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:

• 

  Mmmmhmmm I love it! - 2005 Kia Rio
  By Klaticia p.t. - January 23 - 12:00 am

  I bought the stripped down Kia Rio as a "spare car" and I am very glad I did. I got the last brand new 2005 on the lot and paid only $7,000 for it! It has no luxury appointments ... no air, no radio, no automatic transmission. For $79.00 I bought an awesome Aiwa CD receiver and installed it myself in an hour and thanks to the already factory installed speakers it was good to go. The car has excellent pick up. I have heard other people complaining about this but with a 5 speed manual transmission and no air, pick up and gas mileage is outstanding. I would definitely buy another.

• 

  research - 2009 Kia Sportage
  By Grandpa - January 22 - 8:33 am

  I read the reviews, I like the car, If you do not like the arm rest chec out chic.com We bought one and it looks and feels like it came with the car. Head rests, oh yeah, they are adjustable or you can turn them around. All that being said, Low Rpm performance is questionable. Dealer said my car needs to adjust to my driving style...emmmm I do like this car

• 

  Mostly good stuff - 2005 Kia Sportage
  By boltguy - January 20 - 2:13 pm

  Just purchased this LX 4WD V6 Sportage. Purchased it for $18700 before taxes, etc. Really comfortable and upscale looking interior. Exterior styling gives it a slightly tough look. Am very happy with it, although the mileage is only 20.5 mpg combined driving. I believe it will yield slightly better results after the break-in period.

• 

  My Kia Dragon - 2010 Kia Soul
  By mykiki - January 19 - 10:33 pm

  I love my Soul but hate the highway mileage. The city miles are better than average, but mileage goes down on the highway. Not a vacation vehicle but the most fun I ever had driving.

• 

  Not bad - 2002 Kia Spectra
  By Have tons of kias... - January 18 - 6:46 pm

  Bought this car after owning a 1988 Toyota Corrolla Wagon with 205,000 miles on it. This was a huge upgrade. We have 3 other kias, and we like them quite well. So this was a time to see if Kias little cars were any good? Well, Im happy! Ive only had to get some belts replaced, and get new tires, other than that, its been a very reliable car. The people who owned it before me had to replace the transmission, and that was it. So Im happy. There are just a couple of rattling noises, but nothing that the radio turned up really loud cant fix. Gas mileage is so so, should be better in my opinion, but it is far from being bad. I plan on getting 200,000 on this. It currently has 156,100 on it.

• 

  Expensive replacement parts great car - 2003 Kia Sorento
  By gwynnat - January 17 - 12:56 pm

  Weve owned this car for over a year and have been pretty happy with it. Its got 104050 miles on it. The downside is the cost and availability of parts. The major parts (and some not so major like shocks) are only available through the factory or a dealer and are considerably more expensive than typical replacement parts. On this model year two different water pumps were produced and they are not interchangeable. We didnt find this out until it was at our mechanics to get the timing belt and water pump replaced. Just the parts cost about $500. Also, the coolant reservoir has a tendency to crack/split and costs about $150 to replace.

• 

  Its a decent car for now - 2001 Kia Sephia
  By FirstKiaLastKia - January 17 - 10:00 am

  Have over 28,000 miles now. It hasnt given me problems yet. Did have a burning smell when we took a trip over 300 miles. What I dont like is the excelleration. Trying to get on the interstate using an uphill entrance ramp I need to stand on the gas to merge into traffic without looking like an 80 year old driving. I plan for my next car (not a Kia) to be another car with more oomph

• 

  Kia Sorento - 2014 Kia Sorento
  By brianv2 - January 16 - 5:57 pm

  My wife needed a new car and we wanted something that could haul 5 comfortably, and occasionally squeeze up to 2 more. Reliability was also very important. In addition, my wife loves all the little comfort features, so these were the main 2 criteria. After extensive research, I narrowed down the list to: Kia Sorento, Hyundai Santa Fe, and Toyota Highlander. Personally, I preferred the Santa Fe, but there are way fewer of these on the market (we were looking for a late model lightly used vehicle to not take the big depreciation hit). So, it was between the Santa Fe and Highlander. I like the Highlander, but I was able to get a newer Sorento with less miles and more features.

• 

  A Step Up - 2009 Kia Spectra
  By Derail - January 16 - 1:00 am

  My previous car was an 03 Focus. The Spectra is much more zippy in acceleration, yet has the same size engine as the Focus. And fuel economy is 20 percent better. I like how spacious the engine compartment is, in terms of accessibility to hoses, belts, battery, etcetera. These items are easy to see and inspect. And replacement, when necessary, should not be difficult. What I miss about the Focus is the softer seats. The Kia seats are are quite rigid. What I have a concern about is the cable actuated gas cap door. Cables and plastic latches fail in cold climates. I may have to improvise a better system to insure I can refuel in the winter.

• 

  Great Colorado SUV - 2008 Kia Sportage
  By Jule - January 6 - 10:56 pm

  I bought the Volcanic red Sportage in May of 2008 after much comparison shopping for a small suv. Test drove the CRV,Rav4, Rogue, and Outlander. Based on price, comfort and mpg it came down to the Outlander and the Sportage. Rav was uncomfortable and noisy! Outlander didnt have a light colored interior and was priced a bit higher so went w/the KIA and got it for the same price as a 2007. I get 25-30 mpg(city to hwy). It has 18,700 miles and 3 oil changes on it. Runs great, no problems. Good in snow,rain and mountains. I scaled down from a Windstar minivan and am very happy w/my choice! Recently rented a Sorento and it was even more comfortable, smoother ride and quieter on the hwy Go KIA