Used Kia Soul cars

The Kia Soul is a subcompact, five-door hatchback. Designed in a boxy style with a raised roof, the Kia Soul offers an excellent city driving experience, with its low-to-the-ground style and practical cabin making it suitable for lots of different drivers.

The Soul stands out on the road thanks to its striking shape and bold looks. With low bumpers, moulded headlights and uniquely crafted taillights, the Soul’s adventurous design turns heads wherever it goes.

This is also a very family friendly model too. Its raised roof means even tall passengers can sit upright in comfort. And with a spacious cabin, lots of handy storage options and good boot space, the Soul is an excellent choice for adventures with all the family.

As a reasonably priced, subcompact model, the Soul faces close competition from other models such as the Citroën C4 Cactus and Nissan Juke in offering a combination of practicality and cabin comfort. The Kia Soul is also available in an all-electric model, the Kia e-Soul, which rivals models like the Nissan Leaf and Hyundai Ioniq in adding exceptionally efficient engines to the model’s appeal.

Kia Soul updates and facelifts

The Kia Soul was first launched in 2009, with a facelift in 2011 adding a revised bumper and stylish LED daytime running lights. The Mk2 followed in 2014 and included distinctive new looks, such as wraparound taillights and lower air intakes, as well as growing the dimensions of the model. The Mk2 received a facelift in 2017, with the model undergoing minor changes to its body, new body paints and restyled headlights.

With the release of the Mk3 in 2019, the Soul was restyled once again. This generation added slim headlights and a pronounced front grille to its outer design. The Mk3 was also released as a fully electric model, the Kia e-Soul, which is the only version of the Mk3 sold in Europe. The 2023 e-Soul facelift added new head and rear light styling, a remodelled front bumper and new wheel styles to give it a more striking appearance.

Practicality and style of the car

While a subcompact model by design, the Soul has lots of practicality. Compared to the Mk1, the Mk2 Kia Soul’s width of 1800mm is 15mm wider and 79mm wider than the Citroën C4 Cactus. Its wheelbase of 2570mm is also 20mm longer than the Mk1, offering more legroom in the cabin.

The Soul has plenty to offer families, with its raised roof and roomy cabin meaning there’s ample headroom for even tall passengers. There’s also good leg and knee room across all seats, making the Soul a comfortable cabin for all occupants.

Keeping the cabin tidy is easy thanks to a good-sized glovebox, deep door bins and centre console cubby which also has cup holders. Two ISOFIX points on the rear outer seats mean you can make sure any younger passengers are strapped in safely and securely.

The Kia Soul also has reasonable boot space, offering a standard boot of up to 354 litres. And although the rear seats don’t fold fully flat, adjust them forward and boot space will increase to a total 1,367 litres – 197 litres more than the Citroën C4 Cactus’s 1,170 litres.

Running costs

The Soul is a great choice if you’re looking for a model with reasonable running costs. Its insurance premiums range from groups 9 to 21, with only the Sport trim falling into this top level. Annual road tax for the Soul will be a maximum of £290 for the Maxx trim, while most trims qualify for the £180 band.

How a used Kia Soul drives

The Soul is available in a range of petrol and diesel engines, with all engines available in front-wheel drive. In the petrol range, there is a 1.6-litre GDi engine which produces 130bhp, accelerates to 62mph in 11 seconds and returns up to a quoted 40.9mpg.

There is also a 1.6-litre CRDi diesel engine which generates 126bhp. It can go from 0-62mph in around 10.6 seconds while returning up to a quoted 58.8mpg.

The all-electric Kia e-Soul is available in two powertrains. Its entry-level version features a 39.2kWh battery pack and a 134bhp electric motor. It can go from 0-62mph in 9.9 seconds, with a top speed of 97mpg. It also returns a maximum range of up to a quoted 171 miles.

The EV is also available with a 64kWh battery pack and 201bhp motor. It has a top speed of 104mph and goes from 0-62mph in 7.9 seconds. This option has a quoted range of up to 280 miles, making it one of the most capable electric models on the market and far surpassing the range of the Hyundai Ioniq’s quoted 183 miles and Nissan Leaf’s 168 miles.

Depending on the age of the model, a used Kia Soul can come with a six-speed manual transmission. The six-speed automatic dual-clutch option is only available when paired with the diesel engine.

Engines and official MPG

Please refer to the table below for a comprehensive list of engines and their official MPG figures.

2014 - 2018

Engine	Official NEDC MPG
1.6 CRDi	47.1–58.8 mpg
1.6 CRDi Automatic	47.1–56.5 mpg
1.6 GDi	38.7–43.5 mpg
1.6T GDi Automatic	40.9 mpg
E-Tense PHEV	183.8 mpg

Features you can expect in a Kia Soul

Interior

Step inside the Soul and you’ll be greeted by a quality interior where soft-touch and durable materials have been used throughout. Smooth plastics feature heavily across the Soul’s dashboard, centre console and gearstick, while soft cloth upholstery helps keep you comfortable on long drives. All generations and trims of a used Soul have a multi-functional steering wheel with a cluster of soft-touch buttons helping you easily interact with the model’s infotainment system.

Technology

In editions manufactured after 2014, the Soul’s infotainment system will be featured in an eight-inch screen on the centre console. This system can come with sat nav, Bluetooth and Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity depending on trim. This system is linked to an eight-speaker sound system that delivers good-quality audio to the whole cabin. The infotainment system’s menu can also be easily customised so that the system’s home page displays the features and apps you use most.

The Mk2 Soul will also have a 4.2-inch digital instrument cluster, helping you see important drive information at a glance. This screen displays your speed, distance driven, fuel economy and fuel level.

Safety

The Kia Soul has a four-star safety rating from Euro NCAP, with an adult occupant score of 75% and a child occupant score of 82%. The model comes with six airbags as standard. Depending on the trim of Soul, , safety features may also include: tyre pressure monitors, automatic emergency braking, hill start assist and a reversing camera.

Trims available on the Kia Soul

Kia Soul 1

The entry-level 1 trim comes with 16-inch alloy wheels, roof rails, electric windows, electrically adjusted door mirrors, DAB digital radio, Bluetooth connectivity, air conditioning, tinted windows and keyless entry.

Kia Soul 2

The 2 trim has 17-inch alloy wheels, cruise control with speed limiter, heated door mirrors, eight-inch infotainment screen, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, rear view camera and rear parking sensors.

Kia Soul 3

The 3 trim has 18-inch alloy wheels, smart key, start/stop engine button, automatic air conditioning, heated leather front seats and front and rear parking sensors.

Kia Soul Sport

The top-level Sport trim comes with a panoramic sunroof, xenon headlights with an auto-levelling function, LED daytime running lights and LED rear lights, high beam assist and a lane departure warning system.

Kia Soul Maxx

The Maxx trim is the only trim available on the Kia Soul EV and features 17-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights, heated leather seats and a 10.3-inch infotainment screen with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and in-built sat nav.

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