2020 Kia Soul problems & reliability
378 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2020 Kia Soul, alongside 1 safety recall campaign. Last verified Sep 21, 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 components.
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 → | 235 | 62% |
| Power Train → | 89 | 24% |
| Unknown / Other | 52 | 14% |
| Electrical System → | 28 | 7% |
| Steering → | 16 | 4% |
| Fuel/propulsion System → | 15 | 4% |
| Vehicle Speed Control → | 14 | 4% |
| Engine and Engine Cooling → | 11 | 3% |
| Service Brakes → | 10 | 3% |
| Structure → | 10 | 3% |
Component groups as classified by NHTSA. A complaint can name more than one component, so shares may sum to more than 100%.
All 23 reported components →Common symptoms owners describe
Keyword analysis of complaint narratives; one complaint can describe several symptoms.
Mileage when problems occurred
Among the 150 complaints that included a usable odometer reading, the median reported incident mileage was 14,630 miles (middle 50% between 6,969 and 51,800 miles).
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“I’m having trouble with my pearl white paint peeling off my car. I am available for an inspection. The car has not inspected by anyone at this time. Waiting on instructions. This started last year July and just keeps getting worse every day.”
Structure · filed Sep 16, 2026
“This car was purchased in December of 2025 with 26K miles on it. There are stall issues when using the auto start stop feature. I had to power down the car and restart it up to get the car to move. It also will throw the check engine light code and then after you drive it, it goes away which makes it difficult to take…”
Unknown / Other · filed Sep 11, 2026
“I own a 2020 Kia Soul with approximately 39,000 miles. I brought the vehicle to an authorized Kia dealer in connection with an engine safety recall (sc209). During the recall process, the engine failed Kia’s required testing, and I was advised that engine replacement was being submitted for approval. Kia subsequently…”
Engine · filed Sep 11, 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
139 manufacturer communications (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 2020 Kia Soul. The 10 most recent:
TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: MISFIRE CONCERN DUE TO OVERRUNNING ALTERNATOR DECOUPLER - This bulletin provides information to address unresolved misfire events on some 2020–2024MY Forte (BDm) produced from January 1, 2019…
TSB_ENG263 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 5, 2026
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
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.
- · Among complaints with usable mileage, the median reported incident mileage was 14,630 miles. This does not predict when a particular vehicle will develop a problem.