Is there a current Kia Soul recall in South Africa?

Yes. On 8 December 2025 the National Consumer Commission published a recall covering Kia models sold locally between 2009 and 2015, including the first-generation Soul (AM), for an ABS fuse replacement. The NCC notice says the fault could increase the vehicle’s stopping distance and in some cases lead to engine bay damage. The repair is free at an authorised Kia dealership. Earlier, in March 2016, Kia Motors South Africa recalled about 798 Souls built between 18 January 2014 and 30 September 2015 to inspect the steering rack pinion nut.

Which Kia Soul generations were sold in South Africa?

Two. The first-generation Soul (Kia code AM) arrived from around 2009, and the second-generation PS Soul launched locally in late 2014 and was facelifted in May 2017. The third-generation SK3 Soul was never sold new in South Africa — local classifieds run out at the 2019 model year. That matters because a large amount of online Soul fault coverage, including several US recalls, applies only to 2020-onwards cars.

Did the South African Kia Soul have a dual-clutch gearbox?

Almost none did. The first-generation Soul was sold here with a six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic, and on the second-generation range the 1.6 petrol, both 1.6 CRDi Start and Street derivatives and the 2.0 Street were six-speed manuals, while the 2.0 Smart was the automatic. The one exception is the flagship 1.6 CRDi Smart DCT, which used a seven-speed dual-clutch and was on sale here by April 2016 — cars.co.za road-tested a local example that month. So a dual-clutch Soul does exist in South Africa, but it is a single top-of-range derivative rather than the norm. Check the derivative before applying any overseas dual-clutch bulletin to your car.

Does the Kia Soul catalytic converter recall apply to South African cars?

We could not confirm that it does. Kia’s SC176 campaign (NHTSA 19V120000, which began 17 April 2019) is a United States recall covering 2012-2016 Souls fitted with the 1.6-litre GDI petrol engine, where a damaged catalytic converter can lead to piston and connecting-rod damage. We found no matching South African campaign, and no South African source confirming which injection system the locally sold 1.6 petrol Soul uses. Read the engine code off the block rather than assuming.

What should I listen for on a used Kia Soul test drive?

On a 2014-2015 car, rock the steering wheel with the engine off and listen for a knock at the rack — that was the symptom named in the South African steering recall. On any petrol car, start it from stone cold and listen for a deep knock that rises with revs. On a 1.6 CRDi Smart DCT, hold a very low speed and feel whether the body vibrates while the steering wheel stays still, which points to clutch judder rather than a wheel problem.

Kia Soul Common Problems: What to Check Before You Buy

Q: What engine is in the South African Kia Soul diesel?

Kia's U2 1.6-litre turbodiesel, engine code D4FB. It was sold here in two states of tune: 94 kW and 260 Nm in the manual Start and Street derivatives, and 100 kW and 300 Nm in the dual-clutch Smart. It is a widely used Hyundai-Kia unit rather than a Soul-specific engine, which helps both parts supply and finding a technician who knows it. Its most common weak point is the diesel particulate filter on cars used mainly for short trips — Kia's own owner's manual warns that soot will not burn off at low exhaust gas temperatures.

The Kia Soul faults that matter in South Africa are not the ones the American owner forums argue about. Two have a local paper trail. One is a live ABS fuse recall on the first-generation Soul, published by the National Consumer Commission on 8 December 2025. The other is a steering rack pinion defect that Kia South Africa recalled 798 local Souls for in March 2016. Most of the engine and dual-clutch horror stories online attach to hardware never sold here — so establish which derivative is in front of you before you panic, or walk away.

Key Takeaways

SA got two Soul generations. Local classifieds stop at 2019 — the third-generation SK3 was never sold new here.
An SA recall is open now: the NCC's 8 December 2025 notice covers the Soul (AM) for a free ABS fuse replacement.
Kia SA recalled 798 Souls built 18 January 2014 to 30 September 2015 over a steering rack pinion nut. Listen for a knock when you turn the wheel.
The much-quoted 1.6 GDI catalytic converter recall is a US action. We could not confirm it reaches locally sold cars.
Nearly every SA Soul is a six-speed manual or a conventional automatic. Only the flagship 1.6 CRDi Smart, on sale here by April 2016, used a seven-speed dual-clutch.
The local diesel is Kia's U2 1.6 CRDi (D4FB) — 94 kW and 260 Nm in the manual derivatives, 100 kW and 300 Nm in the dual-clutch Smart. Its weak point is the particulate filter on short trips.

Which Kia Souls did South Africa actually get?

This decides whether any overseas fault report applies to your car, and it is the step most buyers skip.

