2011 Kia Soul
This year drew an ordinary 193 complaints for a Kia Soul — the model's median is 288. What they were about is the unusual part: 6.2% of them mention horn, against 0.8% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 1 of the Kia Soul, which began in 2010 and ran to 2013. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 193 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 288 |
| Involving a crash | 27 |
| Involving a fire | 5 |
| Recalls | 3 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 4/5 |
| EPA combined | 26.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- horn — 6.2% of this year's complaints, against 0.8% across the other years of this generation (8.2×). Owners wrote it as: horn, works, horn work, horn only.
- switch — 8.8% of this year's complaints, against 2.7% across the other years of this generation (3.2×). Owners wrote it as: switch, esc, illuminate, stays.
- window — 6.7% of this year's complaints, against 2.4% across the other years of this generation (2.8×). Owners wrote it as: window, shattered, rear window, spontaneously.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
BRAKE LIGHT WILL NOT ILLUMINATE WHEN DEPRESSED. BREAK LIGHT SWITCH NOT FUNCTIONING PROPERLY. ESC/STABILITY CONTROL LIGHT STAYS ON CONTINUOUS WHILE CAR IS IN MOTION OR STOPPED. TAIL LIGHTS BURN OUT EVERY 6-12 MONTH, AS WELL AS HEAD LAMPS BURNING OUT OFTEN.
HAD JUST STARTED DRIVING STRAIGHT ON A NEIGHBORHOOD STREET, HADN'T EVEN SHIFTED INTO 4 TH GEAR, AND THE REAR WINDOW SPONTANEOUSLY SHATTERED. NO INTENSE HEAT OR COLD, NO FLYING DEBRIS.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 14V822000 STRUCTURE Fixed free of charge.
- 13V114000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 23V652000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Kia Soul was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2011 Kia Soul? What happened to yours?
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