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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  Bad experience w/ Kia vehicle & service - 2008 Kia Sedona
  By Laura - February 6 - 3:36 am

  I bought Kia Sedona 2007 due to my past good experience with products from Samsung and I was fooled by 10 year 100,00 miles warranty. The vehicle broke down within 1 year and took them 4 months to find what was wrong. Before they found out the root cause, they blamed me for putting a wrong type of gas in the tank. They told me that their vehicles do not take gas from Costco, Wal-Mart or Quick Trip. This 10 year, 100,000 miles is not the sign of their confidence on their products, but a fake cover over their bad quality products and services. I almost had heart attacks dealing with their people. I hope you do not have to go through what I have gone through.

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  KIA means Killed in Action - 2013 Kia Sportage
  By gj8 - February 6 - 2:20 am

  The 2013 was recalled for the FCV. The new software upload killed the performance of my vehicle. My son, whos built turbos since 1995 says this:This new Software seems to keep the turbo’s waste gate open too much during Wide Open Throttle causing the turbo not to “Spool Up” all the way resulting in boost loss, and obviously power loss. My question is, why update the software, instead of replacing a potentially faulty part that part being the FCV or Fuel Control Valve? Oh yeah, it’s cheaper than re-engineering of the faulty FCV, and replacing it with one that does not have a design flaw, better and even more expensive is, why not replace it with a tried and true fuel pressure regulator. This car is owned by a woman who used to race cars....I know the difference in turbo boost and loss.

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  First Observation - 2007 Kia Rondo
  By Buffpilot - February 4 - 6:50 pm

  Just got our Rondo EX, I am 63" and Rondo has excellent headroom and good legroom. Great build quality, excellent driveability. Too early to give estimate of fuel economy.

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  BUYER BEWARE!!! - 2003 Kia Sedona
  By kreeate - February 3 - 11:14 pm

  Despite spotty reviews, we bought our van in 2005 because of the safety ratings. I now feel sick that we wasted so much money on this vehicle! I drive very little so the mileage is still low and we kept up on maintenance. Despite that the power steering has had ongoing issues, no air conditioning, the power accessories dont work, the electrical system has issues, the drivers side window leaks, one exterior door handle doesnt work,the cheap foil covering the inside handles flake off and cut our fingers, and the transmission is now going out. Once we were driving and parts from the inside wheel started falling out and bouncing down the road. We have wasted thousands in repairs. Do not buy!

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  Forte5 EX or SX is the way to go - 2016 Kia Forte
  By Bam - February 3 - 9:14 pm

  If you are interested in a Forte, get the hatchback. As far as looks, space,quickness in and out of traffic, and easy to work on, this is really the best hatch you can get. I thought I would never buy a Kia. Reminds me of Honda circa 1986. The only things I can nitpick on is handling is so so around curves, and stock speakers in the EX are horrible. Ride comfort is neither great or terrible. I drove out of the dealership under $20k for everything. Very satisfied.

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  2001 Kia Sportage Limited - 2001 Kia Sportage
  By dc5 - February 2 - 3:10 am

  Bought the vehicle new in 2001, and have been pleased. It has been a very reliable vehicle for us - only normal maintenance with exception of fan blower motor in 2004 (easy do it yourself job). Average 22mpg with mostly highway driving. Silly cupholder design, but I cant figure any where else they could have put it either.

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  No Quality Control - 2004 Kia Spectra
  By tschux - February 2 - 2:00 am

  I bought my Spectra brand new, the air conditioner went out on the drive home. Parked it on my driveway and noticed a puddle of oil under the car, after owning the car for 30 minutes!!! The car has been in the shop 6 times in 9 months, all different things wrong with it. Spend a few extra $$ and get something other than this car.

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  Nice vehicle - 2007 Kia Sportage
  By Bob D. - February 1 - 6:10 pm

  You get a lot of bang for the buck with this vehicle. I drive gently on flat roads in southeast Michigan and get about 23.5 MPG with the four cylinder automatic. Most of my commute is on surface streets so Im very pleased with the mileage. Cargo capacity if very good for this size vehicle.

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  Almost - but not quite - 2015 Kia Optima
  By chefshellie - February 1 - 2:13 pm

  I bought the 2015 Optima EX, fully loaded. It had every feature my Lexus IS 250 had and was in my new (lower) price range. Unfortunately, just because it has those features doesnt mean they work well, or as they should. My biggest annoyance is that the passenger seat is WAY too low. It does not have an up/down feature (why only 4 way power?) and at 56", I can barely see over the dashboard like a 10 year old, and at 42, I am not about to sit on a pillow. This is a real drag.

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  Think long and hard before buying!! - 2000 Kia Sportage
  By Kianot4me - February 1 - 10:00 am

  We have had our Sportage for two years now and it has been the longest two years ever in owning a vehicle. Weve been trying to wait long enough to be able to recoup some of our money!(And probably wont) We have been very disappointed in the overall ride and performance of our Sportage. Every little bump, nook or cranny in the road is both felt and heard something fierce. And the gas mileage is absolutely horrible for such a compact vehicle with such a rough ride! Opening the tail gate is such a pain--you just dont want to even use it! Resale Value is terrible--should have everyone questioning whether they want to invest in the Sportage--Its Not Wise!