2012 KIA SOUL — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 513 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: ENGINE (174 complaints · 33.9%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 25
  • Fires 23
  • Injuries 25
  • Deaths 2
Compare with 2011 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution ENGINE appears in 174 of 513 owner complaints (33.9%) in this vehicle snapshot. ENGINE: 174 complaints, 33.9% of reports ENGINE 174 · 33.9% · 16 fire reports STEERING: 149 complaints, 29.0% of reports STEERING 149 · 29.0% · 3 crash reports SERVICE BRAKES: 37 complaints, 7.2% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 37 · 7.2% · 1 crash reports 2 fire reports FUEL SYSTEM: 17 complaints, 3.3% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 17 · 3.3% POWER TRAIN: 16 complaints, 3.1% of reports POWER TRAIN 16 · 3.1% · 1 crash reports 1 fire reports AIR BAGS: 14 complaints, 2.7% of reports AIR BAGS 14 · 2.7% · 13 crash reports 1 fire reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 14 complaints, 2.7% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 14 · 2.7% EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 10 complaints, 2.0% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 10 · 2.0% · 1 fire reports STRUCTURE: 10 complaints, 2.0% of reports STRUCTURE 10 · 2.0% · 1 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 100 complaints, 19.5% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 100 · 19.5% · 3 crash reports 4 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
ENGINE 174 33.9% 0 crashes · 16 fires
STEERING 149 29.0% 3 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 37 7.2% 1 crashes · 2 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 17 3.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 16 3.1% 1 crashes · 1 fires
AIR BAGS 14 2.7% 13 crashes · 1 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 14 2.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 10 2.0% 0 crashes · 1 fires
STRUCTURE 10 2.0% 1 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 100 19.5% 3 crashes · 4 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jul 2011. 2011-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2012-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 2012-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2012-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2013-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 2013-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 2013-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2014-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2014-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2014-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2015-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2015-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 2016-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2016-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2017-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2017-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 2017-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 2017-Q4: 10 owner reports 10 2018-Q1: 11 owner reports 11 2018-Q2: 12 owner reports 12 2018-Q3: 15 owner reports 15 2018-Q4: 12 owner reports 12 2019-Q1: 20 owner reports 20 2019-Q2: 32 owner reports 32 2019-Q3: 24 owner reports 24 2019-Q4: 20 owner reports 20 2020-Q1: 13 owner reports 13 2020-Q2: 11 owner reports 11 2020-Q3: 12 owner reports 12 2020-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 2021-Q1: 13 owner reports 13 2021-Q2: 11 owner reports 11 2021-Q3: 9 owner reports 9 2021-Q4: 17 owner reports 17 2022-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 2022-Q2: 11 owner reports 11 2022-Q3: 12 owner reports 12 2022-Q4: 16 owner reports 16 2023-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 2023-Q2: 21 owner reports 21 2023-Q3: 12 owner reports 12 2023-Q4: 21 owner reports 21 2024-Q1: 13 owner reports 13 2024-Q2: 15 owner reports 15 2024-Q3: 8 owner reports 8 2024-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2025-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2025-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2025-Q3: 8 owner reports 8 2025-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 2026-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2026-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2026-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 Owner reports Jul 2011 Jul 2026 Investigation DP18003 ● Investigation DP18003 Investigation PE19004 ● Investigation PE19004 Investigation EA21003 ● Investigation EA21003 Investigation DP22003 ● Investigation DP22003 Investigation AQ23002 ● Investigation AQ23002
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2011-Q3 Owner reports 1
2011-Q4 Owner reports 1
2012-Q1 Owner reports 5
2012-Q2 Owner reports 6
2012-Q3 Owner reports 5
2012-Q4 Owner reports 3
2013-Q1 Owner reports 7
2013-Q3 Owner reports 7
2013-Q4 Owner reports 5
2014-Q1 Owner reports 3
2014-Q2 Owner reports 2
2014-Q3 Owner reports 1
2014-Q4 Owner reports 1
2015-Q1 Owner reports 3
2015-Q3 Owner reports 2
2015-Q4 Owner reports 8
2016-Q1 Owner reports 2
2016-Q2 Owner reports 1
2016-Q4 Owner reports 5
2017-Q1 Owner reports 2
2017-Q2 Owner reports 6
2017-Q3 Owner reports 7
2017-Q4 Owner reports 10
2018-Q1 Owner reports 11
2018-Q2 Owner reports 12
2018-Q3 Owner reports 15
2018-Q4 Owner reports 12
2019-Q1 Owner reports 20
2019-Q2 Owner reports 32
2019-Q3 Owner reports 24
2019-Q4 Owner reports 20
2020-Q1 Owner reports 13
2020-Q2 Owner reports 11
2020-Q3 Owner reports 12
2020-Q4 Owner reports 7
2021-Q1 Owner reports 13
2021-Q2 Owner reports 11
2021-Q3 Owner reports 9
2021-Q4 Owner reports 17
2022-Q1 Owner reports 8
2022-Q2 Owner reports 11
2022-Q3 Owner reports 12
2022-Q4 Owner reports 16
2023-Q1 Owner reports 8
2023-Q2 Owner reports 21
2023-Q3 Owner reports 12
2023-Q4 Owner reports 21
2024-Q1 Owner reports 13
2024-Q2 Owner reports 15
2024-Q3 Owner reports 8
2024-Q4 Owner reports 3
2025-Q1 Owner reports 3
2025-Q2 Owner reports 3
2025-Q3 Owner reports 8
2025-Q4 Owner reports 8
2026-Q1 Owner reports 5
2026-Q2 Owner reports 4
2026-Q3 Owner reports 2
Defect investigation 1 DP18003
Defect investigation 1 PE19004
Defect investigation 1 EA21003
Defect investigation 1 DP22003
Defect investigation 1 AQ23002
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA records.

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 513 complaints · page 1 of 21

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources