are bei (excerpt)
Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.
Investigations
1 investigations; 0 open.
EA21003
Opened: 2021-12-22. Closed: 2024-02-05.
Engine Fires
On March 29, 2019, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened two Preliminary Evaluations (PE19-003 on Hyundai and PE19-004 on Kia) to broadly investigate incidents of non-crash fires (regardless of origin or operational status of the vehicle) on various model year Hyundai and Kia vehicles.A During the PE investigations, Hyundai and Kia issued several recalls to address vehicle fires, inclu
Date: 2026-08-25. Type: Service Campaign. Systems: SERVICE BRAKES.
VOLUNTARY SERVICE CAMPAIGN: OWNER RENOTIFICATION (SC334 Flight 201) - This document is the owner renotification advising that Kia is conducting a Voluntary Service Campaign to inspect and, if necessary, replace the brake line(s) in certain 2014-2019 MY Soul vehicles that were originally sold in or a
11033803
Date: 2026-06-09. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: STRUCTURE.
TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: THEFT DETERRENT IGNITION: CYLINDER PROTECTOR & DECAL INSTALLATION (CS2311) - This bulletin has been revised to include additional information. New/revised sections of this bulletin are indicated by a black bar in the margin area. This bulletin provi
11030346
Date: 2026-03-24. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ENGINE.
TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: SUBSEQUENT REPAIR ACTION: CATALYTIC CONVERTER REPLACEMENT AND ENGINE INSPECTION/REPLACEMENT (SC176Y) - This bulletin has been revised to include additional information. New/revised sections of this bulletin are indicated by a black bar in the margin area. This bulletin pr
PRODUCT IMPROVEMENT CAMPAIGN: OWNER RENOTIFICATION (PI2002B FL701) - This document is the owner renotification advising that Kia is conducting a Product Improvement Campaign to perform a software update on 2014-2016 MY Soul vehicles equipped with 2.0L Gasoline Direct Injection (a GDIa ) engines to
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION CAMPAIGN: POSTCARD OWNER RENOTIFICATION (CS2311) - This document is the owner renotification advising that Kia is conducting Customer Satisfaction Campaign. Kia has developed a new zinc-reinforced ignition cylinder protector hardware upgrade and can be installed at the ignition
11026698
Date: 2025-12-09. Type: Other. Systems: BACK OVER PREVENTION.
PITSTOP: TECHNICAL OPERATIONS: EXTERNAL DAMAGE TO ULTRASONIC SENSOR: This Pitstop provides information related to Parking Distance Warning (PDW) alerts and repairs involving ultrasonic sensors. The PDW system alerts the driver while parking, by calculating distance based on the difference in signal
11022353
Date: 2025-08-20. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: SERVICE BRAKES, STRUCTURE.
TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: VOLUNTARY SERVICE CAMPAIGN UNDERBODY INSPECTION & ANTI-CORROSION MATERIAL APPLICATION (SC334) - This bulletin has been revised to include additional information. New/revised sections of this bulletin are indicated by a black bar in the margin area. This bulletin provides
11019786
Date: 2025-06-26. Type: Service Campaign. Systems: SERVICE BRAKES.
VOLUNTARY SERVICE CAMPAIGN: UNDERBODY INSPECTION & ANTI-CORROSION MATERIAL APPLICATION (SC334) - This bulletin provides information to apply additional anti-corrosion material to underbody components, including inspection/replacement of the brake line(s), on certain 2014-2019MY Soul (PS) vehicles pr
11019717
Date: 2025-06-23. Type: Service Campaign. Systems: SERVICE BRAKES.
VOLUNTARY SERVICE CAMPAIGN: OWNER NOTIFICATION (SC334) - This document is the owner notification advising that Kia is conducting a Voluntary Service Campaign to inspect and, if necessary, replace the brake line(s) in certain 2014-2019 MY Soul vehicles that were originally sold in or are currently re
11019658
Date: 2025-06-21. Type: Service Campaign. Systems: SERVICE BRAKES.
VOLUNTARY SERVICE CAMPAIGN: DEALER PRINCIPAL MEMO (SC334) - This document is the announcement to the dealer principals advising that Kia is conducting a Voluntary Service Campaign to inspect and, if necessary, replace the brake line(s) in certain 2014-2019 MY Soul vehicles, manufactured from July 21
Notes on this record
Complaints from the API and bulk file are merged and deduplicated by ODI number; the API alone misses records.
System and subsystem counts are numbers of distinct complaints, recalls or communications that name them. One record can name several systems, so shares across systems can add to more than 100 percent; a single share never exceeds 100 percent.
Recalls are counted once per campaign, investigations once per action and manufacturer communications once per NHTSA id, even when NHTSA lists several model names for the same record.
A sales denominator is a calendar-year proxy, not the population of vehicles still in use. Rates are copied from verified pipeline output.