2024 Kia Soul

The Kia Soul is a small SUV with a big personality. It proves you don’t have to spend much money to drive something that stands out from the crowd. Its boxy design yields a surprisingly spacious interior for a car this size, strengthening its practicality factor. The Soul is also equipped with some of the latest safety and infotainment tech features, and even a fully loaded example is still pretty affordable. The cherry on top is its class-leading warranty.

The Kia Soul competes on the more affordable side of subcompact SUVs with the Hyundai Venue, Nissan Kicks, and Chevrolet Trax.

Since it just got a thorough mid-cycle refresh for 2023, changes are minor for 2024. There’s a new EX Designer Package, an appearance package for the top trim with unique 18-inch wheels and an Umber interior with cloth and faux leather seats. Also, the Smart Key option now has a “sleep mode” that enhances security by making it harder to duplicate.

Before buying a Soul, check the Kelley Blue Book Fair Purchase Price to know what you should really pay. Kia Soul resale value is about average for the segment.

The Kia Soul is powered by a 147-horsepower 4-cylinder engine matched with an automatic transmission and front-wheel drive.

The Soul is right at home in the city with adequate acceleration and agile handling, thanks to its small footprint. We found it very easy to park thanks to its boxy proportions. The Soul is up to the task of highway driving, but passing on the highway requires some patience.

The ride quality of the Kia Soul is more sophisticated than you might expect for a car at this price point. We wouldn’t call it luxurious, but it’s more than comfortable enough for the daily commute and long-distance cruising. The road noise in the interior isn’t too bad, but we noticed the engine got noisy under hard acceleration.

We’ve spent hundreds of hours driving and evaluating the current collection of subcompact SUVs, including this Kia Soul.

Fuel Economy

The Soul gets a 30-mpg combined fuel economy rating in most trims. The top EX trim is slightly more efficient, earning a 31-mpg rating.

The quality of this interior is nice for the price point. The tech features are easy to use, and we prefer the 10.25-inch touchscreen that comes in all but the base trim. The available Harman Kardon audio system adds sound-connected LED speaker lights, a unique touch that looks cool at night.

Another strong suit of the Soul is interior space. This is a massive interior for a car this size, with lots of room for passengers and cargo. Rear legroom measures 38.8 inches. You get up to 24.2 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats, which grows to an impressive 62.1 cubic feet with the back seats folded.

Those numbers make the Soul one of the roomiest SUVs in its class. We had plenty of room when we climbed into the rear seats and found the big cargo hold easy to load and unload.

The Soul, which got a styling refresh for 2023, retains a boxy aesthetic. It imparts a distinct character, maximizes interior space, and makes reversing simple.

Android Auto and Apple CarPlay
These smartphone connectivity features make it easy to bring your music, maps, and more to the screen in your car. They come standard on every Kia Soul.

10.25-inch screen
All but the base trim of the Soul have a 10.25-inch touchscreen with navigation and SiriusXM. It’s a nice upgrade over the standard 8-inch screen.

Harman Kardon sound system
On top of improving the audio quality, this optional audio system is matched with special LED interior lighting that syncs with the music creating a cool mood in the Soul.

Sporty GT-Line trim
The GT-Line trim adds a sporty appearance package to the Soul with distinct body styling, a unique front grille, a center exit exhaust finisher, 18-inch alloy wheels, a flat-bottom steering wheel, and an available contrast roof.

Wireless charging
Most trims of the Soul have a wireless charging pad making it easy to keep the battery in your phone topped off without fussing with wires.

Sunroof
The roomy interior of the Soul feels even more open when you opt for the available sunroof.

Since the turbo option was dropped with the 2023 refresh, every Kia Soul has the same powertrain. It’s powered by a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine making 146 horsepower and 132 lb-ft of torque. Those numbers are about average for a base engine in this class, but some of its rivals have livelier turbo options at a higher price point.

The engine is mated to a CVT automatic transmission sending power to the front wheels. Unlike most SUVs, AWD isn’t an option.

Most trims of the Soul get 30 combined mpg. The top EX trim is tuned slightly differently and gets 31 mpg with the same power and torque ratings.

Class-Leading 5-Year/60,000-Mile Warranty

The Kia Soul is backed by a 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty and a 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty. That makes it tied with Hyundai for the best warranty in its class.

Safety

Standard Kia Drive Wise features in the Soul include automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping assist, and driver attention warning. Optional safety tech includes blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, lane-change assist, and navigation-based smart cruise control.