I'm the original poster on this topic and it is good to see the question is still being considered. I solved my problem by finding a 2016 Soul with manual transmission that had less than 12,000 miles. So, in a way my problem got solved for the time being.
The first one to respond to my question was T18skyguy and he warned us about a GDI. Well, my Soul does have that, so I'll find time to worry about that issue later.
We went to e-trailer and outfitted the Soul with Roadmaster gear and are happy with it. My son-in-law is a lot handier than I am and enjoyed the installation project. They had a video as well as printed instructions and he used both and got it all done. I stood by and fetched tools for him.