RoadVitals

2023 Kia Soul Brakes Problems

Owner-reported complaints naming the brake system, filed with NHTSA

Data refreshed

Brakes reportsComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
8
Latest Oct 2, 2026
Share of all reportsThis category as a share of every owner report on file for this model year. One report can name more than one component, so the categories overlap.
15%
of 55 total
Crash or fire reportedReports in this category whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. The reporter's own answer on the NHTSA form, not a verified finding.
1
Injuries or deaths reportedTotals the submitters entered on their own reports in this category. Not verified by NHTSA and not a casualty statistic.
1

What this page shows

Reports naming service brakes, the antilock braking system, brake hoses, master cylinders or the parking brake. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2023 Kia Soul submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 8 reports on file name it.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Owner reports naming brake

Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed

Brakes
Filed Oct 2, 2026
Crash reported

My brakes failed to stop my car I was driving down [XXX]. I went to brake because I was going to slow down cause I was just over the speed limit and my brakes went all the way to the floor and I I could not stop the car with the brakes , so I pulled over to the side and slowly came to a halt. I was so shook up. I do not know if I put it in neutral or put it in a lower gear or if I just coasted to a stop. I ended up hitting a guard rail and that slowed me down, but I still went down the guard rail it basically cut a lot of the right side of my car. See the photos below for damages. I’d been trying to start the car as I would have been able to drive to work. I tried to start the car, but it would not because the gas-pedal went all the way to the floor i found out that there is a break interlock system that prevents it from starting when there is no brakes,then got my cell phone, called the police and had them write out a report. I then called a tow truck and they tow it to caliber collision in [XXX]. They told me they moved it three times but they didn’t tell me how they moved it, but I can’t believe they could’ve started it so they must’ve had it pulled to a different area so they couldn’t work on it. I am still waiting to have the car working order. I hear that you’re gonna need the black box but I have no idea what that entails. I did talk to the police and they looked at it. They really couldn’t tell what happened but they knew I could not get it driven the tow truck driver had to pull it up on the tow truck to caliber collision said they did inspect it and couldn’t find anything wrong but I find it very hard to believe there were no warning signs or lights came on. My wife did drive it the night before and heard a loud sound windshield applied the brakes, but but made it into the garage and stop I then went to work and that’s when it all failed. I had driven about 2 miles and that’s when it all failed. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID
11768428
Incident
Sep 14, 2026
BrakesDriver assistanceSteering
Filed Mar 8, 2026

3/6/26 5:50 am unintended acceleration w such force pulling car toward right side n unable to stop, jumped over side walk, then stopped, it happened very fast, very scary accident, I was in shock and shaking so bad. Wknd disrupted, couldn't sleep n reliving bad experience over n over. Bringing it to the dealer 3/9/26. no damage to anybody or third party, unknown under car damage. Didn't file a report to the Police or DMV. no warning of any kind at all. Afraid to drive the car n how to proceed

NHTSA ID
11722861
Incident
Mar 6, 2026
BrakesDriver assistance
Filed Sep 26, 2025

When driving my vehicle under normal conditions, the car will unexpectedly slow down on its own, and the system brake lights and hazard lights will activate as if I am about to be in a collision, even though no accident is occurring. I have noticed this issue most frequently when I am stopped at a traffic light and begin to accelerate again. Once I turn the car off and restart it, the warning lights go away, but the issue continues to reoccur.

NHTSA ID
11690015
Incident
Sep 20, 2025
AirbagsBrakes
Filed Dec 14, 2024

FM radio Black screen Black screen replacement kia soul

NHTSA ID
11630760
Incident
Dec 14, 2024
BrakesElectrical
Filed Jun 6, 2024
1 injury reported

I had my vehicle in PARK in my driveway. I was standing outside the vehicle & after I pulled the keys out of the ignition, the vehicle started rolling backward. My feet were on the ground the whole time, the vehicle was in park. I pulled the emergency brake as it was rolling with my legs stuck between the car and the door. I was finally able to push myself into the car to hit the brake with my foot & the car stopped right as it hit the curb of the other side of the street. My legs are extremely bruised from this and if anyone had been behind the vehicle, they would have been ran over as I could not stop it even though it was in park. This just happened so it has not yet been inspected by a mechanic or the dealership. There were no warnings, messages, or symptoms before this happened. It was clearly sitting in park perfectly fine before the engine was turned off. This is extremely dangerous. I have a video from my security camera that shows the entire incident. I'm unable to upload.

NHTSA ID
11592773
Incident
Jun 5, 2024
AirbagsBrakesDriver assistance
Filed May 3, 2024

Air bag Replacement Drive AutamticBreaking emergency Replacement system

NHTSA ID
11586685
Incident
May 2, 2024
AirbagsBrakes
Filed Sep 28, 2023

I have had my car to the dealership 3 times and scheduled for a4th time for this same issue. It is intermittent which I realize makes it hard to diagnose however the dealership kept it overnight in 2nd visit to try to reproduce it and they did. When driving, the car will randomly start beeping and errors cycle thru in the dash. It tells me that my braking system needs to be checked then lighting system, airbag system failing etc. It goes thru about 5 or 6 system errors. Not always same sysyems and not going at same rate of speed when it happens. I have been told it isn't a safety issue however they apparently do not know what it is causing it to do that so I'm not sure how they can definitively say that. 1st visit I was told they did a software update and that"fixed the problem". After a few weeks it started again. Then I was told that the front camera needed to be recalibrated. 3 weeks after that when the part arrived I was told that fixed the issue. A week later, It is again intermittently alarming while driving. It is very distracting not to mention scary when it happens. The fact that the part was backordered for 3 weeks that they thought would fix it leads me to believe it is happening to a lot of kia cars. It is also on some online forums where others are talking about the same issue. My car has less than 5000 miles on it and I have owned it for 9 months. I am afraid to drive it because it scares me when this happens. This has been ongoing since June.

NHTSA ID
11547162
Incident
Sep 28, 2023
Brakes
Filed Jan 10, 2023

Purchased this 2023 Kia Soul on 12/9/2022 from Gateway Kia of North Brunswick, the incident occurred on 12/30/2022 and subsequently occurred a second time after that, I don't have the exact date for the second occurrence. Both occurrences happened with less than 1000 miles on the vehicle. After driving I put the transmission into PARK, with my foot still on the brake pedal, I applied the parking brake (this model has a manual brake you pull not the electric brake) this brake is also known as the "emergency brake" or "hand brake." After a few seconds with my foot still on the brake pedal I heard a loud bang and the parking brake disengaged all by itself, all the way back down. It just slipped. If the vehicle had been in neutral it could have rolled away. Just so happens that both times this happened I was on a relatively flat surface but the vehicle could still have rolled slowly. I contacted the dealer I bought it from today, 1/10/2023, not to make an appointment for service but to let them know this happened so it's on their radar in case another Kia vehicle comes in with the same problem. If I were to bring it in for them to look at it, they most likely won't be able to duplicate it and send me home telling me it's fine so I don't want to waste my time. If it happens again I will be contacting the manufacturer and for sure escalating the issue, in the mean time I just make sure to park on a surface that is as flat as possible and of course make sure to keep the transmission in PARK.

NHTSA ID
11501026
Incident
Dec 30, 2022

Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.

Other components reported on this vehicle

Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own

Elsewhere on this vehicle

Data sources

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