Kia Soul vs Kia Sportage: which is more reliable?
The Kia Soul and the Kia Sportage are level on the federal record — 70/100 against 73/100 across the years we score. Which one to buy is decided by the model year, not the badge.
The record, side by side
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)
Kia Sportage
- 15 model years scored
- 2,540 owner complaints on record
- about 26 complaints per year on the road
- 45 recall campaigns, 26 safety-critical
- best year 2022 (91/100) · worst 2023 (33/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Soul against Sportage
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 | Soul | Sportage | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 90 BUY | 60 CAUTION | +30 |
| 2024 | 91 BUY | 67 CAUTION | +24 |
| 2023 | 84 BUY | 33 AVOID | +51 |
| 2022 | 88 BUY | 91 BUY | -3 |
| 2021 | 68 CAUTION | 89 BUY | -21 |
| 2020 | 55 CAUTION | 73 BUY | -18 |
| 2019 | 89 BUY | 89 BUY | +0 |
| 2018 | 83 BUY | 78 BUY | +5 |
| 2017 | 81 BUY | 46 AVOID | +35 |
| 2016 | 43 AVOID | 87 BUY | -44 |
| 2015 | 41 AVOID | 87 BUY | -46 |
| 2014 | 38 AVOID | 86 BUY | -48 |
| 2013 | 60 CAUTION | 66 CAUTION | -6 |
| 2012 | 73 BUY | 65 CAUTION | +8 |
| 2011 | 86 BUY | 79 BUY | +7 |
What owners actually complain about
Kia Soul
- Engine — 3,094 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 626 complaints
- Electrical System — 496 complaints
Kia Sportage
- Engine — 1,428 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 368 complaints
- Electrical System — 336 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
Kia Soul — avoid: 2014, 2015, 2016.
Kia Sportage — avoid: 2017, 2023.
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 Kia Soul prices at about $30,500 and a Kia Sportage at about $30,500 — they price within $1 of each other, which at this level is the same money, and they return 30.0 against 25.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Kia Soul or the Kia Sportage more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Kia Sportage scores 73/100 against the Kia Soul's 70/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.
Which Kia Soul and Kia Sportage years should I avoid?
Kia Soul: 2014, 2015, 2016. Kia Sportage: 2017, 2023. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Kia Soul and the Kia Sportage?
The largest complaint group on the Kia Soul is Engine (3,094 complaints); on the Kia Sportage it is Engine (1,428).
Is the Kia Soul or the Kia Sportage cheaper to own?
A recent used Kia Soul prices at about $30,500 and a Kia Sportage at about $30,500, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.