Some Thoughts on Buying a Kia Soul Yesterday [View all]

[MineralMan]

After a couple of very production-robbing days of dealing with our 21-year-old Volvo, and several hours of crawling under it to make repairs, my wife and I decided that it was finally time to actually move into the 21st century and buy a brand new car. It had to meet several requirements. It had to seat four comfortably, have air conditioning, and have a great warranty. It also had to be priced under $15,000 for us to cope with the cost. If we were going to buy a brand new car, it would have to be one we'd own for ten years or so. I wanted my choice to be an American-made car. We're all dealing with this down economy, so that was on our minds.

We decided to interrupt our work schedules for two days and focus on this challenge and get it taken care of. Like all car buyers, we started online, searching for 2012 or 2013 cars that met all of our criteria. Since price was a deal-breaker, we started with Edmunds and got their list of new cars priced under $15,000. A baker's dozen or so vehicles, from a number of manufacturers were all that turned up. Then, we started making comparisons between them. Most were small economy cars. Very small. We're both getting older and small and cramped doesn't suit us very well, so we eliminated several on that basis. The hatchback category seemed the best match, in terms of space.

Since our price limitations meant that we'd be buying a base model, we then looked for cars that had the most features in our price range, with air conditioning being a must. That eliminated some others. Looking at available included warranties, we discovered that most of these economy cars had drivetrain warranties in the 5 year/50,000 mile category.

We got the list down to three cars. Theoretically, those we should have been able to look at that fit our criteria were:

The 2012 Ford Fiesta Hatchback: It had air conditioning, and appeared that it would have enough room, but had only a 5 year/50,000 mile drivetrain warranty.
The 2012 Chevy Sonic Hatchback: Same air conditioning, and maybe enough room, with a 5 year/100,000 mile drivetrain warranty.
The 2012/2013 Kia Soul: Air. Lots of room. 10 year/100,000 mile drivetrain warranty.

Two American manufacturers and one Korean manufacturer. While Kia builds some of its cars in the US, the Soul is built in South Korea. We read user reviews, magazine reviews, etc. for all three cars, although the 2013 Soul hadn't been reviewed yet. It's close enough to the 2012, though, with only minor changes. All of the cars got decent or better reviews from owners and from the other sources. The Soul excelled in the safety ratings, beating the other two, probably due to its size, included stability control system and air bag systems.

Next step was to find a dealer with cars in stock. This is where it all broke down. Searching every Ford and Chevrolet dealer in the entire Twin Cities metro area of MN, not a single base Fiesta or Sonic could be found. We made calls, too. Nope. Every dealer only had models with trim upgrades and other options that bumped the sticker price well over our $15,000 limit. There was not a base model of either car available. Not one.

Different story with the Kia dealers. They all had several base models of the Soul, and in the 2013 model year. All under $15,000. We called the closest dealer, about 6 miles away, and set up an appointment to test drive one. We went, drove the car, and found it to be plenty roomy, easy to enter and exit, and with a quiet, comfortable ride. Nice air conditioning, and HWY mileage rated at up to 35 MPG. Air conditioning and a 6-speed manual transmission, plus a bunch of other standard features that were welcome. Cockpit ergonomics were excellent, and the thing even has bluetooth connectivity and a built-in hands-off cell phone interface, with steering wheel buttons.

I had checked on incentives and discounts online, and discovered a $500 discount for veterans, so we had put my DD 214 in with the financial records we'd need, since we're self-employed. There was another discount for financing through the Kia system and a third, so-called "Bonus Cash" discount that expired on July 31. We didn't qualify for the recent college graduate discount of $750, since it's been over 30 years since either of us graduated. Anyhow, the sales guy left us along to talk about it. We liked the oddball look of the car, and the 10 year/100,000 mile warranty suits our style of keeping cars for long periods. Looked like our search was done.

So, we went into the showroom and told the sales guy that we wanted the car. Now, there's not much bargaining room on these econoboxes, but the discounts were voluntarily disclosed by the sales guy and I asked about the veteran's discount. He asked if I had my DD214, so I handed it to him. We told him how much we had for a down payment and what our maximum monthly payment would have to be and he disappeared for a while after we filled out the short credit application. When he returned a few minutes later, he had a purchase agreement, including all of the discounts, plus an additional $200 discount he hadn't mentioned to us. We had specified a base model, but this one had one trim item that was optional. They knocked that cost off. Since our credit scores are in the excellent range, the Kia system financing wasn't an issue, and our documentation wasn't needed. The price was down to just over $13,000, plus licence, registration, etc. The payment was well below our maximum. We signed, and got shown to a lounge area that served both the showroom and the service department to wait for the paperwork to be completed.

Anyhow, we drove off in the car about an hour and a half after getting to the dealership. No hard sell on any of the extended warranty things, although we did purchase their free regular service package, which includes all of the oil changes, other scheduled maintenance, etc. for the lifetime of our ownership. That added $8/mo to the payment. The car was delivered full of fuel and freshly-washed and we went home. The odometer read 8 miles when we left the dealership, most of that from our test drive.

I had reservations about buying a non-US made car for obvious reasons having to do with labor issues. However, as I was sitting in that customer lounge, which wasn't showing Fox News, by the way, I watched as a couple of dozen employees of this dealership passed by, including several service workers who came into the lounge to tell people what was going on with their car. I also talked to several people waiting in the lounge, and asked them about their experience with the dealership. All good reports and people seemed to really like their Kias. So, there were American workers earning their living around these Korean import cars. That helped.

I would probably have bought the Ford or Chevy in preference to the Kia, just for the labor reasons and despite the shorter warranties, but there were none to be found. Not a single base model of either in the area. I couldn't buy what didn't exist, and we needed a car then, not sometime down the road. So, I now own a Kia Soul. Oh, well. It drives well, works well, has an excellent warranty, and it was available at a dealership that seems to be thriving and has employees who all seemed to be in good moods. Nice car. Nice people. I guess we'll just drive the car for 10 years, and see what the situation is after that.

Oh, yeah. I read that the Kia Soul is a hipster car, so I guess I'm a hipster now. My niece, on Facebook, commented on my post about the new car by sending me to a youtube link with a Kia Soul ad featuring some human-sized gangsta hamsters. Somehow, I don't think my wife and I are the target demographic for this car.