Model-year matrix

Kia Soul
which year?

Compare every Kia Soul model year the EPA recorded, 2010 to 2025. See complaint patterns, fuel economy and configurations side by side, then open any year for recall campaigns and the full dossier. Confirm against the official NHTSA recall search.

Evidence-led answer

Looking for the best Kia Soul year—or years to avoid?

The official records cannot honestly name a best, worst or most reliable year. Complaint totals have no sales, mileage or age denominator. They can show where more reports were filed and which components were named, giving you years to investigate more closely before checking the exact car and its VIN.

What is the best year for the Kia Soul?

No official dataset can support one universal best year. Use the table to compare complaint patterns and EPA figures, then open the shortlisted years for recall campaigns and exact specifications.

Which Kia Soul years should you avoid?

The records cannot justify a blanket avoid label. Years with more reports are surfaced below as research priorities, not predictions about every car from that year.

01 · More reports to inspect2015

896 indexed complaint reports; engine is the most-reported component label.

Open the 2015 dossier →02 · More reports to inspect2014

893 indexed complaint reports; engine is the most-reported component label.

Open the 2014 dossier →03 · More reports to inspect2016

798 indexed complaint reports; engine is the most-reported component label.

Open the 2016 dossier →

Do not read this as an avoid list. Older and higher-selling model years usually accumulate more reports. A low count can also mean a newer, rarer or poorly matched vehicle—not a safer one.

Read this as evidence, not a ranking.

Complaint totals are counts of owner-submitted allegations, not confirmed defects, and they carry no denominator: they are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, how old they are, how far they are driven, or how much publicity a fault received. A high-volume or older year will usually show more reports than a rare or recent one. The site does not convert these into a reliability score, because the data needed to do that honestly is not in the public record.

Direct comparison

Compare two Kia Soul model years.

Choose any two years. The URL keeps the pair so you can return to the same comparison. Every figure below is an observed official record or EPA estimate—not a reliability score.

First model year

2024 Kia Soul

NHTSA complaint allegations: 29
Combined EPA economy: 30–31 mpg/MPGe
EPA configurations: 2
Annual EPA fuel-cost estimate: $2,000–2,050
Fuel labels: Regular Gasoline

Most-reported component labelselectrical system 9unknown or other 8forward collision avoidance 5

Open the 2024 evidence dossier →

Second model year

2025 Kia Soul

NHTSA complaint allegations: 12
Combined EPA economy: 30–31 mpg/MPGe
EPA configurations: 2
Annual EPA fuel-cost estimate: $2,000–2,050
Fuel labels: Regular Gasoline

Most-reported component labelsexterior lighting 4unknown or other 3forward collision avoidance 2

Open the 2025 evidence dossier →

Observed complaint-record difference

2025 has 17 fewer indexed complaint allegations than 2024.

This is not a rate or reliability finding. The counts have no sales, mileage, age or exposure denominator, and newer years have had less time to accumulate reports.

Side by side

Kia Soul by year.

Complaint bars are scaled against this model’s own highest year, so they compare years with each other and with nothing else.

Kia Soul model years with NHTSA complaint totals, most-reported components, EPA fuel economy and configuration counts
Year	Complaints	Most-reported components	Combined MPG	EPA configs	Annual fuel cost	Dossier
2025	12	exterior lighting 4unknown or other 3forward collision avoidance 2	30–31	2	$2,000–2,050	Dossier →
2024	29	electrical system 9unknown or other 8forward collision avoidance 5	30–31	2	$2,000–2,050	Dossier →
2023	48	electrical system 12engine 12unknown or other 12	30–31	2	$2,000–2,050	Dossier →
2022	88	engine 51engine and engine cooling 19power train 12	29–31	3	$2,000–2,100	Dossier →
2021	228	engine 129engine and engine cooling 47power train 26	27–31	4	$2,000–2,300	Dossier →
2020	370	engine 230power train 88unknown or other 50	27–114	5	$650–2,300	Dossier →
2019	134	engine 86unknown or other 19air bags 14	27–108	5	$700–2,300	Dossier →
2018	213	engine 135power train 31unknown or other 30	27–108	5	$700–2,300	Dossier →
2017	270	engine 190unknown or other 32electrical system 19	27–105	5	$700–2,300	Dossier →
2016	798	engine 549unknown or other 116engine and engine cooling 107	26–105	5	$700–2,350	Dossier →
2015	896	engine 627unknown or other 107fuel/propulsion system 76	26–105	5	$700–2,350	Dossier →
2014	893	engine 548exterior lighting 130electrical system 98	26	4	$2,350	Dossier →
2013	660	engine 282steering 150electrical system 71	25–28	6	$2,200–2,450	Dossier →
2012	514	engine 209steering 166unknown or other 39	25–28	6	$2,200–2,450	Dossier →
2011	193	electrical system 32service brakes, hydraulic 32air bags 25	26–28	4	$2,200–2,350	Dossier →
2010	134	electrical system 25structure 22air bags 20	26–28	4	$2,200–2,350	Dossier →

Evidence snapshot generated August 25, 2026. “Not indexed” means NHTSA holds no complaint record matching this exact year, make and model — not that no fault occurred. Recall campaigns are not summarised here: NHTSA publishes no bulk recall dataset, and fetching them per year would take longer than the page should. Each year’s dossier shows its recalls in full, live from NHTSA.