Kia Soul 2016

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

0.24 per 1,000

better than this nameplate’s own median · from 35 complaints filed in the first three years, of 816 ever. 95% lower bound 0.16.

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 561 complaints

catalytic	185	33%
converter	180	32%
catalytic converter	164	29%
engine cooling	65	12%
campaign engine	64	11%
rod	58	10%

Unknown Or Other 123 complaints

catalytic	42	34%
converter	42	34%
catalytic converter	35	29%
oil	31	25%
code	15	12%
burning	10	8%

Engine And Engine Cooling 106 complaints

catalytic	74	68%
catalytic converter	58	54%
diagnosed catalytic	36	33%
converter needed	17	16%
catalytic convertor	11	11%
convertor	11	11%

When it breaks

11% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 82,000 miles, from 363 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

1 investigation covering this model year, 1 of which list a recall campaign.

Engine 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:

10823220 · 10885663 · 10891740 · 10937496 · 10939501 · 10945883

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.