2012 Ford Fusion

2012 Ford Fusion

17 - 23 city / 25 - 33 highway <-MSN auto

I think that for last couple of years Ford has had kind of a bad rap, which was perfectly justified during the late 90s and 2000s.  But for the past 3(ish) years I think they have been trying to turn that around.  I find that you can really see it in their new SUVs and the new, totally revamped Ford Taurus, but not so much in their smaller cars.  Performance wise they seem to have taken a lot of the kinks out of all of their vehicles, but it’s too early to tell the longevity of any of the new models.  That being said I will dive into the underwhelming 2012 Ford Fusion.  As per usual this post is about a car that is used in a rental car fleet so all of the features are going to be standard, no high-end fancy shmancy options here.

 I like to start with the way the car looks on the outside, considering that is the first thing you notice about a car, but the 2012 Ford Fusion has little to nothing to say about the exterior view.  It is not ugly but it does not stand out either, which could be a good thing if you live in a place where you don’t want to attract extra attention. If the Fusion was a person they would be Plain Jane, not ugly but nothing to write home about either.

I wouldn't be able to pick it out of a crowd.

 

Moving on, the Fusion has a nice sized trunk, and like the exterior there is really noting special about it, not too big and not too small.  Going into the interior of the vehicle is a different story.  First, the back seats go down, making more room for luggage or people or whatever you are into, not unusual.  What is pretty awful are the seats themselves.  The fabric that was used in this car was just awful!  It is not nice to touch and feels almost scratchy, I can’t imagine how horrible it would feel against the skin during the summer if you were wearing a tank top and shorts.  And that’s not all, whatever foam or stuffing is used for the seats does not hold up well at all.  It felt like pieces of the foam had broken off from one another and you could just pull it apart. The foam and the fabric combine in a terrible way and the seats have started to pucker and crease, making it look almost cracked.  These were obvious poor choices made by Ford, and considering this is only a 2012 can you imagine how terrible it will look in 5 or 10 years?  Granted, you can argue that rental cars see a lot more action than a car owned by the typical driver, but I think that fact gives you a good look in the future and see how the car will age, and these seats will not stand up to the test of time.  Seriously bad choice, Ford.

Another bad choice made for the Fusion is the type of material used for the floor of this car.  Devotees will notice that I have commented on this subjected quite a bit, and most of the time the floor fabric is the same, presumably cheap felt-like material that gets nappy quickly.  The reason why I bring it up now is because the material in the Fusion seems to be even worse than the usual stuff!  If the usual stuff is cheap we can safely assume Ford found this material from some guy hanging out in the back of an alley.  It doesn’t seem to me as nappy, but it gets matted and prickly and quite ugly.  I think if your shoes were wet and muddy it would probably destroy the floor of this car. 

The back does have an armrest/cup holder that comes down and sits between the two back seats.  The cup holders have a rubber liner on the bottom that you can take out which is a feature I like very much because it makes it easier to clean them, and I definitely wanted to mention this because it is the first cup holders in the back armrest that have had a liner in them that I have encountered.  Something that I find very odd in comparison to the other cars I have reviewed so far is the fact that there are no cup holders in the back doors, which is a feature I was starting to assume was in all of the newer cars, but jokes on me I suppose because we all know what assuming does… I assume we all know that saying.

Moving up from the disaster that is the back, shows that Ford made the same mistakes with the awful material for the seats, seat stuffing, and floors in the front that were in the back.  The middle cubby is lidded with a small sized compartment, but what is odd about it is that the lid is covered in leather and it is the only piece of leather found in the vehicle.  It stand out as pretty strange and I don’t know if Ford was trying to class up the joint, but it just doesn’t work.  Another oddity of this cubby is that inside, on the side that is closest to the front of the vehicle you will find a 12 volt AC jack and an AUX port.  I call it an oddity because I think that is such a strange place for an AUX port, why not just next to the radio?  Why make it so difficult to find?  It’s a bother for me because customers can never find the stupid thing and so they come back in and complain that it doesn’t have one, but I would be lying if I said it wasn’t satisfying when I go out with them, show them where it is, and prove them wrong.  It is also a strange place for an AC jack, but there is another one in the car we will get to, so it’s not that bad.  One important thing to know is that there is no USB port in the 2012 Ford Fusion! The space between the two front seats includes two standard cup holders (with removable liner!), shifter, and parking brake.  It is rather narrow but I like that because it is no-nonsense and gives the driver and passenger more room on the seats, even if those seats aren’t that comfy against the skin and the foam is dying.

Starting at the base of the middle console is another 12 volt AC jack along with a very small and very shallow space that can really fit nothing more than like 3 pennies, and I don’t think Ford even meant for anyone put anything there, it must be purely design aka useless.  Above that there are the temperature controls which are easy to understand but are so clunky and take up so much space!  The radio controls are equally large and cumbersome, which leads me to believe Ford just ran out of things to put in this car.  The whole clunky button ensemble makes it unappealing to look at and I wouldn’t want to pay money for a car and not even like looking at it.  Above the ugly buttons is the actual radio display which feels very antiquated given our modern cars.  It is very small and narrow and really only displays the time or the station you are on (and presumably track number of a CD, but I don’t really know that because I wasn’t listening to a CD).  Some might like harkening back to a simpler radio, others may think it’s too old, and still others might not care at all.

