Hello, I would like to report that someone attempted to steal my 2010 Kia Soul. The incident occurred on [XXX], in San Jose, CA 95111. As a result of the attempted theft, there is damage to the car’s steering wheel and ignition. Please let me know if additional information or documentation is needed to assist with this report. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
2010 Kia Soul electrical problems
24 complaints (18% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 63,000.
- owner complaints
- 24
- of this car's complaints
- 18%
- typical mileage
- 63,000
- crashes
- 0
- recalls
- 1
Which part fails
- Wiring1
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
0k-25k
25k-50k
50k-75k
75k-100k
100k-125k
125k-150k
150k-175k
175k-200k
200k+
Kia Soul electrical problems in other years
Specific symptoms reported on the 2010 Kia Soul electrical
Phrases found in the owners' own descriptions, so one complaint can mention several symptoms.
Related recalls
Electrical system: wiring
- What is wrong
- Kia is recalling certain model year 2010 soul and model year 2011 sorento vehicles manufactured from september 7, 2009 through july 30, 2010. A limited number of wiring harnesses supplied by jci and used for the lighting in the kia soul vehicle's advanced lighting speakers, located in the front door trim panels, and the kia sorento vehicle's interior accent illumination, located in the front and rear door trim panels, may have been improperly soldered.
- Risk
- When the lights are illuminated under certain conditions, an electrical short may occur that can result in a fire.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the wiring harnesses for the lights in the kia soul vehicle's advanced lighting speakers, and the wiring harness for the kia sorento vehicle's interior accent illumination. This service will be performed free of charge. The safety recall began on september 13, 2010. Owners may contact kia consumer assistance center at 1‑800‑333‑4542.
Recall number 10V388000 · Recall details
Related investigations
Non-crash Vehicle Fires
During this Preliminary Evaluation (PE), the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) assessed the scope, frequency and potential safety-related consequences of non-crash vehicle fires caused by both engine failures and failures of other vehicle systems/components in model year (MY) 2011-2014 Kia Optima, MY 2011-2014 Kia Sorento and MY 2010-2015 Kia Soul vehicles equipped with Theta II, Gamma, Nu and Lambda II engines (approximately 1.7 million vehicles). ODI also reviewed field and other data on other Kia vehicles (approximately 3.6 million additional vehicles) equipped with the same engines used in the above-mentioned vehicles.As a result of this PE, Kia has issued the federal safety agency Recalls 20V‑750 and 21V‑844 to address potential engine failures and fires in certain Kia vehicles equipped with various engine types.Additional information on these and other related recall actions is available in the downloadable version of this resume available at addition, ODI has upgraded this PE to an Engineering Analysis (EA) 21-003 which will focus on potential recall scope concerns and recall remedy concerns related to the engine failure-related recalls mentioned above and conducted previously.See the EA21-003 Opening Resume available at for more information.Also available in the downloadable version of this resume is a list of the reference numbers for the 444 ODI reports, or Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs), cited above which ODI received through mid-November 2021.Note that the Manufacturer reports cited above are customer complaints received through March 2019.
PE19004
Non-crash Vehicle Fires
In a letter dated June 11, 2018, the Center for Auto Safety (CAS) petitioned the federal safety agency to initiate a safety defect investigation into non-collision related fires on model year (MY) 2011-2014 Kia Optima and Sorento, and Hyundai Sonata and Santa Fe vehicles. In a letter dated July 24, 2018, CAS requested that MY 2010-2015 Kia Soul vehicles be added to the petition. CAS stated that there is a higher number of complaints to the federal safety agency regarding non-crash fires on these vehicles compared to other similar vehicles. The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) had already opened Recall Queries (RQ17-003 and RQ17-004) on all Kia and Hyundai vehicles equipped with Theta II engines for engine failures that may cause stalling and fires.The queries cover most of the petition subject Optima, Sorento, Sonata, and Santa Fe vehicles but not any of the subject Soul vehicles.On August 21, 2018, ODI opened a Defect Petition (DP18-003) to evaluate whether to grant or deny the CAS petition. ODI sent Information Request letters to Kia and Hyundai (September and October 2018) requesting information on all engine and non-engine related fires in the petition vehicles.ODI performed extensive analysis on the information obtained from Kia and Hyundai. During the DP18-003 analysis, Kia and Hyundai each initiated three additional safety recalls related to engine compartment fires on certain petitioned and non-petitioned vehicles (nearly 740,000 total vehicles: Recalls 18V‑907, 18V‑934, 19V‑101, 19V‑063, 19V‑120, and 19V‑204). Based on ODI?s review of the applicable materials, including responses to Information Requests sent to multiple manufacturers, Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQ), and Early Warning Data, the federal safety agency decided to grant the petition.The CAS petition was granted on March 29, 2019. Preliminary Evaluations (PE19-003 on Hyundai and PE19-004 on Kia) have been opened to assess the scope, frequency, and potential safety-related consequences of alleged defects relating to non-collision vehicle fires in the 2011-2014 Kia Optima and Sorento, 2011-2014 Hyundai Sonata and Santa Fe, and 2010-2015 Kia Soul.Attached is a list of the reference numbers for the 404 VOQs cited above.
