Buyer Research

2022 Kia Soul — Should You Buy One?

Typical asking price: $13,000–$18,000. There is 1 high-severity known issue you need to know before handing over a check.

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Kestrel Take

Eighty percent of this car's 88 complaints are one thing: the 2.0L engine, and Kia's 2025 recall for badly made piston oil rings says why. Owners describe oil burning a quart every thousand miles, then rod knock, then a dead engine — and 50 of the 88 complaints arrived in 2025 alone, after the recall was announced. The Soul around that engine is roomy, cheap to run and easy to see out of, which is why so many people bought one. So the purchase comes down to the engine: pull the VIN on Kia's recall lookup, insist on seeing the recall paperwork, check the dipstick cold, and listen for any knock on a hard uphill pull. A Soul with the recall closed and a stable oil level is worth buying; one whose seller shrugs at the recall is not.

What we checked

Reconciled against public records, 2026-09-25

NHTSA holds 88 owner complaints for the 2022 Kia Soul, and 1 recall campaign.

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. 80% 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.

One recall campaign covers 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 2022 Kia Soul

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

Piston oil rings can wear the 2.0L engine out from the inside — oil consumption, rod knock, stall or fire (recall)High — wallet impact

Recall 25V099 covers 2021–2023 Souls and Seltos with the 2.0L Nu engine: piston oil rings may have been made wrong, so the engine burns oil, scores its cylinders and can seize or catch fire while driving. Dealers inspect the engine, replace it if it fails the test, and load piston-ring noise sensing software that will put the car into a limp mode if it hears rod knock. Owners write about consumption of a quart per 1,000 miles, check-engine lights, sudden jerks, black smoke and full engine failures — and several complain that the dealer's test passed the engine and it failed anyway. Check the VIN, read the recall invoice to see whether the engine was replaced or only inspected, then check the oil level cold: a low dipstick on a car serviced recently is the tell.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed; $5,000–$8,000 for an engine paid out of pocket — around 52% of what this car is typically worth

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the engine (70); 1 NHTSA recall campaign on this model year.

Stalls at idle and shutdowns at stoplights — the engine's early warning, plus a broken CVVT timing pinMedium

The powertrain and electrical clusters are mostly the same engine story told earlier: rough idle, a P0011 or P1C28 code, reduced power, then the car shutting off at a red light or mid-turn and needing a restart. Some of these are the oil-ring problem before it becomes rod knock. A few are a separate fault — the pin in the variable valve timing (CVVT) actuator breaks, and one owner paid close to $3,000 for a new exhaust cam and actuator. At the car: let it idle for five minutes with the air conditioning on and watch the tachometer for dips; a scan tool showing a stored P0011 is a reason to walk or to price the repair in.

Repair cost (estimate): $150–$3,000

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the transmission and drivetrain (12), electrics and electronics (10).

Steel-key Souls without an immobilizer are the ones thieves target — a USB-cable startMedium

Base 2022 Souls with a turn-key ignition are part of the widely reported Kia theft wave: the steering column shroud comes off and the car starts without a key. One owner in the record ties a theft attempt to it. Kia offers a free anti-theft software update and a window sticker for affected cars, and insurers in some states have declined new policies on them. Ask a Kia dealer whether this VIN has an immobilizer and whether the update has been applied; a push-button-start LX or GT-Line trim sidesteps the whole problem.

Repair cost (estimate): $0–$500 for the update and a steering-lock alternative; more if the column has already been broken into

Source: not yet checked against public records.

Walk-Away Red Flags

✗Oil level below the add mark on a cold dipstick with a recent service sticker
✗Knocking or tapping under load that grows with engine speed
✗Recall 25V099 shows open on the VIN lookup, or the seller cannot produce the paperwork
✗Stumble or shutdown while idling in park with the air conditioning on
✗Scratched or cracked steering column shroud on a turn-key car

Good Signs

✓Recall 25V099 paperwork showing a replacement engine, not just an inspection
✓Oil at the full mark cold, with dated receipts on Kia's interval
✓A steady idle after ten minutes with the air conditioning running
✓Push-button start, or a dealer-applied anti-theft update noted on the VIN
✓A clean scan with the engine warm