Kia Soul vs Subaru Forester: which is more reliable?
The Kia Soul and the Subaru Forester are level on the federal record — 70/100 against 71/100 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)
Subaru Forester
- 15 model years scored
- 4,756 owner complaints on record
- about 52 complaints per year on the road
- 58 recall campaigns, 44 safety-critical
- best year 2024 (90/100) · worst 2019 (41/100)
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 Forester
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 | Forester | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 90 BUY | 56 CAUTION | +34 |
| 2024 | 91 BUY | 90 BUY | +1 |
| 2023 | 84 BUY | 90 BUY | -6 |
| 2022 | 88 BUY | 90 BUY | -2 |
| 2021 | 68 CAUTION | 83 BUY | -15 |
| 2020 | 55 CAUTION | 46 AVOID | +9 |
| 2019 | 89 BUY | 41 AVOID | +48 |
| 2018 | 83 BUY | 63 CAUTION | +20 |
| 2017 | 81 BUY | 65 CAUTION | +16 |
| 2016 | 43 AVOID | 76 BUY | -33 |
| 2015 | 41 AVOID | 66 CAUTION | -25 |
| 2014 | 38 AVOID | 84 BUY | -46 |
| 2013 | 60 CAUTION | 76 BUY | -16 |
| 2012 | 73 BUY | 75 BUY | -2 |
| 2011 | 86 BUY | 75 BUY | +11 |
What owners actually complain about
Kia Soul
- Engine — 3,094 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 626 complaints
- Electrical System — 496 complaints
Subaru Forester
- Visibility/Wiper — 986 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 747 complaints
- Electrical System — 707 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Soul's complaints concentrate in Engine, the Forester's in Visibility/Wiper. That difference matters more to a buyer than the score gap, because it says which repair bill you are taking on.
Years to avoid on each
Kia Soul — avoid: 2014, 2015, 2016.
Subaru Forester — avoid: 2019, 2020.
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 Subaru Forester at about $32,900 — the Kia Soul is roughly $2,400 less, and they return 30.0 against 29.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Kia Soul or the Subaru Forester more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Subaru Forester scores 71/100 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 Subaru Forester years should I avoid?
Kia Soul: 2014, 2015, 2016. Subaru Forester: 2019, 2020. 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 Subaru Forester?
The largest complaint group on the Kia Soul is Engine (3,094 complaints); on the Subaru Forester it is Visibility/Wiper (986).
Is the Kia Soul or the Subaru Forester cheaper to own?
A recent used Kia Soul prices at about $30,500 and a Subaru Forester at about $32,900, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.