A New Way to Roll – 2012 Kia Soul Review

Sharing is caring!

I was recently given the opportunity to test drive a Kia Soul. As some of you may know I drive a big, gas guzzling SUV. I’ve been talking to my husband about getting another car, so I can have a more gas friendly car to ride around in.

The Kia Soul is definitely my type of car. Good gas, cute design, and not too confusing.

I loved the cute, sleek design. It was a little higher off the ground then a car which was nice since I am use to being high up and the design was like a boxy, mini suv, hatch back.

With the seats folded down the trunk space was nice and spacious, but with the seats folded up the space was on the small side. I was able to fit my light weight stroller in the back with no issues, but if I needed to fit my bigger stroller I think it would have been a very tight fit or not fit at all. I did some major grocery shopping while I had the car and the trunk space filled up quickly. There was enough room for everything, but I did need the trunk to be empty to fit it all. If you have an infant and would need to bring lots of baby gear with you then the trunk space wouldn’t be a good fit unless you are able to fold one of the seats down. If you have kids that don’t require too much gear then this car would be a nice fit.

I didn’t get the chance to ride around in the back seat, but my daughter was very comfortable back there. It looked very spacious and her car seat fit with no issues. There was enough room that her feet weren’t touching the seat in front of her and I could have fit another car seat on the other side with no issues or a person.

The front seat was spacious as well. I never felt cramped and was always comfortable.

I loved the back up assist. The image was clear and easy to see. It made parallel parking and backing up a breeze. I do wish it had a beeping sound like other back up assists have.

My favorite thing about the car is the center console. I HATE when a car has a million buttons and it’s hard to figure out how to do anything. This center console was simple and easy to use. Everything was mainly button based, but there were some touch screen capabilities. It was a nice combination.

The car has bluetooth for my phone, along with AUX/USB capabilities, a cd player, and Sirius Satellite Radio. I loved the USB outlet because I could use it to charge my ipod and have the outlet charger for my phone.

The sound system was clear and loud. I loved that the speakers would light up to the beat of the music and that the colors were customizable.

Some other nice features were the sun roof and the adjustable visors. I loved that when using the visor to block the sun from my side, that I could adjust the visor to the length I needed it.

The car was fairly powerful for being small and handled nicely. It was a smooth ride and handled turns and curves with ease. Since it rained some of the time I had the car I was able to test it out in the rain and it handled nicely. It gripped the road and had no issues.

The Kia soul is top rated in safety with 4 out of 5 stars. A high safety rating is top on my must have list since I am transporting my daughter around.

The Soul gets around 27 mpg city and 35 mpg highway. I run around a lot during the week. Trips to the gym, park, store, and various other places. I was impressed with the gas mileage. A tank lasted the full week that I had the car with some to spare.

The Kia Soul starts at just $13,900 and offers various upgrades and special features.

All in All I was impressed with the Kia Soul and I would keep it on my list of cars to consider if I can convince my husband to get another car.

*I was given a Kia Soul to test drive for a week. No compensation was received. All opinions are 100% my own.

I used my own photo’s along with photo’s from the Kia website and caranddriver.com.