2012 Kia Soul Consumer Reviews
Most Helpful Reviews
Positive Review
I could take the time to complain about the shortcomings of this car, like the easy to scratch interior door panels and the erratic first to second gear shift of the automatic transmission. I could say that the engine noise is a little on the loud side in the interior cabin, but honestly those are the only shortcomings that I have found in this little car and they are minor in the overall driving experience. My family and I use this car for all of our outings and I drive it to and from work on a daily basis (6 days a week), a commute that consists of a 54 mile daily trek, round trip. So the Soul has earned all of its 48000 miles now showing on the odometer. The trip my wife and I took into the Blue Ridge Mountains of Georgia was an absolute blast. The Soul handled wonderfully throughout the curves and mountainous terrain. I seldom had to touch the brake pedal when descending the grades, turning off the overdrive switch allowed for the little car to use the engine braking of the 2.0L in-line 4 cylinder and maintained a quite manageable downhill speed. I had expected the climb through the mountains to be hard on the Soul, but found that the engine and automatic transmission handled it well. Equally surprising was that the fuel mileage did not suffer from the mountainous terrain either. I have experienced fuel mileage ranging from as low as 24 to a best of 31 mpg. My wife laughs at me each time we fill up because I write my mileage on each gas receipt and log it into a spreadsheet on my laptop. Due to such record keeping, I can tell you that the overall average mileage is currently just a tick under 26 MPG. The Kia Soul offers a lot of value for the money. I am extremely fond of the hands free Bluetooth and the Sirius Satelite Radio. The iPod connections are quite easy to use as is all of the steering wheel mounted controls (radio controls, cruise control, and hands free telephone controls). There is plenty of room up front for driver and passenger. More surprisingly is the abundant roominess for the rear seat passengers, plenty of leg room and the first small car in which I've experienced this. While I mentioned the shortcomings of this car in my opening remarks, the only real irritating shortcoming is the automatic transmission. While it doesn't do it all the time, I sometimes experience a sort of slip between first and second gear. It tends to only occur when I accelerate a little more than normal, but not quite at an aggressive rate. If I get aggressive with acceleration, it does not occur. Nor does it occur if I accelerate at a normal rate. I have become accustomed to it since I drive it daily, adjusting my driving habits to compensate, but my wife and daughter have yet to figure out exactly what I am talking about. My daughter no longer likes driving it because of the weird shift. I took it to the dealer and was told that the shift was a normal operation and it has never gotten any worse. Overall, I love this little car and have always been quite impressed with its handling and how zippy it is while driving. I would most certainly recommend this car to a friend and I would absolutely purchase another without hesitation.
VS
Critical Review
I have been a Ford guy for years, the Soul was my 9th vehicle and I bought into it because it was affordable and pretty cool. I bought the car in April and loved it at first, I have the Exclaim! model with the sunroof, UVO System and all the extras. The longer I have it, the more things are starting to make me mad with it. For example, the UVO system that they charged me the extra $1,200 for has an issue with connecting an iPod where it pops and cracks and ruins your listening experience! I have called the dealer and KIA directly and they keep telling me they're working on an update to fix that! That has been months with nothing new. With the 18" wheels, the ride is borderline horrible if you don't have newly paved streets. I have also seen a significant drop in throttle power and MPG every week since I've owned it. At first, it was really fast, then it feels like it doesn't want to move. Thought I had an engine problem but KIA said it was fine. I also experience the shaking and vibrations when coming to a stop at red lights and parking spots that everyone else is complaining of, it's really bad too! It makes my head hurt sometimes because it chugs and shakes like the engine is going to blow up! The cargo area is not as generous as it looks, I went to pick up some large pizza's for a party a few weeks ago and I had to fold the back seat down to fit the boxes in! However, there are good things too. The Infinity audio system is totally awesome and the touch screen UVO system works flawlessly! It has some trouble when you ask it to play artists it doesn't know like Paramore. You have to slowly pronounce the name like your talking to a foreign exchange student before it picks it up. The seats are good if you aren't going far, but I sat in it for about an hour one day and I could barely bend my back when I got out of it, they are very hard seats! One other thing that annoys me is the resale value being poor. The issues I listed got on my nerves so much I actually tried to sell it and get the new Escape that just came out, but I just got low-balled by everyone and their excuse was "It's a KIA, they don't hold value at all." I heard that from 5 different people and that by far is the worst thing because it means you can't come out good enough to get something else if you decide you don't like it! The KIA soul is a good car, depending on what you're looking for? I would say take it for a test drive and then another. Then, take it one more time because the things that will annoy you about this car are things that you won't necessarily pick up on driving it for 5 minutes!
2012 Soul Reviews
Showing 8 of 402 reviews.
I've had this car since Jan 5, 2011. I have not had a single issue with the car. I'd buy another if this one ever dies.
I keep a car a long time and this has been another great purchase! I love the roomy interior and cheaper than other comparables. It has been dependable and I have no complaints!
small space for small famlys
looks ugly and bad stling
the kia soul is good for a small famaly but for big famalys you ned to look elseware because thers not big space and tall pepole dont want to ow this car
It has zip! Handles very well.
It rides rough, like a truck. Noisy at high speeds
I love my Soul. It has great acceleration, contrary to other reviews. It handles great in the snow. I’ve kept it maintained with regular oil changes, tires, etc. With over 185K miles on it, it was supposed to last a couple more years until some juvenile jerk broke into it and smashed the steering column to pieces. WHY??
I have owned my Kia Soul now for 9 years. Have had no major issues with this car. New tires once and a new battery once. Other than regular maintenance that is all. I have 85000 miles on it. I average 28 miles to the gallon. I love my car.
Peppy 2.0 ltr good on fuel! Heated leather seats good! Second car but we now drive it more for gas economy! Good in winter with 16” steel rims and winter tires! Change oil more frequently saves engine wear!! Doesn’t burn oil 115,000 kms Keeping it longer than we expected!!
Got my 2010 Kia Soul about 8 years ago, (used) and it has been a great little car. No major problems. Just needed to do the oil change every 3 months. Very happy with it.
This car is just outstanding! She is my Timex: Takes a licking and keeps on ticking! I have had zero issues in my 12 years of ownership. None. How many other car companies can say the same?
