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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  Disappointed with Kia - 2005 Kia Sedona
  By Paul of Arizona - November 18 - 9:13 am

  Weve had our van for 12 months,14,300 miles. The brake rotors were turned twice, the engine was disassembled to replace a head gasket, a complete half shaft assembly was replaced, the AC blower was replaced, stereo was replaced, all engine mounts were replaced. Weve averaged 17.5 miles per gallon. Vehicle performance in the mountains was disappointing, the engine downshifted too easily, had insufficient torque. After 15,000 mile service the engine compartment smelled strongly of burning transmission fluid, which the service department attributed to the oil leak that they supposedly fixed. The vehicle didnt smell before the "repair".

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  Dont trust Kia - 2012 Kia Rio
  By jr66 - October 26 - 7:54 am

  With the release of downgraded MPG ratings, this vehicle is not worth the price. The electronics in the car are cheap. Interior panels are showing wear after less than 7000 miles. My car is two shades of red with panels not matching.

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  Month 1: Happy | Mnth 3: Sad | Mnth 4: Hating It - 2016 Kia Sorento
  By Anan - October 22 - 1:41 pm

  Edited After owning this for 4 months: I should not have bought this vehicle , Feeling very bad for throwing money down the drain. The Vehicle Suspension is very bad. Took to Dealer they said everything is fine as per specs. I noticed that the Vehicle is deteriorating very fastly. In Just 4 months - It shakes as if roller coaster and no suspension is there and too much vibration. Gear shifting is not smooth. Ride comfort is not there , Cornering is not good. and engine has become noisy. Also noticed Wind noise is not acceptable - it is getting worse now at 50 miles Wind noise is too much. I am already hating my vehicle within 4 months. ---------------------------- I own my 2016 sorento Lx for just one month now. Though I was very happy initially now I feel there are areas of improvement like air and road noise at higher speeds like 70 mph. And vehicle suspension is smooth but left-right bumpiness is too much that is annoying and continues for a long duration - I always owned sedan and this is first SUV so not sure if this is normal. Ride is smooth. 3 Mirrors and rear view camera All have different zoom ratio which is very confusing and needs real improvement. Overall I am happy. I always owned Brand value cars like Honda. Trusting Kia as they have shown serious improvement. Hope they dont fail me on my first Kia. The warranty of 10 years 100k is what made me trust Kia.

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  Very poor gas mileage - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By nokia2011 - October 19 - 10:21 am

  45,XXX update. Sold a Jett TDI to buy this car and loved it until recently when I realized the gas mileage would never climb above 23.5 MPG. For many of you it might be acceptable but thats the good part, when the MN weather comes calling, I cant get above 20 MPG. So maybe you think I stand on the gas peddal, not a chance...were talking easy 65 mph on the highway and some county roads with a little bit of town driving. With my wife driving it around a small town all week, I pull 18 MPG. I really want to love this car but the gas mileage is terrible. My 2012 VW passat at 10K miles is pulling and easy 33-34 MPG. Sorry Kia, youve lost a customer who really wanted to stay with youl.

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  not satisfied with the 4x4 performance! - 2000 Kia Sportage
  By fitz - October 16 - 8:43 am

  We bought it as an extra vehicle for short trips (also have a suburban we love). It is fun to drive. Easy to park. Mine is an automatic. If you really get on the throttle the motor is sufficient but definitely not high performance. I have Michelin Harmony tires. It does a bit better than a 2wd on snow and ice. Forget it off road. Its definitely not a true 4x4. Maybe mine has a mechanical problem??? The ds front and rear slip. The other side seldom spins. If I cant get this resolved Im going to try a Toyota truck. I need something that will go in all road, terrain and weather conditions.

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  Bad Experience. Unsafe .. and others think so too - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By nickelrider - September 27 - 2:18 pm

  Warning- XXX -Warning Fair Warning to anyone considering this car. It is totally unsafe as it will just turn off in the middle of driving- anywhere. Not good for what most buy as a family car. Left my wife and kids stranded 3 times and me several times as well. Could be fuel pump/filter, air mass sensor, TPS, IPM Module, Junction Box, cold air sensor, or the key cylinder. My mechanic is stumped. Rust Bucket too. The sliding door handle fell off and there are other small hardware issues. At least I get $ 250.00 to haul her away. I cannot in good conscience sell this to another party based on what I know. Bottom line- KIAs reliability just plain sucks!! Enough said.

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  Kia is Korean for "Bad Brakes" - 2007 Kia Sorento
  By James - September 15 - 2:13 pm

  I traded a 2004 Sedona van because of repeated brake issues (2 sets of rotors and 4 brake jobs in 64,000 miles) and was assured the brake problems had been fixed. My Sorrento has 37,000 miles and is on its second set of replacement rotors. The brake warrenty is only 12,000 miles; guess why. Also, the scheduled maintenance that is required in order to keep the warrenty intact is very expensive ($524.00 for the 30,000 mile service). Gas milage is poor for the size of the car. The car depreciates rapidly (mine is only worth $10,400 on a trade-in according to Kelly Blue Book).

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  I think I like it - 2000 Kia Sephia
  By s - August 27 - 4:23 pm

  I mostly like the car, it has some parts and accessories that seem very cheap to me. It is good on gas. Every time I am near time for an oil change, I run through oil a lot. The brakes seem to squeak all the time especially when it rains. I even put new brakes on and it still squeaks, sometimes very loudly. When I first got the car it needed a new blower motor. I had the dealer put in one and there was a problem with it making a lot of noise. They replaced it two more times. Now its been a year and I have to replace the blower motor again.

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  Engine Problem - 2013 Kia Optima
  By sms3613 - August 21 - 1:10 am

  So i bought my 2013 Kia Opitma in October of 2013 and I just had to replace my engine this month. Took it to two different dealers and they couldnt diagnose the problem. Finally went to a dealer that could and they told me I needed a new engine. The car isnt even 6 months old and has about 10000 miles on it. Its a great looking car and fun to drive on the weekends. Customer service could be a lot better and helpful.

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  You Get What You Pay For - 2003 Kia Optima
  By James - August 17 - 2:43 pm

  We purchased this car used and we know why the original owner sold it. Although the car drives great, the car has had many electrical problems and the transmission started slipping just after we bought it. Each time we put it in the shop it takes two days to get it back. Electrical problems include headlights, remote entry, radio, and battery draining down if not driven daily. Also, we have had the emissions worked on several times. The steering growls like it is out of fluid but it isnt and the dealer cant find the problem. We like the way it drives but with all the electrical problems, would like to get rid of it. We paid way too much for it, no resale!