Ford Escape vs Kia Soul: which is more reliable?
The Kia Soul is clearly ahead of the Ford Escape on the federal record: 70/100 against 56/100 across every model year we score.
The record, side by side
Ford Escape
- 15 model years scored
- 16,194 owner complaints on record
- about 126 complaints per year on the road
- 117 recall campaigns, 57 safety-critical
- best year 2012 (86/100) · worst 2013 (23/100)
Kia Soul
- 15 model years scored
- 5,388 owner complaints on record
- about 41 complaints per year on the road
- 31 recall campaigns, 13 safety-critical
- best year 2024 (91/100) · worst 2014 (38/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Escape against Soul
The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.
| Year | Escape | Soul | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 76 BUY | 90 BUY | -14 |
| 2024 | 74 BUY | 91 BUY | -17 |
| 2023 | 69 CAUTION | 84 BUY | -15 |
| 2022 | 65 CAUTION | 88 BUY | -23 |
| 2021 | 66 CAUTION | 68 CAUTION | -2 |
| 2020 | 26 AVOID | 55 CAUTION | -29 |
| 2019 | 80 BUY | 89 BUY | -9 |
| 2018 | 36 AVOID | 83 BUY | -47 |
| 2017 | 40 AVOID | 81 BUY | -41 |
| 2016 | 69 CAUTION | 43 AVOID | +26 |
| 2015 | 63 CAUTION | 41 AVOID | +22 |
| 2014 | 35 AVOID | 38 AVOID | -3 |
| 2013 | 23 AVOID | 60 CAUTION | -37 |
| 2012 | 86 BUY | 73 BUY | +13 |
| 2011 | 76 BUY | 86 BUY | -10 |
What owners actually complain about
Ford Escape
- Engine — 5,926 complaints
- Power Train — 2,927 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 1,566 complaints
Kia Soul
- Engine — 3,094 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 626 complaints
- Electrical System — 496 complaints
Both nameplates have Engine as their largest complaint group, so the choice between them is about how often, not about what.
Years to avoid on each
Ford Escape — avoid: 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020.
Kia Soul — avoid: 2014, 2015, 2016.
A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.
What each costs today
A recent used Ford Escape prices at about $30,500 and a Kia Soul at about $30,500 — they price within $1 of each other, which at this level is the same money, and they return 26.0 against 30.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Ford Escape or the Kia Soul more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Kia Soul scores 70/100 against the Ford Escape's 56/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The Kia Soul carries about 41 complaints per year on the road against 126 for the Ford Escape.
Which Ford Escape and Kia Soul years should I avoid?
Ford Escape: 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020. Kia Soul: 2014, 2015, 2016. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Ford Escape and the Kia Soul?
The largest complaint group on the Ford Escape is Engine (5,926 complaints); on the Kia Soul it is Engine (3,094).
Is the Ford Escape or the Kia Soul cheaper to own?
A recent used Ford Escape prices at about $30,500 and a Kia Soul at about $30,500, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.