NHTSA Safety Recalls
2021 Kia Soul Recalls
The 2021 Kia Soul has 2 NHTSA safety recalls on file, the newest reported on February 17, 2025.
A recall covers a range of VINs, not every 2021 Kia Soul. Whether a recall on your own car is still open shows only on a VIN check; recall repairs are free.
- Recalls
- 2
- Owner complaints
- 238
- Crashes reported
- 12
- NHTSA crash test
- ★★★★☆
NHTSA campaigns
filed with NHTSA
3 fires
overall, 5 stars max
On a 2021 Kia Soul, the 17-character VIN is on the driver-side dashboard, visible through the windshield, or on the door jamb sticker.
2 recalls on the 2021 Kia Soul
Engine and engine cooling: engine: hard parts internal/mechanical
- Campaign
- 25V099000
- Reported
- February 17, 2025
- Vehicles affected
- up to 137,256
- Risk NHTSA names
- crash, fire and injury
- Same campaign
- also 2022–2023 Soul, 1 other model
Engine
- Campaign
- 21V259000
- Reported
- April 13, 2021
- Vehicles affected
- up to 147,249
- Risk NHTSA names
- crash and fire
- Same campaign
- also 2020 Soul, 1 other model
2021 Kia Soul complaints by year
NHTSA has received 238 owner complaints about the 2021 Kia Soul, the newest on October 15, 2026. Of these, 12 describe a crash (5%) and 3 a fire; owners reported 5 injuries.
In complaints about the 2021 Kia Soul, the component group named most often is the engine (58%), followed by the engine and engine cooling (20%) and the power train (11%).
1 of the 2021 Kia Soul's 2 recalls also concerns the engine.
Where 2021 Kia Soul owners gave the mileage (65 complaints), the median was 65,000 miles.
Component groups named in complaints
- Engine138
- Engine And Engine Cooling47
- Power Train26
- Unknown Or Other26
- Electrical System15
- Fuel/Propulsion System10
Complaints received, by year
| 2020 | 3 | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 15 | |
| 2022 | 12 | |
| 2023 | 25 | |
| 2024 | 14 | |
| 2025 | 92 | |
| 2026 | 77 |
Complaints about the 2021 Kia Soul peaked in 2025, when NHTSA received 92. 29% arrived between 2020 and 2024, the model year's first years on the road.
Adjusted for how many complaints NHTSA received about all 2021 vehicles, the 2021 Kia Soul drew 1.0× the complaints of the median Kia Soul year in the same window: 7th highest of the 13 ranked years.
NHTSA crash-test stars
- Overall: ★★★★☆
- Frontal: 4/5
- Side: 5/5
- Rollover: 4/5
The 238 complaints about the 2021 Kia Soul are unverified owner reports, and a model sold in large numbers collects more of them.
Kia Soul by model year
Other 2021 Kia models
Newest record on this page: October 15, 2026. Data: NHTSA recall and owner-complaint files. How these figures are counted