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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  60,000(miles), The Magic Number - 2005 Kia Sedona
  By Rob - June 7 - 9:53 am

  We had this LX since 6/2004(15k)& only one mechanical problem before hitting 60k miles. The starter went bad and was replaced under the warranty. At 60,000 miles, however the check engine light came on and the van started driving really rough. 14 diagnostic codes fired,the crank shaft sensor went bad, causing the van to downshift while driving($550). The power steering "pump" went bad, making the van impossible to steer($800). And the mechanic says that all of the belts are on their last leg. Reading about future value of Sedonas, your best bet is to sell before 60k and run into the ground past 75k. These vans Im sure have improved quality, however this van has not held its value at all.

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  looks cool but build quality? - 2010 Kia Soul
  By david - June 4 - 1:30 pm

  Bought this car because of price and features. Both look great on paper. After less than 1000 miles of ownership, the rear suspension started rattling. The dealer took the car for one week of "evaluation and repair" and after replacement of a rear strut gave back the car still rattling with an explanation that "it is a characteristic of this vehicle". Not very reassuring assessment of build quality if the suspension with less than 1000 miles of use is rattling like a New York City cab!!

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  Unhappy Owner - 2012 Kia Soul
  By kmcars123 - May 25 - 1:38 am

  Car hesitates and kills when stopping. Have owned for 9 months and Kia is still trying to get it fixed. Have been assigned Kia rep by corporate offices, but they dont really seem to care and are almost impossible to get a hold of. Since car is in shop again for last 3 weeks...will be filing Lemon Law, and hopefully we will get some results.

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  embarressed to be seen in it - 2004 Kia Rio
  By Sue Wilson - May 14 - 2:00 am

  the paint is chipping I dont want to be seen in my rio, I was proud at first untill the paint started to leave white spots

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  Tows 5000# Towing-Buyer Be Ware - 2009 Kia Borrego
  By LesC - May 9 - 11:50 pm

  The 5000# towing capacity is only good if the trailer has brakes. 1650# max without trailer brakes. If you buy one to tow a 3500# trailer without brakes, you will wind up putting out $400 or more adding brakes to you trailer. Dont beleive me? Look at the manual. Thats the only place I found it.

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  Promises they dont keep - 2001 Kia Rio
  By pattytrisha - May 9 - 2:00 am

  I got this on a trade and the gas millage is ok (not what the window sticker says), my transmission started leaking at 54K, this should have been made as a two seater car because there is only six inches between the back of the front seat and the back seat. Here is the killer though that wonderful 100,000 mile warrenty is only good if you are the origional owner. If you arent it is only good to 60,000 miles and it may even go down if you are the third who knows. One thing that is really good is the comfort if you are the driver I love the versitility of the seat. Lots of trunk space probably bigger than the back seat. Service dept. was really nice.

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  Kia Rio - 2004 Kia Rio
  By FM Hammad - May 9 - 2:00 am

  The Rio is very poor on gas it could be a little more fuel efficient.

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  Another transmission and front end noise - 2005 Kia Amanti
  By dan - May 2 - 10:03 am

  After another highway trip of 1200 miles the transmission has gone bad again ! The service manager hears the noise and has to get with Kia on it! It needs another one and this will make the third one and the front end creaking and sounds like its falling apart has been fixed twice also, with all new everything in front. They say they can do nothing else for it! It must be a lemon car !Waiting again to see if they will fix it, it only has 27,000 miles on it. Will let everyone know what happens. Im on here earlier and posted problems

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  not as expected - 2009 Kia Sedona
  By nan - April 11 - 9:56 pm

  We rode in 2 Sedonas EX that provided great ride over bumps, etc. However, due to color etc. we bought a different color Sedona EX and find the ride over cracks in the road etc. very uncomfortable. Rides well on smooth roads, but otherwise, like an old truck. Very disappointed in the quality of ride.

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  Not all That.... - 2012 Kia Optima
  By torch1342 - April 9 - 6:08 am

  Seriously, you all need to get over yourselves with this car. The interior is cramped and the interior is one giant piece of hard plastic. The headroom up front is not good if your over 6ft. The 2.4l engine makes a loud buzzing noise when you hit the gas. Overall I am pretty dissapointed with my purchase. If you read the reviews you would think that the Optima is a Mercedes, well sir it is not....