Should I buy this 2015 Soul EV+?

  • Thread starter Thread starter AlopeX
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I just traded in my 2016 Soul EV+ last week for a Niro EV. I bought the car used last year with 7500 miles on it. 12 months later I had accumulated an additional 8600 miles driving around Los Angeles. Never had a problem. I would still have it today if hadn't sprung for the Niro. I loved embarassing everyone (as well as myself) at traffic lights as the little box left everyone (except a Tesla Model S) in the dust. A used EV of any marque is probably a good deal if you are comfortable with the range of the particular model. My Soul EV+ is up for sale at the dealer for $14K and it still has some of the new car warranty still effective as well as the much longer battery and EV component warranty.
 
Domenick said:
Looks like it's gone now. Did you buy it?
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I did! It was a showroom car that corporate Kia took around to Malls and sports stadiums and in the front offices of HQ which is why it has so little miles. The dealer bought it at a corporate auction and knew absolutely nothing about it other than used EVs sell fast. Dealer themselves were a bit smarmy and I definitely wouldn't have bought a new car from them but this was a bit of a unicorn compared to the other EV options we were looking at (would have loved a Niro but too rich for my current situation.) I got them to figure out how to do a battery report and the battery state of health is still at 100%. It has a few paint chips here and there but other than that it's basically a brand new car. The vain part of me wishes it said ELECTRIC in bigger font so people driving by know it's not a normal soul but I'll live. Our 20 mile drive home form the dealer was the longest continuous drive the car had ever done. We've put close to 200 miles on it since we bought it Saturday so far I'm in love. I finally took it off eco mode and put it into sport mode last night and it transformed into an almost entirely new car. Basically bought 2 cars for one!

IMG_1593.jpg

EPA rated for 93 miles but we've been charging it to 80% and the GOM says 89 miles so we're definitely getting some good efficiency out of it even if it's not close to the 5-6 mi/kwh of the kona/niro. There definitely are a few "first wave of evs" quirks that the designers fixed/eliminated with the new wave.

In a funny story my mom bought a 2013 Sorrento back in 2013 and I was at the dealership with her. They had a soul in the showroom and had just announced an EV soul was coming. I told my mom I was going to buy it when it came out. That never happened yet here in 2019 I find a basically brand new Soul EV that I said I was going to buy. I finally got it just 4 years and a few life changes later.
 

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AlopeX said:
I did! It was a showroom car that corporate Kia took around to Malls and sports stadiums and in the front offices of HQ which is why it has so little miles. The dealer bought it at a corporate auction and knew absolutely nothing about it other than used EVs sell fast. Dealer themselves were a bit smarmy and I definitely wouldn't have bought a new car from them but this was a bit of a unicorn compared to the other EV options we were looking at (would have loved a Niro but too rich for my current situation.) I got them to figure out how to do a battery report and the battery state of health is still at 100%. It has a few paint chips here and there but other than that it's basically a brand new car. The vain part of me wishes it said ELECTRIC in bigger font so people driving by know it's not a normal soul but I'll live. Our 20 mile drive home form the dealer was the longest continuous drive the car had ever done. We've put close to 200 miles on it since we bought it Saturday so far I'm in love. I finally took it off eco mode and put it into sport mode last night and it transformed into an almost entirely new car. Basically bought 2 cars for one!

View attachment 5661

EPA rated for 93 miles but we've been charging it to 80% and the GOM says 89 miles so we're definitely getting some good efficiency out of it even if it's not close to the 5-6 mi/kwh of the kona/niro. There definitely are a few "first wave of evs" quirks that the designers fixed/eliminated with the new wave.

In a funny story my mom bought a 2013 Sorrento back in 2013 and I was at the dealership with her. They had a soul in the showroom and had just announced an EV soul was coming. I told my mom I was going to buy it when it came out. That never happened yet here in 2019 I find a basically brand new Soul EV that I said I was going to buy. I finally got it just 4 years and a few life changes later.
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Thanks for sharing the pics and congrats on your car!
Since it had never been sold before, can you still claim the Federal tax credit? That would be pretty awesome. Also, can you say how much they let it go for? Kind of a unicorn deal, but still interesting to know.
 