You can see the clunky buttons and small radio.

 Above the radio is a wide, shallow, square compartment that opens with a button, and is the only compartment I have seen of that kind in a vehicle. Its size and more especially its placement is what makes it unusual and for a little while I wondered what you would put in it, but then I thought it was the perfect place for CDs, but really you could put whatever you wanted in it, and pressing a button to make something open is always satisfying. 

Apparently Ford wants you to keep your sunglasses and some unknown object (school fire alarm?) in there. 

The steering wheel is large with buttons for cruise controls settings on the left and media controls on the right.  It is not an especially pretty lay out, but it is easy to understand and ultimately that makes it effective.  I mean, do you really want to struggle with poorly placed buttons when trying to make sure you don’t rear end that jerk who just cut you off even though you kind of want to  because that would show him!  The Ford Fusion has what is called Microsoft Sync, which is what Ford calls its Bluetooth and you can find it in pretty much all new Ford vehicles.  I don’t care for Sync though because it is not easy to use or set up, even when you Google it you get a bunch of people asking how to even get it started.  I don’t know why Ford couldn’t just make the cars with an easy to connect Bluetooth system that you find in other cars like all new models Kia.

Not great to look at but gets the job done.

On the left side of the speedometer, gas, odometer, etc. display there is a slide out ashtray; I mention this because it is so odd to see a true, designated ash tray in new cars, which is a good thing because smoking is nasty and smoking in your car makes it nasty, too.  Rental car companies even put a little “no smoking” sticker in the bottom of the tray that you see when you pull it out.  A word to the wise though if you do smoke, do not smoke in a rental car or you will be charged a couple hundred dollars – it’s no joke because it makes cleaning that car very difficult.  A small detail I like about this car is that all of the display lights are blue, which I found is nice on your eyes when driving at night.

I have a bit more experience driving a Fusion than other cars in the fleet because I drove to training in other locations, so I spent a total of 5 ½ hours in one.  The steering is fluid with a little resistance, but nothing that could count as difficult to drive or that it feels like you’re pulling it through syrup (trust me, some cars, like the Nissan Altima, do feel like that).  While you’re driving you can feel the road in your feet but it doesn’t travel up through the wheel, making it a comfortable driving experience.  The turning radius leaves something to be desired, especially for a car that isn’t as big or long as a Chevy Impala or Kia Optima, but you’re most likely not going to have to do three point turns in the parking lot any time soon.

The physical act of driving is pretty good in the 2012 Ford Fusion but there are so many awful choices Ford made with this car that are not only ugly but they will also not last long.  The interior construction doesn’t seem like it will age well at all and the design is not pleasing to the eye.  I am calling this a no go, do not buy this car.

 

2012 Toyota Camry

2012 Toyota Camry
21 - 25 city / 30 - 35 highway <- MSN auto

I have always thought (for as long as I thought about cars) that Toyotas were good cars, which I think is a pretty justifiable thought.  They are sturdy and dependable but they also come with a price tag that some people (like myself) can not afford.  But if you are the lucky ones who shop at Target instead of Wal-Mart and can afford a Toyota, the Camry might be a good fit.  Remember, readers, this car is used in a rental fleet so it is the standard model with none of parts and shots that can come with paying more for upgraded features.

The design on the outside looks a bit strange to me and that all has to do with the front of the body.  It is wide, tall, and looks like it juts out at certain angles.  It almost reaches the ground, which would definitely cause some people to scrape the ground on steep declines or those cement stops in a parking spot, lord knows I would probably do that all the time if I drove one of these cars.  To me it looks like some kid who wants to get into some Fast and Furious nonsense put this body kit on but it seems to come standard.  Aside from that it is a nice looking car that is a tad long, but it is considered a full size so that’s to be expected.  To give perspective, other cars in this size include a Chevy Impala and Nissan Altima.

The scenic background is optional.



First, you can see how close to the ground the front is.  Second, if you look at the bottom right corner you can see where it juts out.  It looks strange to me.

 

Inside the vehicle there is a spacious trunk which can become larger by putting down the back seats, a feature that is standard with most 4DR cars.  Something that deserves a mention is the material Toyota used for the floors.  I don’t know what it is made of but it is different than the material that is usually found in cars.  I also don’t know what the usual material is made of but it is a felt-like fabric and if you drive something smaller than a full size is probably in your own car, and it gets very nappy very quickly and is also difficult to clean.  Think of the fuzzies you get on an old sweater but like 5 times bigger and impossible to get out.  It is the natural life cycle for this material, though, and if you haul a lot of stuff and/or people, this will happen, but Toyota has used some other material.  It is still felty but it feels more sturdy and compact, if you have felt a nice, expensive carpet pile (not anything long like shag) then it feels like that.  If you have not felt a nice, expensive carpet pile then go to the flooring store and feel it! This is an interactive experience.  This particular material seems to hold up much better than the other, presumably cheaper material and overall looks much nicer.  It’s not a big deal of course, but it does warrant an honorable mention.

