I'm Happy with My Kia Soul

While I was car shopping and reading car reviews, I noticed that they were all written by people who had just recently bought their car. I saw a lot of reviews that read, I've had this car for 2 weeks / 1 month / 3 days and I just love it! Well, pardon me, but I am looking for something with a little more insight. I want to know what it's like when the honeymoon is over. Maybe even after you've made a payment or two.

Here is my 2 month review on my Kia Soul... The gas mileage is awesome, but I'm not saving any money! The reason is that I keep driving to the beach and the mountains and going on tons of adventures hundreds of miles away because the gas mileage is so good! Plus, the car is really roomy and comfortable so I am always the one who ends up driving. I'm gonna start making my passengers chip in for gas now that I think about it!

The built in bluetooth is still as awesome as ever. Sometimes my phone goes black and unresponsive when it's connected and I have to do a soft reset. I wish it had A2DP technology, or that it worked with my voice activation on my phone. I still keep my Jabra Cruiser in the car because it's easier to use with the iPod function on my iPhone4. I understand the point behind making the iPhone / car connection slightly less functional is so that Kia can sell a $40 cable to make the dash control the iPod/iPhone - but I still want voice activation... is that so much to ask for?

The handling is ... well, it's okay. The traction control feature is totally necessary. I feel it kick on even when I am doing something simple like turning on a gravel road or taking a freeway on ramp.

I had read a few articles about the paint chipping. My paint has chipped, but to be fair, I work in an industrial area and drive on gravel roads a lot. I also take a lot of road trips to out of the way places that require dirt and gravel encounters as well. It's hard for me to say whether or not the average person would experience paint chipping, but I'm not surprised that it happened to me.

So that's my 2 month review. I plan on writing another one in a month or two as well, but by that time the 2012 Kia Soul might just be obsolete.

My New Car

I can't believe I haven't taken the time to write about this before but omgsh I got a new car! Not just a new to me car, but a brand spanking new, hot off the lot, dealership license played framed, 14 miles on the odometer new Kia Soul!

I have been doing research for MONTHS! I had saved up money for a downpayment for almost a year, and finally I was ready to buy. I knew exactly what kind of car I wanted and I knew everything about it except what it felt like to drive it.

I will spare you the details of my horrible experience the first time I tried to buy it. The short story is that I had applied online for credit and Ron Tonkin Kia and somehow my application was sent to Ron Tonkin Mazda. I explained the mix up to the woman on the phone but she assured me they could sell Kias off their lot. I'm sure that would have been true of they had some but they didn't. It was just lie after lie and swindle after swindle and typical car sales man after typical car sales man. In fact after about 3 minutes of being on the lot with our salesman I turned around and left after he lied to me about the price of a Kia Soul. He told me I couldn't afford it and I should buy a used car instead. I didn't even confront him about his lie. I just told him that if I couldn't afford the car I wanted then I would just wait until I had saved more money. He said, "Seriously? That's your plan?" scoffing at me. I turned on my heel, got into the car and drove away. Jokes on that guy because I'm driving around the exact car I wanted for $3,000 less than he said I'd have to pay for it.

But the important part of the story is how I bought my Kia Soul. I went online to costcoauto.com and typed in the exact car I wanted - since I exactly knew - a brand new Kia Soul base model in white. A list of Broadway Kia salesmen popped up and the web page said someone would call me within 24 hours. And someone did. I returned the call on Thursday after work and a chipper sounding fellow named Derek asked if I was in a hurry to buy a car. "Nope".

He said it was his day off but he would meet me at the lot if I wanted. I agreed if he didn't mind using his day off then I would meet him. He didn't seem to mind at all. Probably because by the time someone gets to costcoauto.com they are totally ready to buy.

I met Derek. Yes, he was the car salesman type. Not sleazy, but a young, fast talker who was trained to control the situation. As any well aware woman, I let him think he was in control, but one lie or one slime ball move and I knew I was so outta there! Not only that, I'd report him to Costco so he had a lot more on the line than just one sale.

We didn't haggle over price. The car was just a little more than what was listed on the Costco website. Derek quickly explained that it was the base model, but with a few extras. They were all extras that I had wanted, for less than what I expected they would cost so I agreed.

In the end, I paid over $600 LESS than the sticker price for the car. I still paid over the invoice price, which made Derek happy and also made him willing to come in to the dealership on his day off because he knew I would. That's because it's all a part of the deal that Costco makes with the dealers. They do the price haggling for them, come up with a reasonable number for both sides. The customer sees a salesman instead of making a deal with the fleet manager so that means the salesman gets commission and everyone is happy. Especially me.