It's a Kia!

 

by Pa Rock

Road Warrior

After a disappointing tour of several car lots in West Plains on Sunday, I really wasn't expecting to find anything here in the Kansas City area that would suit both my needs and my budget.  So imagine my surprise when I came across a vehicle that almost checked all of the boxes.  Yesterday afternoon I became the proud owner of a used 2020 Kia Soul (Plus) with a clean history and less than 20,000 miles.  The negatives were the price - a few hundred dollars beyond what I had managed to save in my "car account," and the color, something called "Mars Orange."  But I could manage the extra cash, and the color is beginning to work for me.

The little car has lots of interior room, which was a must have for me.  Every car that scraped my head as I got in was an automatic reject.  The sound system is superb, another must for me, and the car comes with three free months of Sirius satellite!  And, heated seats front and rear.  Rosie and I love our heated seats!  Apparently the steering wheel is heated also, something that seems to be putting-on-airs a bit, but we'll take it anyway.  All of that - and it has the larger engine to give it a little more zip.  Us old farts like our zip!

I avoided the two traps where the car dealers try to really maximize their profits.  They offered me a whole $300 in trade for the Saturn, and then seemed shocked that I declined, and the lady who did the closing began by saying that she was not a "high pressure" salesperson and then quickly tried to get me to buy a fistful of extended warranties that would have increased the sales price by a third.  (All of the original warranties are still active.)  I declined the extra coverage, even after Ms. "No High Pressure" shuffled her numbers around to try and give me a better deal.  The original deal was just fine by me.

Rosie didn't come with me on this trip, and she is going to be really pleased tomorrow when I show up with her new ride - heated seats and all!