On the short list for new appliance is a 25 kia soul lx.
We'd be getting one with no options. As stripped as possible.
I fully plan to rent one from turo to make sure that I like them after a few hundred miles in a sit. The 5 mile test drive last night wasn't enough for my wife and I to pass judgement on the seats.
How are the cvt's holding up long term?
Has kia fixed their engine problems they used to have?
What about electronics? Are they a nightmare waiting to happen?
Reasons to run?
Never thought I'd be considering a soul as my first new car....
In the past on Korean encono cars it has been common that they keep the price down by not offering cruise control to the most stripped trim level. I don't know if that is the case with the Soul XL but if cruise is important to you, be sure to verify.
Has Kia/Hyundai solved their issue of no "chip" in ignition keys? This is what made past Korean cars the easy theft target, aka Kia Boys. I think the high trim models got a push button start and that provided remedy. But, the lowest models are likely still a metal key and I'd want assurance that these models are not targets.
With the mention of Kia's high past theft, I am highly suspicious that a Kia will cost significantly more to insure than the other choices. You may want to speak to your insurance co before purchase.
That conversation could be, "I'm considering buying x,y, or,z what would be my annual rates on each model?". To do this it might be best to have real vin numbers but for this exercise you could just lift some real example vin numbers off auto trader and give those to the ins co.
My work has used the Soul for about 7-8 years for a courier service we provide. We've since switched to subbing deliveries with gig work, however our main office still uses the Soul. One of their's recently got up into the 170k mile territory. That's when it had some transmission issue that I don't know the full details on but was still functional last I heard. I've personally put quite a few miles in a few that we've had and it's a decent vehicle to be in. Not powerful, but handling is okay, creature comforts were decent. Audio wasn't half bad.
My sister in law had one catch fire a couple years ago. She had a brake light show up for quite some time and had me sorta look at it instead of going to the dealer since the local brake shop's estimate was pretty high and a stab in the dark. We assumed it was a faulty ABS sensor and she never took it in to get replaced. A month or three later it caught fire while going down the road. It was scary, but totally avoidable had she taken it in to get looked at like I had told her. I recall something about an ABS pump failure spraying brake fluid onto a hot exhaust? It's been a while but there was a recall I think for certain models.
My wife's has the higher spec Soul with push button start and it's still stupid expensive to insure.
How stupid ? Nearly double what my 21 year old daughters new top of the line CRV costs to insure.
Hurts my feelings that Allstate lumps all of the theft cars together whether they have a metal key or a push button. Next renewal I'm either going to change insurers or do something to lower the premiums. My wife sort of wants a Prius anyway...
Easy to steal (possibly), expensive to ensure, and if they follow the trend that Kias/Hyundais typically do then the engines last just until the warranty period is over and that's not including the general difficulty to get warranties honored. I haven't heard good things about their CVTs either. I've skimmed the forums of various Kias/Hyundais in the past so this is where I get my consensus and I don't really think their new stuff is that much different from their old stuff (referring to drivetrain) so it doesn't give me hope. Also, the fact that they seem to have so many recalls related to fires (among different cars for different reasons) isn't confidence inspiring. My wife had a Kia Soul in ~2017 and we got rid of it after I dug deeper into all of these things and decided it wasn't worth keeping.
I had a 2024 Kia Soul as a rental a few months ago. It was the base trim level in gray. I only had it for a few days.
I found it drove pretty well for an appliance. This was rental car number 4, which was proceeded my 2(!) Mitsubishi Mirages and a 2024 Toyota Corolla hatch. I thought the Soul drove better than all of them. It had tons of room inside and was pretty quiet. The CVT was unobtrusive and was well matched to the engine. It was pretty peppy but wouldn't light your hair on fire. One thing I disliked was the tachometer:
Revs are displayed at X.X rpms. So at 35mph the display would read like 2.7k rpms. I couldn't find a way to change the display. But that is a minor complaint.
Overall, I came away impressed. No wonder Kia sells a bazillion of these things.
I take it your Maverick is still at the dealer due to the stop sale?
Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) said:
My wife's has the higher spec Soul with push button start and it's still stupid expensive to insure.
How stupid ? Nearly double what my 21 year old daughters new top of the line CRV costs to insure.
Hurts my feelings that Allstate lumps all of the theft cars together whether they have a metal key or a push button. Next renewal I'm either going to change insurers or do something to lower the premiums. My wife sort of wants a Prius anyway...
Great feedback on the insurance quote - some cars are just stupid expensive to insure. Any initial savings is eaten up by insurance costs, and the longer you hold onto the car, the worse it is!
