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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  reliability stinks - 2006 Kia Sedona
  By Cindy Warring - June 25 - 5:13 am

  I have owned my Kia Sedona for alsmost 3 years. Within that time frame, the car has gone through 3 alternators. three times without mush warning, this car has left me walking. I dont think I would buy a Kia again.

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  I Love My Kia! - 2000 Kia Sephia
  By Kizerkitty - June 24 - 7:30 pm

  I have owned my Kia since 2001 and I love it! Its been wonderful and I havent had any major problems with it. Yes...there are some things that I would change about the model. For instance, the paint quality could be better and the brakes tend to squeal. BUT... the car has been great! My car now has 72,000 miles on it and I intend to put 70,000 more. The Kia dealership/ maintenance dealer is most helpful and accommodating! GO KIA!

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  Nice price, great SUV - 2005 Kia Sorento
  By BEE TEE - June 24 - 2:10 pm

  This is the best SUV for the money. It comes with all the bells and whistles you could possibly want in a vehicle without going overboard. Gas mileage like all SUVs is bad, but you would know this if you were looking at SUVs. The small complaints on this SUV are the rear speakers are weak sounding and the drivers floorboard is shallow for someone with bigger feet. The engine could use more beefing up! Overall, best SUV for the money.

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  LX Kia 5 Speed Best in class.... - 2006 Kia Rio
  By tcip - June 24 - 8:53 am

  Great car for the money. Huge improvements over 05 model. Great gas mileage. Very quiet at stand still. Car sits high up for a compact. Very roomy on the inside; has great handling around corners and turning radius. Kia has the competition beat; best in class model. Aggressive European styling.

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  powerful and roomy - 2005 Kia Sorento
  By Mary - June 23 - 7:23 am

  I love my Sorento. The ride is comfortable and the speed is incredible, worth the fuel expense. I just had one problem with it; at 5,000 miles the spark plugs went bad on it and i was told by the dealership it was a regular "Kia" problem. I also dislike the green lighting on the dash and the CD player, it makes the interior look cheesy. Worth every penny though; it cost a total of $21,000 including the financing! The tiny Toyota Corolla costs the same! I could not find a better deal for a car with the options and power the Sorento gave me.

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  2002 Kia Sportage - 2002 Kia Sportage
  By DanielleB11 - June 23 - 2:00 am

  good on gas; fun to drive in the summer

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  Great SUV! Need customized parts !! - 2006 Kia Sportage
  By J. Elton - June 22 - 4:13 pm

  I originally went to buy the Sorento and my wife liked the Sportage EX V6 loaded. Need I tell you what we got? I really wanted the BMW grille kit that would go on the Sorento. It is really sharp. It doesnt exist for the Sportage. There are no places to get sport parts for this vehicle. I have tricked out the stereo w/in-dash 1din DVD player w/ headrest LCDs and bluetooth for my phone and also Garmin Nuvi 660 w/ btooth. Mine is fast and sporty w/2 tone silver. I have a 1999 BMW 528i that now sits. This is a very fine vehicle for what I spent. I would buy again 4 sure! Love the fact remote start. Get it! Oh and I debaged it. It now says Kia nowhere. I got custom Sportage logos instead.

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  120K miles and still going strong - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By guitarrista - June 19 - 8:42 pm

  We got this van new, and after 11 years and over 120K miles an update is in order. This van was new to this country in 02, and there were a number of issues. Ours was one of the ones built earlier in the year, and we had the expected issues come up, but they replaced all the faulty bits with the improved ones, and no problems with those parts since. We have driven this van all over the US and it has performed like a champ. We initially got this van to fit kids in car seats, and now use it mostly for family outings and road trips. The original engine and transmission are still going strong. This van has been a great value.

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  Good Minivan for the Price - 2012 Kia Sedona
  By rob_longisland - June 19 - 5:37 pm

  A good basic minivan. I was looking for a basic family transportation vehicle which I plan to drive till it drops, so trade in value is not a huge thing for me. Im hoping to get the car up and over 150k miles during my time of ownership. The Kia fit the bill perfectly. My dealership was very fair and upfront with all the numbers. Nothing was hidden and everything was clearly explained. Received great financing at 2.9% for 60 months and substantial rebates as well. I was also able to negotiate the price of the vehicle close to the invoice price. Overall I got a vehicle at a price that could not be matched by any of the competitors for the same equipment level by thousands of dollars.

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  2003 Sorento - 2003 Kia Sorento
  By Bandera - June 18 - 10:00 am

  Had our Kia Sorento for seven months (6000mi)now. We love it. The biggest complaint is it SHOULD get much better gas milage! Maybe its not quite broken in yet. Only had it to the dealer once-the check engine light came on-turned out to be a polution control item. Fixed it in 20 minutes. Only other complaint is the cig. lighter /power outlet in the front console & the one in the rear compartment are only powered when the key is ON. This caused our cell phone to do a noisy power up sequence every time the key is turned on. I fixed it myself by running a new fused wire that is hot all the time. Other than that, its fine.