My Rental Car Upgrade is a Kia Soul?!?

When I reached the Hertz rental car facility not far from where I'm based – this can be a local location and not near a major airport – I only needed to wait a couple of minutes before the person behind the counter was carried out with a customer.

I had already reserved a concise car in my road trip of two weeks, which should have sufficed. When I rented an automobile from Hertz in Calgary captured, I received upgrading to a Chevrolet Cruze, that we enjoyed, because it was fully loaded.

My Car rental Upgrade is a Kia Soul?!?

“Your car is a Kia Soul,” the person behind the counter told me as my paperwork was handed in my experience.

“A Kia Soul?” I asked. “What the heck is that?!?”

“It's the rat car,” said someone else who had been in the facility.

“What?” Gurus.

I do not watch much television; however this looks like it's among the commercials that that person was referring…

…and they are supposedly hamsters – not rats – in an marketing campaign which has apparently existed not less than nine years.

The look of disappointment must have been apparent on my face, because the person behind the counter attempted to assure me. “We upgraded you to definitely the Kia Soul. It really is a great car.”

Another employee vouched that this was indeed a great car as the first employee went outside to prepare it for me personally.

I took a look at the car. The design is ugly, for me; and even though it had been considered an intermediate class of car, it looked like it was not big enough. I'd have rather had that Chevrolet Cruze. I am talking about, I'm practically going to reside in this car for the following two weeks during my road trip round the Netherlands. I want to listen to music. I would like convenient storage space. I would like room – especially when i plan to have passengers in a car at various intervals along the way during those two weeks.

All right – before I arrive at a definitive conclusion, let me at least browse the car for myself while the employees of Hertz used to do their final preparations in my rental.

The car might seem small on the outside; however it seemed to be taller than many cars – I discovered that plenty of room was readily available for me – despite I spent the majority of two weeks relaxing in that seat; and that i never complained about being uncomfortable while driving this car.

Still, I needed to take a look inside…

…hmm…there is both a USB port and auxiliary jack for my old .mp3 player. That will work nicely.

Cruise control: check. Rear window wiper: check. Variable windshield wiper speeds: check. Huge glove compartment: check. Adjustable driver's seat: check. On-board computer to calculate average miles per gallon, distance range until empty, and 2 custom odometer settings – amongst other indicators: check. Large touch screen to view my playlists and songs: check. Storage in the center console in addition to doors and trunk? Check. Foldable rear seat just in case I desired to expand hatchback space? Check.

I found out that I clocked a total of 5,292.4 miles during my fourteen days driving around the Netherlands, thanks to one of the two custom odometer readings. The onboard computer allowed me to see similarly info as the distance remaining before the fuel tank was empty; and also the average miles per gallon in gasoline consumption – as well as the ambient temperature outside of the vehicle.

Features were available that we didn't make use of – for example Sirius satellite radio; and Bluetooth connectivity to my mobile telephone. If you are using this selection, be certain to delete your data in the system before returning the car. The controls on both the controls and also the center console fairly simple to use and understand, for me.

The glove compartment itself was among the largest I have ever seen in a car – and that's excluding the compartment that was at the bottom of it. Reaching the rear of the glove compartment in the driver's seat was literally a stretch for me – and I am not a short person.

In addition to the glove compartment, storage areas right in front cabin are located in front from the automatic transmission stick; inside the center console underneath the armrest, which flips up; as well as in each door panel.

I liked all the controls open to me on the steering wheel – especially if I needed to manage my extensive playlist of songs, when i was able to keep my eyes on the highway in addition.

In addition to the sound and amount of the horn being a joke when needed, one complaint that we had about the car is its lack of power. Whether I pressed the gas pedal or had the vehicle on cruise control, it might jerk forward and shift down a gear abruptly and emit a loud grinding noise to obtain up to speed – particularly when ascending up grades…

…but the gas mileage averaged somewhere between 25 and 30 mpg. The range of the fuel tank averaged at approximately 390 miles for the way much fuel I had been able to put in the vehicle. Topping from the tank is usually not recommended for 3 reasons; but that range felt like I needed to stop more often to fill the fuel tank.

I am no audiophile; however i found the audio system to be really best to excellent, thanks to the front and back speakers – along with the ability to independently adjust treble, midrange sounds and bass. I enjoyed hearing the background music I played in the vehicle, as music in vital that you me whenever I travel. Although road noise wasn't a major impediment to my driving experience, it was noticeable sometimes.

The front seats recline, contributing to the spaciousness in the front of the cabin – unfortunately, to the detriment of the comfort of passengers seated within the rear seat.

Passengers seated within the rear seat have the option to pull down a center console which has two cup holders included in it. When the center console remains hidden in the seat, three people could squeeze in if necessary.

If I desired room to grow the hatchback area, I possibly could pull down the seats in the rear of the vehicle – but I never did need to use this selection.

Speaking of the hatchback area, a lid – shown on top, which doubles as a temporary shelf when the car is stationary – covers the cargo area. The floor of the cargo area includes a door which – when lifted – reveals three extremely convenient spaces to put belongings out of sight. I used these three handy spaces throughout my trip for what to that we didn't need immediate access. Additionally, notice the notch in the separations between the three spaces, in case a long item – an umbrella as one example, perhaps – needed to be stored there lengthwise.