2020 KIA SOUL — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 369 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: ENGINE (177 complaints · 48.0%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 9
  • Fires 6
  • Injuries 6
  • Deaths 8
Compare with 2019 →
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 177 of 369 owner complaints (48.0%) in this vehicle snapshot. ENGINE: 177 complaints, 48.0% of reports ENGINE 177 · 48.0% · 2 crash reports 4 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 70 complaints, 19.0% of reports POWER TRAIN 70 · 19.0% · 1 crash reports 1 fire reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 16 complaints, 4.3% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 16 · 4.3% · 1 crash reports STEERING: 14 complaints, 3.8% of reports STEERING 14 · 3.8% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 11 complaints, 3.0% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 11 · 3.0% · 1 crash reports 1 fire reports FUEL SYSTEM: 9 complaints, 2.4% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 9 · 2.4% · 1 crash reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 5 complaints, 1.4% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 5 · 1.4% FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: 5 complaints, 1.4% of reports FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 5 · 1.4% STRUCTURE: 5 complaints, 1.4% of reports STRUCTURE 5 · 1.4% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 63 complaints, 17.1% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 63 · 17.1% · 2 crash 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 177 48.0% 2 crashes · 4 fires
POWER TRAIN 70 19.0% 1 crashes · 1 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 16 4.3% 1 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 14 3.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 11 3.0% 1 crashes · 1 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 9 2.4% 1 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 5 1.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 5 1.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 5 1.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 63 17.1% 2 crashes · 0 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 Apr 2019. 2019-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2019-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2019-Q4: 14 owner reports 14 2020-Q1: 29 owner reports 29 2020-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 2020-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2020-Q4: 10 owner reports 10 2021-Q1: 26 owner reports 26 2021-Q2: 22 owner reports 22 2021-Q3: 14 owner reports 14 2021-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 2022-Q1: 11 owner reports 11 2022-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2022-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2022-Q4: 9 owner reports 9 2023-Q1: 15 owner reports 15 2023-Q2: 12 owner reports 12 2023-Q3: 8 owner reports 8 2023-Q4: 10 owner reports 10 2024-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 2024-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 2024-Q3: 8 owner reports 8 2024-Q4: 11 owner reports 11 2025-Q1: 13 owner reports 13 2025-Q2: 21 owner reports 21 2025-Q3: 19 owner reports 19 2025-Q4: 19 owner reports 19 2026-Q1: 19 owner reports 19 2026-Q2: 18 owner reports 18 2026-Q3: 15 owner reports 15 Owner reports Apr 2019 Jul 2026 Investigation DP22003 ● Investigation DP22003 Investigation DP22005 ● Investigation DP22005
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2019-Q2 Owner reports 2
2019-Q3 Owner reports 1
2019-Q4 Owner reports 14
2020-Q1 Owner reports 29
2020-Q2 Owner reports 7
2020-Q3 Owner reports 5
2020-Q4 Owner reports 10
2021-Q1 Owner reports 26
2021-Q2 Owner reports 22
2021-Q3 Owner reports 14
2021-Q4 Owner reports 7
2022-Q1 Owner reports 11
2022-Q2 Owner reports 4
2022-Q3 Owner reports 4
2022-Q4 Owner reports 9
2023-Q1 Owner reports 15
2023-Q2 Owner reports 12
2023-Q3 Owner reports 8
2023-Q4 Owner reports 10
2024-Q1 Owner reports 8
2024-Q2 Owner reports 8
2024-Q3 Owner reports 8
2024-Q4 Owner reports 11
2025-Q1 Owner reports 13
2025-Q2 Owner reports 21
2025-Q3 Owner reports 19
2025-Q4 Owner reports 19
2026-Q1 Owner reports 19
2026-Q2 Owner reports 18
2026-Q3 Owner reports 15
Defect investigation 1 DP22003
Defect investigation 1 DP22005
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 369 complaints · page 1 of 15

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