2016 KIA SOUL — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-21 801 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: ENGINE (462 complaints · 57.7%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 29
  • Fires 34
  • Injuries 25
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2015 →
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 462 of 801 owner complaints (57.7%) in this vehicle snapshot. ENGINE: 462 complaints, 57.7% of reports ENGINE 462 · 57.7% · 5 crash reports 20 fire reports FUEL SYSTEM: 52 complaints, 6.5% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 52 · 6.5% · 3 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 47 complaints, 5.9% of reports POWER TRAIN 47 · 5.9% · 1 crash reports 1 fire reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 24 complaints, 3.0% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 24 · 3.0% · 2 crash reports 1 fire reports STEERING: 20 complaints, 2.5% of reports STEERING 20 · 2.5% · 2 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 18 complaints, 2.3% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 18 · 2.3% · 1 crash reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 14 complaints, 1.8% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 14 · 1.8% AIR BAGS: 12 complaints, 1.5% of reports AIR BAGS 12 · 1.5% · 10 crash reports STRUCTURE: 10 complaints, 1.3% of reports STRUCTURE 10 · 1.3% · 1 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 174 complaints, 21.7% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 174 · 21.7% · 6 crash reports 9 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 462 57.7% 5 crashes · 20 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 52 6.5% 0 crashes · 3 fires
POWER TRAIN 47 5.9% 1 crashes · 1 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 24 3.0% 2 crashes · 1 fires
STEERING 20 2.5% 2 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 18 2.3% 1 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 14 1.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 12 1.5% 10 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 10 1.3% 1 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 174 21.7% 6 crashes · 9 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, none on file, and NHTSA Defect Investigations 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.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jan 2016. 2016-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2016-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 2017-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2017-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2017-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2018-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2018-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2018-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 2018-Q4: 9 owner reports 9 2019-Q1: 16 owner reports 16 2019-Q2: 31 owner reports 31 2019-Q3: 15 owner reports 15 2019-Q4: 22 owner reports 22 2020-Q1: 16 owner reports 16 2020-Q2: 19 owner reports 19 2020-Q3: 18 owner reports 18 2020-Q4: 26 owner reports 26 2021-Q1: 35 owner reports 35 2021-Q2: 24 owner reports 24 2021-Q3: 29 owner reports 29 2021-Q4: 17 owner reports 17 2022-Q1: 30 owner reports 30 2022-Q2: 25 owner reports 25 2022-Q3: 53 owner reports 53 2022-Q4: 26 owner reports 26 2023-Q1: 30 owner reports 30 2023-Q2: 41 owner reports 41 2023-Q3: 35 owner reports 35 2023-Q4: 25 owner reports 25 2024-Q1: 29 owner reports 29 2024-Q2: 28 owner reports 28 2024-Q3: 25 owner reports 25 2024-Q4: 20 owner reports 20 2025-Q1: 17 owner reports 17 2025-Q2: 20 owner reports 20 2025-Q3: 28 owner reports 28 2025-Q4: 19 owner reports 19 2026-Q1: 18 owner reports 18 2026-Q2: 19 owner reports 19 2026-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 Owner reports Jan 2016 Jul 2026 Investigation EA21003 ● Investigation EA21003 Investigation DP22005 ● Investigation DP22005 Investigation RQ23005 ● Investigation RQ23005
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2016-Q1 Owner reports 1
2016-Q3 Owner reports 2
2016-Q4 Owner reports 1
2017-Q1 Owner reports 7
2017-Q2 Owner reports 3
2017-Q3 Owner reports 3
2017-Q4 Owner reports 3
2018-Q1 Owner reports 2
2018-Q2 Owner reports 2
2018-Q3 Owner reports 7
2018-Q4 Owner reports 9
2019-Q1 Owner reports 16
2019-Q2 Owner reports 31
2019-Q3 Owner reports 15
2019-Q4 Owner reports 22
2020-Q1 Owner reports 16
2020-Q2 Owner reports 19
2020-Q3 Owner reports 18
2020-Q4 Owner reports 26
2021-Q1 Owner reports 35
2021-Q2 Owner reports 24
2021-Q3 Owner reports 29
2021-Q4 Owner reports 17
2022-Q1 Owner reports 30
2022-Q2 Owner reports 25
2022-Q3 Owner reports 53
2022-Q4 Owner reports 26
2023-Q1 Owner reports 30
2023-Q2 Owner reports 41
2023-Q3 Owner reports 35
2023-Q4 Owner reports 25
2024-Q1 Owner reports 29
2024-Q2 Owner reports 28
2024-Q3 Owner reports 25
2024-Q4 Owner reports 20
2025-Q1 Owner reports 17
2025-Q2 Owner reports 20
2025-Q3 Owner reports 28
2025-Q4 Owner reports 19
2026-Q1 Owner reports 18
2026-Q2 Owner reports 19
2026-Q3 Owner reports 5
Defect investigation 1 EA21003
Defect investigation 1 DP22005
Defect investigation 1 RQ23005

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 801 complaints · page 1 of 33

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