Kia Problems

The Kia Souls sold in Australia are 4140mm in length.

While Kia rate their Soul small car for towing 550kg of unbraked trailer, or an optimistic 1100kg of trailer equipped with brakes, these are theoretical maximum possible loads. The reality is that you will be pushing the friendship even towing a small box trailer, let alone a boat, with a Kia Soul.

There is just one Phillips-head screw holding the door panel on, located behind a cover plug under the armrest. The door panel then pulls off its snap-lock clips, starting by tugging at the bottom corner and working upwards.

The Kia Sorento GT-Line, Sport, SLi and Si are all seven-seat vehicles.

Modern Korean cars have come a long way since they burst onto the Australian market as entry-level runabouts 30 years ago. When properly serviced and taken care of the Kia Soul shouldn't be any less reliable than a comparable Japanese vehicle, though I have heard of some issues in America (in cold states) where cabin vent tubes can become blocked leading to the demisters struggling to clear the windows quickly.

The entire Sorento range sold in Australia are seven-seat models.

There are five colour combinations available on the Soul: Bright White, Clear Silver, Titanium Silver, Bright White with an Inferno Red roof, and Inferno Red with a Cherry Black roof.

It is likely that there is a head gasket problem; it was a common issue with the early Carnival. Buying a secondhand engine is inviting trouble. It could also be struck down with the same problem and you could find yourself back in the same situation. I would be doing the head gasket rather than buying a secondhand engine, that way you know it is fixed.

I doubt that it is intentional, particularly as they’ve offered to try and buff it out for you.