Kia Soul 2015

Safety complaints filed by owners in the first three years, per 1,000 sold.

0.44 per 1,000

1.0 times this nameplate’s own median · from 64 complaints filed in the first three years, of 901 ever. 95% lower bound 0.33.

Against its own model years

The model year carries far more information than the badge, so this is the comparison that matters.

Model year	Per 1,000	Complaints
2010	1.07	72
2011	0.51	43
2012	0.43	47
2013	0.45	53
2014	0.55	72
2015	0.44	64
2016	0.24	35
2017	0.26	34
2018	0.41	45
2019	0.23	23
2020	1.94	165
2021	0.75	55
2022	0.26	17
2023	0.69	41

What owners describe

Phrases over-represented in these complaints compared with the same component on every other vehicle. Counts are complaints containing the phrase.

Engine 630 complaints

catalytic	151	24%
converter	147	23%
catalytic converter	138	22%
campaign	115	18%
campaign engine	105	17%
knocking	99	16%

Unknown Or Other 107 complaints

converter	32	30%
catalytic	31	29%
catalytic converter	28	26%
engine light	28	26%
oil	27	25%
code	15	14%

Fuel/Propulsion System 76 complaints

oil	29	38%
catalytic	21	28%
converter	18	24%
catalytic converter	17	23%

When it breaks

11% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 87,955 miles, from 540 complaints that recorded one).

Failures arrive late and spread out, which looks like wear. Service history matters more than model year here.

What NHTSA did

3 investigations covering this model year, 3 of which list a recall campaign.

Non-crash Vehicle Fires

What owners and forums say

Not built yet. This panel is meant to carry community sentiment beside the filed-complaint data, so the two can be compared. Showing something weaker here would defeat its purpose.

Check this yourself

Example records behind this page:

10650225 · 10661753 · 10712114 · 10712442 · 10715228 · 10715532

Limits of this figure. It counts safety complaints filed with the federal government, which is a floor on failures and not a census: problems that only cost money are under-reported. Complaint rates also reflect how likely a brand’s owners are to file, which cannot be separated from how often the car fails. Sales are calendar-year and the denominator for this nameplate is automated checks only, not verified against an external source.