Kia Soul or Dcion XB

We helped our daughter buy a Soul (meaning the lowest OTD price required buying it on time. Since her credit wasn't good enough, I bought it, paid it off in 3 months and then "sold it to her"). My one concern was that a car that cheap, with that many features, couldn't possibly hold up. Bottom line, she absolutely loves it and hasn't had a single issue.
 
Mazda 5. A little longer but stupidly spacious and versatile, sips gas and very comfy for trips. Replace the TPMS sensors though, the stalks break right off and let the air out.
 
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Majicmike said:
For those that own either give me some input.
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I have a Kia for sale in the bay area, bottom line is it has been amazingly reliable. The only reason we are letting it go is because we have two many in the drive right now. I would not hesitate to buy another.
 
Wife has a 2012 soul, mid trim level with the 2.0. She loves it. Has ~58k on it right now and has had zero problems with it. Bought it new so she's got the 10/100 warranty. Interior (cloth) holding up way better than I thought it would considering how little she takes care of it cosmetically.

It does have a slight vibration at idle, but it's common to the year. We test drove 3 of them when she was trying to decide and I noticed it on all of them. She doesn't seem to notice it but I'm more picky about stuff like that.

She test drove it against the xB as well, but didn't like the feel of the xB, it seemed more dark and closed in and didn't seem to handle as well in her opinion. Of course that's not scientific, but she seems to think the Soul drives like a go cart. The upright seating position does make it seem faster than it is.

Stock tires (optimos) lasted 55k before they hit the wear bars. She's getting 26-28 mpg combined and she does not drive very smoothly or well, so a cautious driver could do better (and I do when I drive it).

iPhone integration works well with the base radio if you care about such things.
 
I have a Scion XD. Bought it brand new for, I think ~$16k. I've currently got 238,500 miles on it and it gets about 33 mpg. I've put a few repairs into it (timing belt, alternator, and a plastic piece on the AC compressor broke) but have no complaints. I've replaced the tires a few times, went off spec but maintained the aspec ratio and get about 90k miles on a set.
 
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I'm leaning torward the Kia, just hoping to find some high mileage ones. Usually if I can't find a few with at least 200k on them I look for other vechicals. Not buying one with that many miles but like to see that hey are still running at 200k
 
I've driven the rental versions of both and I preferred the Soul by a large margin.
 
Dont know if this is still the case, but a couple of years ago (3) the Soul was actually rated to tow 1500lbs, if I remember correctly. Maybe it was 1000.
But the fact that the factory said it was ok to tow with it is pretty big to me
 
Have you thought about a Nissan Cube? It falls into that same section as the Soul and the XB. My buddy has had one for years and absolutely loves it. He's about 6'4 and 280lbs and it is lots of room for him especially head room.
 
Ok, between those 2 choices here is my input. I have owned neither but I was a buyer for carmax and have driven many of each.

They are both relatively similar with fit and function when they are new. However, as they age the Scion is going to fare much better since it is basically a toyota product.

There is a financial program for people with bad credit that carmax has called drive financial. The car has cost less than $10,000 sticker price, has to have less than 36000 miles on it and be less than 5 years old and they have to put $2000 down.

The idea is that at no time during the term financed, should the care need any repairs that would cause them to not make the payment and if it needs to be repossessed then they can get their money back when they auction it.

Even with all of those conditions, certain manufacturers were not allowed because of their repair track record and how much value they lose. Kia was one of the manufactures that Drive Financial would not finance.

So take that for what it's worth. I'd buy the Scion.
 
What year? Make sure it's 10+ 06-09 didn't have good thread engagement in the camry motors for the head bolts causing the head to lift with heat cycles. Same thing that happen with the northstar engines. I fixed my wifes...book time is 32 hours for repair. She had a Scion TC.
 
From 2012 to 2015 I had a company car... the 2012 Kia Soul.
40K miles a year. Retired at 120k miles.
Zero issues. Needed tires at about 50k and 100k.
Brakes about the same.
When I saw it I almost cried.
After driving it for a while I was impressed.
After 120k miles in 3 years with zero issues I can say that I'd buy one for my wife or daughter
without a second thought.
Carmax/Drive Financial may not like the Kia which earned a bad reputation for their pre-2004 models.
Once Hyundai purchased Kia, the quality improved and they became an inexpensive and reliable car.
I am shopping for a used Kia as we speak. Great cars for the price.
 
Do not put anyone you care about in an xB. A fellow drum builder was killed in his in an accident that should have been survivable and a guy I used to hang with when I tuned cars was also killed in one. My wife drives a Forester and was hit by a young lady in an xB. The thing nearly fell apart...
 
Jayne said:
Wife has a 2012 soul, mid trim level with the 2.0. She loves it. Has ~58k on it right now and has had zero problems with it. Bought it new so she's got the 10/100 warranty. Interior (cloth) holding up way better than I thought it would considering how little she takes care of it cosmetically.

It does have a slight vibration at idle, but it's common to the year. We test drove 3 of them when she was trying to decide and I noticed it on all of them. She doesn't seem to notice it but I'm more picky about stuff like that.

She test drove it against the xB as well, but didn't like the feel of the xB, it seemed more dark and closed in and didn't seem to handle as well in her opinion. Of course that's not scientific, but she seems to think the Soul drives like a go cart. The upright seating position does make it seem faster than it is.

