thinking about a new kia soul lx

This. This is almost a 100% perfect description of what I mentioned in my earlier post. It’s like the Kia Soul has no suspension absorption capabilities. It’s not a nice car to ride in on a long highway trip.
Tell that to my daughter who loves taking long road trips in hers. :D
 
Tell that to my daughter who loves taking long road trips in hers. :D
Might it have something to do with the fact her engine is turbocharged? In terms of suspension, they all have the stiff torsion beam rear suspension. The Soul is one of the worst riding passenger cars to date. The Hyundai Accent has a nice, composed ride compared to the Soul.
 
After owning 2 Honda Fits, (briefly) I'd avoid any car that has a solid (beam) rear axle. Not only do they ride like a brick on rough surfaces, but usually the rear alignment is not adjustable. The DI engine (Fit) has fairly serious carbon buildup problems on the valves. I'd take a serious look and a test ride in the new 2022 Honda Civic LX,(base model) it has a 2.0l port-injected engine (non-turbo) that hasn't had any serious issues and has a reputation for being trouble-free. The new Civic is a bit larger/longer than previous years.
 
Just bought a KIA Soul LX for my teen. For reference, I drive a Tundra and RX 350, which are not the best handling vehicles. This thing is actually really fun to drive! It's like a gocart and I find myself chronically speeding because it handles well and while the 2.0 may grenade in 10k miles it's actually pretty eager to get going and the CVT does a good imitation of an automatic.

Also, great interior volume (I'm 6'5" and 275lbs), seems well built, averaging 30mpg with <200 miles on it, and the stock stereo is actually pretty good too.
 
Just bought a KIA Soul LX for my teen. For reference, I drive a Tundra and RX 350, which are not the best handling vehicles. This thing is actually really fun to drive! It's like a gocart and I find myself chronically speeding because it handles well and while the 2.0 may grenade in 10k miles it's actually pretty eager to get going and the CVT does a good imitation of an automatic.

Also, great interior volume (I'm 6'5" and 275lbs), seems well built, averaging 30mpg with
I see lots of Souls in our area and imagine they must be pretty decent, especially for the price range. Also good to see appreciation for a CVT and in all honesty I like the CVT in my ride as it's just better than most automatics I've used in the past which were a bit boring to say the least.
 
I’ve got a friend who had one. He got a basic white one with no frills. He came from a classic Cherokee and just liked white boxes and needed something reliable with a low cost of ownership. He had it for 3-4 years and had no problems with it. He said it was fun to drive around town, and didn’t mind it for a recurring 5 hour highway drive, but it wasn’t his favorite for highway use either. He missed having something a little heavier and picked up a Chevy Colorado a few years later. No issues with the soul, according to him. I personally think H/K ups their game with every new revision. Their current models, frankly, are beautiful.

as a guy who volunteers with a local ministry to do simple car maintenance for widows and wives of the deployed, I do see a few Hyundai/Kia vehicles regularly. I’m continually impressed with the interiors and the solid feel of the chassis and running gear. Where they suffer is old age, where every single sensor starts to fail, and access to them requires a lot of labor to get to. And the failures seem to cascade, and often the owners can’t handle the high costs of labor to deal with the waves of repairs. Granted, those are all 10-15 year old vehicles, and H/K has probably improved a lot since then.

i’ll put it this way, if my wife said she wanted a H/K, I’d be willing to give it a try for her.
 
I see lots of Souls in our area and imagine they must be pretty decent, especially for the price range. Also good to see appreciation for a CVT and in all honesty I like the CVT in my ride as it's just better than most automatics I've used in the past which were a bit boring to say the least.
I'm really starting to like this entire powertrain. The 2.0 engine is one of the smoothest engines I've ever driven - you have no idea it's even on most of the time - quiet. It's actually torquey for a NA four and it's able to maintain speed up steep hills without downshifting. Now averaging 32mpg in mixed driving. I like the CVT even more now too - quick and crisp shifts with absolutely no rubber banding feeling. The last CVT I drove was a Nissan Sentra and it was terrible compared to this CVT.
 
Have you been to a dealer? I did. I thought a new Hyundai for$22K or so made more sense than a 7-10 year old Honda with 100K miles for $17K (as a replacement for a totaled 2012 Civic.) They have no cars, and when they do the markup is 16% (maybe more). They stopped texting me when I told them I was going to complain to Hyundai corporate about the markup, so that counts as a win. But I bought the Honda.
 
Had a 2010 for several years, got over 160k miles out of it before selling.
Absolutely bulletproof tank of a car, gave me hardly any problems.
Geared very short, so very loud and high-strung on the highway, only reason I got rid of it and kept my G5, I do nothing but highway work commuting now and needed something more relaxed.
Great room on the inside, could hold an amazing amount of stuff. I do actually miss having it, but keeping was not practical.
 
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