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What 512 owners told NHTSA about the 2012 Kia Soul
These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.
1 of 512 complaints match · Lights · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters
Jul 12, 2021LightsFire
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Soul. The contact stated there was an abnormal fuel odor inside of the vehicle. Additionally, the brake lights were inoperable prior to replacing the rear taillight housings. After replacing the brake lamp housings, the contact became aware that the brake lamps remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the abs module failed and needed to be replaced. The contact was warned that the vehicle was at risk of catching on fire. The dealer also informed the contact that the vehicle was smoking, and the wires were melting. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and confirmed that the vehicle was not covered by recall or warranty. The approximate failure mileage 109,000.
NHTSA ODI 11424409
Working with the data? Download all 512 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 10, 2026
How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your
pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the
full 2012 Kia Soul verdict →