KIA SOUL Reliability by YearBest & worst years, problems & recalls — NHTSA data

My vehicle has less than 8K miles. This weekend my horn stopped working (a definite safety problem) and the signal that I had locked my car doors using my fob failed to work. The lights did flash to signal they were locked (I checked just to be sure!) I need to have the vehicle checked before part(s) can be ordered. That requires 2 trips to the dealer instead of one. I was told that this problem is a "recall under warranty". Kia isn't doing anything to keep their customers with this lack of service.

Driver Attention Warning (DAW), "Consider Taking A Break", is coming on randomly, sometimes multiple times within a short driving distance. Has become a DISTRACTION instead of a SAFETY FEATURE! Cannot turn off or even turn down the sound. Even on "low" sound, still loud enough to wake up a sleeping passenger! Taken back to Kia dealer 3 times. They will do nothing because as they say" technician cannot duplicate customer concern."

It started appearing to be electrical and ended in some type of engine/system emergency! I rented this vehicle through Avis and the first few days everything appeared ok, regarding the functionality vehicle. Mid-day on 10-4-25, I attempted to put groceries in the trunk, wouldn’t open. After 4 minutes, I gave up, assuming I’m doing something wrong.That evening, the gas mileage hadn’t moved remained at (90), the battery light, oil pan, mph:stuck on 23, and the rev stuck on 1.2, and the Odometer hasn’t changed. When I removed the key the dash board remained on and once I hit the lock button it turned off.10-5-25, I put gas in the car and the indicator marker never moved. I called to report these issues because my vehicle was not inspected before I left the lot. We canceled our paid trip and headed back to TX. While driving, the gas and oil pan light would turn on (2-3 min) then go off. While on the freeway, suddenly, the car shuts off. The best way I can describe it during the process is (sitting in a parked car with the ACC position) everything is working but the car isn’t “on”. Due to MPH being stuck at 23, I can say I was literally going the speed limit (60-65, flow of traffic) to 0! The phones were still charging, lights, and dashboard stayed lit, hazards light worked, and we literally rolled until the car stopped! Since this is a rental by law it should have been checked before handing me the keys. The employee handed me the keys and pointed to the car from his computer. As soon as I was aware it was a problem I called multiple times to report this. When the situation was not properly handled by Avis the first 4 times, I called the police. I requested to file a report and the officer did not show, however, Harris County sent a tow truck. I will be filling a police report in the morning. Although there is not a recall, I see there are social groups with similar issues in the Kia 2024 Sol! This was a lemon rental and the experience was traumatic!

Started the car this morning and noticed that the dashboard screen was blank. This had never happened before. Turned the car off and on twice thinking maybe it was just a software glitch but the screen stayed blank. Took the car to the dealer shortly after. When I picked it up the service advisor said they did a reset and a software update. The advisor had not seen this in a 2024 Kia Soul. But when checking on-line, I saw several similar complaints for this year/model.

Horn malfunctioned, a known issue recognized by Kia on these models. Visited an authorized Kia repair center in Maryland on June 14, 2025. The repair center indicated that the necessary parts (96611-K0030 and 96619-T6000) are not available in Maryland or surrounding states, and backorder delays are at least four to six weeks. The vehicle is meanwhile not road safe due to the lack of a horn.

