Consumer Car Buying Advice Blog

Kelley Blue Book lists two newest Kia vehicles in consecutive weeks on their Great Deals list.

Price versus cost

Take it from us at Auto Credit Express: one of the first things a car shopper should learn is the difference between a vehicle’s price and its cost. Don’t get us wrong, price shopping is sometimes a good thing. If you’re shopping for cereal at the supermarket, picking the same size box in the generic brand and saving $1.50 makes a lot of sense. As a rule, you will take whatever brand you brought home and consume the entire box. You’ll never have to worry about re-selling the box at some point in time and maintenance costs on a box of cereal will never be an issue.

Cars, on the other hand, present a completely different scenario. Even though the price of the “Brand A” vehicle is less than the price of the “Brand B” vehicle, the cost of the “Brand A” car could end up to be much more than the “Brand B” car in the long run. This is because, over the life of ownership, the actual price you paid is only a portion of the equation. If brand B has a better and longer warranty, you could end up saving anywhere from a few hundred to thousands of dollars in repair costs. And when it comes time to sell or trade it in, the brand with the higher resale value could put a couple hundred (or thousand) dollars back into your pocket. So what’s the bottom line to all this? It’s this: if you’re going after the “best” car deal, don’t be blinded by the “best price”

Kia Soul

Kelley’s Great Deals

Interestingly enough, kbb.com, the web site for Kelley Blue Book, recently pointed out a couple of vehicles that may very well cover both the “best price” as well as the “best car deal” categories.

A fairly new feature of Kelley’s site, kbb.com is their ‘5 great deals’ list that is generated every week and, as a press release from Kia Motors was quick to point out, both their Borrego and the newly introduced Kia Soul made the list.

“In economically challenging times such as these consumers are looking for vehicles that offer the total package,” said Michael Sprague, Vice President of Marketing, Kia Motors America. “Our entire vehicle line offers desirable content and packaging with pricing and standard safety features that surprise and delight. We are pleased with how well the Soul and Borrego are being received by the public and the press, as well as the recognition they are getting from a well-known consumer and industry resource like Kelley Blue Book’s kbb.com.”

Kelley’s March 9th list included the Kia Soul, a direct competitor to the Scion xB and the new Nissan Cube that has a starting price of just $13,300 and tops out, with all available options, at just $18,600. The Borrego, a full-size SUV with an entry price of under $27,000, has $3,000 in customer cash available as well as a $269 per month lease special (with $2863 due at signing).

Kia Borrego

Not just the price

In addition to giving customers a lot of “bang for the buck”, all Kias come with one of the most comprehensive warranties in the industry – a basic 5 year/60,000 mile warranty that covers most vehicle systems as well as a 10 year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty. Also included in the basic warranty are such niceties as roadside assistance and trip interruption benefits.

The Bottom Line

A good price is nice, a good deal is better and a combination of the two is the best. Here at Auto Credit Express, we think that both the Kia Borrego and the Kia Soul have all the bases covered.

Tags: auto loan

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