Used Kia Soul Hatchback 2009 - 2014 review

Inaccurate and slightly silly names are strewn throughout the world of cars. But in the case of the Kia Soul, the badge it wears on its rump isn’t quite as daft as it might at first sound.

For starters, its funky looks and gaudy paint jobs add personality, and are reminiscent of its most fashionable small SUV rivals – the Nissan Juke and Mini Countryman.

Yet the Soul is more than just a pretty face. Unlike the most style-conscious small SUVs, it’s actually remarkably practical. There’s loads of room in both front and back seats, for example, while the boot is a very useful square shape, even if it isn’t ultimately much larger than average for the class. It’s also worth noting that when you fold the seats forward, they leave a step, so you don’t get the same flat floor you do in some SUVs.

The dashboard looks unusual, too, with its stereo-inspired design cues, and while some of the plastics are rather low-rent, there’s decent visibility, and all the buttons and switches are close to hand.

Out on the road, the Kia Soul isn’t the most sophisticated thing going, mind you, and nor is it the most fun. The ride is rather jittery on all but the smoothest roads, and while the body doesn’t lean over too much in fast cornering, vague steering means the Soul isn’t as involving as it could be.

There’s a choice of two engines: a 1.6-litre petrol and a diesel of the same size. Both can become rather noisy when they’re being pushed hard, and in the petrol version, you’ll have to do so regularly as it feels rather lethargic otherwise. The diesel provides more low-down shove, but the trade-off is that you have to put up with a bit of vibration through the steering wheel and pedals.

The cheapest Kia Souls can be had for as little as £2500 these days, but frankly we’d steer clear of these as they’re usually high-mile or previously written-off examples – especially when a decent Soul can be had for so little extra.

In fact, just £3000 is enough to get you into an example of the most basic petrol-engined model with an average mileage and a full service history; if you want the diesel model, which is our preference, you’ll need to up that to around £4000.

If you’re after one of the facelifted examples, meanwhile – which were introduced in 2011, and got a lot of detail changes that added up to a much better car – you’ll need to pay around £6000.

Quite a bit, whether you choose the petrol or the diesel engine. Both cost more both to fuel and to tax than most of their rivals, but the petrol is especially expensive to run because it was quite old technology even when the Soul was new.

If you’re going for an earlier pre-facelift model, official fuel consumption figures stand at 43mpg for the petrol, or 54.3mpg for the diesel, while tax will cost £185 or £130 a year respectively.

In 2011, the facelifted Soul got better running costs, but not by much. The 1.6 petrol’s fuel economy was up to 44.1mpg, though emissions dropped enough to bring the tax bill down to £145 per year. Meanwhile, the new diesel engine could achieve 57.6mpg, and its tax rate consequently dropped to £110 a year.

The automatic gearbox on these models was also very old-fashioned, which meant it drove up the costs even more – adding an auto ’box to any Soul will jack up both tax and fuel consumption considerably, so it’s best avoided if at all possible.

In 2012, the Kia Soul got a few detail design changes – you can tell the difference because the later model gained daytime running lights in the indicator units beneath the headlights – but more crucially, there were tweaks to the petrol engine to make it more powerful, and a whole new diesel engine which was more efficient and a little smoother. A new six-speed manual gearbox replaced the old five-speed, too, which helped with acceleration and engine noise.

Consequently, we’d have to recommend one of these models, if your budget can stretch that far, but whichever era of Soul you choose, we reckon the diesel is the best bet thanks to its vastly better running costs. For the same reason, a manual version makes far more sense than an automatic.

The basic Soul range was quite limited, with just two trim levels, simply named ‘1’ and ‘2’. ‘1’ gets you air conditioning, electric windows and a CD player, while ‘2’ adds 16-inch alloy wheels, steering wheel controls for the stereo, and iPod compatibility.

In addition, there was a string of special edition models, one of which would be our choice as they came with some nice extra bits of equipment and often don’t cost all that much more than the standard version. The best-equipped of these was the Inferno, which came with heated seats, leather upholstery and a keyless entry and starting system, though you have to put up with rather naff dragon decals emblazoned on the side of the car.

Our favourite Kia Soul: 1.6 CRDi special editions

The most natural rival to the Kia Soul is the Nissan Juke, which is a little cheaper to run than the Soul, but suffers from a firm ride, cramped rear seats and a small boot.

Or you could go for a Mini Countryman, which features a better-made, more stylish interior, a more fashionable badge, and far cheaper running costs – though you’ll pay an awful lot more for one of these in the first place, and there are some question marks over reliability.

If you’re after a practical small car, the Renault Captur is very clever, though it isn’t all that fast, and can’t quite match the Soul for rear seat space.

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