Low complaint count among 16 Soul model years — 12th most.
3recalls
135complaints
23crashes
15fires
19injuries
20,000median miles
Owner complaints filed with NHTSA, not verified and not adjusted for sales. Ranking compares this model's own years only.
Does your car have an open recall? Recalls apply to specific vehicles. Only a VIN lookup on NHTSA's official site shows whether yours is affected and still unrepaired.
Dec 29, 2014 · NHTSA campaign 14V822000 · 95,314 vehicles
Problem: Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain model year 2010-2013 Kia Soul vehicles manufactured January 8, 2009, to October 2, 2013, equipped with a sun roof. A headliner plate may detach during deployment of the curtain air bag.
Risk: A detached headliner plate may increase the risk of injury to the occupant during a vehicle crash.
Remedy & notes
Kia will notify owners, and dealers will install industrial adhesive strips to secure the headliner plates, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin February 2, 2015. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC112.
Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
Problem: Kia Motors Corporation (Kia) is recalling certain model year 2007-2010 Rondo, model year 2007-2011 Sedona, Sorento and Sportage, model year 2010-2011 Soul, model year 2008-2011 Optima, model year 2010 Forte, model year 2007-2009 Amanti, and model year 2009 Borrego vehicles. Originally, in April 2013, Kia recalled 623,658 model year 2007-2010 Rondo and Sportage, model year 2007-2011 Sorento, model year 2007 Sedona, model year 2010-2011 Soul, and model year 2011 Optima vehicles. In September 2013, Kia informed the agency that it was adding an additional 356,719 vehicles to this campaign. The total number of vehicles being recalled is now 980,377. In the affected vehicles, the stop lamp switch may malfunction. A malfunctioning stop lamp switch may cause the brake lights to not illuminate when the brake pedal is depressed or may cause an inability to deactivate the cruise control by depressing the brake pedal. Additionally, a malfunctioning stop lamp switch may also result in intermittent operation of the push-button start feature, affect the operation of the brake-transmission shift interlock feature preventing the shifter from being moved out of the PARK position and cause the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) malfunction light to illuminate.
Risk: Failure to illuminate the stop lamps during braking or inability to disengage the cruise control could increase the risk of a crash. Additionally, when the ignition is in the 'ON' position, the transmission shifter may be able to be moved out of PARK without first applying the brake. This may lead to unintentional movement of the car which may increase the risk of a crash.
Remedy & notes
Kia will send an interim notification to owners in May 2013. When parts are available, owners will receive a second notification and dealers will replace the stop lamp switch, free of charge. Owners may contact Kia at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's recall campaign number is SC098.
Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
Electrical System
Aug 31, 2010 · NHTSA campaign 10V388000 · 35,185 vehicles
Problem: Kia is recalling certain model year 2010 soul and model year 2011 sorento vehicles manufactured from September 7, 2009 through July 30, 2010. A limited number of wiring harnesses supplied by jci and used for the lighting in the Kia soul vehicle's advanced lighting speakers, located in the front door trim panels, and the Kia sorento vehicle's interior accent illumination, located in the front and rear door trim panels, May have been improperly soldered.
Original NHTSA wording
KIA IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2010 SOUL AND MODEL YEAR 2011 SORENTO VEHICLES MANUFACTURED FROM SEPTEMBER 7, 2009 THROUGH JULY 30, 2010. A LIMITED NUMBER OF WIRING HARNESSES SUPPLIED BY JCI AND USED FOR THE LIGHTING IN THE KIA SOUL VEHICLE'S ADVANCED LIGHTING SPEAKERS, LOCATED IN THE FRONT DOOR TRIM PANELS, AND THE KIA SORENTO VEHICLE'S INTERIOR ACCENT ILLUMINATION, LOCATED IN THE FRONT AND REAR DOOR TRIM PANELS, MAY HAVE BEEN IMPROPERLY SOLDERED.
Risk: When the lights are illuminated under certain conditions, an electrical short May occur that can result in a fire.
Original NHTSA wording
WHEN THE LIGHTS ARE ILLUMINATED UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS, AN ELECTRICAL SHORT MAY OCCUR THAT CAN RESULT IN A FIRE.
Remedy & notes
Dealers will replace the wiring harnesses for the lights in the Kia soul vehicle's advanced lighting speakers, and the wiring harness for the Kia sorento vehicle's interior accent illumination. This service will be performed free of charge. The safety recall began on September 13, 2010. Owners May contact Kia consumer assistance center at 1-800-333-4542.
Kia's safety recall campaign number is SC083.owners May also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (tty 1-800-424-9153), or go to <a href=http://www.safercar.gov>http://www.safercar.gov</a> .
Recall text as published by NHTSA and the manufacturer.
Owner complaints filed with NHTSA; one complaint can name several areas. Not verified by NHTSA.
