Vehicle Data Hub

2012 Kia Soul engine problems

241 complaints about engine have been filed for the 2012 Kia Soul, which is 36% of all its NHTSA complaints. It is the most reported problem area for this model year.

At a glance

Complaints
241 36% of this year's complaints
Typical mileage
123,000 miles 161 complaints with mileage
Crashes and fires
2 and 20
Injuries and deaths
5 and 0

Source: NHTSA owner complaints

When engine problems show up

Engine complaints by mileage, 2012 Kia Soul Complaints by odometer reading in 20,000-mile steps. The median is about 123,000 miles. 0k to 20k miles: 13 complaints 20k to 40k miles: 2 complaints 40k to 60k miles: 4 complaints 60k to 80k miles: 12 complaints 80k to 100k miles: 22 complaints 100k to 120k miles: 26 complaints 120k to 140k miles: 26 complaints 140k to 160k miles: 28 complaints 160k to 180k miles: 13 complaints 180k to 200k miles: 8 complaints 200k+ miles: 7 complaints 040k80k120k160k200k miles Typical: 123,000 miles
Based on 161 complaints that include mileage. 12% were reported before 60,000 miles. The amber marker shows the median: half of these complaints happened before that mileage.
View the numbers
MileageComplaints
0k to 20k miles13
20k to 40k miles2
40k to 60k miles4
60k to 80k miles12
80k to 100k miles22
100k to 120k miles26
120k to 140k miles26
140k to 160k miles28
160k to 180k miles13
180k to 200k miles8
200k+ miles7

What the data shows

Of the 161 engine complaints that report mileage, the median is about 123,000 miles, and 12% were reported before 60,000 miles.

These complaints mention 2 crashes, 20 fires, 5 injuries.

What owners wrote

I was on the freeway, and all the lights lining the freeway were out. It was pitch black, and a cow had made its way into the middle of the freeway. It was struck by another vehicle and sent into the air, and flew right into my car. It is my understanding that one of adot's fences were down that was containing cattle. I was in a severe accident because of this, along with multiple other vehicles. I filed a police report and have that case number as well. I have photo and video evidence proof.

Reported at 92,000 miles, November 2019 CrashInjury

In march 2019, vehicle began making noise and was brought in to kia dealership service department . Was told that oil was unexpectedly low despite last oil change in november 2018 and mileage/use of vehicle was much lower than normal during this time period. In october 2019, vehicle began making same noise and before it could be taken in, vehicle stopped functioning mid-traffic during left hand turn on to a side road from a 45 MPH state highway. Brought again to same kia dealership service department.

Reported at 119,000 miles, October 2019

Other problems reported for the 2012 Kia Soul

Engine problems in other years

Engine problems across all Kia models