Domenick said:
Thanks for sharing the pics and congrats on your car!
Since it had never been sold before, can you still claim the Federal tax credit? That would be pretty awesome. Also, can you say how much they let it go for? Kind of a unicorn deal, but still interesting to know.
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You know I didn't even think about if the federal tax credit would still apply? Theres no way they'd let that fly in my mind. I got the car for $14,000 but all the fees and stuff means I spent like $15,500 total.

The dealership tried 3 times to sell me their VIP package to unlock free oil changes. They kept getting annoyed when I declined it every time.
 
AlopeX said:
You know I didn't even think about if the federal tax credit would still apply? Theres no way they'd let that fly in my mind. I got the car for $14,000 but all the fees and stuff means I spent like $15,500 total.

The dealership tried 3 times to sell me their VIP package to unlock free oil changes. They kept getting annoyed when I declined it every time.
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Man, getting the tax credit would turn this into the deal of a lifetime. I think it may be eligible -- I'm thinking it just can't have been registered to a private individual before -- but not sure if there's something I'm missing.
 
I bought it as a "Used" car which I think immediately negates it from the credit. I may do some digging though.
 
I.R.C. § 30D(d) New Qualified Plug-In Electric Drive Motor Vehicle —
For purposes of this section—
I.R.C. § 30D(d)(1) In General —
The term “new qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicle” means a motor vehicle—
I.R.C. § 30D(d)(1)(A) —
the original use of which commences with the taxpayer,
I.R.C. § 30D(d)(1)(B) —
which is acquired for use or lease by the taxpayer and not for resale,
I.R.C. § 30D(d)(1)(C) —
which is made by a manufacturer,
I.R.C. § 30D(d)(1)(D) —
which is treated as a motor vehicle for purposes of title II of the Clean Air Act,
I.R.C. § 30D(d)(1)(E) —
which has a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 14,000 pounds, and
I.R.C. § 30D(d)(1)(F) —
which is propelled to a significant extent by an electric motor which draws electricity from a battery which—
I.R.C. § 30D(d)(1)(F)(i) —
has a capacity of not less than 4 kilowatt hours, and
I.R.C. § 30D(d)(1)(F)(ii) —
is capable of being recharged from an external source of electricity.
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You know @Domenick you may be on to something here...
 
So I’m actually going to call the IRS line and see what they say. Best I can see is it has 0 to do with how you bought it and can be claimed/used by the first owner who bought it for a purpose other than resale and registered it. Multiple VIN checks say the car has 0 previous registered owners so I may be the first owner to register it meaning I should be eligible for it.
 
AlopeX said:
So I’m actually going to call the IRS line and see what they say. Best I can see is it has 0 to do with how you bought it and can be claimed/used by the first owner who bought it for a purpose other than resale and registered it. Multiple VIN checks say the car has 0 previous registered owners so I may be the first owner to register it meaning I should be eligible for it.
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Please let us know how it works out.
 
I have a 2016 Kia Soul EV+. I love it. But I wish I had checked a little deeper before buying it. I bought the extended warranty and this has paid off.

You may want to check the Kia TSBs, technical service bulletins on your year and model for potential gotchas. I just had my OBC replaced under warranty. It’s failure was in a 2017 TSB and it had not been addressed earlier.

Try this site - the format is easy to read.
https://m.carcomplaints.com/Kia/Soul_EV/2016/tsbs/

Tom


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
 
acaisoul said:
I have a 2016 Kia Soul EV+. I love it. But I wish I had checked a little deeper before buying it. I bought the extended warranty and this has paid off.

You may want to check the Kia TSBs, technical service bulletins on your year and model for potential gotchas. I just had my OBC replaced under warranty. It’s failure was in a 2017 TSB and it had not been addressed earlier.

Try this site - the format is easy to read.
https://m.carcomplaints.com/Kia/Soul_EV/2016/tsbs/

Tom


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
Click to expand...
Sound advice for any make/manufacture of vehicle. A good source can also be found at the local online library (at least in my area). Auto Repair Source is accessible for free using a local library card, and the site contains a large up to date database of recalls and TSBs :
https://virl.bc.ca/eresources/autorepairsource/:)
 
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