2020 Kia Soul problems & reliability
366 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2020 Kia Soul, alongside 1 safety recall campaign. Last verified Aug 7, 2026. Complaints are unverified reports submitted by owners to the federal Office of Defects Investigation.
Each complaint is counted once (by NHTSA case number), even when it names several vehicles.
5 complaints report injuries (6 injured, 8 deaths reported).
Federal crash records (FARS 2020–2023): 2020 Kia Soul vehicles were involved in 91 fatal crashes with 53 occupant deaths. Involvement counts are not adjusted for how many are on the road and do not imply fault or a vehicle defect.
Most reported problems
| Component | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Engine | 227 | 62% |
| Power Train | 88 | 24% |
| Unknown OR Other | 50 | 14% |
| Electrical System | 27 | 7% |
| Steering | 16 | 4% |
| Fuel/propulsion System | 15 | 4% |
| Vehicle Speed Control | 13 | 4% |
| Service Brakes | 10 | 3% |
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 9 | 2% |
| Structure | 8 | 2% |
Component groups as classified by NHTSA. A complaint can name more than one component, so shares may sum to more than 100%.
Common symptoms owners describe
Keyword analysis of complaint narratives; one complaint can describe several symptoms.
Mileage when problems occurred
Half of the failures with a reported odometer reading occurred by 14,000 miles (middle 50% between 6,880 and 40,653 miles), based on 147 complaints that included mileage.
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“The engine shut down unexpectedly while driving. The dealer confirmed it was due to internal oil consumption. There's a known history of engine failure in these vehicles due to manufacturing defect, including shutting down while driving, noise coming from the engine and even a risk of fire. The warning oil lamp never…”
Engine · filed Aug 3, 2026
“I want to make a complaint about my 2020 Kia Soul. It is a great car, but the white paint will not stay on the car no matter what I do. It keeps flaking off all over the car. Just recently, it was my right passenger side door. It looks horrible. The car is under a car loan and is loosing paint as I pay off. I want to…”
Unknown OR Other · filed Jul 27, 2026
“The contact owns a 2020 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled without warning while releasing the accelerator pedal. The vehicle restarted after each failure. The first dealer diagnosed the vehicle and retrieved DTC: P04100 (Camshaft Position Sensor A Circuit)…”
Engine and Engine Cooling · filed Jul 21, 2026
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Federal defect investigations
- Loss of Motive Power
Defect Petition DP22003 · opened Sep 12, 2022 · closed Dec 12, 2023
Technical service bulletins
138 manufacturer communications (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 2020 Kia Soul. The 10 most recent:
TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: THEFT DETERRENT IGNITION: CYLINDER PROTECTOR & DECAL INSTALLATION (CS2311) - This bulletin has been revised to include additional information. New/revised sections of…
CS2311_TSB_R4 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jun 9, 2026
TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: THEFT DETERRENT IGNITION CYLINDER PROTECTOR AND DECAL INSTALLATION (CS2312) - This bulletin has been revised to include additional information. New/revised sections of…
CS2312_TSB_R2 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jun 8, 2026
TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: KEY AND CYLINDER SET REPLACEMENT - This bulletin provides information to replace the driver’s door lock and trunk lid key cylinders on some 2019-2024MY Kia vehicles listed below. On affected…
TSB_BOD336 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jun 4, 2026
VOLUNTARY EMISSIONS SERVICE CAMPAIGN: OWNER RENOTIFICATION (SC199 FL301) - This document is the owner renotification advising that Kia is conducting Voluntary Service Campaign to update the software programming on the…
SC199_OWNR_SK3_3 · Emissions · issued Feb 19, 2026
TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: THEFT DETERRENT IGNITION CYLINDER PROTECTOR AND DECAL INSTALLATION (CS2312) - This bulletin has been revised to include additional information. New/revised sections of…
TSB_CS2312_R1 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Feb 19, 2026
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION CAMPAIGN: POSTCARD OWNER RENOTIFICATION (CS2311) - This document is the owner renotification advising that Kia is conducting Customer Satisfaction Campaign. Kia has developed a new zinc-reinforced…
CS2311_OWNR_PC201 · Other · issued Dec 19, 2025
TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: THEFT DETERRENT IGNITION CYLINDER PROTECTOR AND DECAL INSTALLATION (CS2312) - This bulletin provides information to install a Theft Deterrent Ignition Cylinder…
TSB_CS2312 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Dec 18, 2025
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION CAMPAIGN: OWNER NOTIFICATION (CS2312) - This document is the owner notification advising that Kia is conducting Customer Satisfaction Campaign. A software upgrade that addresses the social media…
CS2312_OWNR · Other · issued Dec 17, 2025
PITSTOP: TECHNICAL OPERATIONS: EXTERNAL DAMAGE TO ULTRASONIC SENSOR: This Pitstop provides information related to Parking Distance Warning (PDW) alerts and repairs involving ultrasonic sensors. The PDW system alerts the…
PS797 · Other · issued Dec 9, 2025
TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: HORN ASSEMBLY INSPECTION/REPLACEMENT (WTY041) - This bulletin has been revised to include additional information. New/revised sections of this bulletin are indicated by a black bar in the…
WTY041_TSB_R1 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Sep 11, 2025
TSBs are repair guidance manufacturers send to dealers — they are not recalls and repairs are not automatically free. Full documents are available on NHTSA’s site.
Safety recalls
The 2020 Kia Soul has 1 NHTSA recall campaign — recall repairs are free at franchised dealers regardless of the vehicle’s age.
Check whether your specific vehicle is affected
Recall campaigns often cover only certain VIN ranges. Enter your VIN on the official NHTSA site to confirm whether your vehicle is included and whether the repair is still open.
Check VIN on NHTSA →Buying a used 2020 Kia Soul?
- · Decode the seller’s VIN with our free VIN decoder to confirm the exact year, engine and trim.
- · Check for unrepaired recalls by VIN on NHTSA’s official lookup — recall repairs are free.
- · Owners most often reported problems around 14,000 miles — budget accordingly if the car is approaching that mileage.