NHTSA lists 235 complaints for the 2021 Kia Soul, 12 of them mention a crash and 3 mention a fire. 4 complaints mention an injury, with 5 injuries and 0 deaths reported.
Data build 2026-10-09.
NHTSA lists this vehicle as KIA SOUL.
At a glance
Complaints
235
With crash
12
With fire
3
With injury (complaints)
4
Injuries
5
Deaths
0
Recalls
2
Do not drive recalls
0
Park outside recalls
0
Recall potential units (maximum)
147,249
Investigations
1
Open investigations
0
Manufacturer communications
117
Complaints per 100k sold unavailable. The available sales group does not match this vehicle variant.
Where the complaints are
Top systems
System
Complaints
Share of this vehicle's complaints
ENGINE
135
57.4%
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
47
20.0%
POWER TRAIN
26
11.1%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
26
11.1%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
15
6.4%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
10
4.3%
SERVICE BRAKES
10
4.3%
STEERING
9
3.8%
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
6
2.6%
VISIBILITY/WIPER
6
2.6%
Top subsystems
System
Subsystem
Complaints
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE
AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
4
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE
WARNINGS
4
STRUCTURE
BODY
3
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
ENGINE
2
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE
ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
1
LANE DEPARTURE
ASSIST
1
VISIBILITY
SUN/MOON ROOF ASSEMBLY
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: 2025-02-17. Systems: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING.
Defect: Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2021-2023 Seltos and Soul vehicles. The piston oil rings may have been manufactured incorrectly, which can result in engine damage.
Consequence: Engine damage can cause a vehicle stall or fire, increasing the risk of a crash or injury.
Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace the engine as necessary, free of charge. Dealers will also install piston-ring noise sensing system (PNSS) software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed April 4, 2025. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC336.
Defect: Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Soul, and 2021 Seltos vehicles equipped with 2.0L Nu MPI engines. The piston oil rings may not have been properly heat-treated, which may result in engine damage.
Consequence: A damaged engine may stall, increasing the risk of a crash. In addition, oil may leak onto hot exhaust components, increasing the risk of a fire.
Remedy: Kia will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and, if necessary, replace the engine, free of charge. In addition, Kia will deploy Piston Ring Noise Sensing System (PNSS) software. The recall began June 11, 2021. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC209.
Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.
Investigations
1 investigations; 0 open.
AQ25001
Opened: 2025-08-06. Closed: 2025-12-18.
Kia 25V099 Piston Oil Ring Recall Effectiveness
On August 6, 2025, the Office of Defect Investigation (ODI) opened Audit Query (AQ) 25001 to assess the implementation of Kia America, Inc.a s (Kia) remedy program for Safety Recall 25V099, involving incorrectly manufactured piston oil rings which may damage the engine causing a loss of motive power or fire. This AQ was opened in response to consumer complaints alleging of an ineffective remedy,
Systems: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING.
Linked campaign numbers: None listed.
Manufacturer communications
117 manufacturer communications.
Communications by system
System
Count
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
54
POWER TRAIN
20
EQUIPMENT
17
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
16
STRUCTURE
15
STEERING
9
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE
5
ELE
4
11036452
Date: 2026-08-05. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE.
TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: MISFIRE CONCERN DUE TO OVERRUNNING ALTERNATOR DECOUPLER - This bulletin provides information to address unresolved misfire events on some 2020a 2024MY Forte (BDm) produced from January 1, 2019 through September 30, 2024, and 2020a 2022MY Soul (SK3) vehicles produced fro
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
11034003
Date: 2026-06-08. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: STRUCTURE.
TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: THEFT DETERRENT IGNITION CYLINDER PROTECTOR AND DECAL INSTALLATION (CS2312) - 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 prov
11033934
Date: 2026-06-04. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: STRUCTURE.
TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: KEY AND CYLINDER SET REPLACEMENT - This bulletin provides information to replace the drivera s door lock and trunk lid key cylinders on some 2019-2024MY Kia vehicles listed below. On affected vehicles, the stored key code may not correspond to the mechanical key profile,
11033217
Date: 2026-05-28. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM.
TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM SOFTWARE UPDATE USING UPDATE.KIA.COM - This bulletin provides information and service procedures for updating the infotainment systems on applicable Kia vehicles using the Kia Navigation Updater available at update.kia.com. The software update may impr
11028908
Date: 2026-02-19. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: STRUCTURE.
TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: THEFT DETERRENT IGNITION CYLINDER PROTECTOR AND DECAL INSTALLATION (CS2312) - 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 prov
11029039
Date: 2026-02-19. Type: Emissions. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN.
VOLUNTARY EMISSIONS SERVICE CAMPAIGN: OWNER RENOTIFICATION (SC199 FL301) - This document is the owner renotification advising that Kia is conducting Voluntary Service Campaign to update the software programming on the Transmission Control Module (TCM) and, if necessary, replace the Intelligent Vari
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
11026825
Date: 2025-12-18. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: STRUCTURE.
TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: THEFT DETERRENT IGNITION CYLINDER PROTECTOR AND DECAL INSTALLATION (CS2312) - This bulletin provides information to install a Theft Deterrent Ignition Cylinder Protector on certain 2010-2022MY Kia vehicles outlined on page 19, which may not have bee
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION CAMPAIGN: OWNER NOTIFICATION (CS2312) - This document is the owner notification advising that Kia is conducting Customer Satisfaction Campaign. A software upgrade that addresses the social media theft method has been made available to owners of eligible Kia model vehicles free
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.