Went to Columbus yesterday and ended up at Ricart again to look harder at the Kia Souls.  This time I spoke with a salesman and he happily let me take it for a spin out on their test track.    I suppose it helps that my current car is over ten years old, but I was really impressed with everything about the Soul.

Fast acceleration, quick stopping (ABS), great turning response and agility…  there really isn’t anything about that car that I don’t like.  They didn’t have the color / feature combination that I’d want in stock, but that’s okay because I wanted to take a little bit of time to get some online quotes first anyway.

I’m not much of a “wheeler dealer” in person, but I’m quite happy to let all the local dealers know that I’m looking - and then let them come back to me with their allegedly “best” deals.  Heh…  and as soon as I used CarsDirect.com to request some quotes, my e-mail and phone started blowin’ up. 

I listed my preferred method of contact as e-mail, so the folks that are calling me first will get to talk to my voice mail today.    But yeah, I’d say within a few weeks I’m gonna be ready to commit to the Soul Plus…  once I negotiate a price that at least makes me believe that I’m not getting bent over, that is.