2023 Kia Soul
The Verdict
The 2023 Kia Soul has 48 owner complaints filed with NHTSA. The most reported issues are engine (14 complaints) and body (12 complaints). With a Klunk Score of 88/100, it earns a "Smooth Ride" rating. If you're shopping for a Kia Soul, consider the 2025 model year which has 77% fewer complaints.
Safe Bet
The 2025 has 77% fewer complaints
View the 2025 Kia Soul dashboard →
Klunk Score: Smooth Ride
This vehicle year has significantly fewer complaints than average. A reliable choice.
How is this calculated?
The Klunk Score ranks this vehicle year against all others in our database based on total owner complaints filed with NHTSA. 100 = fewest complaints (top tier), 0 = most complained-about. Scores above 60 are better than average; below 40 means more problems than most.
Recalls 3
Active safety recalls from NHTSA for this vehicle year.
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023 Soul and 2024 Seltos vehicles. Due to a manufacturing error, the side curtain air bags may deploy unexpectedly.
Risk
An air bag that deploys unexpectedly can increase the risk of injury or crash.
Remedy
Dealers will inspect and replace both side curtain air bag modules as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 31, 2024. Owners may contact Kia customer service a...
Reported Apr 10, 2026
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023 Soul, Sportage, and 2023-2024 Seltos vehicles. The electronic controller for the Idle Stop & Go oil pump assembly may contain damaged electrical c...
Risk
An electric oil pump assembly that overheats increases the risk of a vehicle fire.
Remedy
Owners are advised to park outside and away from structures until the recall repair is complete. Dealers will inspect and replace the electric oil pump controller, as necessary, free of charge. O...
Reported Apr 10, 2026
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023 Sportage, Sportage Hybrid, Sportage Plug-in Hybrid, Niro Hybrid, Niro Plug-in Hybrid, Soul, and Telluride vehicles equipped with a digital instrume...
Risk
A blank instrument cluster display will not show critical information, such as tire pressure, warning messages, and warning lights, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy
Dealers will update the instrument cluster software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 26, 2023. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number ...
Reported Apr 10, 2026
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Under the Hood
Each number is a complaint. Darker = bigger problem.
By Category
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Worst Problems
Complaints
Before the accident which my car was totaled, I would take it in with issues. Electrical lights coming on the car would stop .my transmission locking up . I would tell them that there was something wrong with the car . I had videos to show pannel lights coming on at 70 on freeway and car locking up and would just stop . That's what happened to son driving. My car was totaled. Why should I loose and now I don't have a vehicle .
On may 20 2026 car died out multiple times when driving but would start back up. Today may 21 2026 car was lacking power and engine making noise while driving. Then the check engine light came on also the oil light flashed then turned off. Checked the code it said p00114. Then checked oil it was about 1 1/2 quart low after we did complete oil change a month ago. I then found this engine has the same exact problems we are experiencing and have a recall to replace engine, but when we enter our vin it doesn't show for our vehicle.
205/60R16 Noticed that all 4 of my tires the rubber is peeling went to tire place they said they were chunking and they should not be having 23500 miles on my 2023 Kia soul tires have been rotated every 5000 or so miles
The contact owns a 2023 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the instrument panel became inoperable. The instrument panel went blank while operating the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a dealer; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 45,000.
See attached document for complaint.
3/6/26 5:50 am unintended acceleration w such force pulling car toward right side n unable to stop, jumped over side walk, then stopped, it happened very fast, very scary accident, I was in shock and shaking so bad. Wknd disrupted, couldn't sleep n reliving bad experience over n over. Bringing it to the dealer 3/9/26. no damage to anybody or third party, unknown under car damage. Didn't file a report to the Police or DMV. no warning of any kind at all. Afraid to drive the car n how to proceed
The airbag in this 2023 Kia Soul vehicle had a faulty airbag deployment. The steering wheel airbag exploded upon a minor impact of under 20 mph and no other airbags deployed. The steering wheel airbag never fully deployed or made driver contact, it just simply exploded. The dealership was notified, but declined to research the car immediately following the impact and said that was not part of their repairs and to take the vehicle to a body shop. So, no investigation was done by the dealership to identify the airbag's faulty deployment. Then, the manufacturer refused investigation when a case was filed and waited several weeks after pictures and a full report was filed to say they were dropping the case. Insurance did not declare the claim as a total loss and $7000 of work was performed. There was no assurance that the work performed at the body shop was secure as Kia never reviewed the case. Also, there was no safety camera detection or warning of impact. This model had recalls for the side airbags, but Kia neglected to follow up on this particular faulty airbag from the steering wheel.
Honking function no longer works, this is a consistent problem noticed first on the beginning of December 2025, when I needed to notify another driver of a potential safety hazard. There is no honking sound available at any speed or at any time. Have an appointment with dealership this week.
When driving my vehicle under normal conditions, the car will unexpectedly slow down on its own, and the system brake lights and hazard lights will activate as if I am about to be in a collision, even though no accident is occurring. I have noticed this issue most frequently when I am stopped at a traffic light and begin to accelerate again. Once I turn the car off and restart it, the warning lights go away, but the issue continues to reoccur.
The contact owns a 2023 Kia Soul. The contact stated that the battery discharge and Auto START/STOP warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V531000 (Power Train), for which the dealer replaced the electric oil pump controller as the remedy. After the repair, the cruise control was unintendedly activated. The Lane Keep Assist feature was intermittently activated independently. While refueling, the fuel gauge was half full and took approximately 30-40 minutes before quickly displaying a full tank. The dealer was contacted and confirmed that the recall repair was completed; however, the vehicle was not taken back to the dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and referred the contact back to the dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 33,000.
