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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  Happy with purchase, would buy again - 2003 Kia Sorento
  By Marisol - November 13 - 11:53 pm

  I owned a Kia Spectra before and it protected me in a serious accident. This truck is very sharp looking, I get comments about it all the time. Very roomy inside, lots of extra features. The clock doesnt work right but the dealer already knows. The car is a little skittish on wet roads.

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  Better be no troubles for 3 years - 2015 Kia Sedona
  By TouringNY - November 11 - 6:31 pm

  Leasing for 3 years, right now near end of model year Kia is giving incentives to lease, you should make sure before you go. what kinda sucks is the 8-passenger SXL takes away the sunroof that I wanted, makes no sense. paying so much and not getting a sunroof cause its only available on the 7 seater? My wife has trouble finding a comfortable seating position, she feels her old Odyssey seat was better. kids feels seats in back are comfortable. The power is supposed to be same as Odyssey but I cant help but feel it is more sluggish to accelerate. The surround view camera is only available on the highest level and seems on par with luxury car makes (Infiniti is what Ive experienced so far).

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  New Owner - 2006 Kia Sedona
  By Brenda - November 11 - 5:43 pm

  Recently purchased Kia Sedona. Always owned cars, never a van. The inside still has the familiarity of a car. My children enjoy it, especially the DVD. I dont have 100 miles yet, so I really cant comment to much on the performance/mileage. The ride, so far, is nice, smooth and pretty fast.

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  Best 4 wheels for the price - 2001 Kia Rio
  By skotty - November 10 - 10:00 am

  I bought the car hardly used (only 2500 miles) from the dealership for less than $5,000. No defects except a little minor damage inside on the cheap shift boot. Besides that the car is a blast to drive. pick up is fine, but shifting can seem tough with the hard gates. I am a highschool student who does a lot of city driving and this car has got me through it all not to mention dirt/off road driving daily... This car is a car for the masses, enjoy

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  Great Car - 2012 Kia Soul
  By kipper1975 - November 7 - 6:33 pm

  I was looking at the base model, but ended up getting the +Auto. I got 66 miles on my Soul and already love it. I am 6 1", 215lbs, and I have good leg room, head room and the seats are comfortable. For a 2.0L engine, it has alot of pep, you cant race it but, I was doing 90MPH before I knew it. Side by side it is the size of my wifes Jeep. They have Infinty system that sounds really good, with lights around the front speakers. Very good little car, so far awsome gas milage, have tok a road trip yet, but in the city driving so far so good. Windows up radio on very little road noise....I wanted the ! at first but the only difference was GPS, I have a portable GPS so didnt need it.

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  Efficient, Zippy with a few Quirks - 2003 Kia Optima
  By Cathy - November 6 - 7:10 pm

  Overall a great car. Fuel efficient, outstanding pickup, comfortable, love the Speedtronic shift to manual on steep roads, nice sound system. Downside: paint around exterior mirrors vanished after 3 years, had to get them repainted. There are also a few electrical quirks. Radio sometimes goes on/off over bumps, The radio antenna wouldnt retract when shutting off car, instead it would go up/down in a confused fashion until I started the car and turned off radio first. Mysteriously resolved itself. Had problem with passenger interior door lock misaligning and trapping passenger inside-got it fixed 3 times, but was warranteed No mechanical problems in 4 yrs, just new battery & tires.

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  Good Price, LT reliability TBD - 2008 Kia Sedona
  By NYC - November 4 - 6:56 am

  Sedona is a lower initial cost minivan vs. competition. The 10yr/100K warranty provides some insurance if you are concerned about Kias long term reliability. The Sedona is a great family minivan; functional. Very powerful engine, smooth drive, shifts well. You can buy a new 2008 LX for under $16K with negiotiating. I drove Hondas for years, still do, but the Sedona pricing was too good to pass up. I need to have $7K in repairs to break even with purchasing a Honda or Toyota. Great value.

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  kia a great commuter car - 2004 Kia Rio
  By pickle - November 4 - 2:00 am

  i bought my rio as a commuter car and it has done excellent! i get 38 mpg and it only cost $7,900.00!...new! i havent needed the great warranty as of yet. ive taken a 400 mile trip in it and i was happy with the drivers seat comfort, it has 5 adjustments for driver comfort.

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  I LIKE MY SPECTRA - 2004 Kia Spectra
  By KAYG - November 4 - 2:00 am

  I have had my new car for little over three months and I love driving it. Even with a four cl. On the open highway it handels good, I love the style. The only neg. thing I can say is the sterring when turned to sharp it screams.

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  Problems with Warranties - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By Earl Hayes - November 2 - 10:00 am

  Has anyone had problems with noises in the front end? We are wating for a Arbitration Department to contact us as we cannot find out where the noise is coming from. According to the dealer, Kia is trying to find the source, but at this time there is not a fix. If they cannot find a fix, how do we know it is not a safety hazzard. The dealer stated it is not a hazzard. The dealer gave up looking for it, but they know the noise is there. We were suppose to be contacted today, but so far, no calls or letters. Is this warranty any good. I guess time will tell. We have other rattles, but the dealer said to wait on them to find the main noise.