RoadVitals

2023 Kia Soul Driver assistance Problems

Owner-reported complaints naming the driver-assistance system, filed with NHTSA

Data refreshed

Driver assistance 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.
11
Latest Mar 8, 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.
23%
of 48 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.
2
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 forward-collision avoidance, lane keeping, back-over prevention, cruise control and related electronic driver-assistance systems. 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. 11 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 driver-assistance

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

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
Driver assistancePowertrain (other)
Filed Sep 25, 2025

The contact owns a 2023 Kia Soul. The contact stated that the battery discharge and Auto START/STOP warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V531000 (Power Train), for which the dealer replaced the electric oil pump controller as the remedy. After the repair, the cruise control was unintendedly activated. The Lane Keep Assist feature was intermittently activated independently. While refueling, the fuel gauge was half full and took approximately 30-40 minutes before quickly displaying a full tank. The dealer was contacted and confirmed that the recall repair was completed; however, the vehicle was not taken back to the dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and referred the contact back to the dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 33,000.

NHTSA ID
11689643
Incident
Aug 27, 2025
Mileage
33,000 mi
Driver assistanceElectricalSteering
Filed Sep 23, 2025

Since I purchased the car the steering wheel will jerk, when im on a 2 lane road. It always jerks towards on-coming traffic, and it only does this when there is a car coming in the opposite lane and is just about to pass me. I have to fight with the steering wheel to get it back to go straight. Because of this whenever I am on a 2 lane road like this I always drive slow. This is the first car I've owned with this feature so I wasn't sure if that was just a glitch in the feature and just dealt with it. Which ni do realize now that was stupid on my part. Also in the past few days the drivers side door speaker sometimes works fine other times it gets all static and I have to turn all the sound to the passenger side. With that 3 other things have happened in the same time frame, im not sure if they are all connected but they seemed to have happened all at the same time. The passenger side window will go down from the driver's side door control but only sometimes goes back up. The horn stopped working last night along with the beep when you hit lock on the key fob twice. Im not sure if these are just minor things due to my lack of vehicle knowledge or if they are a real concern, so that is why I wanted to bring it to attention, in case anyone else has experienced any of these issues. The car only has 12000 miles, I only travel locally so im not sure if thats problematic or not. But as I said id rather be safe and let these issues be known.

NHTSA ID
11689118
Incident
Jun 21, 2023
Driver assistance
Filed Aug 7, 2025

First I get a safety issue warning with the front camera then I get a safety issue warning with a back camera well those warnings go off and I'm left with an ABS signal on my dashboard orange triangle with a exclamation point in it skid something with the car it shows it's weaving and I'm not sure what the fourth one was. But this has been going on going issue with this dashboard because when it starts flashing everything the car goes into limp mode. Usually if I shut the car off wouldn't turn it back on about 10 minutes later I don't get any flashing lights and the car is no longer limp mode. The problem has ever been found or corrected. the car is not sitting in my driveway waiting for a tow truck to take it to Kia soul over there in perryville Rockford Illinois but they don't provide tow service for the vehicles either. Even when it's a safety issue. I would never buy from this company again it's been one thing after another. This is only a 2 year old car has been driven 2500 miles.

NHTSA ID
11679044
Incident
Aug 6, 2025
Driver assistanceFuel system
Filed Jul 2, 2024
Crash reported

I was backing up into my parking place in an alley way. I was turning slightly to the right to fit in and the car started to accelerate. I hit the back wall with the rear of my car. I put the car into drive not realizing it was still accelerating. I had my right foot on the brake. When I put the car into drive it accelerate very quickly even with my foot on the brake and I crashed into a door garage, wrecking my car, the garage door and the vehicle parked inside the garage. The automatic emergency braking system never activated either.

NHTSA ID
11598272
Incident
Jun 20, 2024
AirbagsBrakesDriver assistance
Filed May 3, 2024

Air bag Replacement Drive AutamticBreaking emergency Replacement system

NHTSA ID
11586685
Incident
May 2, 2024
Driver assistance
Filed Feb 29, 2024

After a rear end collision I noticed the blind spot monitoring on the passenger side intermittently malfunctioned. Drivers side has no issues. The symptoms were, ghost vehicle, no signal when a vehicle is obviously in the blind spot. Usually when passing a vehicle that is on the passenger side. Again, the driver side is fine. 1 trip to the boby shop and 3 to the Kia dealer, I am told that it is functioning fine. It is designed this way. See page 12 in the owners manual, reminders in small print. Also , I am not the only one experiencing this, see internet forums. The intended malfunctioning of this system is a significant design flaw. The intermittent factor just enhances the danger. I contacted corporate Kia and recieved no response. This is dangerous. The rear end collision made me aware of this issue but I think it is not secondary to the accident. Thank you

NHTSA ID
11574718
Incident
Nov 22, 2023
Driver assistanceSteering
Filed May 26, 2023
Crash reported1 injury reported

The contact owned a 2023 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving 30 MPH, the lane assist feature malfunctioned and the steering wheel inadvertently turned sharply to the left and seized. As a result, the vehicle crashed into trees and rolled down the hill. The contact was removed from the vehicle. The contact sustained injury laceration to both hands and knuckles, reinjured right hip, bruised spinal cord, strained shoulder, neck, and injury to the left knee that required medical attention. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a tow lot. The vehicle had not yet been diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was deemed a total loss by the insurance company. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that someone will reach out to him but no response. The contact. The failure mileage was approximately 17,000.

NHTSA ID
11524077
Incident
May 18, 2023
Mileage
17,000 mi
Driver assistanceElectrical
Filed Apr 3, 2023

The instrument cluster is no longer displaying vital information. (Speedometer, tachometer, odometer, warning indicator lights, etc.) It still displays turn indicators and headlight indicators. The remedy is to replace the instrument cluster and have it recalibrated

NHTSA ID
11515124
Incident
Apr 2, 2023
Driver assistanceElectrical
Filed Sep 25, 2022

I am driving on the highway. No construction. No traffic. Cruising. No problems. I get a dashboard warning "WRONG WAY! Turn around safely" It was on for at least 10minutes. Very worrisome. But the lane assist was still working.

NHTSA ID
11486261
Incident
Sep 24, 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.

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