Overview & Reviews

Kia Motors is a South Korean automaker that's relatively new to the United States. In its early years, Kia largely catered to budget-minded consumers with well-equipped vehicles priced below competing models. More recently, this growing brand has kept value a priority while also emphasizing technology and sportiness.

Founded in Korea in 1944, Kia started as a producer of steel tubing and bicycle parts. The company's name has its roots in the Chinese language, and means "to arise, to come up out of Asia." By the early 1950s, the company had produced Korea's first bicycle; by the latter part of the decade, Kia had branched out into motor scooters, with the rollout of the C100.

The 1960s saw Kia expanding its lineup to include motorcycles and three-wheeled cargo vehicles. Naturally, the next logical step was automobile production, and the company began moving in this direction in the early 1970s. By 1973, Kia had built a facility designed to make its automotive dreams a reality; its Sohari plant held the distinction of being Korea's first fully integrated automobile production facility, and went on to spawn Korea's first internal-combustion gasoline engine. A year later, Kia unveiled the Brisa, Korea's first passenger car. By the end of the decade, Kia's technology was being used to manufacture vehicles like the Peugeot 604 and the Fiat 132.

By the late '80s, Kia's lineup included new models like the Concord, Capital, Potentia and Pride. In 1987, Ford brought the Pride to U.S. shores, rebadging it as the Ford Festiva. Seven years later, Ford dealers got a replacement for the entry-level, subcompact Festiva in the form of another Kia constructed product, the Aspire.

Kia finally began selling vehicles in the U.S. under its own name in the early '90s, trumpeting its presence with the introduction of the compact Sephia. The car's rollout was gradual; in the early days of its production, the Sephia was only available in select Western states. By the mid-'90s, SUVs had emerged as a phenomenally popular and profitable vehicle segment. Kia responded with the 1995 Sportage, a compact SUV. By the end of the '90s, Kia's nationwide rollout was nearly complete.

Financial difficulties in the late '90s prevented Kia from expanding its lineup beyond those two models. Hyundai, South Korea's other major automaker, acquired the company in a merger in 1998.

Kia has been on a major upswing since its purchase by Hyundai, with improvements in build quality, performance and overall refinement. Reliability, previously a weak point, has also improved markedly and consumers' confidence was further bolstered by Kia's substantial warranty program. Today, Kia is on a dramatic upswing and offers a broad lineup of well-built coupes, sedans and crossovers that stand out for their value, performance and sporty styling.

User Reviews:

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  Not the Best! - 2001 Kia Sportage
  By meh - July 24 - 4:56 pm

  I bougth this thing used. I read reviews before I bought it, and I ignored them, thinking it cant be that bad. I was wrong. Problems after problems with this thing, I blew out the front dif, gas leaks, slow acceleration, no power, and just before I traded it in, it would only start once in a while... piece of junk.

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  Horrible! - 2004 Kia Optima
  By Angela - July 21 - 6:33 am

  Worst car i have EVER had. My 95 sat urn was better than this w/ 160,000 miles! My grandfather bought me a 2004 Kia Optima LX in June of 2006 for my graduation present. I LOVED the car when i first got it. Now i HATE it. I have to change out my headlights at least once or twice every three months. The belts on this car always break. The hoses dont last long AT ALL. My struts are always needing replaced. I always keep up on the maintenance on this car.. but it seems like i have spent MORE on this car for repairs than what my grandfather bought it for. I will NEVER EVER own another kia in my entire life. Stay away from these cares.They are crap!

