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What 800 owners told NHTSA about the 2016 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.

All (800)Crash / fire / injury (64)Engine (545)Engine & cooling (104)Fuel system (79)Transmission & drivetrain (64)Electrical system (57)Speed control (31)Steering (30)Brakes (20)Body & structure (18)Lights (18)

4 of 800 complaints match · Speed control · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

Feb 21, 2024Speed controlCrash

The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact was parking the vehicle when it inadvertently accelerated resulting in crashing into a store. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact mentioned that the brake pedal was depressed and that the accelerator pedal was not accidentally depressed. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard where the insurance company adjusted the vehicle's exterior damage. The vehicle was later towed to Caliber to assess internal damages. The air bags in the vehicle failed to deploy. There were no injuries and no property damage. A police report was filed. The contact notified the manufacturer of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 195,000.

NHTSA ODI 11573135

Jun 3, 2019Transmission & drivetrainSpeed controlEngineFire

ON SUNDAY, MAY 26TH, 2019, OUR KIA SOUL CAUGHT FIRE AS WE WERE DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY. MY FAMILY WAS IN THE CAR WHEN MY HUSBAND FELT THE CAR LOSE POWER. WE HEARD A KNOCKING SOUND BETWEEN US AND UNDER US, FORWARD BETWEEN OUR SEATS AND THE ENGINE. MY HUSBAND SAW SMOKE AS HE PULLED OVER ON THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY. A FEW SECONDS AFTER WE PULLED OVER, WE SAW FLAMES ERUPT FROM THE HOOD OF THE CAR. WE GOT OUR THREE KIDS OUT OF THE CAR AS FAST AS WE COULD AND RAN FROM THE CAR. WE CALLED 911 AND THE FIRE DEPARTMENT AND POLICE CAME TO PUT OUT THE FIRE AND DIRECT TRAFFIC, AS AT LEAST ONE LANE WAS CLOSED. IN THE TIME IT TOOK FOR THE FIRST RESPONDERS TO ARRIVE, OUR CAR EXPLODED INTO A FIRE BALL.

NHTSA ODI 11217487

May 28, 2019Electrical systemSpeed controlSeats3 injuries

WHEN I PRESS THE GAS THE VOLTAGE IS HIGH AND AMPLIFIER MY HEART FEELS AS IF ITS GOING TO BURST MY KIDS NOSE BLEED AND THEY GET SICK WHEN AIR IS ON THE SMELL IS BAD IN CRUISE CONTROL AROUND CERTAIN VEHICLES IS SPEEDS UP ON ITS ON...I'VE NOTICED ALTERED PARTS AND THE INSURANCE INFO IS ALTERED MY BOYFRIEND [XXX] BOUGHT CAR 11/2019 FROM KIA OF GREER ONLY ONE OWNER THE MILEAGE ON PAPERS IS WRONG AND SO IT IS ONLINE...I HEAR SOMEONE IN AND OUT CAR AT NIGHTS BOYFRIEND SAID LEAVE IT ALONE MISSING ID SOCIAL BIRTHCERTIFCATES OIT DASH WHEN RUNNING OUT TO SEE WHO WAS AT CAR DOOR WAS LEFT OPENED THE CENTER OF MY HEAD BURNS WHEN DRIVING THE VEHICLE BECAME DIZZY 1/2019 ALMOST FEEL ASLEEP THE THING IS THE VEHICLE IS IN HIS NAME NOT MINE BUT INSURANCE HAS HIS DISABLED BROTHER DOWN AS PRIMARY DRIVER MY DRIVERS RECORD IS WRONG MY MOTHER ACCIDENTS OR ON MINE HER PHONE AND BREACHED OLD EMAIL WAS ON THE ACCOUNT ME AND KIDS ARE VICTIMS OF FOREIGN ORGANIZED CRIMES... INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

NHTSA ODI 11210227

Jun 12, 2017Speed controlCrash

THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL BROKE IN HALF AND SOMEHOW STUCK ON. [XXX] WAS UNABLE TO STOP THE VEHICLE AND IT JUMPED OFF A THREE FOOT WALL, RAN THROUGH A WOODEN FENCE AND HIT THE BRICK WALL OF AN APARTMENT BUILDING. DAMAGE WAS EXTENSIVE, BUT COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH WORSE. THE 2014 AND 2015 MODELS HAVE BEEN RECALLED FOR BREAKING ACCELERATOR PEDALS, HOWEVER THE 2016 HAS NOT BEEN INCLUDED IN THE RECALL. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

NHTSA ODI 10994478

Working with the data? Download all 800 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 2016 Kia Soul verdict →