Stock tires (optimos) lasted 55k before they hit the wear bars. She's getting 26-28 mpg combined and she does not drive very smoothly or well, so a cautious driver could do better (and I do when I drive it).

iPhone integration works well with the base radio if you care about such things.
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There is a TSB out for the alternator pulley for certain years. Causes vibration at idle. May want to check it out.
 
I was asked a similar question by a family member a while back. My default position was to go for any Honda or Toyota over a Kia, and I fully expected the Soul to be a rickety piece of junk. Past experience with Korean cars was that they will probably get you to your destination, but everything else on the car is liable to fall apart.

So the family member bought the Soul, and I've got to admit my prejudices were misplaced. It's only a few thousand miles in, but I've driven it a good amount and the thing seems much more solid than I expected. Fit and finish is nice inside and underneath, and it's even pretty decent to drive. Quiet, decent suspension feedback, and generally feels well built.

Kia has come a long way. The Scion is probably a great car too, but it shouldn't be an automatic decision anymore.
 
Matt K said:
I was asked a similar question by a family member a while back. My default position was to go for any Honda or Toyota over a Kia, and I fully expected the Soul to be a rickety piece of junk. Past experience with Korean cars was that they will probably get you to your destination, but everything else on the car is liable to fall apart.

So the family member bought the Soul, and I've got to admit my prejudices were misplaced. It's only a few thousand miles in, but I've driven it a good amount and the thing seems much more solid than I expected. Fit and finish is nice inside and underneath, and it's even pretty decent to drive. Quiet, decent suspension feedback, and generally feels well built.

Kia has come a long way. The Scion is probably a great car too, but it shouldn't be an automatic decision anymore.
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Good to know, I'm from the Generation where everyone in the 70's talked about the Japanese POS cars like Toyota,Honda and Datsun. That's to them the American car company's had to build more reliable cars. Now if someone could get that memo to Dodge
 
Majicmike said:
Good to know, I'm from the Generation where everyone in the 70's talked about the Japanese POS cars like Toyota,Honda and Datsun. That's to them the American car company's had to build more reliable cars. Now if someone could get that memo to Dodge
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The memo needs to be written in eye-talian. ;)
 
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I have a 2010 Kia Soul that I bought from Copart a couple of years ago (salvage title due hail damage) for a work car. I have been pretty impressed with it. When I bought it it had 128K miles on it. Now has 153K. Only thing I have done to it besides tires was have a timing belt put on it (recommended at 60K and didn't know if the previous owner did it) and a water pump as you had to go through it for the timing belt). I have definitely got my moneys worth out of the car.
 
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easternnc4me said:
I have a 2010 Kia Soul that I bought from Copart a couple of years ago from Copart (salvage title due hail damage) for a work car. I have been pretty impressed with it. When I bought it it had 128K miles on it. Now has 153K. Only thing I have done to it besides tires was have a timing belt put on it (recommended at 60K and didn't know if the previous owner did it) and water pump as you had to go through it for the timing belt a new one was installed. I have definitely got my moneys worth out of the car.
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That's what I'm talking about,,, I wish I could find something like that
 
Majicmike said:
That's what I'm talking about,,, I wish I could find something like that
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I found the previous owners information in it and sent her a message via Facebook to see if she had any problems with it. Other than doing routine maintenance (oil change) she said she did not have any problems what so ever. She was a college student. She did have some pink Hello Kitty stickers on it that I immediately pulled off of it once purchased. My oldest brother borrowed it a couple of times and ended up buying a 2011 from Copart for a work car as well.
 
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easternnc4me said:
I found the previous owners information in it and sent her a message via Facebook to see if she had any problems with it. Other than doing routine maintenance (oil change) she said she did not have any problems what so ever. She was a college student. She did have some pink Hello Kitty stickers on it that I immediately pulled off of it once purchased. My oldest brother borrowed it a couple of times and ended up buying a 2011 from Copart for a work car as well.
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I'll take them. PM sent.

:cool:
 
easternnc4me said:
I found the previous owners information in it and sent her a message via Facebook to see if she had any problems with it. Other than doing routine maintenance (oil change) she said she did not have any problems what so ever. She was a college student. She did have some pink Hello Kitty stickers on it that I immediately pulled off of it once purchased. My oldest brother borrowed it a couple of times and ended up buying a 2011 from Copart for a work car as well.
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Let's talk about Copart,, how's that work?
 
Majicmike said:
One question,, can you sell your too me:cool:

Thanks
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Think I'll hold onto it for now. :D Regarding Copart, my brother buys a few cars from them to resell every year. With few exceptions he recommends buying one that runs and drives with rear end damage (but not too much) as they are usually easier and cheaper to fix. YMMV. I bought a 1996 Silverado extended cab 4x4 from them about 5 years ago that was hit in the back and bent the rear bumper down (rear frame damage). $200 to the body shop to straighten it out and after ordering a rear bumper through my brother in-law it was good to go. Bought a 2003 Civic after that that was hit in the back. Same thing. Had the body shop straighten it out and had a rear bumper put on it. Later sold it to my sister in law who is still driving it. Only down side to Copart is that over the last year their fees have increased so you need to remember this when bidding. The 03' Silverado I use to pull my lawn mower trailer came from there. My brother should have looked at that one a little better as, after it warms up, the oil pressure drops. Been driving it for 2 years. Going to keep on until the motor blows then put another one it to get my money back out of it. The Raleigh (Dunn) site has their sale on Tuesdays.
 
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