The material used for the seats are a mixture of leather and fabric.  Leather is used for the majority of the seat while the fabric is used for the middle, and in the particular Camry I was in they used two different colors, black for leather and gray for fabric.  This gives the car a nice look and pleasing to the eye but, in my not so humble opinion, it brings up a practical problem of cleaning.  Leather has its obvious benefits but to someone like myself who has to clean up customers nasty messes the best benefit is that it is easy to clean.  Leather does not soak up fluids, preventing stains, and it is very easy to wipe off the gross, crusty cupcake icing you let your kid smear all over the back seats.  Fabric is very different and as long as you’re not some spoiled rich person who has never cleaned anything I’m sure you know that it is not as forgiving.  So, the mixture of leather and fabric is nice in theory, but it makes the seats more difficult to clean. 

The backseats also boast the armrest (with two cup holders) that can go down between the two seats, and an astonishing three cup holders in each back door, which doing the math (I was in AP Calculus in high school, so I’m pretty much the best at math there ever was) gives you 8 cup holders in the back seats alone.  Why would you need that many cup holders?  I think it’s safe to assume that if you have all of those filled, it’s time to clean out your car.  One last little detail about the back is that in the back of the middle cubby is a small space to put… I don’t know, it’s pretty small and narrow so I have no idea what is intended to be put there, but there is a liner that you can take out so it is easy to clean, which I appreciate.

The front seats are large and comfortable, as they should be considering the class.  In the middle you will find a lidded cubby that when opened has only one compartment but it is rather large.  In front of said cubby is a small lidded compartment that houses a 12 volt AC jack and a small space that looks like you can use as a place for coins or even an ash tray (but don’t because that is nasty and will make your car smell! And especially don’t do it in a rental car because it will, no joke, cost you hundreds of dollars.).  The shifter itself looks pretty standard, but around whole area is a piece of what feels like faux-metal plating.  It feels cheap to me but I’m sure it’s intended to look nice.  Something to note about the shifter is it takes some muscle to move it; whereas in most cars (as long as the shifter is in the middle and not by the steering wheel) the shifter moves pretty freely, in this car you have to put just a little bit of heft into it, but I can’t see how that is a bad thing.  Directly to the right of the shifter are the two cup holders that are adjustable to a point, meaning that there are pieces of plastic that can move down, allowing larger drinks to fit. Apparently the Japanese know the American (forbidden in NY) love affair with large drinks.

This gives a good view of the faux-metal finish.

The center console in the Camry is nice because it is easy to understand.  The temperature controls sit under the radio and are very straight forward.  The radio is a touch screen and only controls the radio/media.  I mention this because there are some vehicles where the touch screen controls everything, this is not one of them.  I’m torn about touch screens, I’m not sure the pros outweigh the very big con.  I like the ease of use of a touch screen, especially when you can do a direct tune to a radio station and of course they are nice to look at, but they get so filthy!  Fingers are incredibly greasy, just look at touch screen phones, tablets, mp3 players, etc. and I am constantly wiping away the fingerprints on my phone, so I’m not sure if I would be just as neurotic about my radio screen.  And throw in someone who was eating fast food or a kid who has sticky, gross fingers and I just don’t know if it’s worth it anymore.  Underneath the temperature controls in another small lidded compartment that has another 12 volt AC jack, AUX port, and USB.  The compartment in pretty small so, like with the other small compartments in this car, I’m not sure what you could fit in there.

There is a holder for your sunglasses on top near rearview mirror, and I only mention this because I have actually seen a lot of 2012/2013 vehicles that don’t have one, which I found odd.  The glove compartment is small, too small for a full size car in my opinion.  But I am finding a trend: the bigger the car, the smaller the glove compartment.  The compact Nissan Versa has a huge glove compartment but the full size Toyota Camry has such a small one?  It doesn’t make sense to me, but a good thing about this one is that you can lock it.  So if you can actually fit anything in there at least you know it will be safe.  The dashboard deserves a note because of its unique mix of plastic and leather, which looks kind of cool, adding another element of pizazz.

Leather details and a lock for your oh-so-important tiny documents.

Another small detail is that there are cup holders (that are only good for bottles! Putting in a Starbucks cup full of hot coffee could very well end up disastrous) in the front doors, which is not at all odd with newer cars, the reason I bring it up is that they are very narrow, leading me to believe Toyota must have some stock in Smart Water because those are probably the only bottle that could fit in this space.