Since I purchased the car the steering wheel will jerk, when im on a 2 lane road. It always jerks towards on-coming traffic, and it only does this when there is a car coming in the opposite lane and is just about to pass me. I have to fight with the steering wheel to get it back to go straight. Because of this whenever I am on a 2 lane road like this I always drive slow. This is the first car I've owned with this feature so I wasn't sure if that was just a glitch in the feature and just dealt with it. Which ni do realize now that was stupid on my part. Also in the past few days the drivers side door speaker sometimes works fine other times it gets all static and I have to turn all the sound to the passenger side. With that 3 other things have happened in the same time frame, im not sure if they are all connected but they seemed to have happened all at the same time. The passenger side window will go down from the driver's side door control but only sometimes goes back up. The horn stopped working last night along with the beep when you hit lock on the key fob twice. Im not sure if these are just minor things due to my lack of vehicle knowledge or if they are a real concern, so that is why I wanted to bring it to attention, in case anyone else has experienced any of these issues. The car only has 12000 miles, I only travel locally so im not sure if thats problematic or not. But as I said id rather be safe and let these issues be known.
I am reporting a recurring safety issue with my Kia vehicle that began around Labor Day 2025. The vehicle has abruptly shut down multiple times while I was driving on public roads in Hillsborough County, Florida. These shutdowns occurred without any dashboard warning lights, including while stopped at red lights and while in motion, creating dangerous traffic situations. Despite having a scheduled service appointment on September 5, 2025, I took the vehicle to the dealership a day earlier—on September 4—due to the increasing frequency and severity of the issue. Upon reviewing my service history (dating back to 2022), I found no documentation that the battery had ever been tested, despite regular multi-point inspections performed at the dealership. A battery test performed during the September 4, 2025, visit revealed that the battery was failing. I was required to replace it at a cost of nearly $400. The service team confirmed that the battery was draining and likely the cause of the vehicle shutting down. This issue could have resulted in a serious accident. I believe the failure to identify the battery problem earlier represents a potential safety oversight.
First I get a safety issue warning with the front camera then I get a safety issue warning with a back camera well those warnings go off and I'm left with an ABS signal on my dashboard orange triangle with a exclamation point in it skid something with the car it shows it's weaving and I'm not sure what the fourth one was. But this has been going on going issue with this dashboard because when it starts flashing everything the car goes into limp mode. Usually if I shut the car off wouldn't turn it back on about 10 minutes later I don't get any flashing lights and the car is no longer limp mode. The problem has ever been found or corrected. the car is not sitting in my driveway waiting for a tow truck to take it to Kia soul over there in perryville Rockford Illinois but they don't provide tow service for the vehicles either. Even when it's a safety issue. I would never buy from this company again it's been one thing after another. This is only a 2 year old car has been driven 2500 miles.
Was driving and the pistons shot out of the engine. Oil in the coolant as well.
Radio recall 2025 Uvo work stop
2023 kia soul lx problems clarity dive problems
FM radio Black screen Black screen replacement kia soul
The rear windshield spontaneously shattered while parked in the driveway and was not running. I was standing beside it when it happened. There was no glass inside vehicle all the glass was outside vehicle indicating that nothing hit the windshield, and nothing was around vehicle that could have hit the vehicle. The vehicle will be repaired tomorrow by Safelite as it is a commuting vehicle, and I have no other vehicle to drive to and from work. My insurance is not covering the damage as it is less than the deductible to just fix it.
Periodically while driving, I receive error notifications on the dashboard through both sound alerts and warning lights, resulting in the affected systems temporarily ceasing to function. The dashboard provides specific warnings: "check forward safety system," "check lane safety system," "check speed limit system," "check high beam assist system," and "check inattentive driving warning system." These warnings cycle through with flashing lights and ongoing alert noises. While the issue sometimes resolves after the first or second warning, it often continues cycling through all of the previously described warnings before returning to normal. On some occasions, the warning lights remain on for an extended period, with the longest observed duration being 16 minutes. There are no observable patterns to the frequency or cause of the issue, although it is occurring at least once per day now; initially ~2x/week. It happens at any time of day or night and in any weather conditions. I've scheduled service for this issue 5 separate times. The first time, the dealership advised they did not have a fix and declined to take the car into the service department. The second time, the camera was replaced, but the issue persisted. The third time I took the car in for service, it was at the dealer for a week and I was advised the issue was part of the normal functioning of the car. The fourth time, the service techs did not make an effort to observe the problem and reported that the car was working as designed. The car is now in for service again. Each time I have scheduled service, I have provided them with a video of the problem. The continuous disabling of these safety features is not only distracting but also diminishes the value of the vehicle. I rely on these systems for my safety and purchased this vehicle specifically for these features. I am concerned that this ongoing issue may desensitize me to important warning signals and compromise the overall functionality of the car.
The contact owns a 2023 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while pulling into a mall, there was an abnormally low rumbling and ticking sound coming from the vehicle. While driving 45 MPH, the message to turn off and restart the vehicle was displayed with an audible alarm. The contact stated that the vehicle had shut off on three separate occasions. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact called the local dealer and was informed about a diagnostic test. The vehicle was then towed to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that there was a pinhole in the filter. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact called another local dealer, Glassman Kia (28000 Telegraph Rd., Southfield, MI 48034), and was informed that there should have been an oil or check engine warning light illuminated. The manufacturer was contacted, and the contact was informed that there was no warranty coverage on the vehicle for the failure. The manufacturer opened a case, but no additional assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000.
48 total