Used Kia Soul or Mercury Mariner Premier?

I'm trying to decide which of these vehicles would be best. I love the Soul, it's the plus model and is cute, fun to drive, 2013 with 20k miles but I worry about Kia reputation and reliability also the interior is pretty dull. The Mariner is 2011, leather seats, sunroof, feels like a real SUV and just looks more upscale inside and out. It drives really well but nowhere near as zippy as the Soul. I know Mercury has been phased out but the Mariner is still a pretty sweet ride. Isn't Mercury/Ford a bit more reliable than Kia? I dunno, Kia seems to be associated with cheap cars with lots of problems. I don't hear any of that with the other. BTW, I'm in my 40's with 4 kids.

Kia reputation? Durr. If it was so bad why do they offer a 7 Year Warranty?
I have had three, two Picantos and now a Cee'd. I think they beat other cars because they are inexpensive and totally reliable.

If the Kia has been fully and properly serviced and maintained it will be the better auto in the long run. Kia makes very reliable automobiles. If the seller, private or from a dealership, can show you proof of all service receipts you have a potential winner. If they can, get it.

Hi add to this like most americans they tend to be so homophobic about cars made outside the states. So although that said the Kia is a better made unit.

Kia makes more reliable cars than Ford. My dad owns a 2013 Hyundai Sonata (Hyundai and Kia are the same company) and we haven't had any issues with it and it has about 20,000 miles on it. We've owned many Fords (my mom owns a 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis, my grandma has a 1999 Ford Taurus, and my aunt on her side of the family has a 2002 Mercury Sable). Those seem like old cars, but they don't have that many miles-the Taurus has about 90,000, the Sable 70,000, and the Grand Marquis 110,000 (my grandma and aunt don't drive much) and the Grand Marquis recently had to have its transmission rebuilt a little over a month ago. While the Sable and Taurus haven't had the same problem, we do know that those cars don't have good reputations as far as transmissions go (the Sable and Taurus were infamous for transmission failures) and we're sort of afraid that may happen to both cars as they don't drive as well as they used to. My aunt on my dad's side actually has the twin to the Mariner (the Ford Escape, a 2010 model) and it also had its fair share of problems too. Honestly, I wouldn't get the Mariner, so between those, I'd get the Soul. I know Kia used to not have a good reputation as far as quality and reliability but they and Hyundai have drastically improved. Personally, to your list I'd also add the Honda CR-V and Nissan Cube and Rogue. My grandma on my dad's side has a 2010 CR-V and it's had no issues. Nissan is also very good and I have a friend whose parents have the Cube and it's been very reliable for them too. My parents rented a Rogue and it was a fantastic car.

Buy the Mercury Mariner. They are beautiful, drive well and made of higher quality materials. Kia's are cheap cars… I just saw a Soul outside of my apartment, the Kia logo on front hood is completely faded… And her car is only 4 yrs old.

Mariners way nicer and have V6 engines, they are nice to look at too, along with utrasmooth ride