The feature I like the least in the Camry is actually the steering wheel, it is so cumbersome!  Not only in size, it’s a big wheel, but mostly because of the actual features that are integrated in it.  The components are the standard ones that you will find on most new vehicles; cruise control, media controls, and Bluetooth control, but I don’t like the placement of any of them.  To start, the central media control is shaped in a circle on the left side of the wheel but because the wheel is so large my hands cannot comfortably use the controls, and let it be known I am not a petite girl with tiny hands, and for some reason there are two spots for the volume control; one is on the circular media control and the others are on the back of the steering wheel on the top left corner (lower volume) and the top right corner (raise volume).  The only need for this is because you can’t properly control the volume from the circular media controls, and if that is why Toyota put the additional volume controls in, then they should have changed it entirely.  On the right side of the steering wheel you will find the Bluetooth controls, where the designers also utilized the circle design used for the media controls, but it is just too large, really unnecessarily large.  I’m sure they did it for symmetry but I think they should have just scrapped the whole thing and thought up something better.  And finally, on the bottom right side of the steering, slightly behind are the cruise control settings.  I have found (and I’m sure you have, too) that the cruise control is found two different ways – buttons on the steering wheel or on a stick.  In the Camry it is on the stupid little stick, and I hate when the cruise control is setup this way, it’s just not as easy as when they are buttons.  I know it’s a dumb thing it harp on, but everyone has something they just don’t like.

For those of you with no imagination CC means cruise control.

With all of the flaws of the wheel itself, I still love the way this car drives!  It steers like an absolute dream with very little resistance.  This is a big thing for this particular car class; other full size cars feel like you are dragging the wheel through molasses just to turn the darn thing but not the Camry.  The car accelerates smoothly and easily, it does not jerk about and you also don’t have to put the pedal to the metal to get this car going.  Again, it does this better than any other full size car I have driven, and the turning radius is really sharp in this car, which (say it with me) is better than other full sizes.  I generally do not like the full sizes for that very reason – it’s impossible (okay, not impossible, but still very difficult!) to park or maneuver these cars especially the awful Nissan Altima.  You could not pay me to drive an Altima.  The driving is very smooth, but (surprisingly) that is no different than other full sizes; you know you are going to get a smooth ride with almost any full size.  I cannot emphasize how much I like to actually drive this car, and I bet if you took it to some backwoods country road it would be so fun to just drive around it in and see how fast it could go.

Like all vehicles the Toyota Camry has its pros and cons, but if you are looking for a larger vehicle without getting into the Ford Crown Victoria size, then the Camry would be a good choice.  It is the best full size car I have driven and that’s mostly because of how it handles, and that’s really what is important in a car.  The seats are comfortable, the drive is smooth, and also fun, besides some small issues it with the design of the steering wheel, what more could you ask for? (A smaller price tag!)

2013 Kia Sorento

2013 Kia Sorento

18 - 22 city / 24 - 32 highway <- MSN auto

So I like Kia cars, but Kia SUVs?  Not as much.  The Kia Sorento is considered a midsize SUV along the lines of a Ford Edge but looks more a Nissan Pathfinder.  The good thing about the Sorento is that it has a third row of seating that you can pull up, which I’m sure is a big selling point, I know it is for rental car customers.  But aside from that, there isn’t anything that special about it.  I feel that Kia cars are cute and can give you a lot of the same features as other cars in their particular class, but the SUVs come up short in my book.  As always, the model(s) I am familiar with are intended for the use of rental car companies so they will not have all the flashiness and cool gadgets you could potentially get in one that you buy.  Moving on…

The outside of the Sorento isn’t very striking, looks pretty standard.  It’s not as sleek as a Ford Edge but it also doesn’t have any weird external features to try and snazz it up like a Jeep Compass.  Although it does have a rear windshield wiper, not an odd feature on a SUV, but still nice to have and deserves an honorable mention.

 

 

Moving on inside we are starting at the trunk.  One major player in this car is the third row or seats.  With the third row down you get a spacious trunk space, and even more spacious if you put the second row of seats down (which you can do, obvs), but if you need the third row up the trunk space gets very small.  Bit I wonder what is the point of being able to transport that many people but you can’t fit very much luggage in the back?  My sagely advice is to just go with a minivan, you might not look cool (or maybe you will look like the coolest?) but you will have ample space for everyone and more space for everything.  Another funny thing about putting up the third row is that on the left side the passenger gets not only a cup holder but also a little cubby for their phone, mp3 player, or books (yeah right, kids don’t read books. Damn kids!), but the person on the right side gets none of these amazing features!  Why, Kia, would you deprive the other passenger of some place to hold their drinks and/or knick knacks?  It is a puzzle.

*In this picture you can see in red how little trunk space you will have when the third row of seats are up.  What is the point?  It's almost as small as the back of a Jeep Wrangler.  In pink is the one cup holder and small cubby for the luck SOB on the right side.

