Kia Soul
Problems & Worst Years

Six model years of the Kia Soul appear in this data, and in every one of them, the top reported problems trace back almost exclusively to the engine — a remarkably consistent pattern across half a decade of production. The worst by volume is 2016, with 435 total complaints, more than half of which split between engine stalling at idle tied to catalytic converter failure (155 reports, safety severity) and excessive oil consumption and burning (148 reports, also safety severity); catalytic converter failure shows up a second time on its own (16 reports), and engine knocking with loss of power adds 16 more. Recall 19V120 applies to this model year. The following year, 2017, carries the highest safety-tagged complaint count of any Soul year at six, built from engine failure paired with check-engine-light activation (41 reports), excessive oil burning (32), rod knocking (32, safety severity), misfiring combined with knocking (31, also safety severity), and overheating (20).

Oil consumption and stalling persisted through 2018 (34 and 35 reports respectively, plus a check-engine-light complaint at 30) and 2019 (15 reports of severe oil consumption, 13 of stalling or power loss), then surged back up in 2020 to 246 total complaints — oil consumption leading to engine failure alone accounted for 62 of them, with stalling tied to the stop-start system adding 32 and a transmission failure causing the vehicle to stall contributing 20, the one non-engine complaint to crack the top five in six years. The 2021 model, with 138 total complaints and six safety-tagged entries, kept stop-start stalling (16 reports) and multiple wordings of oil consumption (8, 8, 7, and 6 reports) at the top of its list; recalls 21V259 and 25V099 apply to both the 2020 and 2021 models.

Given how uniformly oil consumption, stalling, and catalytic converter or engine failure show up across every model year sampled here, this is a car where an oil-consumption history and independent engine inspection deserve real attention regardless of year — while keeping in mind that these are owner-filed reports, not a measured failure rate, and that verified service records tell more of the story than the model year alone.