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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  Update vs RAV4 Review 09-24-10 - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By sarge - April 21 - 10:00 am

  Never buy 1st year model! The latest on my Kia is the master cylinder went bad. Always had a "soft" brake pedal. Took it in to be checked. Needed a new master cylinder. Had to order new one. Dealer "fixed it"? two days later. Next morning pedal almost went to floor! Back to dealer. I didnt find ant TSB on a problem w/brakes. Wont get back for three days! Also problem w/pulling to right. Mechanic cross rotated tires to fix problem. Said was "radial pull". I already had tires rotated at last service. Didnt help. Havent driven it much since brake problem, so cant verify if fixed. So what is the big deal on the warranty if you have to continue bringing it to dealer for repairs!

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  My Kia - 2005 Kia Spectra
  By kwinn - April 20 - 3:30 pm

  I bought mine on July 5th. Overall I am happy with the car. However I must say it lacks thigh support. After an hour on the highway my legs were begging for a break. The fuel economy is not that good either. I am averaging 26 on the highway on my automatic. Since I dont drive in the city that much I dont know what thats like. Its got a decent stereo and enough room in the back. Trunk is spacious and a great value over all. But if you have long legs buy something else. Cabin is very quiet on the highway, however tire noise is very prominent. It has ample power for a 4 cylinder. A/C is overworked and takes a long time to cool down on an 85 degree day.

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  2004 KIA SPECTRA EX - 2004 Kia Spectra
  By Agram - April 19 - 2:30 am

  2004 KIA SPECTRA EX Automatic. Bought May 2004 in Lodi, CA – good buying experience. Good gas saver. Comfortable. Lazy automatic transmission. After just 10.000 miles my speedometer is dead. I ordered part; they say 7 to 10 days.

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  Move over Honda! - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By Keep it Affordable - April 17 - 2:00 am

  The features that you get for the money cannot be beaten! Great ride and very family friendly. Smooth solid and quiet ride which offers many extra features at no cost.All in all go for it you wont be disappointed.

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  sedona mini van - 2004 Kia Sedona
  By boschalona - April 17 - 2:00 am

  we have only had this van 8 days. but what little time we have . it seems like a very good choice.

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  Owe KIA an apology - 2011 Kia Optima
  By richn2 - April 15 - 12:43 pm

  First looked at a KIA in June, thought no way spending xx dollars for a KIA. I mean its a KIA. Plus I have a fully loaded Durango that I loved.Well picked up my 2011 SX Pearl White w/ tech & Prem package last Saturday. Should have done it a lot sooner. First day out took it on a 200+ mile drive, highway avg 34.8 mpg. All week city traffic avg 24. 4 mpg. What a ride. No pulling to the left, interior is plenty quite, steering is tight but so was my Saab. When my 24 yr daughter saw it she said lets trade in her Pontiac Solstice and get her a Optima, so it must be a sharp looking car. Is it a perfect car no but its close enough. I learnt never to compare what I had to what I have.

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  Kia Sportage – Joy to Drive but Low on Gas Mileage - 2017 Kia Sportage
  By Chris - April 12 - 2:49 am

  I agree with a lot of the other reviewers on the overall happiness with the 2017 Kia Sportage. However, I get no where near the gas mileage that others have reported, even on the base model front wheel drive. Am I missing something? Driving in Eco mode, I am lucky to get 21mpg overall in city driving. I expected a little better in Eco Mode. If I dare to change to standard or sport mode, it takes half a tank to get back up to 20mpg in Eco Mode. I dont drive much, so its not a huge deal, just wondering what I might be doing wrong. Despite the gas mileage, I really love my 2017 Kia Sportage. I bought the front wheel drive LX back in August and it has just the right amount of torque and acceleration that I need for urban driving. Even in Eco mode, I noticed that it performed better than the Nissan Rogue, RAV4 and Honda CRV. However, what really stood out to me was the amount of features I got with the base model LX compared to Toyota, Nissan, Mazda and Honda. I also appreciated the long warranty, reliability ratings and the IIHS top safety report. I really like the overall design of the car (especially the tiger nose grill) and the spacious back seats sealed the deal for me. I used to drive a 2000 Volkswagen Beetle, so pretty much any new car was amazing to me. The first car I test drove was the Mazda CX3 and it was a lot of fun to drive but too compact. I then tried the Nissan Rogue which had a lot of nice features for the price but not much acceleration and it rolled too much. The Honda CRV was a total letdown and a completely boring car. The Toyota RAV4 felt like a very solid and well built car. The quality was very apparent but so was the high price. After testing the 2017 Kia Sportage, seeing all the features and finally the reasonable price, I was sold. Now, Im not a fan of the gas mileage but I drive so little that it never mattered to me. At the end of the day, the Sportage is a lot of fun to drive and provides a comfortable ride with enough acceleration that I can get around the city without any problems.

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  185,000 Miles!! - 2005 Kia Spectra
  By Chad Stevens - April 8 - 9:43 am

  I am the 2nd owner of this car. Bought it in 2013 wit 160,000 miles for 3k. The cars exterior was in reasonable condition, minor wear and tears,dents and dings. Mechanically she was sound. After a few thousand miles, the radio went, Clutch went, brake caliper froze up, replaced the timing belt. However, at 160,000 miles those items are expected to be replaced. Since then, everything has been great, except the transmission synchronizers are starting to fail. I still use this car as my daily driver, and commute my daily 48 miles. To date i have 186,458 miles on it. Not bad for KIA. I may just buy another when this one finally decides to rest. And for sake of argument, i drive very spirited.

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  great car to own - 2011 Kia Optima
  By davey90 - April 7 - 5:58 am

  i have a 2011 optima bought it brand new , car runs excellent it has a little over 47k miles on and i enjoy driving on a daily basis ,the mpg is outstanding , i took it from Albany upstate ny to long island and back upstate on a single tank of gas i was surprised . the inside is done very well , i think the front seats are kinda uncomfortable, but the space is great for all passengers , best thing i love about it is it looks so sharp , after a good clean i get compliments often on it appearance. definitely a good buy .

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  poor gas mileage - 2011 Kia Forte
  By lucymo - April 7 - 4:06 am

  I have owned it for a month. It has 20K miles on it. So far, it does 19 mpg 50/50 mixed. I am very disappointed in this. My other cars (a CUV and a wagon) give me 22 mpg/city!!!!