 

The second row of seats have three seat belts but there is also one of those nifty armrest/cup holder piece that comes down in the middle between the right and left side, making it oh so convenient to spill milkshakes all over the rental car.  There is also an AC jack on the back of the middle console, but only one, so the passenger can fight over who can charger their electronic crap.  Inside the doors of both the front and the back are cup holders that are only good for bottles.  People, do not let anyone put an actual cup from home or Starbucks-like cup in these side cup holders!  You have been warned…  One last thing to mention is that these seats also go down, but for some reason Kia (and other car makers because I have seen this before) have not tried to disguise the “joints” that allow the seats to move forward.  Think of it like your elbow that allows your forearm to move up and down, but imagine it with no skin or muscles or any grossness, just the bone.  I’m thinking it must be part of the design, because many and more car makers disguise this joint, most (if not all) of the cars in our rental fleet enable you to put down the back seats, even the teeny tiny Toyota Yaris, and they are able to cover up this joint.  The reason I point this out is because it is very ugly and probably uncomfortable to sit on if you are large and in charge.

*You can't really grasp the ugliness of the joints in this pictures but trust me on this one.
 

 

The front seats seem pretty comfy, nothing too special, but something to mention is that the button to release the gas cover is on the side of the door, beneath the door controls and close to where your left knee will rest.  It’s an odd placement and might take some awhile to find it if they are not trying too hard.  The parking brake is by the pedals, which I don’t like because customers are always dumb about it and come back to me saying they can’t the parking brake.  The steering wheel is rather large, larger than other wheels in this car class and it includes the standard Kia steering wheel features; it has cruise control settings, Bluetooth activation (which comes standard with Kias), and radio mode/volume control but not radio tuning.  I wish they would put radio tuning in the steering wheels because I know my back and arms get sore whenever I’m in a new place and I have to scan through all the radio channels (woe is me!).  The radio on all of the model I have seen is pretty basic and not a touch screen although when I was looking up sweet pics I saw plenty of pictures of a much fancier, touch screen radio that you can probably upgrade into (for a fee, I’m sure), but there are other midsize SUVs where the fancy radio is standard like the Ford Edge and Dodge Journey although I’m sure they come with a corresponding price tag.

Underneath the radio you have the temperature controls which are very straight forward – I swear, sometimes you have to be genius to figure out the temp controls in other cars.  And below that you have what seems to be the standard layout of features in a Kia, 2 AC jacks on either side of an AUX and USB port.  What also seems to be standard in the Kia design is that underneath those ports is small space and in the Sorentos case, a platform where I guess they thought you could put your mp3 player or charging phone.  What isn’t standard is what is beneath this platform in the Sorento, it’s another little space, but it looks almost hidden and seemingly useless.  I have no idea why this is here but I suppose it would be a good hiding place for candy you don’t want anyone else to know you have.  I know that’s what I would use it for.

 

*The arrow is pointing in the direction of the secret space that may or may not be useless.
 

There is a very small glove compartment which doesn’t make sense to me, why do smaller cars like the Kia Soul and Nissan Versa have such huge glove compartments but SUVs have such tiny ones?  It seems to be an unwritten rule.  There is a sunglasses holder on the front near the rearview mirror which doesn’t seem like something important to mention, but I am finding that many of the cars I am in do not actually have a place for sunglasses.  The middle is very Spartan with a very large middle cubby that has a smaller tray on top for change and what not and just two somewhat adjustable cup holders that can be taken out.  What I mean by somewhat adjustable is that there are small pieces of plastic that move in and out which line the inside of the cup holders allowing them to fit different sized cups.  And what I mean by you can “take out” the cup holders is that there is a plastic liner that can be removed which is a god send if you are cleaning the car.  Cup holders are difficult to really clean and they get inexplicably filthy even in a car that stays clean and doesn’t get eaten in like mine.  There really is not much going on with the middle console of this vehicle, but it doesn’t make you feel like it’s trying too hard to fill in those gaps, like a Jeep Compass does.  One thing to mention though is that there is an ugly plastic liner that runs around the sides of the interior which does feel like it’s trying too hard to be a more “sophisticated” SUV.  I don’t know what Kia was thinking about with this design, it feels out of place and makes you feel embarrassed for the car, which is definitely on odd feeling considering a car has no feelings (yet?).

 

*Pointless plastic paneling (say that 10 times fast).
 

The car does not maneuver as well as some of its counterparts even though the steering wheel does move easily.  The steering is not as fluid as the Ford Flex (which is actually larger than the Sorento) and the turning radius is also not as good as the Flex, but it does do better than even some smaller cars like the awful Nissan Altima.  The ride is smoother than any Jeep but not as smooth as a newer Ford, meaning that you can still feel the road in the pedals but it doesn’t travel up through the steering wheel.  It does not feel cumbersome to drive which I feel like is a definite plus in a SUV.  Some SUVs of comparable size like the Mitsubishi Endeavor or the Nissan Pathfinder feel like such a chore to drive and even accelerate.

All in all, if you are looking at a larger vehicle that won’t cost as much as some of its counterparts then his is a good bet.  It is sturdy and straight forward, which I value in a vehicle, but if you are looking for something that can haul a lot of people and stuff at the same time, this might not be the right choice.

