Purchased- Dec 10th 2011
Current ODO- 14434 miles (as of June 11th)
Fuel cost - $1347.91
Repairs / Maint to date- $73.38
Feb 26th- Oil, filter, bottle of Techron = $29.36
Jun 10th- Oil, filter, bottle of Techron = $44.02
Best tank of gas mileage- 39.6mpg
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The purpose of this thread will be to document the entire existence of a Kia Soul from purchase till it's final mile hopefully many years from now. I'll let you guys know of any thoughts, problems, etc.
I drive a lot of miles for work. I typically drive anywhere from 150-200+ miles a day. Therefore, I need something that is reliable and cheap to own and operate both in purchase price and fuel cost. I also carry a lot of parts so I need some space, but the parts are light so I do not need to worry about weight capacity.
After weighing all the options, I decided on a 2012 Kia Soul, base model with a manual trans. I don't need any options as this is strictly an A-B work vehicle. Also decided on white as that makes it look like a little service van type vehicle.
Turns out that trying to find a 2012 base model with a stick is next to impossible. I contacted 8 different dealers and nobody had one or knew when they would get one. It was actually quite frustrating as several of the dealers seemed like they weren't hearing a word I said. Several of them tried to sell me loaded models, automatics, or used ones from 2010-2011. When I expressed that I wasn't interested in those, they lost interest in speaking with me.
I understand there is no money to be made on the cheapest model, especially with my USAA discount, but I hope to be able to add some value back to the dealer & brand with future repairs and service as well as referrals to friends and family who may need a new car in the future.
Being that it is a funky looking vehicle and I see a LOT of customers (around 1700 customers a year)..I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to relate my experience of the vehicle to them as well.
As of today, one of the dealers I have been in contact with has located a 2012 base Soul, manual, in white. They are going to try to have it for me in the next week or 2.
The dealership is Global Kia in North Plainfield NJ.
The sales rep is T.J.
Although all our correspondence to this point has been via email, everything has been prompt and attentive to my needs. Better service in fact then several of the other dealers were even face to face.
I'll update as things progress. :thumbup::thumbup: