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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  Quality Lacking - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By Jason - March 30 - 9:33 am

  Well was really happy at first with our 2011 Sorento, then the problems started. Shuttering sunroof, burning smells, a/c vents were missing their components, and the night time running lights and interior lights all went out. Spoke to the dealership several times, and they actually gave us a different new Sorento. Now this one has the same shuttering sun roof and the console chrome is peeling off and its not even a week old. There is no quality control coming out of Atlanta, beware of these first year vehicles... There are bugs everywhere.

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  Get it a try! - 2004 Kia Optima
  By Mark1016 - March 30 - 2:00 am

  I have been toying with the idea of buying Korean. I like the tweeks made in the exterior design for the 04 Optima. The 6 cylinder moves out plenty fast enough for me to collect some pricey tickets. I am 61" and my only complaint is that my head is very close to the headliner in the car. The steering wheel needs to be telescoping for long legged people.

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  Nice, inexpensive little car - 2003 Kia Rio
  By Dan - March 27 - 5:33 pm

  Bought this little car for my basic point a to point b daily work commute. Very happy with it so far. Very good to excellent condition with 64,000 miles on it. Good ride for its size, very good to excellent gas mileage (32-33 combined city/highway), very maneuverable, decent acceleration. Bought it used, purchase price was excellent (thats due to the rather high depreciation of Kias). Drove it from Nebraska to Arizona and back without any problems. Have become quite fond of and pleasantly surprised by this little car.

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  Good value but in the shop a lot - 2014 Kia Cadenza
  By Lucasbonner214 - March 25 - 1:17 pm

  Its a great value however before my car even had 55,000 miles on the odometer I had the fuel sending unit and oxygen sensor replaced. The rack and pinion also failed all repaired under warranty. I wasnt expecting all these things with such low mileage. The car has never stopped running at all despite the problems. I had one issue where the entire car just died and needed a jump. The car turns head everywhere I go. I love the look and functions of the car. I think youll love the car as if repairs do arise they are a lot cheaper than the other luxury brands. The car is excellent on the highway and very comfortable on long trips. Ive enjoyed this car despite the few issues and I think you would too.

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  Spectra -economy and practicality - 2002 Kia Spectra
  By spectra owner - March 25 - 10:00 am

  I bought the car in late 2001, it is my first new vehicle. At the time I was a single mom carting around two boys and all of their junk as well, the car has been reliable and who would not love the 10 yr. warranty. The only problem I have had lies in the hatch release, it works sometimes other times it jams completely. It has been serviced twice relating to this issue and continues to be a problem. All in all I am very happy with the Spectra, it was in my price range and has served me well.

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  Optima ex - 2004 Kia Optima
  By advci - March 25 - 10:00 am

  Great value with the rebate. For 13K I find it fun, and a fantastic deal. The main selling for me point was the warranty.

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  miasedona - 2005 Kia Sedona
  By mddrive - March 25 - 9:03 am

  A nice car.Great value.Does not have all the "must have" features but has a lot nicer stuff than many comparably priced Fords, GMs and Chryslers.

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  Saying Goodbye to my Kia - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By Michelle - March 24 - 1:43 pm

  I have had my Kia for almost 5 years now. I really loved my Kia, it was a lot of car for such a reasonable price. I replaced my headlights and tail lights twice a year. A/C has never worked right (which can isnt good when you live in AZ). Dealership always tells me that its running fine, so I have given up. The last two years I have put in a lot of money into the vehicle (I cant even remember all the things I have had done and of course not covered by warranty any longer).I am afraid that I will only be putting more into it the near future, so it is time to say goodbye. Dealing with the dealership was a joke and the overall cost to own this vehicle was much more than I had expected.

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  Great Value, but you get what you pay for. - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By sorentofamily - March 23 - 1:54 am

  We have a 2005 Sorento with a 158,000 relatively trouble free miles. So when we went car shopping, looking at a new Kia seemed logical. We have had this 2011 Sorento for 2 weeks and 749 miles. We get about 22.5 mpg due to the hilly commute to work. We chose the Sorento after test driving a 2009 Cadillac CTS, Optima Turbo S, and a cool white tiger Soul. We sat in a Forte but deemed it too small for our comfort. We couldnt help but compare all the different ride qualities to the Cadillac CTS. Surprisingly the Sorentos ride quality is comparable to the Cadillac, although somewhat noisier. The Kumo tires are good but occasionally sound like over inflated balloons when driving over rough road.

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  loved it but bad gas mileage - 2006 Kia Sorento
  By krista57 - March 21 - 9:10 pm

  I did absolutly love my Kia but the gas mileage was un beleivable. I checked it twice on the gas mileage to see what I was getting and both times it said 15.5 mpg. I could not believe it. I just traded it in on a Pontiac g6. But if it werent for the gas I would never have traded it in.