There are 14 owner-reported body & structure complaints for the 2010 Kia Soulin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
SUN ROOF FALLS OUT OF TRACKS
PASSENGER SIDE FRONT DOOR LOCK WOULD UNLOCK INTERMITTENTLY INITIALLY FOR THE FIRST FEW YEARS AND NOW DOES NOT UNLOCK AT ALL WHEN USING THE KEY FOB AND SINCE THERE IS NO MANUAL KEY-LOCK CYLINDER ANYWHERE EXCEPT ON THE DRIVER-SIDE DOOR, THIS FRONT DOOR CANNOT BE OPENED UNTIL AFTER THE DRIVER'S DOOR IS OPENED.
KIA SOUL 2010 PURCHASED IN MARCH 2010. THE CLIPS TO MY FRONT BUMPER HAVE ALL BROKEN AND IT WAS GLUED ON SO IT WILL STAY ON UNTIL OUR MECHANIC PUT BOLTS TO HOLD IT BETTER. DEALERSHIP WOULD NOT FIX IT SINCE THEY STATED I WAS IN AN ACCIDENT, BUT I WAS NOT IN ONE. THE BUMPER STARTED FALLING OFF BEFORE 10,000 MILES. THERE ARE NO DENTS OR DINGS IN THE FRONT BUMPER AREA. THE ANTI-LOCK BRAKES LOCKED UP AFTER I HAD BY FOOT ON THE BRAKES FOR AN EXTENDED AMOUNT OF TIME. THIS HAPPENED AT ABOUT 11K MILES. THE TRANSMISSION DOES NOT ALWAYS SHIFT WHEN IT SHOULD. THE BRAKE RELAY WAS FIXED BY THE DEALERSHIP. THE BRAKES DID HAVE A SMALL FIRE WHEN I MOVED IT NOT REALIZING IT WAS THE BRAKES. I ASSUMED THE TRANSMISSION WAS GOING DUE TO OTHER ISSUES WE WERE HAVING WITH THE VEHICLE. THE SIDE WALL OF MY TIRE (NEXEN) HAD A HUGE HOLE AFTER THEY BLEW AT ABOUT 7500 MILES. THE DEALERSHIP DID NOT BALANCE OR ALIGN MY CAR PROPERLY. I ALSO HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT THEY ARE TO HURRY OIL CHANGES AND OTHER REPAIRS BY NOT COMPLETING ALL THE PROPER CHECKS BECAUSE THERE IS NOT ENOUGH MECHANICS. *TR
PURCHASED A 2010 KIA SOUL + EXACTLY ONE MONTH AGO, USED WITH 10,000 MILES. THE INTERIOR OF THIS VEHICLE IS OF SUCH LOW QUALITY, IT LOOKS LIKE IT HAS 100,000 MILES ON IT INSTEAD. NOT ONLY IS THE INTERIOR A POOR EXCUSE FOR THE CAR, SO IS THE EXTERIOR PAINT. CHIPS AND PEELING ARE NOT AN UNCOMMON PROBLEM WITH THE KIA SOUL. IN FACT, ALL OF THE SOULS I HAVE SEEN, HAVE HAD SOME SORT OF PAINT DAMAGE, NOT DUE TO DRIVING OR ABUSE, BUT TO THE NEGLECT OF NOT USING HIGH QUALITY PAINTS AND FINISHES TO THE SOUL. ALL IN ALL, THE KIA SOUL IS A FUN CAR, BUT I AM VERY UNSATISFIED WITH THE WORKMANSHIP AND QUALITY OF THE VEHICLE. *TR
THE INSIDE DOOR PANELS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE CAR ARE FULL OF SCRATCHES. THE PLASTIC PANELS SCRATCH TOO EASILY EVEN WITH EXTRA CAREFUL USE, THE PANELS LOOK LIKE THEY ARE 10 YEARS OLD. *TR
2010 KIA SOUL SPECIAL EDITION NUMBER ONE: ALL 4 PASSENGER DOORS HAVE MULTIPLE NICKS AND SCRATCHES ON THEIR INTERIOR, ESPECIALLY THE FRONT DOORS. THE SEATBELTS SCRATCH THE DOORS. THE PLASTIC INNER DOORS ARE TOO SOFT AND MAR TOO EASILY. *TR
I PURCHASED A 2010 KIA SOUL ! ON 12/31/2009 AND WITHIN 2 MONTHS I NOTICED 10 -12 PAINT CHIPS ON THE FRONT AND HOOD OF THE CAR. I DRIVE IN A CITY THAT ONLY SEE SOME SNOW AND SOME SALTED. SALTED ROADS SHOULD OF NOT CAUSED THIS MUCH PAINT CHIPPING. I ADDED A PAINT PROTECTION FILM TO THE FRONT OF THE CAR AT A COST OF $587 TO PROTECT MY INVESTMENT. LATER I LEARNED THAT THIS IS A PROBLEM WITH THIS MODEL. CONTACTED KIA CONSUMER AFFAIRS ABOUT THE ISSUE TO AND ASKED TO REGISTER THE COMPLIANT, THEY STATED THEY HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THE ISSUE. I ASKED THEM TO HELP OVER THE COST OF THE PROTECTION SYSTEM, THEY STATED THEY WOULD ONLY DO THAT IF THE DEALER INSTALLED IT, WHICH MY WAS NOT. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THAT THE PAINT ISSUE IS CORRECTED AND CONPENSATED FOR THE COST I SPENT ON THE PROTECTION FILM. *TR