Complaints by year filed
NHTSA investigations
Non-crash Vehicle Fires
PE19004 · opened Mar 29, 2019 · closed Dec 22, 2021 · led to recall 20V088000
Summary
During this Preliminary Evaluation (PE), the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) assessed the scope, frequency and potential safety-related consequences of non-crash vehicle fires caused by both engine failures and failures of other vehicle systems/components in model year (MY) 2011-2014 Kia Optima, MY 2011-2014 Kia Sorento and MY 2010-2015 Kia Soul vehicles equipped with Theta II, Gamma, Nu and Lambda II engines (approximately 1.7 million vehicles). ODI also reviewed field and other data on other Kia vehicles (approximately 3.6 million additional vehicles) equipped with the same engines used in the above-mentioned vehicles.As a result of this PE, Kia has issued NHTSA Recalls 20V-750 and 21V-844 to address potential engine failures and fires in certain Kia vehicles equipped with various engine types.Additional information on these and other related recall actions is available in the downloadable version of this resume available at NHTSA.gov.In addition, ODI has upgraded this PE to an Engineering Analysis (EA) 21-003 which will focus on potential recall scope concerns and recall remedy concerns related to the engine failure-related recalls mentioned above and conducted previously.See the EA21-003 Opening Resume available at NHTSA.gov for more information.Also available in the downloadable version of this resume is a list of the reference numbers for the 444 ODI reports, or Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs), cited above which ODI received through mid-November 2021.Note that…
Non-crash Vehicle Fires
DP18003 · opened Aug 21, 2018 · closed May 10, 2019 · led to recall 18V907000
Summary
In a letter dated June 11, 2018, the Center for Auto Safety (CAS) petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to initiate a safety defect investigation into non-collision related fires on model year (MY) 2011-2014 Kia Optima and Sorento, and Hyundai Sonata and Santa Fe vehicles. In a letter dated July 24, 2018, CAS requested that MY 2010-2015 Kia Soul vehicles be added to the petition. CAS stated that there is a higher number of complaints to NHTSA regarding non-crash fires on these vehicles compared to other similar vehicles. The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) had already opened Recall Queries (RQ17-003 and RQ17-004) on all Kia and Hyundai vehicles equipped with Theta II engines for engine failures that may cause stalling and fires.The queries cover most of the petition subject Optima, Sorento, Sonata, and Santa Fe vehicles but not any of the subject Soul vehicles.On August 21, 2018, ODI opened a Defect Petition (DP18-003) to evaluate whether to grant or deny the CAS petition. ODI sent Information Request letters to Kia and Hyundai (September and October 2018) requesting information on all engine and non-engine related fires in the petition vehicles.ODI performed extensive analysis on the information obtained from Kia and Hyundai. During the DP18-003 analysis, Kia and Hyundai each initiated three additional safety recalls related to engine compartment fires on certain petitioned and non-petitioned vehicles (nearly 740,000 total vehicles: Reca…
Steering Shaft Separation
PE10030 · opened Aug 12, 2010 · closed Dec 14, 2010
Summary
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) is aware of a single complaint on the subject vehicles that alleges the hand wheel became mechanically de-coupled from the road wheels when the intermediate steering shaft universal joint separated from the upper steering column.It appears that the intermediate steering shaft in the complaint vehicle was disassembled and then improperly re-assembled with the universal joint not fully engaged with the upper steering column's splined shaft and the pinch bolt was not secured in the retaining groove when fastened.The component supplier has added additional fool-proofing measures to the assembly process to further reduce the likelihood of improper assembly.Kia inspected a total of 3,695 subject vehicles and steering column assemblies at the component supplier, the vehicle assembly plant in Korea and at US ports in the weeks immediately following the opening of this pursuit and found no evidence of improper assembly.Kia also conducted a service action (SA057) to inspect another 169 subject vehicles (out of 336) manufactured on the same day as the complaint vehicle and a total of 594 subject vehicles (out of 1,747) manufactured during the same week as the complaint vehicle and found no issues to report.An additional 342 subject vehicles outside the scope of the service action were also inspected and again Kia found no evidence of improper assembly.A safety-related defect trend has not been identified at this time and further use of agency re…
2010 vs. other Kia Soul years
Owner complaints by model year; the darker bar is the 2010. Click a bar to switch year.
Questions
Does the 2010 Kia Soul have recalls?
Yes — NHTSA lists 3 recall campaigns covering the 2010 Kia Soul, the latest from Dec 29, 2014 (structure). A recall applies to specific vehicles: enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see whether yours is affected and still open.
What are the most common problems with the 2010 Kia Soul?
Owner complaints filed with NHTSA most often mention electrical system (24), air bags (21), structure (21). Complaints are consumer reports and are not verified by NHTSA.
Recalls by Model
