Kia Soul Ev
Problems & Worst Years

The Soul EV's complaint file opens with a striking 2016 model year: 531 total complaints, the highest single-year total in this batch, split mainly between catalytic converter failure (177 reports, high severity) and excessive oil consumption (113 reports, safety severity), with additional stalling tied to the stop-start system (22), general stalling and loss of power (19), and overheating paired with low oil pressure (18) filling out the top five. Two recall campaigns, 20V389 and 23V724, apply to this model year.

The pattern eased considerably by 2018, when total complaints dropped to 123 across 13 problem types. Oil consumption and stalling with loss of power were essentially tied at the top, each reported 21 times, followed by engine light illumination paired with malfunction (19), knocking tied to failure (15), and engine seizure (13) — the last two both rated high severity. Recalls 23V218 and 23V724 cover this year. By 2019, oil consumption and stalling with loss of power had both climbed back to 25 reports each, and four complaints that year were tagged at safety severity, including an engine catastrophic failure logged 8 times. Recall 23V218 also applies to the 2019 model.

Across all three years, oil consumption and stalling or loss of power are the two complaints that show up consistently, making them the most important things to ask about or test for during a pre-purchase inspection — along with confirming that the relevant recalls have actually been completed on any specific vehicle. As always, these numbers reflect what owners reported to NHTSA rather than a guaranteed failure rate, and a car closer to its debut year has had less time to accumulate its own complaint record, so a full service history should weigh more heavily than the model year by itself.