Clean Feeds
Home › Recalls › Kia › Soul › 2010

2010 Kia Soul recalls, complaints and safety ratings

There are 3 US recalls for the 2010 Kia Soul, and 5 in Canada. Owners filed 135 complaints with NHTSA, most often about electrical system.

3US recalls
0urgent recalls
135owner complaints
–overall crash rating

Is your car affected?

Check by VIN to confirm the exact model and see every recall for it.

Recalls are issued for a make, model and model year. Whether the repair has already been done on one specific car is known only to its manufacturer and dealers. Check your vehicle's official status at nhtsa.gov/recalls or with a dealer.

US recalls (3)

Structure: body, roof and pillars

2014-12-29 · campaign 14V822000 · 95,314 vehicles

Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain model year 2010-2013 Kia Soul vehicles manufactured January 8, 2009, to October 2, 2013, equipped with a sun roof. A headliner plate may detach during deployment of the curtain air bag.

Risk and remedy

Risk: A detached headliner plate may increase the risk of injury to the occupant during a vehicle crash.

Remedy: Kia will notify owners, and dealers will install industrial adhesive strips to secure the headliner plates, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin February 2, 2015. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC112.

Exterior lighting: brake lights, switch

2013-04-01 · campaign 13V114000 · 980,377 vehicles

Kia Motors Corporation (Kia) is recalling certain model year 2007-2010 Rondo, model year 2007-2011 Sedona, Sorento and Sportage, model year 2010-2011 Soul, model year 2008-2011 Optima, model year 2010 Forte, model year 2007-2009 Amanti, and model year 2009 Borrego vehicles. Originally, in April 2013, Kia recalled 623,658 model year 2007-2010 Rondo and Sportage, model year 2007-2011 Sorento, model year 2007 Sedona, model year 2010-2011 Soul, and model year 2011 Optima vehicles. In September 2013, Kia informed the agency that it was adding an additional 356,719 vehicles to this campaign. The total number of vehicles being recalled is now 980,377. In the affected vehicles, the stop lamp switch may malfunction. A malfunctioning stop lamp switch may cause the brake lights to not illuminate when the brake pedal is depressed or may cause an inability to deactivate the cruise control by depressing the brake pedal. Additionally, a malfunctioning stop lamp switch may also result in intermittent operation of the push-button start feature, affect the operation of the brake-transmission shift interlock feature preventing the shifter from being moved out of the PARK position and cause the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) malfunction light to illuminate.

Risk and remedy

Risk: Failure to illuminate the stop lamps during braking or inability to disengage the cruise control could increase the risk of a crash. Additionally, when the ignition is in the 'ON' position, the transmission shifter may be able to be moved out of PARK without first applying the brake. This may lead to unintentional movement of the car which may increase the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Kia will send an interim notification to owners in May 2013. When parts are available, owners will receive a second notification and dealers will replace the stop lamp switch, free of charge. Owners may contact Kia at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's recall campaign number is SC098.

Electrical system: wiring

2010-08-31 · campaign 10V388000 · 35,185 vehicles

KIA IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2010 SOUL AND MODEL YEAR 2011 SORENTO VEHICLES MANUFACTURED FROM SEPTEMBER 7, 2009 THROUGH JULY 30, 2010. A LIMITED NUMBER OF WIRING HARNESSES SUPPLIED BY JCI AND USED FOR THE LIGHTING IN THE KIA SOUL VEHICLE'S ADVANCED LIGHTING SPEAKERS, LOCATED IN THE FRONT DOOR TRIM PANELS, AND THE KIA SORENTO VEHICLE'S INTERIOR ACCENT ILLUMINATION, LOCATED IN THE FRONT AND REAR DOOR TRIM PANELS, MAY HAVE BEEN IMPROPERLY SOLDERED.

Risk and remedy

Risk: WHEN THE LIGHTS ARE ILLUMINATED UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS, AN ELECTRICAL SHORT MAY OCCUR THAT CAN RESULT IN A FIRE.

