CONCLUSION

My favorite Soul was the “!� trim, only available in cream white, navy blue, silver, or black. Its two-tone beige and black dash may not suit everyone’s tastes, nor will its houndstooth-patterned seats. After posting an image of the seats on Facebook, a friend commented on why Kia would use “leftover 80’s fabric.� I hadn’t the heart to say it had made a comeback…three years ago.

That’s the sort of discussion Kia hopes to generate with the Soul. Unless you sew your own seats, there’s no way to find a Toyota Matrix with such an eclectic interior. Compact cars are a more common sight on our roads, and the Soul seemed in my short drive to generate at least some positive attention from passing motorists.

A lady in her 50s even took the time to roll down her window and say the car was, “So cool.�

She was just about the age to appreciate mood lighting, too.

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