NHTSA lists 218 complaints for the 2018 Kia Soul, 14 of them mention a crash and 14 mention a fire. 10 complaints mention an injury, with 12 injuries and 1 deaths reported.
Data build 2026-10-08.
NHTSA lists this vehicle as KIA SOUL.
At a glance
Complaints
218
With crash
14
With fire
14
With injury (complaints)
10
Injuries
12
Deaths
1
Recalls
1
Do not drive recalls
0
Park outside recalls
0
Recall potential units (maximum)
410,619
Investigations
0
Open investigations
0
Manufacturer communications
95
Complaints per 100k sold: 208.196. Units sold: 104,709; sales year: 2018; 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
140
64.2%
POWER TRAIN
31
14.2%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
30
13.8%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
19
8.7%
AIR BAGS
11
5.0%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
11
5.0%
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
9
4.1%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
8
3.7%
SERVICE BRAKES
6
2.8%
STEERING
5
2.3%
Top subsystems
System
Subsystem
Complaints
STRUCTURE
BODY
5
LANE DEPARTURE
WARNING
2
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
12V/24V/48V BATTERY
1
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
IGNITION
1
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
STARTER ASSEMBLY
1
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
ENGINE
1
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
EXHAUST SYSTEM
1
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE
ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
1
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE
AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
1
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE
WARNINGS
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.
Defect: Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2017-2019 Sedona, Soul, Soul EV, 2017-2018 Forte, and 2017 Forte Koup vehicles. The Air Bag Control Unit (ACU) cover may contact a memory chip on the printed circuit board and damage the electrical circuit. Circuit damage may result in deactivated air bags that will not deploy in a crash.
Consequence: Air bags that do not deploy as intended can increase the risk of injury in a crash.
Remedy: Dealers will inspect the ACU, and either update the software or replace the unit, as necessary. Repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 21, 2022. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC226.
Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.
Investigations
0 investigations; 0 open.
Manufacturer communications
95 manufacturer communications.
Communications by system
System
Count
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
45
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
28
EQUIPMENT
17
STEERING
12
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
9
STRUCTURE
8
SERVICE BRAKES
7
EQUIPMENT ADAPTIVE/MOBILITY
6
11036313
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
PRODUCT IMPROVEMENT CAMPAIGN: OWNER RENOTIFICATION (PI2107 Flight 501) - This document is the owner renotification advising that Kia is conducting an important Product Improvement Campaign to perform a software update on 2017-2019 MY Kia Soul vehicles equipped with 2.0-liter Nu GDI engines to protec
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
PRODUCT IMPROVEMENT CAMPAIGN: OWNER RENOTIFICATION (PI2107) - This document is the owner renotification advising that Kia is conducting a important Product Improvement Campaign to perform a software update on 2017-2019 MY Kia Soul vehicles equipped with 2.0-liter Nu GDI engines to protect the engine
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.