RecallRadar

Home → Kia → Soul → 2023

2023 Kia Soul Recalls & Complaints

4

open safety recalls on record

Critical

86 owner complaints filed · Severity Index 2.64 · updated 2026-08-07

The recalls

Critical23V531000 Park outside

Power Train:Automatic Transmission:Fluid/Lubricant:Pump

electric oil pump assembly that overheats raises the risk of a vehicle fire.

Remedy & full details

Owners are advised to park outside and away from structures until the recall repair is complete. Dealers will inspect and replace the electric oil pump controller, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed September 28, 2023. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC275.

Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023 Soul, Sportage, and 2023-2024 Seltos vehicles. The electronic controller for the Idle Stop & Go oil pump assembly may contain damaged electrical components that can cause the pump to overheat.

Critical25V099000

Engine And Engine Cooling:Engine:Hard Parts Internal/Mechanical

Engine damage can cause a vehicle stall or fire, raises the risk of a crash or injury.

Remedy & full details

Dealers will inspect and replace the engine as necessary, free of charge. Dealers will also install piston-ring noise sensing system (PNSS) software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed April 4, 2025. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC336.

Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2021-2023 Seltos and Soul vehicles. The piston oil rings may have been manufactured incorrectly, which can result in engine damage.

Serious23V298000

Electrical System: Instrument Cluster/Panel

blank instrument cluster display will not show critical information, such as tire pressure, warning messages, and warning lights, raises the risk of a crash.

Remedy & full details

Dealers will update the instrument cluster software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 26, 2023. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC270.

Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023 Sportage, Sportage Hybrid, Sportage Plug-in Hybrid, Niro Hybrid, Niro Plug-in Hybrid, Soul, and Telluride vehicles equipped with a digital instrument cluster containing a 4.2" LCD screen.  The instrument cluster may fail to display any information when the vehicle is started.  As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard numbers 101, "Control and Displays," and 138, "Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems."

Serious23V830000

Air Bags

air bag that deploys unexpectedly can raises the risk of injury or crash.

Remedy & full details

Dealers will inspect and replace both side curtain air bag modules as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 31, 2024. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC289.

Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023 Soul and 2024 Seltos vehicles. Due to a manufacturing error, the side curtain air bags may deploy unexpectedly.

Complaint volume

86 this model-year 9 median, same year

Volume alone is not a fault rate — popular vehicles attract more reports. Read it next to the severity mix below.

What owners reported happened

12Crashes
3Fires
41Injuries
3Deaths

Across 86 complaints. Severity Index 2.64.

Severity Index weights each complaint's reported outcome (death ×10, injury ×4, fire ×3, crash ×2) and divides by total complaints. It measures how severe reports are, not how often faults occur.

What owners report most

Engine12 · 14%Unknown Or Other12 · 14%Electrical System11 · 13%Steering8 · 9%Service Brakes7 · 8%Air Bags5 · 6%Power Train4 · 5%Forward Collision Avoidan…3 · 3%
  1. Engine — 12 reports
  2. Unknown Or Other — 12 reports
  3. Electrical System — 11 reports
  4. Steering — 8 reports
  5. Service Brakes — 7 reports
  6. Air Bags — 5 reports
  7. Power Train — 4 reports
  8. Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings — 3 reports
  9. Exterior Lighting — 3 reports
  10. Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking — 3 reports

What to do

  1. Find your 17-character VIN on the driver's door jamb or the base of the windscreen.
  2. Check it against NHTSA's official lookup at nhtsa.gov/recalls — the authoritative record for your exact car.
  3. Book the repair with any franchised dealer. Safety recall work is free, with no time limit and regardless of who owns the car now.

Other model years

2010 (3) · 2011 (3) · 2012 (3) · 2013 (3) · 2014 (5) · 2015 (4) · 2016 (2) · 2017 (1) · 2018 (1) · 2019 (1) · 2020 (1) · 2021 (2) · 2022 (1) · 2023 · 2024 · 2025

Numbers in brackets are open recall campaigns for that year.

Questions

Does an open recall mean the car is unsafe to drive?

Not usually. NHTSA issues a "do not drive" or "park outside" advisory when a defect is dangerous enough to keep you out of the car — those are flagged Critical above. Everything else should be repaired promptly but is not an immediate stop-driving order.

Do I pay for recall repairs?

No. Federal law requires the manufacturer to fix a safety recall free of charge, including parts and labour, whether or not you are the original owner.

Why are there complaints but no recalls?

Complaints are unverified reports filed by owners. They can prompt an investigation, but many never become recalls — either the fault isn't safety-related or it isn't widespread.

From the same data desk

Independent sites, same maintainer, same open-data standards.

TireFit
Is that tyre actually right for your car?
2,808 fitment guides
FuelFacts
What that trip really costs in fuel
Live consumption data
CostCompare
What things cost, city by city
2,123 comparisons