Compare the2025 Kia SoulVS 2024 Toyota Rav4 Hybrid

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Soul are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Rav4 Hybrid doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

Both the Soul and the Rav4 Hybrid have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors, available blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Kia Soul is safer than the Toyota Rav4 Hybrid:

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The Soul comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Rav4 Hybrid’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 2 years or 24,000 miles sooner.

Kia’s powertrain warranty covers the Soul 5 years and 40,000 miles longer than Toyota covers the Rav4 Hybrid. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Rav4 Hybrid ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Soul third among small suvs in their 2024 Initial Quality Study. The Rav4 Hybrid isn’t in the top three in its category.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Kia vehicles are better in initial quality than Toyota vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia fourth in initial quality, above the industry average. With 29 more problems per 100 vehicles, Toyota is ranked 17th.

As tested in Motor Trend the Kia Soul is faster than the Toyota Rav4 Hybrid:

Both the Soul and Rav4 Hybrid have a standard automatic start/stop engine feature to stop unnecessary fuel waste and pollution at stoplights and heavy traffic. The Soul has a standard disable switch for the system, so a driver can keep the engine from shutting off when the vehicle stops temporarily.

The Soul stops much shorter than the Rav4 Hybrid:

For better traction, the Soul GT-Line’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Rav4 Hybrid (235/45R18 vs. 225/65R17).

The Soul LX/S’ standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 60 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Rav4 Hybrid LE/XLE’s standard 65 series tires. The Soul GT-Line’s tires have a lower 45 series profile than the Rav4 Hybrid’s optional 60 series tires.

The Soul has standard front and rear gas-charged shocks for better control over choppy roads. The Rav4 Hybrid’s suspension doesn’t offer gas-charged shocks.

The Soul has vehicle speed sensitive variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The Rav4 Hybrid doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

The Soul handles at .91 G’s, while the Rav4 Hybrid Woodland Edition pulls only .78 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Soul executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.6 seconds quicker than the Rav4 Hybrid XSE (26.8 seconds @ .66 average G’s vs. 28.4 seconds @ .61 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the Soul’s turning circle is 1.3 feet tighter than the Rav4 Hybrid’s (34.8 feet vs. 36.1 feet).

The Kia Soul may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 800 pounds less than the Toyota Rav4 Hybrid.

The Soul is 1 foot, 3.7 inches shorter than the Rav4 Hybrid, making the Soul easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The Soul has 3.3 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Rav4 Hybrid (102.2 vs. 98.9).

The Soul has .4 inches more front headroom, .1 inches more front legroom, 1 inch more rear legroom and 5.1 inches more rear hip room than the Rav4 Hybrid.

The front step up height for the Soul is 2.8 inches lower than the Rav4 Hybrid (16.2” vs. 19”). The Soul’s rear step up height is 1.2 inches lower than the Rav4 Hybrid’s (17.4” vs. 18.6”).

The Soul uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Rav4 Hybrid uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

The Soul Turbo has a standard heads-up display that projects speed in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Rav4 Hybrid doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Soul’s power window, power lock and cruise control switches are lit from behind, making them plainly visible and easier to operate at night. The Rav4 Hybrid’s power window (except driver window) and power lock switches are unlit, making them difficult to find at night and operate safely.

The Soul’s variable intermittent wipers have an adjustable delay to allow the driver to choose a setting that best clears the windshield during light rain or mist. The Rav4 Hybrid LE’s standard fixed intermittent wipers only have one fixed delay setting, so the driver will have to manually switch them between slow and intermittent.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the Kia Soul will be $4176 to $6613 less than for the Toyota Rav4 Hybrid.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Kia Soul and the Toyota Rav4 Hybrid, based on reliability, safety and performance.