[K-Bert]

Hello from the Great White North!

I'm picking up my Soul LX+ M/T tonight. I have never owned a new car in my life, but after my thirty year old "if you can fix it you can have it" Oldsmobile left me stranded on the highway about a month ago my fiance had me looking at new cars. Since I'm an odd shape (six feet tall with really short legs) it was difficult to find a car that I fit in. It came down to the Scion Xb, Nissan Rogue and this. The Nissan salesman was far too pushy, and the Scion was overpriced (with no options it was still more than this Kia with A/C, Cruise, Keyless entry, heated front seats, heated side mirrors, the infotainment centre with bluetooth, winter tires with rims, and warranty stuff). But I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone here about the features, so instead here is a picture (sorry, just a cell phone picture):



I look forward to spending time on this forum.

Cheers,
K-Bert

 

[13698]

Welcome and congratulations on a new car!

 

[conwelpic]

welcome and congrats on the new ride, many of the US members will be jealous of your LX+ model as they can't get all your features in a MT model without trying to add them after.

Where in Alberta? (maybe you could expand on that in your location as Alberta is a large province). I have a daughter who lives in Medicine Hat and we used to live in Lethbridge for 12 years.

Where I am, its still the Great Green North. :sneakiness:

 

[K-Bert]

I didn't realize that the options changed so much at the border. I wanted the six speed manual transmission and my fiance wanted the heated seats and A/C. This was the only unit they had on the lot that met both requirements. We weren't planning on making the purchase right away, but the salesman asked us what it would take to get us to sign right there. We asked for winter tires with steel rims, winter floor mats, roof rack and remote start. They countered with dropping the last two. I was given the option of remote start again with the finance guy, but we decided that since we drive the highways a lot the free windshield chip repair and replacement for eight years was a more worthwhile investment (every time it snows here several tons of gravel and salt are dumped on the roads).

I live west of Calgary, and spend a lot of time in Calgary where I work.

It is still pretty white here, but with the temperatures staying above zero for about a week everything is going to turn brown. I am hoping we get some more snow for Christmas.

 

[Buzz]

Howdy and welcome to the forums! :applause:

 

[BCStorm]

Welcome K-Bert! Glad to see another Great White Northerner on the forum here! I live in the green-belt of the great white north... Vancouver Island. Cheers!

 

[Soul.Master.007]

Welcome To The Family...<)

 

[User2014]

Welcome!

 

[Shaggy Wierdo]

Welcome.

 

[K-Bert]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! I guess Soul owners are friendly and sensible like the cars themselves :tongue-new:.

I picked up the car at seven thirty last night. After signing more paperwork than I did when I bought my house I had the keys in hand and can now say that I own my first "new" car.

Drove it home on the highway last night and it seemed quite happy to cruise in sixth gear. Transferred the registration over from my old car this morning and now it is officially mine and road legal.

Driving into work there is a fairly steep hill on the highway and I found that the car felt a little underpowered. Mind you I am keeping the RPMs between 2000 and 4000 for the break in period, so I suspect that getting it over 4000 will help with that. Everyone I've showed it to so far is impressed with the interior room and ground clearance (kind of a big deal in my climate).

I have found two things I'm not completely sure about:

1) Pressing the key twice to lock the car (and turn the headlights off if left on) honks the horn. However unlike other cars, such as my fiance's Mazda or my father's Silverado, the horn comes on full volume. It is a little too loud to keep my neighbours happy when I come home at night. I admit, this is really just nitpicking, and if I were to spring for the remote starter/security system then it would be solved.

2) The clutch delay valve. I've driven manual transmissions for twenty years now. It is strange to me to have my foot off the clutch and then feel it fully engage. I know that there are numerous DIY removal instructions for this, but my soon to be wife isn't as experienced with manual's, so I will probably leave this on until she is a little more comfortable behind the wheel.

Thanks again everybody! I guess I will have to start posting in other parts of the forum now.

Cheers,
K-Bert

 

[conwelpic]

1 - we've just been discussing that on another thread http://www.kiasoulforums.com/2-soul...6-anyone-else-find-annoying-3.html#post635106, just push it once instead of twice - no horn and the car still locks and the lights flash - problem solved :sneakiness:

 

[K-Bert]

Yeah I know about the one push, it's just a habit I have to break...

And I'm going to have to remember to turn off the lights.

 

[conwelpic]

Yeah I know about the one push, it's just a habit I have to break...

And I'm going to have to remember to turn off the lights.

anything is new, its a learning curve. Your lights will turn off automatically after about 30 seconds or so after you exit the vehicle - try it. :sneakiness:

 

[K-Bert]

Tried it. Doesn't even stay on for 30 seconds. The part I really like is when I unlock the car again the lights come on like perimeter lighting for ten seconds or though. I think I'm going to like this.