DEEP SCRATCHES TO PILLARS, DOORS, GLOVE BOX, DASH BOARD AND CENTER CONSOLE DUE TO THE MATERIAL USED IN THE MANUFACTURING OF THE VEHICLES INTERIOR. AT 3000 I BEGAN LETTING MY DEALERSHIP KNOW, THEY SAID THEY HAD NO IDEA, KIA AMERICA INSISTS THEY LET ALL THE DEALERSHIPS KNOW OF THE DEFECT. KIA AMERICA WILL NOT SUBMIT ANYTHING IN WRITING, THEY ONLY GIVE A REFERENCE NUMBER AND SAY THEY ARE WORKING ON THE PROBLEM. THEY HAVE WORKING ON A SOLUTION FOR CLOSE TO TWO YEARS, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. I CAN'T SELL OR TRADE MY CAR IN BECAUSE I HAVE SUFFERED SUCH A LOSS DUE TO THE DEPRECIATION OF MARKET VALUE. MY INTERIOR LOOKS LIKE IT IS 10 YEARS OLD, I NOTICED THE ISSUE AT 1000MILES AND NOW HAVE 9000MILES AND STILL NO WORD FROM KIA. *TR
I HAVE A 2010 KIA SOUL THAT THE INTERIOR DOOR PANELS SCRATCH VERY EASILY. PRIMARY ISSUE COME ABOUT AS A RESULT OF THE SEAT BELT STRIKING THE DOOR AS IT RETRACTS. *TR
THE INTERIOR PANELS ARE EASILY SCRATCHED AND THE CAR LOOK LIKE IT IS TEN YEARS OLD AND IT IS BARELY A YEAR OLD. IT HAS AFFECTED THE VALUE AS I WAS TOLD BY A SEPARATE DEALER THAT THE INTERIOR LOOKS "HORRIBLE" I NOTIFIED KIA AND THEY SAID A "FIX" WOULD BE AVAILABLE IN TWO MONTHS AND ALMOST A YEAR LATER KIA HAS NOT FIXED THE PROBLEM. *TR
I JUST PURCHASED A NEW 2010 KIA SOUL. I AM VERY CAREFUL AND TAKE EXCELLENT CARE OF MY CARS, BUT I HAVE TO SAY THE DOOR PANELS ON THIS VEHICLE TEND TO SCRATCH UP WITH THE SLIGHTEST TOUCH OF EVEN A FINGER NAIL. IT IS UNBELIEVABLE HOW HORRIBLE IT GETS WITH NORMAL WEAR, AND I CONSIDER MYSELF OBSESSIVELY CAREFUL WITH MY CARS AND ITS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO NOT SCRATCH THESE PANELS. HORRIBLE WORKMANSHIP TO THE POINT THAT IT MUST BE SOME SORT OF DEFECT. HAS ANYONE ELSE COMPLAINED ABOUT THIS ? MY PURCHASE DATE WAS 9/18/09 AND MY INTERIOR DOOR PANELS LOOK 5 YEARS OLD AND ABUSED. ALSO, THE FRONT END ON THIS CAR RUMBLES LIKE SOMETHING IS LOOSE, VERY SLOPPY SOUNDING FRONT END WHEN GOING OVER BUMPS. STEERING FEELS FINE BUT THE NOISE AND RUMBLING IS UNBEARABLE. VERY POORLY PUT TOGETHER AND RATTLE FEELING. *TR
OUR NEW SOUL+ WAS PURCHASED IN AUGUST 2009 NEW. IT WAS ALMOST IMMEDIATE THAT SCRATCHES AND SCUFFS WERE COMING OUT ON THE INTERIOR PANELS. THE SLIGHTEST SCUFF OR EVEN JUST SCRATING WITH A FINGERNAIL WAS ENOUGH TO MAKE A PERMANENT SCRATCH. VERY POOR QUALITY PANELS AND AFTER SPEAKING WITH OTHER OWNERS ON A SOUL FORUM...I AM NOT ALONE. *TR
DOOR SKINS AND PILLARS SCRATCH TOO EASILY. MAJOR SOURCE OF DEEP SCRATCHES IS DUE TO THE MERE TOUCHING OF THE SEAT BELT BEING RETRACTED. OTHER SCRATCHES CAN BE CAUSED BY TOUCHING THESE INTERIOR PARTS. THESE PLASTIC PARTS ARE INFERIOR AND DEFECTIVE AND SHOULD BE REPLACED WITH THE NEWER IMPROVED AND RELEASED REPLACEMENTS. *TR
I HAVE 2010 KIA SOUL THAT I BOUGHT IN APRIL 2009. THE PROBLEM IS THAT IN THE INTERIOR IS VERY EASILY DAMAGED. THE INTERIOR PLASTIC IS OF LOW ENOUGH QUALITY THAT WHEN GETTING IN AND OUT OF THE CAR ONE'S FINGERNAILS CAN CAUSE A SCRATCH. I TAKE CARE OF ALL MY VEHICLES AND ARMOR ALL THE INTERIORS REGULARLY, BUT EVEN THOUGH THE INTERIOR LOOKS LIKE A 20 YEAR OLD CAR. I ALREADY CONTACTED KIA 8 MONTHS AGO AND THEY TOLD ME I WOULD HEAR BACK FROM THEM WITH A SOLUTION FOR THE FIRST RUN SHOULD INTERIOR PROBLEM IN Q1 2010. I HAVE CONTACTED THEM MANY TIMES SINCE THEN AND ALL I HAVE GOTTEN BACK IS THAT THEY HAVE RECEIVED MY COMPLAINT AND ARE WORKING ON A FIX. *TR
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 25, 2026