Buyer Research

2013 Kia Soul — Should You Buy One?

Typical asking price: $4,500–$8,000. There are 3 high-severity known issues you need to know before handing over a check.

Deciding between model years? Compare the 15 Kia Soul years we've written up →

Kestrel Take

The worst record of the first-generation Soul: 661 complaints and 45 fires, half of it the engine. The 1.6 GDI's catalytic converter can overheat, break up and take the pistons with it — a stall at speed, a rod through the block, oil on the exhaust — and the recall for it is a software update that cannot repair an engine already knocking. Add the ABS module fire recall, with ten fires sitting in this year's brake cluster, and a steering column that clunks on 150 cars. None of this makes the Soul a bad design; it makes this year a car you buy on paperwork, not on a walk-around. Both recalls closed on the VIN, an engine that is quiet at idle and full of clean oil, a steering wheel with no thud in it — that car is cheap and useful. A car missing any one of those is a bill waiting for a name on it.

What we checked

Reconciled against public records, 2026-09-25

NHTSA holds 661 owner complaints for the 2013 Kia Soul, and 3 recall campaigns.

A big number here usually means a lot of these were sold, not that it is a bad vehicle — popular models collect more complaints for the same rate of trouble. So the total on its own says little. What is worth reading is the shape of it. 49% of them are about one thing — the engine. That much concentration is a genuine pattern rather than background noise, and it is the first thing to check on any example you look at.

3 recall campaigns cover this model year. Recalls are repaired free, for any owner, with no time limit on most safety campaigns — but only if someone books it in. Ask the seller to show it was done, or have any dealer check the VIN; it takes them a couple of minutes and costs nothing.

Counts come from the NHTSA complaint and recall database — free, public, and worth checking yourself.

Known Issues for the 2013 Kia Soul

Ranked by wallet impact. These are documented, recurring problems — not freak accidents. How we decide that.

1.6 GDI engine failure from a cooked catalytic converter — knock, stall, rod through the block (recall)High — wallet impact

Recall 19V120 covers 2012–2016 Souls with the 1.6L GDI: exhaust temperatures can damage the catalytic converter, its material is drawn back into the cylinders, and the pistons and connecting rods are destroyed — the recall itself warns of a rod puncturing the block and oil reaching the hot exhaust. That is why 34 of this year's 327 engine complaints are fires. Owners describe a P0420 converter code that comes back after new oxygen sensors, a knock at highway speed, then the engine blowing with oil spraying under the hood; one lost power at 65 mph after both recalls had been done. The remedy is a control unit update that protects the converter on an engine still healthy. Kia has offered extended engine coverage tied to the campaign on some cars — ask a Kia dealer with the VIN. At the car: engine quiet at idle, a fresh scan for P0420, and an honest answer to 'has the engine ever been replaced'.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed; $4,000–$7,000 for a replacement engine — more than this car is typically worth

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the engine (327); 3 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

2.0 GDI oil consumption — low oil, a check-engine light, a locked-up engineHigh — wallet impact

The 2.0L direct-injection engine has no recall on this year but shows up throughout the engine cluster: it uses oil between changes, and when the level drops the bearings go and the engine locks up. One owner had the car two months before the light came on and the engine would not pull past ten miles an hour; a dealer declined to fix it. It is the same story as the 2012 Soul's 2.0 and Kia has faced class actions over oil consumption in its GDI engines generally — we are not claiming this VIN is covered by any settlement, so ask a Kia dealer. Pull the dipstick before the test drive and ask how much oil the seller adds; blue smoke on a hard pull is a car whose rings are already gone.

Repair cost (estimate): $3,500–$6,500 for a used or rebuilt engine — more than this car is typically worth

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the engine (327).

ABS hydraulic control unit can short and start a fire, parked or driving (recall)High — wallet impact

Recall 23V652 covers the 2013 Soul with much of the Kia range: the hydraulic electronic control unit for the ABS can leak internally and short, and the outcome is an engine-bay fire whether the car is moving or parked. Kia told owners to park outside and away from structures until the fix — a new fuse for the HECU circuit — was fitted free. Ten fires are logged in this year's 99 brake complaints, including a car that burned unattended at 3 am after every warning light had come on the day before, and the letter had already arrived. Most of the rest are owners who waited the better part of a year for the part. Run the VIN first; an open campaign is a car you do not park in a garage.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the brakes (99); 3 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Steering wheel clicks, pops and thumps with play at the wheel — the MDPS flex couplerMedium

150 owners, some at 40,000 miles, describe a click or thump turning the wheel parked or moving, play in the wheel at rest, and a vibration that appears at 65–70 mph. The part is the small rubber-and-metal coupling between the electric power steering motor and the column; when it crumbles the wheel moves freely until the motor catches, and the catch is the clunk. Owners note that Kia covered the coupler on some models and not on this Soul, so budget for it. The coupler is an inexpensive part and an independent shop can fit one in an hour or two; a dealer may quote a whole column. Engine running, car parked, rock the wheel an inch each way and feel for the knock.

Repair cost (estimate): $150–$450 for a flex coupler; $800–$1,500 for a steering column

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under steering (150).

Stalls at idle and red lights, hard starting, and a transmission that hunts for a gearMedium

Outside the engine and brake clusters, owners report the car dying at a red light or while idling, needing several tries to start, and then shifting as though it cannot decide which gear to hold once moving. On this car that mix points to a failing crankshaft position sensor, a dirty throttle body, or the early stage of the engine failures above; six fires and two crashes sit in the electrical cluster as well. Let the car idle in Drive with the air conditioning on for a full five minutes and have the charging system tested — the diagnosis is cheap, the engine it can mask is not.

Repair cost (estimate): $150–$600 for a sensor, throttle body cleaning or alternator

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under electrics and electronics (72).

Sunroof headliner plate can detach when the curtain airbag deploys (recall)Low

Recall 14V822 covers 2010–2013 Souls with a sunroof: a headliner plate can break loose when the side curtain airbag fires and hit an occupant. Dealers secure it with industrial adhesive strips, free. It applies only to sunroof cars, so check the roof before the VIN. It is a quick dealer visit, not a reason to walk, but on a car with two other campaigns it belongs on the same checklist.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed

Source: 3 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Walk-Away Red Flags

✗Knock or ticking from the engine at idle that gets louder as it warms
✗P0420 catalytic converter code, current or in the scan history
✗Recall 23V652 or 19V120 open on the VIN lookup
✗Thump felt through the steering wheel rocking it an inch each way at a standstill
✗Dipstick below the low mark or blue smoke on a hard pull

Good Signs

✓Both recalls 19V120 and 23V652 shown closed on the NHTSA VIN lookup with repair orders
✓Receipt for a replacement engine from a Kia dealer, ideally under the extended coverage
✓Steering flex coupler replaced on an invoice, with the wheel now tight and silent
✓Oil at the full mark and clean, with dated change receipts covering the last two years
✓Five minutes idling in Drive with the air conditioning on and a steady, even idle