Two generations reached us. The first-generation car (Kia's AM code) arrived from around 2009, and its local price list ran to three derivatives: 1.6 manual, 1.6 automatic and 2.0 manual, all six-speed. The second-generation PS Soul landed late in 2014 and was facelifted in May 2017, when the range ran:

1.6 Start — 1.6 petrol, six-speed manual (91 kW / 152 Nm)
1.6 CRDi Start and 1.6 CRDi Street — 1.6 turbodiesel, six-speed manual (94 kW / 260 Nm)
2.0 Street — 2.0 petrol, six-speed manual (116 kW / 192 Nm)
2.0 Smart Auto — 2.0 petrol, automatic
1.6 CRDi Smart DCT — 1.6 turbodiesel, seven-speed dual-clutch (100 kW / 300 Nm)

Note what is absent: no 1.6 turbo petrol and no continuously variable gearbox, both common overseas. Nothing newer than 2019 exists in the local used market either — Kia stopped selling the Soul here and never introduced the SK3, so every bulletin written for a 2020-onwards Soul is about a car that is not here.

The recall that is open right now: the ABS fuse

On 8 December 2025 the National Consumer Commission published a recall covering Kia models sold locally between 2009 and 2015. It names the Sportage (SL, KM), Sorento (XM), Optima (TF), Cerato (TD) and the Soul (AM). The notice puts 18 600 vehicles across all five models in scope; it does not break out how many are Souls, so the only way to settle it for one particular car is to run the VIN through Kia's own campaign check.

The defect requires an ABS fuse replacement. The hazard, in the NCC's words, is that the malfunction could increase the vehicle's stopping distance to a standstill and, in some cases, lead to engine bay damage.

The American equivalent is blunter about why. Kia's campaign SC284 (NHTSA 23V652000, filed 25 September 2023) covers the Soul among many models. It states that the Hydraulic Electronic Control Unit may experience an electrical short, which can result in an engine compartment fire while parked or driving. Same one-part remedy — replace the HECU fuse — but there Kia told owners to park outside and away from structures until it was done.

A first-generation Soul is a cheap car now, and cheap cars change hands without anyone chasing dealer paperwork. Ask for proof the fuse work is done.

Used Kia ABS module and hydraulic electronic control unit for a Kia Soul

Kia Soul ABS Module (HECU)

Where the unit itself is damaged rather than just the fuse, a tested second-hand HECU is the sensible route. Send the VIN and we will match the part number.

Steering: the pinion nut that works loose

This one has a genuine South African record. Kia Motors South Africa began a voluntary recall on Tuesday 1 March 2016. It covered roughly 798 Souls, all assembled in Korea between 18 January 2014 and 30 September 2015, because a steering rack's pinion nut may not have been correctly secured. Owners were told to listen for a knocking sound when turning the wheel; the dealer fix was quoted at under an hour.

Overseas the same area was treated far more seriously. Kia's US campaign SC155 (NHTSA 17V608000) covers 2014-2016 Soul and Soul EV models and states that the pinion plug may allow the pinion gear to separate from the steering gear assembly, and that if it separates, steering will be lost. It supersedes two earlier campaigns, 14V-332 and 15V-736 — so cars already "fixed" twice were called back a third time.

On a test drive: engine off and stationary, rock the wheel gently side to side and listen at the rack. A distinct knock on a 2014-2015 car warrants a proper inspection before money changes hands.

Used Kia steering rack assembly for a Kia Soul

Kia Soul Steering Rack

If an inspection condemns the rack rather than just the pinion plug, a tested second-hand assembly is the affordable fix — we cover both Soul generations.

Automotive journalist Justin Pritchard walks through what to inspect on a used second-generation Soul. It is a North American car, so treat the recall talk as foreign — but the physical inspection routine transfers directly to an SA car.

Petrol engines: the catalytic converter chain reaction

The heaviest Soul engine story is American. Kia recalled 2012-2016 Souls fitted with the 1.6-litre GDI petrol engine under campaign SC176 (NHTSA 19V120000), which began on 17 April 2019. NHTSA's summary describes the chain plainly. High exhaust gas temperatures may damage the catalytic converter. That can cause abnormal engine combustion, damage to one or more pistons, and connecting rod failure. A broken rod can puncture the block, and escaping oil onto a hot exhaust is a fire risk.

This is a US action and it needs care. We found no matching South African campaign, and the recall is tied to one specific engine. Both a port-injected Gamma and a direct-injection Gamma GDi were built for the Soul. We could not confirm from any SA source which of the two the locally sold 1.6 petrol cars use. Read the code off the block rather than assuming from the badge.