DP18003
What 2010 Kia Soul owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
I was driving down the interstate on my way to work when my check engine light turned on and began flashing rapidly. I then began to get over to the shoulder and into safety when I heard what sounded like a loud dropping sound come from the engine and smoke started coming out of the hood. When I got pulled over to the shoulder, I ran and popped my hood and saw that the whole battery was on fire, within minutes the whole car was engulfed and I was told to get back for my safety by someone that stopped.
The airbag light is on, and the passenger airbag light is off. Kia dealership performed the electronic scan, and is obtaining message with defect in OCS sensor defect and electrical voltage. Kia said needs Kia part #95910-2K000 that Kia has discontinued. There is no way to fix the air bag issue as Kia has discontinued the part, and no dealer has the part in the United States. The vehicle is available for inspection. Dealer has confirmed the problem, but can't repair because the Kia part has been DISCONTINUED. The part that has been discontinued is the Control Module, Module Assembly Air Bag.
1. Stationary - a piece of the driver's side suspension spring broke off. My husband went to check what weird noise the car was making when he turned the wheel fully as we were trying to exit our paralleled parking spot in front of our home. When he opened the hood, he looked around and asked me to turn the wheel from so he could hear exactly where the sound was coming from. When he heard it was above the right wheel area, he looked deep, reached in and ended up finding a portion of the spring. A day or two later, both sides are making that noise, though no dislodged portion from the passenger side has been found yet. 2. Stationary when discovered - tire began losing air at a rate which took 1 full day. Had the tire checked for holes, found 1 and repaired it. Next-day however, same problem. Checked again, no holes. Next day the same. Finally brought it to tire sales shop we always use. It was thoroughly examined and a crack was found on the inner side of the wheel, which means it was not from brushing against the curb one too many times. 3. Horn has only ever worked intermittently.
I was playing the radio, when the sound went out. Now whenever I turn the radio on, I sometimes hear a popping sound as if it is going to turn on but then it goes silent again. This happens while the vehicle is either stationary or in motion.
A loud popping sound goes off and the radio system and speakers all go out when I hit a bump in the road. It is also causing random lights to illuminate on the instrument panel. I have to turn off the car to turn off the panel ones. I called kia and they said there is no recall for this problem. However, it was noted on cars.com that this is a problem. My fear is that a fire may happen due to this issue.
Tl* the contact owns a 2010 kia soul. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 MPH, the contact noticed smoke from the radio. The vehicle was taken to the bill dodge kia dealer (877‑583‑6175, located at 3 saunders way, westbrook, me 04092) where it was diagnosed that there was a shortage in the wiring harness. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that the vehicle was out of warranty. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 140,000.
Head lights, A/C, power windows, sun roof, wipers and horn all stopped working at once.it was on a hot day. Then all just started working after car had cooled down. Same thing happened once before, sometime in late june or early july 2017. I took the car to the dealer afterward but they couldn't help.
This and other models of kia/hyundai have a very common issue with auto trans a4cf1/2 electrica harness that fails prematurely and frequently, including temp sensor intergrated into it. Car now has 94k and code p0713 for the temp sensor failure and recently p0765 for selonoid d, which is all related to wire harness inside trans. Temp sensor fails, and solder connections become loose and irretic shifting, check engine lights and all sorts of trans problems start. I wouldn't be surprised upon owners taking cars to dealer or trans shop, they are told their transmissions are no good.
Tl* the contact owned a 2010 kia soul. While driving at low speeds, a loud noise was detected from the vehicle and multiple unknown warning indicators illuminated. The contact mentioned that the high beam headlights illuminated automatically. The contact also noticed smoke, which LED to fire, under the hood. The local fire department extinguished the fire. There were no injuries. The contact also mentioned that when the vehicle was turned off and the key was removed from the ignition, the engine continued to rev. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a local body shop and then towed to the vehicle's insurance company. The contact mentioned that the insurance company towed the vehicle to another unknown location where the vehicle was considered a total loss. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or independent mechanic for diagnostic testing or repairs. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 90,000.
Questions about the 2010 Kia Soul electrical
Does the 2010 Kia Soul have electrical problems?
Owners have filed 24 complaints about the electrical of the 2010 Kia Soul, 18% of all its complaints, more than any other problem.
At what mileage do 2010 Kia Soul electrical problems start?
The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 63,000 miles.
Was there a recall on the 2010 Kia Soul electrical?
Yes, 1 recall: 10V388000. Check your VIN to see if your car still needs the free repair.
What year does the Kia Soul have the most electrical problems?
The Kia Soul model years with the most electrical complaints are 2014 (98 complaints), 2015 (75 complaints) and 2013 (73 complaints).
Other 2010 Kia Soul problems
Airbags 21Body 21Brakes 16Engine 14Visibility 14Steering 12Transmission 11Acceleration 9Lights 7Tires 6Driver assistance 5Fuel system 5Wheels 5Seat belts 4Suspension 4Locks 2
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