I'm telling you man, Kia is where its at! I got my wife a 2011 Soul+ with some great options (bigger motor, cruise, power WLM, integrated Bluetooth) and a fun 5-speed for $15k out the door with a great warranty. Nothing else can touch that space/style/value equation.
The term "station wagon" may now be taboo, but that doesn't mean the need for a small, car-based hauler has gone away. Yesterday's wagons have become today's urban crossovers—or whatever buzzword Madison Avenue has tagged them with.
Kia's entry into that field is the Soul.
The Soul has been with us for a couple of model years, and for 2012 it gets a freshening: revised looks along with new engines. The base model is available with a 138-horsepower, 1.6-liter, direct-injected inline four, while the two upmarket models get a 164-horsepower, 2.0-liter four. (Those two upmarket models, by the way, carry the somewhat unconventional + and ! designations.)
Our test vehicle was a fairly loaded + model: six-speed automatic, upgraded audio package with rear camera display and subwoofer ($900), and a power tilt/slide sunroof ($800). Then there was another $95 for the carpeted floor mats. While that equipment bumped the final tally to $19,845, the Soul line starts at $13,900.
Finally, a tidbit learned via Wikipedia, source for all the world's knowledge:
In October 2011, the Kia Soul hamsters were inducted into the Madison Avenue Walk of Fame, the advertising industry’s equivalent of Hollywood and Vine. As of 2011, Kia is also the only car manufacturer to be inducted.
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