At the end of December I bought a 2012 Kia Soul. After driving it for three months, I have to say that I love it. I drove a Kia for the previous 6 years and never had any problems. But since I put about 600 miles per week on my car, I decided it was time for a new one.
This new Kia has a lot of features on it that I didn’t have on my previous car. One being that it doesn’t have a spare tire. I learned that most 2012 vehicles don’t have spare tires. They had to meet certain mile per gallon specs and to lighten the weight, they removed the spare tire. It comes with some kind of canister that is suppose to re-inflate the tire. Of course this will never work if you have a blow out. But to get around this they provide you with roadside service for 4 years or so many miles. I guess I will just have to pay better attention to my tires. Although living 60 miles from my place of employment, we always pay attention to the tires anyways.
I love my sound system. Along with the regular am/fm radio, I also have satellite, an input for my ipod, and a usb connection. So music or talk, however I want. The satellite was free for 3 months. I’ve decided to keep it. I enjoy it and it really isn’t that expensive. Plus its nice on my drive. So when it comes to entertainment in the Kia Soul, I do have choices.
The steering wheel has a lot of buttons on it. On the left it has buttons to control the radio, the volume, the station, the mode. I never use those buttons. I forget that they are even there. I guess after driving for 34 years, I’m just use to reaching with my right hand to change the radio settings.
On the right side of the steering wheel is the cruise control. I didn’t have cruise control in my last car and I really missed it. Driving over an hour in the morning and then again in the afternoon is hard without cruise control, especially between Springtown and my home. There is very little traffic and it’s just easier with cruise control. What I found is that by the end of the week, when I’m tired and worn out, I would look down at my speed. I would be doing like 50 in a 70. I was just too tired to keep the pedal to the metal.
But the feature that I love the most by far is the Bluetooth. I love love love the Bluetooth. My phone connects automatically when I turn on the vehicle. Its voice activated. So I simply say a command and it dials. When my phone rings, the stereo goes mute and the phone rings through my speakers. If the person calling is in my list of contacts it shows their name on the radio display. No more phone to my ear, no more silly thing hanging from my ear. (I really hate those ear things!!)
When I use this feature, most of the time I simply push the Bluetooth button and say “Redial”. It redials the last number, which is usually Doug. Last Friday on my way home I pushed the button I said “recall”. The car told me “Sorry, please say a command.” Again I said “recall”. The car responded “Sorry, I can’t understand the command. Please say again or say help.” Louder and more frustrated I said “RECALL!!! The car’s Bluetooth responded “Sorry, please try again.” The radio came back on letting me know the Bluetooth had given up on me. Then I remembered “Redial”.
Maybe I’m just getting old. But I get really tired come Fridays. Occasionally I’m embarrassed that I am, at times, so easily confused. Friday night I stepped out the back door and thought “What in the world is wrong with that cow!?!?!? Why is it mooing so long, like it’s in some sort of trouble!!” Just as I start to run towards the pasture to find out what’s wrong, I realize it’s the sound of a neighbor using a chainsaw. Saturday I searched and searched for the bottom sheet for the set, only to realize that I had already put it on the bed. What a goof ball I am. But I do make myself laugh.