The scale of the overseas noise is worth knowing. Querying the US NHTSA complaints database on 31 August 2026, Souls across the 2012 to 2019 model years carried 4 399 owner complaints between them — and the 2014, 2015 and 2016 cars alone accounted for 2 607 of those. That is a raw count of owner-submitted reports from one foreign market, not a failure rate, since an open recall drives complaints up by itself. But the concentration in those three model years is worth carrying into a viewing.

Replacement catalytic converter for a Kia Soul

Kia Soul Catalytic Converter

A converter breaking down internally keeps feeding debris towards the engine — replace it before the damage moves upstream.

Gearboxes: what an SA Soul really has

"Kia Soul gearbox problems" is one of the most searched Soul phrases in South Africa, and most of what comes back concerns hardware we never received.

The overwhelming majority of SA Souls are simple. The first-generation car was sold here with a six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic. On the second-generation range the 1.6 petrol, both 1.6 CRDi Start and Street derivatives and the 2.0 Street used a six-speed manual, and the 2.0 Smart was the automatic. If you own one of those you have a manual or a torque-converter automatic — not a dual-clutch — and the maintenance question is fluid: the correct Kia specification, changed on schedule, not "sealed for life".

One derivative is the exception. The flagship 1.6 CRDi Smart DCT used a seven-speed dual-clutch, on sale here by April 2016. Cars.co.za road-tested a local car that month, noting the dual-clutch replaced the six-speed automatic diesel and lifted outputs to 100 kW and 300 Nm. So if you are reading about a Soul dual-clutch, first check you are looking at this derivative.

That matters, because the well-known dual-clutch judder bulletin is not about the SA car either. Kia's technical service bulletin TRA 083 (December 2020, revised 24 August 2021) covers only the Soul 1.6 T-GDI (PS) built 8 August to 27 October 2016 and the Soul 1.6 T-GDI (SK3) built 24 November 2018 to 2 April 2020. Both are 1.6 turbo petrol cars, and neither was sold here.

For what actually fails inside Kia gearboxes locally — including the automatic fluid specification that causes most avoidable damage — see our guide to Kia gearbox problems in South Africa.

Complete Kia Soul Gearbox

Manual, automatic or the 1.6 CRDi dual-clutch unit — a complete tested gearbox often beats an open-ended rebuild. Send the VIN and we will confirm the unit.

The diesel: U2 1.6 CRDi (D4FB) and its particulate filter

The local diesel is Kia's U2 1.6-litre turbodiesel, engine code D4FB — 94 kW and 260 Nm in the manual Start and Street derivatives, and 100 kW and 300 Nm in the dual-clutch Smart. It is a widely used Hyundai-Kia unit rather than a Soul-specific engine, which helps both parts supply and finding a technician who knows it.

We found no South African source documenting a Soul-specific diesel failure rate, and we will not invent one. What is documented — by Kia itself — is the particulate filter, and it is the fault most likely to bite an SA owner.

Kia's owner's manual is blunt about the mechanism: "If the vehicle continues to be driven at low speed for long time, the accumulated soot may not be automatically removed because of low exhaust gas temperature." Once the soot load passes the sensor's limit, the malfunction indicator light starts to blink. Kia's instruction then is to drive above 60 km/h, or above second gear at 1 500 to 2 000 rpm, for about 25 minutes so the filter burns itself clean. Ignore it and, in the manual's words, "the DPF system can be damaged and fuel consumption can be worsen."

That makes the short urban commute the enemy — a car that never gets a sustained run is exactly the case Kia is warning about, and a filter blocked past regeneration is a replacement, not a repair. A blinking light is a job for a long drive; a steady light that will not clear is a job for a workshop.

The rest is ordinary common-rail discipline — clean fuel, correct oil, and taking injector symptoms seriously. Our write-up on CRDi injector failure symptoms covers what to listen for.

Diesel particulate filter for a Kia Soul 1.6 CRDi, showing the inlet and outlet flanges and pressure sensor port

Kia Soul Diesel Particulate Filter

Once a filter is blocked beyond regeneration, cleaning rarely holds. Send us the VIN and we will confirm the right unit for your 1.6 CRDi.

What we've seen in the yard

Through the first half of 2026 the Soul enquiries reaching our Briardene counter have skewed towards two things. First, steering and braking hardware for 2014-2015 cars — racks, and increasingly ABS units since the December 2025 notice sent owners to check. Second, complete engines and gearboxes for high-mileage cars past 200 000 km, mostly Durban and KZN north coast, where the owner has decided one replacement unit beats a run of partial repairs.

That is the shape of a model that has aged out of dealer servicing and into independent workshops.

