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:

• 

  Im Very Happy - 2002 Kia Spectra
  By SPIKE - January 3 - 10:00 am

  I enjoy my spectra. The warranty is great. Kia (The Company) is very nice to deal with. However, plan to keep your spectra. The trade in value on mine with 21,000 miles and clean was only $6000.00

• 

  Gas mileage terrible - 2013 Kia Soul
  By ronn714 - January 1 - 9:53 am

  The reason I rated this a "1" is because of the gas mileage. I have the 2011 Soul 2.0. I wanted more bells and whistles so I had to accept the larger engine. Terrible terrible terrible gas mileage. On a full tank, I only get a range of 259 miles at best. It sucks up the gas like as if youre driving a big ol Buick back in the day. I may consider another Soul when I trade this but deffinitely not the larger engine. Its just terrible

• 

  steering problem - 2012 Kia Soul
  By signman945 - December 29 - 7:50 pm

  i just leased one and found it seems to wander from one side to other ,constantly having to move steering wheel back and forth (a small amount but after awhile this gets annoying)never had a vehicle do this, it is like being behind a tractor trailer or in high winds even in local traffic if you let go of wheel it goes slightly right then after correcting it for this it goes to left ,then you correct and then stars all over again, going to take back to dealer only have it for one day. test drive was on back roads not on straight open level roads

• 

  Excellent for the money - 2003 Kia Sedona
  By excellentforthemoney - December 29 - 10:00 am

  Being a proud tightwad I couldnt get over all that the Kia sedona offered. First the dealer was exceptional. Secondly, the warranty, smooth ride and hidden little extras were a pleasant surprise. ( I got an LX with many EX features, free) The driver seat is not as roomy as my previous minivan. (dodge caravan) On long trips it can cramp legs and backs, however the seats do slide out indivually and the punch when you hit the pedal is there. All in all I would buy another sedona. For those prices ( 19,200) you cannot afford not too.

• 

  My Spec 5 - 2006 Kia Spectra
  By therepokid - December 29 - 4:03 am

  I love my Spectra. I have done a couple of performance modifications to it and it will run with just about any other import on the road. I had a bad outlook on Kia in general when I bought it but it has changed my mind. It has been the best far I have ever owned. It has almost 50,000 miles on it an has never had to go to the dealer for service. Kia is coming up in the world.

• 

  Kia Sedona - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By Carol S. - December 28 - 5:46 am

  Rides great, wonderful for road trips. Room enough to sleep with rear seats removed. Entire electrical system went out, burning smell, was in shop for over a week. Did have minor reoccurring electrical troubles that were repaired under warranty. At 60,400 miles the alternator went out, only financial assistance offered was from a kind service manager. Kia Customer Service refused any assistance. Dont know if I would purchase another.

• 

  Great Job KIA - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By KIT79 - December 23 - 10:00 am

  Little compared to a Pathfinder or Escalade, etc (4x4 World), but overall fun and easy to drive and dart around town. Simple to park too. A bit plain in appearance but stylish enough to be modern. The warrenty cant be beat. The total package is cheaper then the competition (cmon Leather, all time 4WD, even Radio Controls for crying out loud!). Safety is a factor, 6 air bags ensure it! I have to put a 5 in Build Quality and Reliability, with it being new I cant honestly judge it. Yet. Not bad for a Korean manufacture, now if only my Samsung TV was just as solid.

• 

  Sold on Kia! - 2005 Kia Sorento
  By Scotty - December 22 - 2:40 pm

  I found the Sorento to be very solid and smooth on the road. The controls are easy to reach and well laid out. I bought it for my wife and she loves it. Not too high, but high enough..not too big, but big enough. Its great! Within the price range, it has the most features, the longest warranty and looks the best of all of the other vehicles that we looked at. Coming out of a steep turn requires more manual input to straighten out than other cars I have owned. Its not bad, but noticeable. It is a little rough over bumps and rough roads, but not as bad as some, like the 05 Jeep Liberty that we looked at was worse. We like the tight suspension. This is our first Kia, but not our last!

• 

  5.5 Months since Purchase - 2007 Kia Optima
  By Jason - December 21 - 10:00 am

  I purchased the Optima LX (4cyl) with 45,100 miles. I have 52,000 now. Its been mostly back and forth to work (16 miles each way) and one trip to Michigan which was 1,000. On the trip I averaged 33 mpg with the AC running. I think the car is made solid. People have told me Kias are reliable, we will see I have a 5 yr loan on it. I have an issue with the dome light coming on by itself, which temporarily I fixed by removing the light bulb. Handles nice, acceleration is awesome (esp in manual mode), braking is good (only had to stomp the pedal once).

• 

  first 500 miles - 2011 Kia Forte
  By walt35 - December 19 - 10:33 pm

  I traded my three year old PT Cruiser... which I would have kept if it had not gotten such awful fuel enonomy.. So I wanted another hatch back. The seating position of the Forte is like a race car .. I have to get used to that and the smaller wheel.. but handling is precise and very fun.. The Korean tires are made with nylon rather than polyester which I think causes too firm a ride at times.. They otherwise handle just fine.. I had to pay a guy to put on painted body side mouldings.. KIA does not offer factory body side mouldings.. that was a small pain ... first tank of gas with mixed driving was 27.. thats good... Overall quite happy so far.