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 new favorite brand!!! - 2014 Kia Cadenza
  By knightlee02 - September 21 - 1:48 am

  Just purchased a 2014 Kia Cadenza with Luxury Package and not looking back. A great all around car with a sport/luxury persona. The handling and engine response satisfies my joy of driving. The look, comfort and size makes it a very solid The interior is smooth and practical. Its old school with a modern touch. The navigation, voice command and bluetooth is key and learning(or reading the manual) is a breeze. Trunk space is awesome. I dont miss GM. I welcome my new car plus 3 year full maintenance plan! My experience with Hyundai and KIA have been through family and friends. As years pass, quality and convenience has become their calling card. I am glad I answered.

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  Much to like overall - 2009 Kia Borrego
  By D & K - September 20 - 9:36 pm

  Had just traded in my beloved Escape for another when hubby totalled his Vue. Didnt know what to get with so many automakers in financial trouble. He discovered the Borrego and was hooked Unfortunately for him, it had all the features I wanted but didnt get on the Escape so now its mine. Travel weekly Tampa-Orlando-Tampa and the ride is great especially w/ 6 CD for audio books. Few relatively minor problems include: downhill & ESC changed on their own a few times; SIRRUS reverts to weather channel when mode is changed; hwy gas mileage much less than expected; front passenger seat not as comfortable as drivers; a/c cabin air often unpleasant. Daughter just bought 08 Optima & very happy.

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  Been a good one for me - 2001 Kia Rio
  By spanky116 - September 20 - 10:00 am

  Well, I have had the car for a year now and have no problems whatsoever with it. It has never seen the dealership for anything. No recalls, no mechanical problems. Gets me about 35 to 36mpg on each tank of gas. Standard with air(cold air at that.)If you are looking for a cheap inexpensive vehicle for your kid or you to drive to work and back, then this is your car. I would not recommend it as your only car but for a second vehicle, you cant go wrong.

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  dougs kia sedona review - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By sedonabroncofan - September 20 - 10:00 am

  my friend from denver was impressed when we wheeled into the airport with our new sedona. he raved about the ride, handling, and styling both inside and out. couldnt believe the price. excellent. figured it would be at least 5,000 more than we spent for it.

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  Im Thrilled with my Sedona - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By mcnick - September 20 - 10:00 am

  The most affordable minivan with the most comfort features for the price and its a great riding vehicle as well. Many people have commented that it looks more like an SUV than a minvan. Its perfect for those family trips. We have one child and can fit all of his things and ours well. ONe of the only two minivans that has a power moonroof available as an option... That was a must for me.

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  Poor sound system - 2002 Kia Spectra
  By remichal - September 20 - 10:00 am

  If its sound that you want and you want a CD/Cassette combination, forget it. Kia offers CD only or Cassette only. Personally, facing such limited options I chose the cassette and ditched the CD. I can make compilation tapes of my favorite CDs and play them in the car. I do not want to buy two copies of my favorite CDs to avoid toting them back and forth between the house and car. And the sound quality in a car they tout as bordering on luxury is marginal at best. Theres also plenty of storage space for cassette tapes but absolutely nothing for CDs. Whever the rocket scientist is who made this brilliant decision in options left his brain at home that day.

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  Kia has officially blown me away - 2016 Kia Soul
  By Brian - September 19 - 2:59 pm

  Let me preface this review with the fact that my daily driver is a BMW X5, and my previous vehicles were Infiniti JX and 2 Lexus GX470s. So I tend to be very harsh when reviewing non-luxury cars (I absolutely cant stand my wifes Toyota Sienna, but then again, I dont have to drive it). We purchased this car primarily as a third family vehicle now that our son is driving. My goal was to find a nicely equipped vehicle with excellent safety and great visibility. Honestly, I wasnt too concerned with interior quality, fit/finish or ride quality. My goal was a decent car for around $20k. We looked at quite a few different cars: Mazda 3, VW Golf, Honda Fit, Honda Civic, and Toyota Corolla. After test driving the snot out of all the above named cars, we kept comparing everything to the Kia Soul. We ended up purchasing a 2016 Soul + with the audio and primo pkgs and some add ons (MSRP $25,550) for $21,325. We actually had an offer from a dealer that was 3 hours away for $20,680 but I didnt really feel like driving 6 hours round trip to save a few hundred dollars. What floored me is the fact that the Kia Soul absolutely blows away the competition for what you get for the money. The interior is excellent at this price point: Leather seating, a mixture of soft touch, hard touch surfaces and a very intuitive navigation/entertainment system with a feature called Evo that allows you to set notifications on various parameters such as traveling outside of a certain geographic radius, driving over a designated speed or driving past a set curfew (all of which are excellent for keeping track of your young drivers), plus the feeling of a spacious cabin. The ride is firm yet comfortable and cabin noise is far better then expected and the fact that for $21k you get auto on/off headlights, leather, navigation, keyless remote entry and keyless engine start, remote start, panoramic sunroof, upgraded audio system with subwoofer (that is actually pretty darn good), fog lights, LED interior lighting, speaker lighting, homelink rear view mirror, rear view camera, heated and cooled front seats, heated rear seats, heated steering wheel, leather wrapped steering wheel, etc. Simply put, the Kia Soul was far better equipped for the selling price vs. all of the other cars we considered (the VW Golf was close to $30k for similar equipment and still didnt include cooled seats or heated rear seats). My only complaint is the cheap Nexen tires that came on the vehicle. They are pretty bad. Within the first week, we had a pretty light rain and I was spinning the tires from a stop. Needless to say, I took off the Nexen and put on Pirellis and the difference in performance is not only night and day, but the road noise has improved as has the ride quality. The point of my review is that Kia was never on my radar screen, but my wife thought that the Soul was cute and quirky so I drove it expecting to quickly cross it off the list. I never expected this type of quality from a car that only cost $21,000. I remember sitting in an MBA class about 5 years ago with a fellow student doing an analysis of Kia and thinking to myself that "Kia will never be able to compete with the major automobile companies because they make cheap crap." Well, today Im eating crow.... gladly. Theyve given us a very nice vehicle for a reasonable amount of money. Great job, Kia.

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  Great Purchase! - 2010 Kia Forte
  By Krystal - September 18 - 6:40 pm

  This car is truly fun to drive! This car had everything we wanted in a car and then some. I seriously cant think of anything bad to say about it.

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  Koreans have caught up - 2005 Kia Spectra
  By Robert - September 16 - 8:10 pm

  Did a lot of research before buying. Largest interior in the class. Good air bags and safety features, awesome warranty. So far averaging 28 MPG in town. Very quiet interior, and the VTI sends out good amount of torque to get moving well. Good on the highway and works well in town. It is a heavier car than its competitors, but this is good in my book. It is a pleasant car to drive and we are looking forward to our first road trip in it.

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  I love my Sorento - 2005 Kia Sorento
  By Kristin - September 16 - 4:10 pm

  I have wanted a Sorento for about 2 years now. I finally got mine in June and I couldnt be happier. I love driving it. I have put almost 3,000 miles on it already. If I could afford it, I would have 2!