New fishing rig, room for all my gear and extra passengers! 35 mpg, 136 hp, 6 speed stick. 2013 Kia Soul. Very comfortable ride! The color is “Alien” and keep your comments to yourself!! Had 3 people and a 26" bike in it this morning! This is my 3rd Kia and I know I’ll catch some flack from the “Buy American” members but I took a good look what they offered and it beat domestic hands down!!
It does not come with a spare tire?! When was the last time you had a flat? It does have and can of sealant and a 12 volt compressor along with 60,000 miles of free road side assistance!
The price on the pumps is .569 and .659!
Yep, I had to buy my Soul!!
Jack, If I knew how to insert a pic I’d show you mine. EXACTLY the same “Alien Green” car except I picked up the automatic. Normally I buy the stick as well, but shifting 6 times in traffic every time I moved during the test drive sold me on the automatic. I’ve had mine for a year now with over 20000 miles and love it. Just took it on a road trip this weekend down a number of Forest roads and it did very well. I like the way I can load it up and it still performs well and gets me up and down the mountain without any trouble.
Looks good -except there is no way in Hades I would drive a vehicle without a spare tire - not where I go. Hope you enjoy your vehicle as much as I do my Ford Escape.
Also I thought I might mention, watch out for those 4 wheel anti-lock disc brakes. One reason I made the purchase was because the Kia Soul has the highest safety rating. My previous car was too light to stop, slam the brakes it just slid, and I have to drive the 101 freeway in Phoenix here which is likely the most dangerous road in the world. I say that having driven commercially the freeways of LA most my life. The mixture of those who learned how to drive in LA with those who learned how to drive in rural USA is a dangerous mix. People can’t do 85 in a 65 mixed in with those who have never seen their speedometer go over 45
Having a perfect driving record from 1979 to 2006 my stretch with my last car netted me three accidents and three “Failure to control vehicle to avoid an accident” citations. I just couldn’t stop that thing! With the Kia Soul I have already had a few of those close calls. No accident, No citation, but I tell you you I REALLY had to peal my face off the windshield!!! This vehicle LITERALLY stops on a dime !!! I love it!
Congrats on the new fishing buggy Jack.
We rented one for a few days in San Antonio while there for our grandsons Air Force Basic graduation. I thought it was a zippy little car. When we arrived at the rental office the agent told my wife we had been upgraded to the Kia Soul. My wife asked if our first pick had been a skateboard.
Personally I enjoyed driving around on the freeways and city streets in it. Good gas mileage and doen’t take up much room.
I recently traded my escape for a used huyndia; and I got a lot of “way to support south korea” comments - guess where it is built? ALABAMA! so, i just respond neaner, neaner…
The American south has become a center for auto manufacturig, KIA opened their doors a couple of years ago in Georgia, Hyundia, Mercedes, Honda are in Alabama, Nissan’s large P/U and Toyota’s Prius in Mississippi, Tennessee has Nissan Frontiers & Sentras, Kentucky has a Toyota plant I think. GM closed their Georgia facility as did Ford, which was the most efficient plant in their system, I’m still working on the reasoning there. My brother has been the No. 1 Lexus saleman in Baton Rouge for several years. In a recent conversation I said “I know you are convinced Lexus is the best car made.” He stopped me and said “No, you don’t understand they just are.”
Jack doesn’t the state require everyone who moves down from places like Michigan to ID themselves as Aliens?
Uncle Jesse,
Actually they’re only supposed to keep the license plate from their old state on the front of their vehicle for their first three years down here. It’s kinda like the (yellow?) tags with a big “L” on them that one finds on some cars in the UK.
I’ve kept a spreadsheet for gas mileage and cost since day one. 34.55 miles per gallon overall and an average gas cost of $.10 per mile. Not bad for an all wheel drive vehicle. Credit the H4 boxer engine and CVT transmission, with an assist from the Nokian tires.
Great ride on or off the pavement, and handles snow covered roads quite nicely, with almost 9" clearance.
John
P.S. Built in Indiana. Does that count as the south, Jesse ??
That’s across the Ohio River, I believe most the boys from Indiana wrote the blue when the boys south of the river worn gray. Forget the Mason - Dixon the color of great, great, great grand daddy’s uniform is what Southern use to decide who a Yankee and who ain’t.
I’m not much of a auto mechanic but the idea of a true CVT (constant variable transmission?) intrigues me. I may have to do a little research on how that works. Do you know if it’s a belt / pulley system?
Subaru uses uses a chain type mechanism in its CVT, as I understand ( misunderstand ) it. I almost didn’t buy the Outback because of the CVT, wondering how it would stand up, especially since this was the first one they had done in quite some time, and their earlier versions were problematic more than automatic.
BUT I decided that Subaru would not put an unreliable transmission in their most popular vehicle - no way they would risk the reputation they have built on a transmission that had not been thoroughly tested and proven dependable, so I went ahead and bought one.
The CVT does make a bit of noise in some circumstances, but it is by far the smoothest transmission of any I’ve driven. And since it is always seeking, and finding, the best combination of RPM ( horsepower and torque ) and gearing ratio for the load, the Outback can be extremely fuel efficient when operated with driving habits honed for and focused on fuel economy. The Outback window sticker “overall” figure is something like 24 mpg - but my 34.55 mpg overall is real world stuff, albeit in almost ideal driving conditions.
John
P.S. Jack - yes, you have soul, and now you can have it back.
Jack, that just sounds like something you are going to have to go to school, follow the manual to understand with the engine connected to a computer to see what is happening.
Shade tree mechanics were killed off by the car companies. We get longer lives and better preformance than ever but you have to have a professional fix anything more than change plugs and filters.
Us ol’ shade tree mechanics are a dying breed!!