 

2013 Kia Soul

2013 Kia Soul

28 highway MPG, 23 city MPG <- from AutoTrader.com

I like Kia cars, those who have read the introduction should know that I own a Kia Forte, I think you get a nice little car for the price.  I have come across people who absolutely refuse to rent a Kia though, and those people are entitled to their own opinion, an opinion that is dumb and they are dumb for having it.  With that I present the 2013 Kia Soul.  Always remember that the model I know (and love :* ) is used by a rental car company, therefore it does not have all the bells and whistles and bonnets and flowers that you can purchase.

Starting on the outside it’s pretty obvious the first feature you notice, the shape.  It is one of the “box” cars along with the Nissan Cube and the Scion I Don’t Know What It’s Actually Called.  It is also known as The Hamster Car, which customers like to remind me about (I’m getting the hamster car?!).  The Soul and the Cube are more similar in style than the Scion Whatever because the edges of the vehicle are not as sharp.  The Scion looks like it will cut you if you get too close, which may or may not be the best car invention ever depending on if it is the zombie apocalypse or not.  But I can say Souls look larger on the outside than most of the other cars in its class (compact), and looks can be deceiving, I have had customers describe it as a small SUV; they were only 4 car classes off the mark.  An exterior feature I like is the fact that it has a rear windshield wiper, you don’t usually get one of those babies in a compact.

 
 
 

*It comes in many snazzy colors.

It also has very large windows, which is a superfluous detail (which one of my details isn’t superfluous?) but I can appreciate that, remembering all the times I have sat in a car staring out of the window. 

Moving to the interior starting at the truck, which is actually pretty small for a trunk these days.  Most vehicles I have come into contact with, even the small ones have pretty big trunks because the trunk goes under the back seats.  Hatchbacks are the exception because the trunks never go under the seats, which is the problem here, so I suppose you could call the Soul hatchback-esque. I think it’s pretty hard to really categorize it as such because of its shape, there is really no other option for the way the trunk opens, so hatchback by default?  Either way, if you put the back seats down it would make a pretty comfy night at the drive-in.  You can safely assume by what I just wrote that the back seats go down, I would honestly be surprised to see a car where the back seats don’t go all the way down.  The seats are pretty small, that’s to be expected from a compact.  The only things that are really even in the back are cup holders in the sides of the doors which are only good for bottles, and big, round speakers that are also in the doors.  I am seeing a trend with these big round speakers, they are popping up everywhere.  Apparently my generation cannot get enough of big, round speakers.

*Is default hatchback even a thing?

The middle console is pretty standard with 2 cup holders, emergency brake, and small lidded cubby hole.  Moving up towards the radio there are 2 AC adapter jacks, an AUX, and USB port right in the middle and easy to get to.  I like the simplicity of Kia designs because they don’t usually try to get fancy with you, “this is what we have and here it is” kind of attitude.  For some reason car makers like to hide these features, sometimes they are right in the front, sometimes in the middle cubby, and other times in the glove compartment (wtf?).  I also like how there is two AC adapter jacks, that’s nice and convenient and some cars that are supposed to be “better” or “nicer” don’t have both the AUX and USB, which is just silly if you think about it.  The radio is pretty basic, if you have been in one Kia and seen that radio then you have seen all of the radios, I’m pretty sure they just use the same basic model for all of the cars with little tweaks here and there.  What is funny about the radio and other display lights in a Kia is that they all glow red when it’s dark so the car looks evil.  The Soul also has a surprisingly big glove compartment with 2 different sections, useful for hiding your gold.  I don’t understand why this little compact car can have such a big glove compartment while some larger cars and many SUVs have such tiny glove compartments.  I think people underestimate the usefulness of a glove compartment, it is not just for your gloves, people.

*You can see it glowing evilly

Looking at the picture you can see a rectangle right above the radio, it is a little compartment that opens and is somewhat deep.  I think this is meant to be a potential place for your sunglasses because it does not have the traditional sunglasses holder on the top of the car near the rearview mirror, but I suppose you can put whatever you want in there, if you want to be like that.  Above that you see another large, round speaker (seriously, car makers, knock it off).  The front seats are quite comfy and sit really high without being uncomfortably close to the ceiling, and the windshield is very large, and combining those two things makes you, as the driver, feel like you are in a much larger vehicle.  How the people in the back seats feel might be another story.  It’s like one of those houses that look really small on the outside and are actually really big on the inside, only with a car and hopefully you don’t live in it.  One last note about the interior that can throw you, it says “SOUL” all over the sides of the doors and the seats.  I have seen this in every Soul I have been in so it must just come standard.  I’ll be honest (why wouldn’t I be, I don’t know you) it can be a bit overwhelming when you get into a Soul for the first time, but you really do just forget it and stop noticing it over time. 

