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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  Do not buy! - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By soccerella - December 16 - 11:33 pm

  I loved my Kia at first. It was a great size..it drove smooth. Then after only 2 months a part broke which was fortunately being recalled. Now not even a year later it overheated and the crank shaft broke. will be 5-7 thousand dollars to fix. Paid cash for the car and now Im out 6200. Cant even trade it in. If you have these problems tell them to look at the coolant leak before they fix anything else. Thats where the major problem comes from. Once it starts overheating its over. Thanks for nothing Kia.

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  rental blues - 2010 Kia Soul
  By fdd - December 16 - 3:17 pm

  my van was hit while parked. thought i would try a soul rental. driven it for two months, now. the worst car i have ever driven; hard flat seats, hard painful ride, noisy 2 liter engine. one of the ugliest cars on the road. good space and headroom inside, although not up to the standard of the competition, as i have read.

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  Reason why it needs 100,000 mile warranty - 2012 Kia Optima
  By DEBRA GREEN - December 13 - 6:25 pm

  This car I bought new it has needed so many things replaced. Eat tires going on my 4th set and dealership says noting wrong with car dont know why it wears tires so quickly. Yeah warranty is great its the constant inconvenience of having to take in for repairs. Never will buy or recommend Kia ever

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  Nightmare on Kia Street - 2001 Kia Sephia
  By IHateKia - December 6 - 6:23 am

  This has to be the worst vehicle ever created. My transmission was replaced at 15,000 miles. The brakes squeak all the time. The rotors were ruined quickly. Ive had it towed an average of 3 times per year. All 3 KIA dealerships could not fix recurring problems. There was a popping noise on the drivers side that no one could diagnose. The tires had to be replaced within 20,000 miles. The car metal is so weak that it looked like someone beat the side of it with a bat (door dings). Everyone says it has a good warranty, but it wont cover all the problems you face. Plus, you wont get a free rental car when you car is constantly in the shop. It was totaled by a few minutes of hail.

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  Kia still has a lot of work to do - 2006 Kia Amanti
  By aubbon - November 27 - 2:50 pm

  This 2006 Kia Amanti was a replacement for a 2005 Amanti which had many problems starting with a transmission that was replaced. The dealer replaced the vehicle with the 2006 and from the very first day I experienced the same problems as with the 05 model with the addition of having the engine light come, intermittent lurching and lose of power. The vehicle spent most of February at the dealership at which point I was offered a Mitsubishi in a straight trade, which was declined. I am now in the process of arbitration to have the manufacturer buy back this vehicle as we do not have a lemon law in Canada.

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  Piece Of Junk - 2003 Kia Sedona
  By kpow903 - November 25 - 6:05 pm

  This van is a complete piece of garbage! I have my 2003 for 3 years and cannot rely on it at all! The 3.5 liter V6 is quite possibly the worst engine ever made. Do Not Buy

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  Broke KIA - 2008 Kia Sorento
  By Steve - November 25 - 2:30 am

  The main problem I have with this vehicle is the passenger seat airbag. I have had numerous problems with my passenger seat air bag and with five trips to the dealership it still has not been fixed. Now they say it is not working because my wife does not weigh enough, and with her just over 100 pounds I find that hard to believe. Simply stated the vehicle is junk, and they have no regards to our safety by not fixing it.

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  Done with KIA - 2005 Kia Sedona
  By Mburgess - November 19 - 2:10 pm

  Overall the Sedona is a pretty good van except for the gas mileage. bought the van used, being a single mom and GSleader I needed the room and a dependable van. The dealership i purchased it from in Feb 06 is OUT OF BUSINESS & now there are NO records of all the gas mileage problems. I took to another dealership "they cant find anything wrong", but they did replace the float sensor in the gas tank and LOST my mileage log that i had been keeping track of for 2 yrs. I get around 10-13 miles/city and 17-19 hwy. I am on the third set of tires and third set of brakes. I tried to trade in on an 08 - they will only give me $4k - i still owe $11k. but said van was in great condition!

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  Do NOT buy if you drive in rain or snow - 2002 Kia Sportage
  By Lori - November 1 - 6:46 pm

  Its a 4x4, bt extremely dangerous to drive in rain or snow, doing below speed limit. The backend slides out constantly, regardless of having new tires because of it being a light weight vehicle. When problems arose w/ an oil leak, the dealer blamed express lube. I was given an attitude by the dealer. They were very expensive. When 4x4 wasnt working, th car was in shop for 3 days, returned unfixed and had to drop it back off for 3 mere days! I replaced the fan belts, alternator and starter. Another annoying fact, it would gt stuck in reverse all the time. I would have to roll a little in reverse, then put in drve for it to go forward from a parked position. It was very noisy w/ the soft top. Catalytic converter smelled going uphill, dlr sd normal

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  Who knew what a 15 minute test drive didnt tell - 2005 Kia Sedona
  By Beatrice Echols - October 7 - 5:53 am

  This is by far the worst vehicle we have had. It is entirely too small inside, seats are uncomfortable, visor on drivers side is difficult to see past when down, hard to see behind auto with head rests, they were removed, built for small persons, gas mileage is not anywhere near 22mpg highway, cant hardly make a "U" turn, power steering is rotten, like not having much if any. All dash and steering column gadgets are located in awkward places and user unfriendly! Heater is not consistent, radio dial volume knob turns and turns after full volume is reached. Any person sitting in very back seat cannot sit up straight if over 6 ft tall. We want out of this car ASAP.