I had a Clubman S 2008, after all the mentioned problems and $10,000 less in my pocket we got a Lexus GS. May cost more but a lot less to maintain.

 

If I didn't have a my Clubman I would have a Soul. Just wish they had more oomph. Love the look and all of the amenities they have. My wife almost bought one about a year ago but went with the Kia Sportage instead....more space, all wheel drive and 260 HP..she loves it. Kia is definitely better than they used to be.

Congrats to the OP!

 

Nice budoboy! I too made the switch to KIA and while I like them, I agree their forum is nowhere near as good as NAM and I wish KIA would add some MINI-inspiration, meaning add some actual performance enhancements (better actual HP and handling) without bringing along the MINI flaws. The SOULs have been pretty reliable, now they need to add some punch. But then I guess that's why they hired away BMW's performance guru. We'll see what comes.

Greg

 

Agreed. I don't know why some folks are unwilling to name their bad experiences.

MINI of Peabody charged my wife $28 to rotate her tires. That's reasonable. Yes, mostly profit to them, as it takes about 5 minutes since the car was already on the lift. But it's a fair price. Bills do have to be paid. I don't begrudge some profit.

The new Kia sounds pretty sweet OP! Enjoy your ride!

 

I'm surprised by this. MINI's generally have almost no torque steer at all. I have never noticed it as an issue on mine, in fact I can't even find a video of it online. Now a Mazdaspeed 3 on the other hand is a different story, but it does have more power than a MINI too. Anyway enjoy the new car! Never been in a newer Kia but they seem to really be stepping up on quality lately.

 

There was torque steer on my '09 Clubman S and I know they even came up with a software update to deal with it (I never got the update). The car only has 170 HP so I was surprised it was as noticeable as it was.


BTW I heard the Kia Soul will get a AWD and turbo (200+ HP) option next year. I couldn't wait as I know they might delay this or it might never happen.