When you accelerate in a Soul it makes a funny “whirring” noise and when you turn the steering wheel it makes a “whooshing” noise which combine to make it sound like you are in a mini space ship, it’s pretty fun.  The noises are not loud and I only notice them because I am not listening to anything, so if you have the radio on I’m sure you won’t hear it, unless you want to drive around pretending you are driving a space ship, if that’s the case then go for the gusto.  The controls on the steering wheel include the radio, volume, cruise control, and initiating the Bluetooth which comes standard in the car and is a god send in a hands free state.  I think the controls on the steering wheel are very easy and you learn pretty quickly.  Again, I like the simplicity of the Kia controls, unlike the wheel controls on the Ford Focus (another compact) which are all jammed together and feel way too crammed.  Although I did see pictures online of a Kia Soul steering wheel all decked out with controls, too gaudy for me.  The physical wheel feels great too, I’m not sure what the material is but it’s smooth, and strange, and wonderful-feeling at the same time.  My Forte does not have this material on the steering wheel and it is my life’s regret.

It rides nicely and you don’t feel the road as much as you would in a Focus maybe because you sit higher, but really I have no clue, but it’s actually not as smooth as other vehicles like the Dodge Avenger. Although the Avenger is bit bigger (a midsize) and I’m thinking the Avenger might be the exception to the rule because I haven’t been in another small vehicle that rides that smoothly.  The steering wheel moves effortlessly (while making the space ship sound) with little to no resistance – think of a shopping cart at IKEA but as a car; but the turning radius is not as tight as might be expected, it is not at all wide but the Toyota Corolla has a sharper turning radius and it is considered slightly larger (a midsize).

One last thing to note is the actual key, it’s not super special, it’s just one of those keys where you press the button and it flips out, but it is fun and as whimsical as you are going to get with a car key (for now...).

*I can literally flip that key for hours

Overall I am a big fan of the Soul, it is a compact but does not feel like one.  If you can get over (or even fall in love?) with the shape then definitely look into one, they are zippy little cars.

2012 Jeep Compass

2012 Jeep Compass 4x4

29 highway MPG/23 city MPG <-from Jeep website

The Jeep Compass is a small SUV that (supposedly) seats 5, meaning there are seat belts enough for five, whether you can comfortably seat five is another story, but if three or more people need a ride and you are willing to give them one, then they should just be happy they’re not walking.  Now remember, this is a car used by a rental company so it does not have all of the features that a crazy, all features, all options, Compass will have.

To begin, let’s start with the outside.  When you first look at the Compass there are a couple things that I think stand out.  First, it is not a “boxy” car, which isn’t surprising considering most new SUV are steering (pun intended) away from the boxy shape.  Now you can find a lot, if not most, big car makers opting for the sleek, rounded look.  The Compass is not quite as round as the 2013 Ford Escape or the Ford Edge, but it is more rounded than other Jeep options like the (horrid) Jeep Liberty.  Another external feature is that the car sits low to the ground, which has its pros and cons.  Pro – easy to get in and out of.  Con – bad in snow and/or extreme sport outings.  The third external feature that gets your attention is that the back door handles are not where the handles usually are, they are not under the windows near the back but next to the windows.  It’s not big thing, most certainly a design aspect, but I can tell you I was constantly reaching for the wrong place when trying to open the doors.  Somewhat annoying?  A bit.  Super inconvenient?  No, not at all.

*The arrow looks like an anchor, but it’s totally not, it’s an arrow trying show that the vehicle is both round and close to the ground.

*It’s hard to actually see the handle in this picture but that’s where they are placed.  Weird, right?

Moving on with the interior.  We are going to start from the back in the trunk to the front.  First the trunk – it is a good size for this class of vehicle, larger than the trunk of the Ford Escape and the Jeep Liberty.  I also noticed that in the trunk, and throughout the floor of the whole vehicle they have used the very common felt-like material.  Whatever it is, it is in pretty much every car and it must be super cheap to use or why else would everyone install it?  But, like all things, that cheapness comes with a price.  If you load cargo a lot, drag things across the material (ie luggage, dead bodies), or even vacuum out your car a lot then the material gets really ratty looking and quickly.  It gets nappy like a sweater, but way worse.  I don’t know/think that there is any way to avoid this from happening, but if someone does know I would love to hear it.  Okay, maybe there is, I just haven’t taken the time to look it up.  There is also a back windshield wiper which is always nice. 

The back seats do go down, which you will find in most every car these days, even the teeny Toyota Yaris, so that’s not a surprise, but is obviously helpful for hauling more stuff.  But moving forward in the vehicle you find out why the trunk is larger than other vehicles in this class, the back seats are tiny!  There is very little leg room.  I am 5’5’’ and as long as I am sitting straight my knees do not hit the seat in front of me, but if I were to slouch or if, god forbid, my 6’4” boyfriend were to try and squeeze in there it would be touble.

 

There are two cup holders in the back for the back seat riders (none for the bitch L) that you cannot take out.  What I man by “Take out” is that some vehicles have a feature that I like very much where you can take out the bottom lining of the cup holders.  I like this so much because it makes it very easy to clean, because for some inexplicable reason cup holders get very nasty very quickly.  Even in my own car which I do not eat in it and try to keep very clean.  There is also a design feature with the speakers that you will find in both the back and front doors – they’re very large and very round.  Probably an attempt to appeal to the young, hip crowd (ie strange Nissan Cube features).