I had one of the original Kia souls and really enjoyed it but how Kia handled how easy to steal I was out on them. Last year when I was looking at the Soul, Chevy Trax, Taos, and Cx3. I ended up going with the Taos because it was cheaper and a little bigger then the others. However the Trax did have a stripped down version, that was cheaper just not on the lot. In hindsight because we are a family of 5, Cx-50 would have been better, but we have made it work. I have towed with it, even though it doesn't have a rating.
Dusterbd13 said:
How are the cvt's holding up long term?
I don't think there is any data on that. That would scare me.
The 2.0 Nu MPI is the same basic 2.0 they've used for like 12 years and to my knowledge it doesn't have any major issues. Its nothing special, but it gets the job done. Its performance and MPG are pretty underwhelming when compared with the rest of the 2025 market.
My 2013 wasn't that bad to insure.
Mine had something weird going on with the clutch/pp that I never bothered to fix that was really annoying. Aside from that, the biggest downside to the car was that better cars existed for not much more money.
If it helps at all, here are the links to download a PDF of the spec sheet and the list of features and options for the 2025 Soul:
Specfications
Features & Options
Thanks everyone!
I would not have thought about insurance. Called my agent and am having them run a guesstimate on the carolla and soul.
The lx we drove last night had a metal key, but that spec sheet shows for a few dollars more i get push button start and a more adjustable seat. That appeals to me, and puts price equal to toyota.
Is there electrical/software issues to be wary of? Thats what finally made me decide to back out of the maverick, all the issues there that I can't fix.
Son owns one, he had a last gen which got stolen and totaled. The new one replaced it. The first one he got because he needed a car in a hurry and that was what he could get, but since he's owned them he's fallen in love with them. I think this gen fixed the issue that made the earlier models so easy to steal. I haven't heard of any electrical or software issues. We had a Sorrento a few years back and other than a faulty airbag module that would have been replaced under warranty if it wasn't under constant backorder (and the airbag actually worked just fine when it was totaled in an accident) the electrics were rock solid.
My roommate has a newish Soul. It seems like a good handy size. I haven't driven it yet.
She said she probably wouldn't buy another one. She said this after it threw a P0420 and the mechanic she took it to couldn't find the issue. I wonder if the cat is starting to go from coolant getting in the combustion chambers, but I really don't know. I wouldn't be surprised if the tech just reset it to see if it would come back.
She didn't say much about other issues, so I'm not sure what the deal is. I could ask more if you want, my guess is she was feeling annoyed in that moment as she didn't say much about other issues.
I thought some Kias had a DCT, didn't realize it was a CVT. I would be much more drawn to them if they had a DCT.
If the less-stealable Soul and the Corolla are equally priced, there is no question that I'd go with the Corolla. It's a much better car that will last longer with WAY more resale value down the road. And that's coming from a Kia owner!
My wife's aunt has a newer Soul. This is her 2nd one. It's extremely OK. She mainly bought it because it's affordable and easy to get in and out of (she is older with some health issues). It's very unremarkable and boring, and as someone who enjoys driving, there's basically no redeemable qualities.
I had a second-gen Soul EV, so not apples-to-apples--but it was a great commuter car and city runabout over the 3 years I leased it. The lack of hatch space did occasionally pose a problem (not able to accommodate large suitcases, for example) but otherwise the small, upright form factor was very practical.
While you were at the Kia dealer did you happen to check out the new K4? I'd like to check on out in person; It seems to be a little more care for similar money.
CyberEric said:
My roommate has a newish Soul. It seems like a good handy size. I haven't driven it yet.
She said she probably wouldn't buy another one. She said this after it threw a P0420 and the mechanic she took it to couldn't find the issue. I wonder if the cat is starting to go from coolant getting in the combustion chambers, but I really don't know. I wouldn't be surprised if the tech just reset it to see if it would come back.
She didn't say much about other issues, so I'm not sure what the deal is. I could ask more if you want, my guess is she was feeling annoyed in that moment as she didn't say much about other issues.
I thought some Kias had a DCT, didn't realize it was a CVT. I would be much more drawn to them if they had a DCT.
Traditional auto up to 2022 in peasant trim levels. Now CVT only. Not-good DCT = 1.6t. Good DCT = N
Earlier Souls also had 6spd manuals, although the 2nd gen only offered them with the weakest engine (1.6 na)
Just got off the phone with my AllState agent. Within $10 every 6 months between the Corolla and the soul to ensure. So that's a negligible issue there.
