They're known as Marmite cars in the UK. You either love them or hate them. I love mine.
What do you think?
Just changed my car
by snugglebunny 24 Replies latest jw friends
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GrreatTeacher
Is this the Kia Soul in the US?
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Simon
Yes, looks like the Soul that's over here.
We have an Optima, it's been a great car. I don't think the UK ones have the save engine options though.
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GrreatTeacher
The engine options in the US are 1.6 liter inline 4 at 130 hp, or 1.6 liter turbo at 200 hp. There's also a 2.0 liter inline four at 170 hp. All seem to get the same fuel efficiency: about 30 miles per gallon.
I just bought a new car last November, so I considered this one. The 130 hp is waaay underpowered, and by the time you add the turbo to get the power you need, you're at about $24K.
I ended up going with a subaru WRX in a 2.0 liter turbo with 267 horsepower and paid about $26K. Still get about 30 miles per gallon.
But, I really like the looks of the Kia Soul. We call it the Hamster Car due to an advertisement that had human-sized hamsters driving the car, jamming out to the stereo. If I could find it, I'd post it.
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Simon
Maybe different engine options again up here then - ours is 2.0 litre 274 hp twin-turbo. Fast when you want it but economical as well.
The Kia hamster ad always remind me of the Egg Money ads in the UK, I think the later ones had similar costumes:
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GrreatTeacher
The above is the (long) link to the hamster advertisement. Sorry, need to figure out how to post a click-on youtube video.
Yeah, if we'd had a 274 hp option, I might have definitely given more consideration to the car.
Snugglebunny, I really like the car. The seats: is that leather or vinyl? In any case, it looks good!
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compound complex
Looks good!
I have a '93 GMC compact pickup truck (lorry?) that's paid for, runs great, but "nothing" works: electric windows, heater, instrument panel, etc. Oh, the gas mileage is terrible, although it's a six cylinder.
Does having a vehicle that's low mileage -- 110,000 miles -- trump laying out the cash and buying a new vehicle?
Sure would love to lower the windows (AC works fine).
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Pete Zahut
Always fun to get a new car...I rented one of these in San Diego a year ago and it seemed pretty nice. The only complaint I had was that the exterior mirrors could have been a bit bigger as the car seemed to have a few blind spots at the back corners that made me nervous when changing lanes. Probably something that a person would get used to over time however.
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GrreatTeacher
IMHO, for GMC vehicles that old, 110,000 is NOT low mileage. It sounds like it's ready to give up the ghost shortly.
If you don't drive too many miles on average, then the bad gas mileage might not be a deal breaker and driving it until it dies might be a good option.
If you do a lot of driving and / or having a dependable vehicle is terribly important to you, it might be time to trade up.
Windows not going down could be annoying, but if the AC still works, it really seems kind of irrelevant.
My old car had the AC go up, but has perfectly functioning windows. Good enough.
However, I bought a new car because I commute 50 miles per day and need a dependable car for getting to and from work.
The old girl is still on the road with 185,000 miles on her, but she's the 'backup' car now.