To the front!  The front seats have manual controls which you can find in the standard positions of below and to the sides of the seats themselves.  The middle console is very very basic – two cup holders with only one that you can take out the lining (why not both, Jeep?), next to the cup holders is the emergency brake which I always find more convenient in the front, not by your feet.  There is also the middle, for lack of a better word, cubby which has the small top compartment (with a liner you can take out, you don’t find that often) and bigger bottom compartment.  Also in this space is the 4WD lock with a big open space.  Possibly for big hands but I think it is just to take up more space so the car doesn’t feel so lacking in the features department.  The shifter (all cars in fleet are automatic!) is huge and cumbersome, it takes up so much space! 

*Is that a shifter or are you just happy to see me?

 

The glove compartment is very small with an odd open space above it, although the liner in the space can be taken out for cleaning or what not.  I feel like that space should either not be there at all and make the glove compartment larger or make it another closed compartment on top of the glove compartment like in some other vehicles like the Toyota Prius.  What if you have something you want to hide from the popo or something you don’t want getting stolen that won’t fit in the glove compartment?  Another beef I have with the open space is what if you have to come to a screeching halt and everything you have in there tumbles on the ground and while you are trying to pick it up you are not paying attention to the road and drive off a cliff?  Who will take responsibility for that, Jeep?  (Not the irresponsible driver, of course).  There is also no sunglasses holder, which is very odd for a larger vehicle.  There are also no lights above the mirrors in the visors, not cool because I cannot primp in the dark.  The radio is standard and very basic with an auxiliary port, AC adapter jack, but no USB port.

The dashboard is big and rather long, not too uncommon in a SUV, but it really is unnecessary in my opinion because it makes the front windshield really small.  Usually in a big car you feel like you can see the road better, but not in this one, you can see more of the road in a Kia Soul.  But this seems to be common in Jeeps like the Liberty and of course the Wrangler.  The steering wheel has the cruise control options on it, nothing new, but it does not have any radio and/or volume controls which is becoming more and more standard.

Speaking of steering, the wheel here is actually pretty nice, it is not “gummy” at all.  Some cars it feels like you are pulling the wheel, through molasses to turn the darn thing.  The Compass also has a pretty good turning radius for a SUV, but I do not like the way this car feels while it’s driving.  You feel 100% of the road in the pedals and through the steering wheel, and the acceleration is very loud and very jerky.

To conclude (how’s that transition for ya?), the Jeep Compass is a very basic SUV.  Really there is nothing special about it and I think Jeep tried to make up for that with odd designs (see: back door handles), it feels cramped for a vehicle that is supposed to be able to hold and do a lot more than just the average car, but I don’t care for the 5 passenger SUV class anyway.  Either you give up trunk space for more room in the back seat (Escape) or more trunk space for smaller seats (Compass).  A car is going to give you the same space as what is in Jeep Compass and will probably give you better MPG while doing it.

 

An Introduction

An introduction:

I’m pretty young, in my twenties and for the most of my teen and early adult life I wanted a Volkswagen Jetta, don’t ask me why, I don’t really know, but for some reason I thought they were the coolest cars (besides a white Bentley convertible), and I always thought to myself, when I actually buy a car I will get a Jetta.  Then I got the job I have now at a rental car company.  I was driving a customer home and I was super excited because we had a Jetta on the lot and of course I chose that one to drive them home in, being super excited that I will finally get to drive a Jetta!  But you know how they say never meet your hero because you will only be disappointed?  Well, it was that kind of moment.  I drove it and I was so less than impressed, I positively did not like it.  Now some people can argue that I had just hyped it up in my head and there was no way it could meet my expectations, which would be a valid argument if the Jetta had similar features to other cars in that class (midsize) which it most certainly does not.  So I changed my mind about that car pretty quickly, and as luck would have it I ended up driving a Kia Forte, really liked it, and ended up buying one when the time came to purchase my own vehicle.

Why did I explain all of this?  Well, reader, it is to illustrate that working at my job has given me a unique opportunity to experience/get to know/get acquainted etc., with a lot of different makes and models of cars, which as you just read, helped me quite a bit with my own choices.  Now just my own knowledge did not seal the deal with my Forte; like the good, well-informed consumer that I am, I did more research on the car via the all-mighty internet. 

There are many and more car reviews out there and I found my fair share, so why then am I adding another one?  While most of the reviews are helpful, they are awfully technical, they deal with the nuts and bolts, what goes under the hood, and how it all performs, which of course is very important info.  But my own knowledge was a good supplement to the down and dirty mechanics of the vehicle. 

So this review blog is about the looks of the vehicle, the features (although I will not be crazy in-depth on most of them), how it feels, aesthetics, etc., and also my own opinions.  I clearly state that I am partial and prejudiced.  This blog is meant for the everyday Joe just trying to see if it’s really worth getting a 7 year loan to buy a car that  maybe they won’t like in anymore in a year.

I want to be helpful and hopefully someone will get some use out of my seemingly useless(?) knowledge.