Before you buy a used Kia Soul

Confirm the generation and derivative. An AM and a PS Soul share a name and little else.
Run the VIN past a Kia dealer for open recalls — the December 2025 ABS fuse action costs nothing.
On a 2014-2015 car, listen for a knock at the steering rack.
On a petrol car, read the engine code off the block, then start it cold and listen for a deep knock that rises with revs. Walk away, or price a replacement engine in first.
On a diesel, ask how the car has been used. A life of short trips and a filter that has never properly regenerated is a bill waiting to happen.
Check what gearbox it actually has. Nearly all are manual or conventional automatic; only the 1.6 CRDi Smart DCT is a dual-clutch, and it wants a specialist inspection.

Need a Soul part priced? See what we carry for the Kia Soul, browse our suspension and steering parts, or go straight to catalytic converters — or just describe the symptom and we will tell you what usually causes it.

Sources

National Consumer Commission (South Africa) — Product recalls: Jeep Wrangler and various models of Kia vehicles, 8 December 2025 (https://thencc.org.za/product-recalls-jeep-wrangler-and-various-models-of-kia-vehicles/)
The Herald — Jeep, Kia announce recalls affecting more than 18,900 SA vehicles (https://www.theherald.co.za/lifestyle/motoring/2025-12-10-jeep-kia-announce-recalls-affecting-more-than-18900-sa-vehicles/)
SowetanLive — Kia Motors recalls around 800 cars in SA over safety concern, 2 March 2016: the 798-vehicle Soul recall and the 18 January 2014 to 30 September 2015 build range (https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/business/2016-03-02-kia-motors-recalls-around-800-cars-in-sa-over-safety-concern/)
George Herald — Kia South Africa announces recall on Soul, 31 March 2016: 798 vehicles, steering rack pinion nut (https://www.georgeherald.com/News/Article/Motoring/kia-south-africa-announces-recall-on-soul-20170711)
Cars.co.za — Facelifted Kia Soul (2017) specs and pricing, 3 May 2017: the full South African derivative line-up and the 94 kW / 260 Nm diesel (https://www.cars.co.za/motoring-news/facelifted-kia-soul-2017-specs-pricing/48949/)
Cars.co.za — New Kia Soul launches in South Africa, 27 June 2012: the first-generation local range and its six-speed gearboxes (https://www.cars.co.za/motoring-news/new-kia-soul-launches-in-south-africa/74300/)
Cars.co.za — Kia Soul 1.6 CRDi Smart DCT (2016) Review, 7 April 2016: the local road test confirming the seven-speed dual-clutch and the 100 kW / 300 Nm outputs (https://www.cars.co.za/motoring_news/kia-soul-16-crdi-smart-dct-2016-review/42309/)
Wikipedia — Kia Soul: generation codes AM, PS and SK3, production years, and the engine and gearbox options offered in each (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kia_Soul)
Wikipedia — Hyundai U engine: the U2 1.6 CRDi identified as D4FB, and its power and torque variants (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyundai_U_engine)
Kia owner's manual — Diesel Particulate Filter: soot accumulation at low exhaust gas temperature, the blinking malfunction indicator light, and the regeneration drive instruction (https://ownersmanual.kia.com/docview/webhelp/doc/907b96c5-1ca7-44e2-9039-353689ff3f43/topics/chapter8_23_3.html)
Automotive Fleet — Kia launches diesel Soul in South Africa: U2 1.6 turbodiesel, six-speed manual (https://www.automotive-fleet.com/news/kia-launches-diesel-soul-in-south-africa)
Group 1 Kia — Kia Soul model history and South African generations (https://www.group1cars.co.za/model/soul/)
Cars.co.za — used Kia Soul listings, South African model years (https://www.cars.co.za/usedcars/Kia/Soul/)
AutoTrader South Africa — Kia Soul listings, South African model years (https://www.autotrader.co.za/cars-for-sale/kia/soul)
NHTSA recalls database — Kia Soul campaigns 23V652000 (SC284, HECU fuse), 17V608000 (SC155, steering pinion plug) and 19V120000 (SC176, 1.6 GDI catalytic converter) (https://api.nhtsa.gov/recalls/recallsByVehicle?make=kia&model=soul&modelYear=2015)
NHTSA complaints database — Kia Soul owner-submitted complaints by model year, queried 31 August 2026 (https://api.nhtsa.gov/complaints/complaintsByVehicle?make=kia&model=soul&modelYear=2015)
Kia Technical Service Bulletin TRA 083 (Rev 1, 24 August 2021) — 7-speed dual-clutch judder inspection and clutch assembly replacement, with the model and production-date table (https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2021/MC-10200551-0001.pdf)