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  An okay car - 2010 Kia Forte
  By poreharry - July 8 - 10:00 am

  I recently purchased a Forte EX with the fuel economy package. I am fairly disappointed with the purchase. It handles like a slug, the transmission is continually hunts for the highest gear. I do like the safety features and the Sirius radio, but honestly that is about all I like about the vehicle

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  Make Lemonade? - 2001 Kia Sportage
  By A. Kittrell - July 1 - 5:56 am

  "Have I told you how much I love my car today?" I would ask my husband as I gazed dreamily out of the kitchen window at my lipstick colored little car, 7 yrs. ago... Today Im laughing myself to tears reading the other 40 reviews on this site...most so similar to mine its eery. Bad cup holders,ashtrays, visors, gaskets, fan, starter, seat belt latch, seat clips, dry rotting trim, trim clips break and trim falls off, gas mileage so/so, belts whistle, radio(s) replaced, oxidizing bumper, on and on...I needed the warranty way after it expired. In the shop being fixed now, my son wrecked it for me so I wouldnt have to. Now Im driving my husbands work truck, and missing my little red lemon

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  NEVER AGAIN - 2001 Kia Optima
  By Julie - June 12 - 5:33 am

  OK, It looks good, HOWEVER, I have only had this car since 86,000 miles (Now 102,000) and have replaced the alternator twice, all four power windows, have had fuel problems, and check engine light comes on and off sporadically. I hate this car and will never buy a Kia again.

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  Kia has many flaws - 2011 Kia Forte
  By brian707 - June 6 - 6:14 am

  I bought my Forte EX 2011 new. I am disappointed with the gas mileage Ive obtained which for an entire tank remains averages between 20-25 mpg with about 60% city and 40% hwy driving. Yet the worst features are the audio unit and the customer service (both corporate and local). My audio unit will randomly start whistling loudly, will turn itself off, bluetooth turns on and makes settings changes without prompting, the CD device fails, and all of these issue repeated after KIA replaced my audio unit with a brand new one. These glitches occur a few times a week while Im driving. Ive had complaints with KIA that have not been resolved for the past 4 months. I feel ignored by KIA.

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  DON"T BUY KIA - 2000 Kia Sephia
  By kmb08 - May 28 - 10:00 am

  I bought my car used... in less than a year it has been in the shop 5 times for major repairs... at 52,000 miles (2,000 miles after the transfer warranty) the transmition went out.... since then I have been broken down/ unable to drive my car 3 times... in 2 weeks... DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!!

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  The worse vehicle I have ever owned - 2003 Kia Spectra
  By silky99x - May 22 - 2:00 am

  I mistakenly gave this vehice a good rating back in June 2003. Now just 6 months later, Im about to take it in for a warranty repair for the 2nd time. The brake Master Cylinder went bad in NOV 2003. Now the Power Steering unit is leaking. So far, all is covered under the warranty. I gave the local service center a poor rating since it took them 4 days to get and replace the Master Cylinder. They told me to take my care somewhere else in the future to get warranty work. How bad can a major car dealer be. The worse. Never again, will I buy a Kia. I should have stuck with a Toyota.

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  Warranty will be used frequently - 2002 Kia Spectra
  By Andy - May 19 - 2:30 am

  2002 Kia Spectra LS is basic transport. I bought car brand new and I am original owner. Some of warranty repairs in chronological order: All items listed are true replacements under warranty - exhaust purge cannister, front brakes, front exhaust, heater switch,drivers back board seat,engine gaskets, front struts replaced, rear main seal leaking, sun visor, arm rest. After timing belt replacement the check engine light came on for eight times, the timing belt was changed incorrectly by dealer. Summary : A big headache to own.

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  You will need to buy a spare tire and jacK! - 2013 Kia Rio
  By shullj - May 14 - 2:32 pm

  My daughter recently bought a Kia Rio. After a blowout (sidewall), we were shocked to find out there was no spare and no jack! There was a silly little pump and some compound that is supposed to fix flats! But not sidewall damage - the most common damage to modern radial tires! Furthermore, the salesman at Courtesy Kia (Henderson, NV) never informed her that there was no spare! And if that is not enough, it took here over an hour to navigate the phone maze and get in touch with roadside assistance to told to "go buy an new tire and well come and put it on! What a rip off and quite dangerous! We live in Nevada and if you get stranded on some lonely road in the summer, you could die!