Turns out, Kia has no Soul

Quick, name a new car that that gets over 30mpg highway, has 4 doors plus a hatch, is tall enough that a very pregnant lady can easily get in and out of, has inexpensive 15" wheels, a 5-speed, air conditioning, power accessories, and some style...all for under $13K new? Yep, the Base Kia Soul (with two buyer incentives) Even has a 10-year powertrain warranty.

I have seen them advertised, but cannot actually find one in existence anywhere. They seem to be unicorns, designed to allow dealers to advertise a low, low price on a car they never actually seem to have on the lot.

I should have known from the use of gingers in the award winning advertisements from Europe.

pinchvalve wrote: Quick, name a new car that that gets over 30mpg highway, has 4 doors plus a hatch, is tall enough that a very pregnant lady can easily get in and out of, has inexpensive 15" wheels, a 5-speed, air conditioning, power accessories, and some style...all for under $13K new? Yep, the Base Kia Soul (with two buyer incentives) Even has a 10-year powertrain warranty. I have seen them advertised, but cannot actually find one in existence anywhere. They seem to be unicorns, designed to allow dealers to advertise a low, low price on a car they never actually seem to have on the lot.

Uh... order one?

If I remember right a Kia salesman once told me they can't order, only dealer trade if some other dealer has one. It might have been a Hyundai salesman, though. I just spent a week with a cheap Kia soul. Other than the infuriating automatic and really cheap seats, I was impressed. Oh and its total lack of power, but I was in Korea so I don't know if the engine options are different there

I've scanned the Kia and Hyundai dealers inventories in my area....NO Souls with a manual transmission. Do they even exist?

Of all the Fortes in my area, only one new one with a manual transmission, and of course it's silver. You can find Sorentos (supposedly) with manual transmissions, for less than $25k, MSRP. And I found 1 or 2 Sportages with manual. Hyundai dealers near me still list 2010 Accents in inventory....but again, automatics. No manual Sonatas and no manual Elantras.

They exist. I drove a Soul manual in California shortly after they were launched. I liked it a lot, although the shifter action wasn't anything to write home about.

it also had those groovy pulsating speakers

[sarcasim]now why would you want a manual? Don;t you know that NOBODY drives manual transmission cars anymore?[/sarcasm]

Wife has a Soul with a 5 speed. Not the base though, which does have the smaller engine, so I can't comment how that drives. Overall though hers is a pretty nice little car for the price.

Uh... order one?

I'm sure they'll do that for you, but it'll cost ya'. Dealers want to sell the inventory they have on their lot. So I'm sure they'll order a base model car for you, but they'll mark up the price to get their profit. So your $13k car is now the same price as the auto tranny car on their lot.

I tried something similar with Ford many years ago. Tried to order a base Escort with no options at all. No dealer had one. They all offered to order one, but said it would take xx weeks and cost an extra $xxxx

Klayfish wrote:

Uh... order one?

I'm sure they'll do that for you, but it'll cost ya'. Dealers want to sell the inventory they have on their lot. So I'm sure they'll order a base model car for you, but they'll mark up the price to get their profit. So your $13k car is now the same price as the auto tranny car on their lot. I tried something similar with Ford many years ago. Tried to order a base Escort with no options at all. No dealer had one. They all offered to order one, but said it would take xx weeks and cost an extra $xxxx

We've ordered two new cars and they did not tack on an additional fee. I would try a different dealer.

Cotton wrote: We've ordered two new cars and they did not tack on an additional fee. I would try a different dealer.

They may not tack on an additional fee, but you probably won't get the factory incentives. Most car company rebate offers require you to take delivery from dealer inventory.

Duke wrote: They may not tack on an additional fee, but you probably won't get the factory incentives. Most car company rebate offers require you to take delivery from dealer inventory.

