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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  Better Than They Say - 2001 Kia Rio
  By JJackJoe1 - December 19 - 10:00 am

  This is a peppy car - forget what a few reviewers (and motor magazine articles) are saying about the zip in this car. Its plenty fast, even uphill and certainly on the freeway. We are getting a consistent 28 mpg in the city and 38 mpg on the highway. There is lots of front seat room, decent rear seat room if you are careful (!), and a generous trunk space. The Rio handles nimbly. Our Rio has been very dependable with zero dealer repair needs. To tell you the truth, this Rio reminds me a whole bunch like the Honda Accord quality of the mid to late 80s. And thats good, folks!

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  Looks can be deceiving. - 2001 Kia Sephia
  By stratogrl - December 19 - 10:00 am

  For the first 10 months I had no problems. But, since February my car has been in the shop 13 times. I have had the exhaust replaced 2x, the computer replaced once, 2 new injectors, and 2 electrical shorts. I can trade it in on something else because the resale value is horrible.

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  Rented the kia - 2000 Kia Sportage
  By juddie - December 19 - 10:00 am

  We were origanally going to get the spectra but we were on vacation and needed the extra space...NOT MUCH! Anyways it was a nice stiff seated car with VERY little acceleration ablitys. I often found my self SLAMING on the gas trying to pass someone in a 2 way 2 lane road, white nuckleing it to pass with very little tourque. So in conclusion if you need a car but want it big get a sportage. If your doing any off roading whatsoever dont even waist your time

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  Great Sport sedan and GT car. KIA Quattroporte. - 2018 Kia Stinger
  By Ramesh - December 18 - 2:14 pm

  Before anybody buys this car, they should know that, this is not a sports car, this is a sports sedan. This is not a luxury / premium car, this is a sports sedan. This is not a status defining car, this is just a sports sedan. And, Stinger does this job impeccably. When you shop for 50K car, you sure would have researched or test driven, audi, BMW, Merc or lexus. But you have to decide can you pass the above luxury brand dealers, and go to Kia dealer to buy this car. I did, and glad I did it. It has gorgeous looks.. Believe me, every day (yes, every day), people, either on traffic signals or in gas station or in parking lot, have asked me about this car and complemented a lot. It has Maserati look. Drive is amazing. For me, after test driving, S5, BMW 440Xi and C43 AMG, there was something in this car, I fell in love with. It is for sure, at least (if not more) 15K less than similarly equipped above brands. They have great materials in and out overall, even though there is some lack of achieving the level of above premium brands. I cannot write how much I like about this car, as it may take a lot of space. I can write little about what I dont like in it (very few, if any). I dont like the KIA label (I have always owned BMWs), fuel economy (but for this level of performance, it is acceptable) and major one being, the interior noise which can be refined a bit (I think this is common to all sports sedans like S5, AMGC43 and BMW 440Xi with M sport).

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  I love it - 2003 Kia Sorento
  By swood515 - December 18 - 12:06 pm

  I love my Kia. I have had no problems or issues.

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  Rio5 SX Wagon - 2008 Kia Rio
  By Giancarlo - December 17 - 6:53 am

  I traded in my Hyundai Tucson for a car I could use for my working commute. Rio5 SX was a straightforward choice. The car is compact but surprisingly comfortable and spacious. The engine is up to the task considering is a 1.6 L and the car is very fun to drive. In my first tank of gas Ive got a good 33 mpg in mix condition (traffic/highway) typical in a commute scenario. Very, very satisfied with this choice that I recommend to anybody in need of a good, reliable commuting car.

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  Awesome car - 2005 Kia Spectra
  By redban - December 16 - 7:23 pm

  I had a Honda Civic for 10 years. And this was the only car that could replace it, since Honda has gone down the hill and they dont have any good cars anymore.

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  Good car for the money - 2001 Kia Optima
  By Iowa - December 15 - 10:16 am

  Although I only bought my Optima SE V6 4 months ago, I absolutely love it. With 97,500 miles on it, I have noticed only minor glitches. The clock sometimes flickers when I accelerate, and the windows seem like they need to be lubed because they have a hard time rolling up when it rains - but I am getting those fixed soon...they do not affect the performance of the car. The V6 does not get very good gas mileage, but that was assumed when I bought it. I am a college student, and it was an amazing price for a foreign vehicle!

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  Not happy second time around - 2001 Kia Sportage
  By Christine Kunzman - December 15 - 10:00 am

  Replaced my 1996 Sportage with 2001 EX model due to my satisfied experience, even though quality ratings were bad for Kias. Both electric rear window regulators failed within a few months of each other before vehicle was 8 months old. Also, A/C fan failed during hottest day of year to that point. Didnt have A/C for two weeks when temp was 95 to 109 degrees. Dealership did everything they should have, but when I complained to the company about the quality, got an unacceptable response where they took no responsibility and expressed no desire to make amends. Im convinced they arent serious about Customer Satisfaction.

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  More bang for a buck - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By Al L - December 15 - 10:00 am

  The car run fine, I like it so far. I got a basic LX w/o ABS, roof rack and CD but for less than $16K, I cant even get a 4 cyl camry. Quality is pretty good, the only thing I would like to complain is the space behind 3rd seat is too small, otherwise it is great. The only problem so far is my first 600 miles of the car, about 360 miles is to and from dealer, not the cars problem, but the dealers problem, first, they cant install alarm cos it was too late, 2nd, they install a cheaper alarm, 3rd finally they installed the right alarm but have to leave the car their for whole day but I got a loaner. BTW, I am about 60mi one way to go there.