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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  Will Never Buy Another Kia - 2009 Kia Rio
  By deheeren - June 4 - 7:59 pm

  I bought this car new in 2009 and today the cars second transmission failed. The car has 151,541 miles on it. The car has also had a coil pack put on each cylinder at least once. When the car was still under warranty the dealer flat-out refused to fix the actual issues with the car because the scheduled maintenance on the car wasnt up to date, yet the salesman never disclosed details about the warranty at time of purchase or provided literature about the warranty. CD player quit working at about 24 months Heater core issues at 30 months. Car needed realignment every 10,000 miles. Tire shop said it was a "Kia" thing. Lots of road noise on the freeway. Windshield always foggy.

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  dissapointed - 2007 Kia Sportage
  By egalea - May 14 - 6:17 am

  bought my new sportage in 2007. started complaining about a weird noise after 1 year. after2 years complaining and being told i was obsessive they had to change the whole transmission. Above 80kms/hr you have to crank the radio up due to the motor noise. you can feel even the smallest pebble on the road. sluggish gear change. revs up to unbearable before gear changes and sometimes you feel you want to go out to push it to move. cannot sell it or exchange it due to pathetic resale value. HANDS OFF. buy a tricycle.......more worthwhile

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  not too happy - 2002 Kia Optima
  By stainman - May 5 - 7:56 pm

  i am so sorry i ever bought this car.

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  Unhappy - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By firerep1 - April 27 - 12:46 am

  Driving is great, purchased because of the factory warranty. When engine failed Kia failed to honor the warranty.

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  unhappy 2003 rio cinco owner - 2003 Kia Rio
  By abrenner - April 25 - 10:00 am

  I purchased my car in after totaling a regular rio which I loved. I hate this car it is a gas hog with about 21 miles to the gallon. What I hate more then anything is the exterior quality. You can dent this car by blowing on it. The paint is terrible quality. Please shop carefully, I got ripped off. I payed for what I got.

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  Dont buy this car - 2003 Kia Sedona
  By Melissa - April 23 - 7:30 am

  I learned a valuable lesson about researching cars after owning this one. Safety without reliability is not safe. The alternator went out at 36k. I lost the ability to steer or accelerate on the freeway at night. The warning lights came on about 1 minute before the car failed so I was in the exit lane and luckily rolled straight off the freeway exit without power, and rolled into a gas station. Sure the warranty covered the repair and Kia towed it for free-but I was almost killed along with my unborn child, 2 other children and the babysitter in the car. Now the sliding doors wont open from inside, the AC compressor/clutch failed, electrical problems abound, and I cant give it away.

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  I would never buy a Kia again! - 2005 Kia Sedona
  By Arnold Echols - April 23 - 5:56 am

  Interior is entirely too small for a 63" man, or even average folks. I dont even fit in the drivers seat comfortably. The gas mileage stinks, not as advertised. The passenger seat is too close to dash also. Bucket seats are much too small and not at all comfortable for any length of time. It is very difficult to turn around. The headrests in the rear are in the drivers vision and you cannot see clearly around them. Hope we never have to travel very far in it, as it gets miserable to sit in the seats very long at all. But the biggest problem is the lousy gas mileage. We live in the country, and drive almost all highway miles, and cant get above 17 mph. I cant wait to get rid of it!

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  5 reasons I returned mine.... - 2002 Kia Rio
  By lizm1 - April 17 - 2:00 am

  I drove mine for one full week. 1. After 300 miles, my tires are already squeeking. 2. The car has absolutely NO control in icy or snowy conditions...Ive been slipping and sliding all week. 3. The trunk doesnt close properly. You have to push down precisely in the middle. 4. My insurance company wouldnt insure it because (and I quote) "They fall apart too easily". 5. The "new car smell" is very fishy and gave me a headache. ---I was lucky enough that they tried to pull the "Your Financing Didnt go Through scam". I opted to not try to finance it again and I returned it. Im buying year old Honda instead.

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  Never again - 2005 Kia Sedona
  By kitcar04 - April 3 - 3:31 pm

  Bought brand new didnt matter the problems began at the very start with brake problems and went on from there...Problems made worst by the worst customer service Ive ever experienced. With thousands of dollars spent and car still stalling we were done. You want a reliable car get a Honda. Thats what we drive. Excellent customer service every time.

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  Kia will NOT fix the problem with our car. - 2008 Kia Sorento
  By bridget_allen - March 24 - 11:09 am

  At first everything was going fine, but then we started having trouble with our transmission. The SUV would stall and get stuck in 3rd gear. I took it to Kia several times and they could not find anything wrong, however, other places machines was showing a problem with the transmission. After several times of taking it to Kia..they finally found the problem and so called fixed it. They did not fix it...it is still doing the same thing and NOW they can not find ANYTHING wrong......