Not where I'm from The rebate is the rebate, you just have to wait. As said, find another dealer and work them harder... do dealerships actually earn money selling cars anyways? I thought it was all in the maintenance now?

hyundai and kia do not allow you to custom order a car. they build em and send em out. a request can be put in by the dealer but no guarantee of it ever coming... last may i requested a sonata for a customer and the car finally came in in december,

Fucillo Kia down in Florida does a little over 500 Kia's a month. If anybody would have one...

to the OP:

How long will she be very pregnant? is ingress/egress for a "very pregnant lady" really worth putting at the top of the list of requirements for a new vehicle?*

*it is if you're starting a cab company that caters to third-trimester preggos. which could be an absolutely brilliant business model, depending on where you live. but if that very pregnant lady is your SO, then i'm going to guess that the duration of her very pregnantness will be short compared to the duration of your vehicle ownership.

I have ordered three vehicles at different times. No markups, got all the discounts and incentives offered. Just need to find an honest dealer. It helps to do research before hand.

AngryCorvair wrote: to the OP: How long will she be very pregnant? is ingress/egress for a "very pregnant lady" really worth putting at the top of the list of requirements for a new vehicle?* *it is if you're starting a cab company that caters to third-trimester preggos. which could be an absolutely brilliant business model, depending on where you live. but if that very pregnant lady is your SO, then i'm going to guess that the duration of her very pregnantness will be short compared to the duration of your vehicle ownership.

That all depends...

keethrax wrote:

AngryCorvair wrote: to the OP: How long will she be very pregnant? is ingress/egress for a "very pregnant lady" really worth putting at the top of the list of requirements for a new vehicle?* *it is if you're starting a cab company that caters to third-trimester preggos. which could be an absolutely brilliant business model, depending on where you live. but if that very pregnant lady is your SO, then i'm going to guess that the duration of her very pregnantness will be short compared to the duration of your vehicle ownership.

That all depends...

You win at the amount of fail in the aforementioned photo!

John Brown wrote: You win at the amount of fail in the aforementioned photo!

Of course, the counter-argument is if she's going to spend that much time knocked up, a Kia of any sort is the wrong vehicle. Unless they build buses in Korea that we don't see here.

Are the Kia Soul's those cars made for hamsters or something? I would not buy one for my wife, unless I wanted to send her the message that I thought she was a little rodent. I do not understand the ad campaign at all.

the lack of manual transmissions in most of the available new kia's is the reason I have the base model forte, it was the one with the manual.
lol.
I'm not entirely sure that sonata's and new elantra's even COME with a clutch pedal at all, though. bummer, because THEY would probably be even more fun than my car is to drive.

But you remembered it. You remembered what was being pitched, the details, the rodents....even though you don't want one, or are interested in one, you mention of it IS why it's an effective commercial.

For example, the Betty White superbowl commercial showing her getting tackled, what was being sold? Or, currently the old couple drifting on the Bonneville salt Flats in a gorgeous Caddy (I SO want that car, it's gorgeous, anybody know what year it is?)?

Offensive or funny, cute or serious, if you don't remember the product, it's a failed ad.

I worked in sales for a dealer for a very short time and they almost never had any of the super special cars they put in the ads. It really pissed people off too. There was no real profit in it for the dealer so they didn't intend to have any. A customer would show up with his discount coupon in hand and I never found the car with the advertised stock no. on the lot. It pissed me off too and that's why I didn't work there very long. Well, that and a lot of other policies. Having never been in the NEW car retail business before, I was shocked.

As far as ordering a car, it just came from another dealer, not from the factory. The problem is if it was a very desireable car most dealerships wouldn't let them go so you often had a dissappointed customer. The salesman was expected to steer the customer to a vehicle that was in stock.

This will be the last time she is pregnant (by me anyway) so that's not a huge deal, but she does like sitting up a little higher and she will be putting the baby in and out of a car seat for a few years.

I asked about ordering one, and was told that you can't order from Kia. They also told me that there were none on the water and no more being produced in Korea. That may be complete BS to try to get me to step up to a more expensive model, I don't know.

Other dealers show base models on their lots, but when I offer to come in and drive away in one, they all give me some crazy story and pitch line. Look, I have $13,000 cash. You want it or not? It should not be that hard!

As for the base model, my wife is actually requesting it. She wants the MPG, couldn't care less about performance or handling, and prefers to row her own gears. (no, she doesn't have a sister)

I'm with T.J. on this one. Why on earth would I want to buy a car driven by a rat? From now on I associate Kia with rats. I don't think that's a good marketing campaign. Rats, hamsters, guinea pigs - they're all furry little pests.