This is just a guess, but I think it is very possible that she is paying thousands more for some of those useless dealer add-ons. You know… paint protectant, upholstery protectant (both of which are invisible and impossible to prove that they were actually used on the car), paint stripes (which will peel-off), wheel well trim (which never fits properly and is usually not the exact color of the paint), or… God forbid… a vinyl roof.
Before you say that nobody would put a vinyl roof on a boxy vehicle like a Soul, I can tell you that there is an older, white, Chevy Suburban in my neighborhood that has a BLUE velvet-texture vinyl roof and it looks ridiculous and tasteless. When it comes to tacky, overpriced dealer add-ons, almost anything is possible.
This vehicle is in my town:
So, yeah, I can definitely believe that someone would put a vinyl roof on a Soul. Some people will do anything to their cars as long as it’s tacky. 
Well, on a positive note, at least the owner of that PT Cruiser will be easily able to find his piece of 
in a crowded parking lot!
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Yup. Just look for the crowd of people pointing and laughing. 
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That elevates “tacky” to a whole new level.
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My granddaughter and I went while she test drove new cars. She drove a Corolla, Elantra, Forte, and Soul.
Before the test drive she Wanted a Soul in the green that those hamsters drive in the commercials. After the test drives she liked the Corolla, Forte and Elantra. The Elantra and Forte were almost $2000 cheaper than the Corolla and the Forte comes without a spare tire or jack. Then the Hyundai Elantra had a $2500 rebate and a $1520 discount. She did not like the way the soul drove compared to the others. and the Elantra wound up being cheaper.
I was just along to make sure they didn’t sell her any mouse milk amd to make sure she thank tjem for the test drive and tell them that all the price negotiating would be done via internet among all the dealers.
The dealer she test drove it at wound up giving her the best price and after he offered it to her she said she would take it if he threw in two more free oil changes.
There are five base model Souls with manual transmission in my area for $17,270, with sales tax and document fee the price is just over $19,000. The OP also has debt on the trade-in that will be financed, a $20,000 figure is typical in this type of transaction.
I think someone is going to get a good deal on a near new Nissan with cosmetic damage.
Paintless Dent Repair type of places is another consideration.
I was amazed observing they were able to pull quite an extensive damage on the rear quarter of my car where I happen to back into my daughter’s old clunker: they put all the metal in place and paint was indeed nice and smooth after that. It was literally 1/4 of the cost to “properly” repair with bondo and re-painting. Disclaimer: obviously, it will not work if car has deep scratches into the paint.
I love the Soul. I’ve driven many of the trims including the EV. Here is a review from a partner site if interested (that also appeared here at CarTalk.) A couple takeaways from your very detailed question: 1) You drive this to work, so it’s a commuter car. My advice is to not get the manual. I love manuals. Have owned many. Not a positive for a commuter car. It only adds about 9% to the cost of the car and automatic will likely have a better resale value 2) You hate unexpected costs for unexpected repairs and are on a tight budget, but want a new car. My advice would be to carefully estimate your miles and consider a lease. It will give you a fixed cost of ownership. Finally, if you are a savvy negotiator, consider cross-shopping the current Toyota Corolla iM hatchback. It is about to be replaced with an all-new model and dealers may want to move the older design off the lot and give you a deal. Toyota also adds two years of included maintenance and the iM has more safety features standard than Soul.
If I were her I would just have pocketed the insurance money and kept driving the versa. I would however have gone after the insurance company for more money although it does seem the OP is not very good at negotiating.
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