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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  My four day Kia - 2004 Kia Rio
  By lellee - April 5 - 10:00 am

  I bought a new 2004 bright red Kia Rio about a week ago. Four days after i bought it, it stopped working. it has been in the shop evesince... they cannot figure out what is wrong and they have to contact the company bc they believe there will be more problems on other kias like mine...some parts of the car are cheapy looking plastic but overall it is a nice car. other than the major problems ive had, i love the car... when i get to drive it!

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  Great Car - front end clunking noise - 2010 Kia Forte
  By Melissa - April 2 - 11:50 am

  Car has been great for me. I had the clicking / clunking noise on my front end as well, brought it in in a month after I had purchased and they said they couldnt find anything. 3 Months later I bring it back in and they said they figured out what the noise was on all Fortes as there is something behind the front tires that needs adjustment. BUT they will only tell you if you tell them you hear the noise first. Otherwise, they will not tell you about this problem. Hopefully this helps a lot of you out there.

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  dig it - 2008 Kia Rondo
  By BOPPALOPP - April 1 - 1:36 pm

  Got an 08 KIA Rondo of the used lot of a dealership, for under 10k. Only had 20,000 miles on it. Looks brand new for the most part. Drives well, i love the extra kick that the v6 gives. Adds a lil boost that some other crossover wagon type veichles dont give you. all the usual stuff, power windows, power doors, am/fm/cd, ac/heat. The rondo is very spacious in the back. Lots of room for kids, groceries, camping...whatever. Im pleasantly suprised with this ride, so far!

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  great car for the money - 2004 Kia Optima
  By edeagle - March 31 - 10:00 am

  my second kia optima was very satisfied with first one which was totaled when hit in drivers side door side airbag saved me from injury just bought my second one to replace it

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  A Mixed Bag - 2010 Kia Optima
  By sronald1918 - March 31 - 8:39 am

  I bought this car as as a former rental car in December 2010. I had no significant problems for about a year and then a dying out problem occurred that required me to go all the way up to a vice president of Kia Motors America (KMA) to get it fixed. This problem required multiple repairs by the KMA engineer for the Eastern United States but it was finally fixed after about a year. My experience is that Kia has a long and difficult warranty. Some minor paint issues also appeared after about 4 years that were not covered by the warranty. As to performance and comfort the car is fine.

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  Great SUV for the price. - 2009 Kia Sportage
  By br2000nc - March 30 - 1:43 pm

  We bought the Sportage because it was thousands cheaper than the rest of the compact SUVs and has a better warranty. Kia was also offering a $2000 rebate at the time. Have about 27k on it and so far it has been great. posted fuel economy is 20/25/23, we live in the country and average about 26 mpg, not bad. The only disappointment so far is the tires. They already need to be replaced. The 2.0 I4 is ok at highway speeds but acceleration is a little slow. Get the V6 if you want the 4WD model. Other than that its a great SUV at a great value.

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  Great for the price and tows a boat too. - 2005 Kia Sedona
  By ronwass - March 30 - 1:10 pm

  Let me first state that I LOVE minivans. This one is very comfortable except for one thing: The gas pedal is too close to the drivers seat. We take it on vacations with 5 people to the beach, etc, and you cant beat a minivan for that. I got the towing package for a bike rack, and, surprisingly, two years later I bought a boat which the car tows nicely. Reliability has been excellent. I have had two warranty repairs, and had the brakes done once. The car is heavy and handles as such. MPG is bad of course, but I paid literally half what I would have paid for a similar Honda in purchase price, so Im still ahead on gas. Good luck.

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  My Amanti - 2005 Kia Amanti
  By folfer06 - March 28 - 5:36 pm

  Mine is a 2004 year model but on checking is almost identical to the 2005. I have received many compliments ;one of the main ones is the easy access to the rear seats. My wife loves the heated seats and the drivers seat auto memory.

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  So far so good. - 2008 Kia Optima
  By new kia owner - March 28 - 6:26 am

  Got this car about 1 month ago. After much research, I decided this car would provide the best value for the dollars invested and so far we have few complaints. My wife is not pleased with the "bumpy" ride, but for me I like to "feel" the road a little. I told her for the price we paid that I could get better shocks that would provide for a smoother ride, but so far we havent made any modifications. For an out-the-door price of less than $15K (with $3000 in rebates) there wasnt anything new in this size of car that even came close. Been getting about 27 MPG with a 50/50 mix of city and highway driving. So far so good. We are very pleased with the purchase of this vehicle.

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  Transmission problem - 2006 Kia Sedona
  By PhilP - March 27 - 3:33 am

  Love the vehicle but have started having transmission/starting problems. Would not start in Park, dealer adjusted cable, now having trouble getting into Drive. Maybe dealer tech needs training. I am bringing it back to get fixed again. Only have 17K miles. Also drivers side passenger door sometimes will stay in open position and sometimes not, dealer lubricated but still is intermittent. I think it may be that the mechanics need more training.