Remedy: DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE WIRING HARNESSES FOR THE LIGHTS IN THE KIA SOUL VEHICLE'S ADVANCED LIGHTING SPEAKERS, AND THE WIRING HARNESS FOR THE KIA SORENTO VEHICLE'S INTERIOR ACCENT ILLUMINATION. THIS SERVICE WILL BE PERFORMED FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON SEPTEMBER 13, 2010. OWNERS MAY CONTACT KIA CONSUMER ASSISTANCE CENTER AT 1-800-333-4542.

Canadian recalls (5)

Show 5 Canadian recalls

Label

2024-08-15 · campaign 2024-549

Issue: On certain vehicles, the compliance label may be missing information in French. The words listed on the label for "Tires", "Rims", "Front" and "Rear" appear in English only, when they should be listed as "Tires/Pneus", "Rims/Jantes", "Front/Avant" and "Rear/Arriere". Canadian regulations require this information to be listed on the label in both English and French. Safety Risk: These small errors do not affect vehicle safety. Corrective Actions: This is not a recall. Kia has corrected the compliance label for all new vehicles.

Seats and restraints

2017-09-28 · campaign 2017-469

On certain vehicles equipped with heated cloth seats, over time, the wiring for the seat heater mats could become damaged. If a heating mat were to be damaged, it could melt a small hole in the lower portion of the seat base or backrest, which could result in injury to the seat occupant. Correction: Dealers will attach a patch on the seat cushion and seat back heater bridge side and adjust the positioning. If there are traces of burning or melting during the inspection, dealers will replace the heater with a new one and adjust the bridge wire side positioning.

Airbag

2014-12-23 · campaign 2014-591

On certain vehicles equipped with sunroofs, headliner plates may detach from the headliner during a side curtain airbag deployment and could strike vehicle occupants. This could increase the risk of injury. Correction: Dealers will apply adhesive strips to the headliner plates.

Brakes

2013-04-03 · campaign 2013-098

On certain vehicles, the stop lamp switch may fail and cause intermittent operation of the brake lights. Failure of the brake lights to illuminate when the brake pedal is depressed could result in a crash causing property damage and/or personal injury. Correction: Dealers will replace the switch.

Electrical

2010-09-02 · campaign 2010-290

On certain vehicles the wiring harness used for the Advanced Lighting Speakers located in the front door trim panels may have been improperly soldered. As a result, when the lights are illuminated under certain conditions, an electrical short may ensue and can result in a fire. Correction: Dealers will replace the affected harness.

Owner complaints (135)

Owners filed 135 complaints with NHTSA about the 2010 Kia Soul (23 crashes, 15 fires, 19 injuries reported). Among 16 model years of this model, it ranks #12 for the most complaints (median 239).

Most-reported problemComplaints
Electrical system24
Structure21
Air bags21
Steering12
Power train11
Service brakes11
Unknown or other11
Visibility10

Crash test ratings

NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings for the 2010 Kia Soul.

VersionOverallFrontalSideRollover
2010 Kia Soul 4-DR. w/SAB––––

Fuel economy

EPA ratings for each 2010 Kia Soul version.

VersionCity MPGHighway MPGCombinedYearly fuel cost
Soul 1.6 L Automatic 4-spd263128$2,400
Soul 1.6 L Manual 5-spd263128$2,400
Soul 2.0 L Automatic 4-spd243026$2,600
Soul 2.0 L Manual 5-spd243026$2,600
Need this data in your app?
Recalls, complaints, crash ratings and fuel economy as a JSON API. Decode up to 50 VINs per call and get a daily feed of new recalls.
Explore the API →

Sources: NHTSA recalls, complaints and 5-Star Safety Ratings, US EPA fuel economy and Transport Canada's Vehicle Recalls Database (contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada). Recalls updated 2026-10-30.