Kia Soul: the Most Underrated Car in the Karavan Fleet
Quick Answer: The Kia Soul is rarely anyone’s first pick at the counter — and that’s genuinely undeserved. There’s more room inside than the compact exterior suggests, the body itself is ideally suited to Baku’s narrow streets and tight city parking, and the price-to-practicality ratio beats plenty of flashier alternatives. We decided it deserved its own dedicated piece, because it earns one.
Some cars get chosen with the eyes, and some get chosen through experience. The Kia Soul almost always loses the first contest — its boxy, unconventional silhouette rarely inspires love at first glance. But the guests who take a chance on it instead of a familiar sedan or crossover are the ones who most often come back saying, “we didn’t expect it to be this comfortable.”
We at Karavan Rent A Car in Baku see this pattern consistently: the Kia Soul reliably earns some of the warmest reviews at return, while rarely being anyone’s first request at booking. This article is our attempt to correct that.
Contents
- Why It Gets Underrated
- More Room Than the Exterior Suggests
- A Car Built for Baku’s Narrow Streets
- A Price That Surprises People
- Kia Soul Against the Typical Alternatives
- Frequently Asked Questions
Why It Gets Underrated
It isn’t about quality or reliability — it’s purely about perception. The Kia Soul’s boxy, angular silhouette stands apart from the streamlined crossovers that have long become the visual norm. A guest browsing the catalogue for the first time instinctively reaches for the more “familiar” shape — and often overlooks exactly the car that would have handled their needs better than the rest.
The irony is that the unfamiliar silhouette isn’t an aesthetic quirk — it’s an engineering decision. The tall roof and nearly vertical cabin sides, which visually set the Soul apart from its competitors, translate directly into noticeably more usable interior space within the same or smaller exterior footprint.
A similar pattern plays out across many markets: cars with an unconventional, “non-car-like” first-glance silhouette are consistently underrated at the selection stage — and consistently exceed expectations once someone has actually sat in one and driven a route.
Our advice: don’t judge the Kia Soul by its catalogue photo. Ask us about it directly at booking — we’ll tell you honestly who it genuinely suits, and who might be better off with something else.
More Room Than the Exterior Suggests
The boxy body shape isn’t just a recognisable design choice — it’s a way of maximising every centimetre of interior volume. While streamlined crossovers lose space to curved bodywork and a sloping roofline, the Kia Soul keeps its cabin walls nearly vertical from floor to ceiling — meaning noticeably more head and shoulder room for rear passengers than in cars of similar exterior size.
The same logic applies to the trunk: thanks to the tall roof, luggage can be stacked upward as well as lengthwise, which is especially useful for wheeled suitcases or bulky carry-ons that are awkward to wedge through the low opening of a typical sedan.
A Car Built for Baku’s Narrow Streets
A compact footprint paired with a spacious cabin is exactly the combination that matters in Baku’s historic centre, where the streets of Icherisheher and the surrounding quarters were laid out long before modern cars existed. Here, a short body and good visibility from the cabin shift from a nice-to-have into a practical necessity.
Our entire fleet, including the Kia Soul, is equipped with 360° surround-view cameras — particularly important when parking on the narrow streets of central Baku, where clearance on both sides is often measured in centimetres. Combined with the compact body, this noticeably reduces both the stress of parking and the risk of accidental damage while manoeuvring in dense historic streets.
A Price That Surprises People
This is where the “underrated” label shows most directly: in terms of actual functionality — cabin volume, trunk space, fuel efficiency — the Kia Soul often delivers more than models a class up in a similar price range, which get chosen more often simply out of habit toward a more familiar silhouette.
Efficient fuel consumption makes it a particularly sensible choice for anyone planning to drive actively around the city every day, rather than just the occasional trip out of town — the difference in fuel costs by the end of a trip becomes noticeable in real numbers, not just on paper.
Kia Soul Against the Typical Alternatives
| Factor | Typical Compact Sedan | Kia Soul |
|---|---|---|
| Rear-seat sense of space | Limited by sloping roofline | Nearly vertical walls — more headroom |
| Loading luggage | Lengthwise only, low opening | Lengthwise and upward, easy access |
| Manoeuvring on narrow streets | Depends on body dimensions | Compact body + 360° cameras |
| Fuel consumption | Average for the class | Efficient |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Kia Soul good for a family with children?
Yes, it works very well for a smaller family — the spacious cabin comfortably fits child seats, and the trunk handles a stroller and accompanying gear without needing to fold down the rear seats.
How safe is it for city driving?
The car comes equipped with ABS and ESC systems, plus a rear-view camera — the standard safety package expected from a modern city car in this class.
Is the Kia Soul a good pick for a trip out of the city?
For highways and trips to nearby towns, absolutely — it isn’t an off-roader, and for serious rough terrain we’d recommend a different class of vehicle, but for comfortable driving on paved roads it performs very well.
Can a roof rack be fitted to the Kia Soul?
Yes, the Kia Soul is one of the fleet models compatible with roof rails and a cargo box — useful if you’re planning a trip with extra gear.
A Car Worth At Least Trying
We’re not claiming the Kia Soul suits absolutely everyone — like any car, it shines brightest in specific situations: city driving, narrow streets, a sensible budget. But within exactly those situations, it performs confidently enough to deserve far more attention than it actually gets.
We chair the Azerbaijan Car Rental Association (ACRA), and our entire fleet — including the Kia Soul — is maintained under ISO 9001:2015 standards, certified by Bureau Veritas. We welcome more than 5,000 guests from around the world every year, and paying attention to which cars genuinely make people happy in practice is something we share honestly, not just a marketing line.
Karavan Rent A Car in Baku has operated since 2008. If you’re torn between the Kia Soul and a more familiar-looking crossover, get in touch — we’ll help you figure out honestly what actually fits your route.
🚗 Book the Kia Soul: karavan.az
📞 24/7 support: +994-55-455-22-45 (WhatsApp · Telegram)
For more on why 360° cameras matter so much in central Baku, see our guide to Azerbaijan’s toll roads. If you’re planning a trip with extra luggage, we have a dedicated piece on renting a car with a roof rack.
