Last week, Mrs. Cups made a joke that every Kia Soul ever made seems to be in that weird, ugly green color. It was a bit of a funny joke for a while when we’d see one, but now I can’t NOT notice every Kia Soul I see…and they’re EVERYWHERE.
I had no idea this car was so popular, but I see about 4 of them a day now. Who knew?
And yes…they come in other colors.
I drove one once.
Not bad as a short-term vacation rental. Decent ride, visibility and luggage capacity.
It’s a biggish car and the middle trim package is only 20k. You can lease one for about $ 250 a month. A Ford Escape or Toyota Rav4 are going to be just North of $300.
Having said that, I think you notice them because they stand out. There are an awful lot of them in that odd green color, but think back about 10 years when there were Scion xB cars everywhere (that was the cube looking car with the ‘wraparound’ rear window).
PS, just for comparison, to jump up to a bigger SUV, the Honda Pilot is about 10-15k more and a comparable lease is probably going to be $100-$150 more per month.
Just for fun I ran the numbers. Over the last 5 years Kia Souls account for .79% of the cars sold in the US.
That’s a little bit o’ soul.
Actually, Kia Soul sales have been dropping for the last 2-1/2 years. They peaked at 147,000 sold in 2015. They aren’t even in the top 10 selling vehicles in the US.
If you want to see an ubiquitous vehicle, look for Ford F-series pickups – they sell 7-8 times as many as Kia Souls, and they last forever.
I agree with the OP. My friend got a green one and I started seeing them everywhere. I see other colors too now though.
There’s someone in my neighborhood who puts a bag of trash on the roof of his gray Soul and drives past my house once a week, presumably to dump his trash at someone else’s house who has paid for trash pickup. I don’t know how I manage to be looking outside every time he does this but I see it every week. Maybe he does it more often.
Anyway now when I see other gray Souls I think it’s the trash guy. And I see them a lot too.
Maybe you have the condition known, rather appropriately, as Blue Car Syndrome.
Though Ugly Green Car Syndrome might be a better name in this instance.
Not sure what color green you’re talking about, but what is it with the horrible “earth tones” that new cars seem to be rolling out with?
I’ve seen some Toyota trucks in Baby-shit brown/green and Subaru’s in Dog Vomit Bile. 
Who the fuck wants that?
Hey, I picked my new car color to look especially like red dirt roads. Being that’s what color it tends to turn around here, any way. I had a white SUV that looked vaguely pink all the time. Red clay dirt gets on everything.
It seems that for the past 10 years or so, it’s hard to get a car that’s not black or silver. You can, don’t get me wrong, but if you want one that’s on the lot, I’d bet that the majority of them are those two colors.
I’d guess that at least part of that is because dealerships know that most people are fine with a neutral color like that so if they get 15 different colors they may end up stuck with a few at the end of the year.
Also, at least in the Northern part of the US, many people like Silver cars because they don’t look as dirty when in summer (same for black cars), but also because they don’t look as dirty in winter when they get covered in salt.
If you check the Kia website, you’ll see that they call that “weird, ugly green color” ALIEN. Which seems very appropriate!
(In a “little green men” sense, not an “illegal alien” sense.)
I love the excellent outward visibility of my first generation xb but neither it nor the 2nd generation had wrap around windows. You’re maybe thinking of the 2nd generation Nissan Cube.
Dennis
I hate this trend so much, I’ve noticed and lamented it many times. I like my cars to be an actual color, preferably something eye-catching in blue or orange. I also only buy used cars, due to not wanting to take the “new car” depreciation hit and not liking any dealers I’ve dealt with.
It gets worse in the “luxury” marques - just try finding a used Jag or Mercedes in something other than Black / White / Silver. I was looking to buy a used SL55 a few years ago and there was literally one blue one I could find in the entire country.
Black / White / Silver aren’t colors, they are mere variations in a monochrome spectrum! Why does dour and drab rule the day for so many people?
I’m used to waiting for a dealer to find (and have shipped) the car I want in an actual color and a real transmission:
“So, customer, what do you think?”
“Great, you sold me. I’ll take an orange one without any extra features, in manual.”
“Ummm, you don’t need it this month, do you?”
Ha! I had a friend, a mother with 4 active children & a hard-working husband. They were planning to replace carpeting in their house. She got a white door mat to put at her back door for a few days, Then she took it into the carpet store and said “Match that color”. So they ended up with a dirt-colored carpet, which really cuts back on the required vacuuming.
I agree on car colors as well. They shouldn’t be the godawful green of the Soul, but they should be better than what they are.
What a great name for a car! There are a LOT of jokes and puns you can make
– Be sure to sell it to someone named Scratch or Nick or Diabolo or something like that. Be sure to sign the Title Transfer in your own blood.
–They can take all the abandoned Kia Souls and haul them away to the same island.
– Put some of those see-through decals over the side view mirrors, so when your car is far away, people can only see the decals. They have to be in the form of Eyes. Virgina Wioolf fans can make them look like Books
– If you can, arrange to trade your car for the Entire World, although that will piss off theologians
–Use your last pennies to buy hyacinths, and put them on your car.
– Get a bumper sticker that says “Soul Man”
Same here. I was pleasantly surprised by the options package, general capacity, and drivability, but I still wouldn’t buy one. I’d be happy enough to rent one again, especially since it was a lot of car for the designated size class the rental agency put it in.
I never rent cars, are they popular for rentals? That could be why I see them so much, they’re rentals. Lord knows we have enough of those in my city