I PURCHASED THIS VEHICLE IN JAN 2024 AND IT NOW HAS 16000 MILES. TOOK MY CAR INTO RAY SKILLMAN, PIKES PLAZA WESTIDE FOR SERVICE LAST MONTH BECAUSE MY HORN WAS NOT WORKING. THEY TOLD ME THAT THERE WAS A NATION WIDE BACK ORDER ON THE PART AND JUST 2 DAYS AGO, I RECEIVED AN EMAIL FROM KIA CUSTOMER SERVICE/CARE, STATING THAT THEY WERE TOLD THAT THERE IS NO ETA AT THIS TIME. THIS (NOT HAVING A HORN) IS A SAFETY CONCERN AND ALSO THE SERVICE TECH THAT TOOK MY CAR IN, TOLD ME THAT IT AFFECTED OTHER KIA MODELS AS WELL, THEY DID NOT SEEM TO THINK THAT IT WAS A BIG DEAL AND THE CAR WAS DRIVEABLE, BUT WITHOUT A HORN, IT IS VERY UNSAFE. I'M ALSO CONTACTING THEM FOR A LOANER WHICH THEY REALLY DON'T SEEM TO WANT TO DO THAT ROUTE, BUT I ALSO DON'T WANT TO RENT A VEHICLE TO BE REIMBURSED (SINCE IT IS A WARRANTY REPAIR), BECAUSE THAT IS A LOT OF MONEY OUT OF POCKET THAT I DON'T HAVE. IF THAT IS A PROBLEM WITH MULTIPLE KIA MODELS, WHY IS THAT NOT A RECALL? THERE HAVE BEEN MULTIPLE TIMES SINCE THEN, THAT I HAVE BEEN IN A SITUATION WHERE MY HORN WAS NEEDED SO AS TO AVOID AN ACCIDENT OR INJURY, AND I DID NOT HAVE ONE. (NO ACCIDENTS SO FAR) BUT IT IS BOUND TO HAPPEN.

My Kia Soul, which only has 7600 miles, was parked in my garage. When I went to wash it this afternoon, I found that the back window had shattered.

No sound when object is in area of vehicle when backing up.

The vehicle was looked at and was told it didn’t have sensors for the problem, I can’t believe the vehicle didn’t have sensors for that problem when the rest of the vehicle has sensors for everything else. The vehicle should be recalled to have the sensors put on for safety concerns. I have a camera but no warning sound when object is detected.

shortly after purchasing the car (06/2024) while driving (regardless of the weather or temperature, whether it’s day, night, hot, cold, etc) all of my dash warning lights come on, complete ADAS system malfunction. it shows a code for my front camera through the kia connect app and says it’s chasis related. i have taken my car in multiple times for this and i still leave with it the same day hours later. despite being told that both recommendations from my last service appointment had already been done, this is what i am left with. even after being involved in a front end collision, none of my safety features (that have never not been on) never came into play, emergency braking never happened. attaching most recent, first time addressing this issue was in august.

Well, isn't it wonderful that Kia has extended the warranty on the horn assembly. Now, how do I avail myself of the warranty? Simple - if the horn DOES NOT WORK or emits an unusual or different sound just bring it to KIA for a diagnosis. Now, when is it most likely that I realize the horn DOES NOT WORK? When I need it the most, or when the bicyclist or pedestrian or whatever needs my horn to work. How in the world does KIA think it can keep possibly unsafe vehicles on the road? I have no idea but I am filing a complaint and ask all others to do so. The horn is a critical safety feature that must work all the time. How does KIA think it can get away with this? Vehicles are required to meet and continue to meet at all times Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards in existence at the time of manufacture. This is simply unacceptable.

The contact owns a 2024 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving on an access road at 20 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact pulled over onto the side of the road to inspect the vehicle. The vehicle was restarted, and the contact started to drive however, the failure recurred. The contact inspected the vehicle but found no cause for the failure. The vehicle was restarted; however, the vehicle failed to exceed 20 MPH. The local dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 7,000.

On 12/30/2024 my wife was returning home when all of the instrument lights went out. She stopped to make attemps to get the lights to come on but nothing worked. She had to drive home with no instruments for speed, directions, service, etc. When she got home ( very upset ) she only wanted to know why e new car with only 1400 miles would have this problem. I checked all the obvious cause for this condition but I could not find anything obviuos such as blown fuse, etc. Searching on line I found this was a common problem and people said a temporary fix was to disconnect the battery and retighten. This did work for the time but soon it did the same thing on New Years Eve and after supper we had to drive home with no dash lights. On 01/04/2025 the lights were out and error messages kept appearing. On 01/06/2025 I called the dealer service because of the safety problem and asked to speak to the manager and I have still not heard from him. My wife now refuses to drive the car and I understand why.