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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  Works For Me - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By MegaSarge - April 6 - 7:00 pm

  Very nice highway and city driver. Just turned 70K, no major problems, but Ill need the major service, timing belt, etc and they hook you for that (who doesnt?). Hankook tires were replaced at 45K and I had it aligned and tires balanced. Luggage rack is actually useful. Easy entrance and exit, solid doors, solid, quiet car.

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  From Behemoth to Best - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By one "l" - April 4 - 7:46 pm

  I drove a Chevy conversion van and wanted to downsize so searched via internet. Unfortunately, my perfect minivan didnt mesh with my pocketbook. Put off decision until last July I drove by a Kia dealer and saw the Sedona, checked it out and fell in love. It had everything I wanted at an affordable price. We bought it the next day without knowing much about it, but at least I knew what I was comparing it to. After putting 10,000 miles on it to date, I still love it.

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  A nice car - 2011 Kia Forte
  By concordenerd - April 4 - 1:21 pm

  Had this last week as a rental and was very nice. I wanted a Optima or a Sonata, but they were out and said I would take a Prius. They were out of them too. Avis insisted that I try this as it was a nice car they said. Had 400 miles on it so it was new. A nice car with a lot of features standard. Useful features. Averaged over 180 miles 35 MPG.

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  Love my Sorento - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By conazza - April 2 - 6:13 am

  Great SUV with lots of comfort and room. Got it for a low 19,000! Took it on a 400 mile trip and was thrilled to average 29.2 miles per gallon. Im getting about 25.5 in the city so Im very happy. I wanted a comfortable car for family trips that would get good gas mileage and Ive found it! I have the 4 cylinder and am fine with the amount of power it has.

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  just bought it - 2014 Kia Soul
  By Joseph - April 1 - 6:30 am

  Great car for the value i bought mine used with 40k miles and it is rather nice. i am normally a truck guy but got this for longer commuets to a new job. It handles well and has great gas mileage and it is super comfy inside.

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  What a sexy little beast! - 2017 Kia Sportage
  By Trisha Vilhauer - March 30 - 6:21 am

  This is actually my 5th Kia. I have owned a 2003 Kia Spectra, 2013 Kia Optima, 2016 Kia Optima, 2016 Kia Sorento, and not this beautiful 2017 Kia Sportage. I got the Sportage to replace the Sorento. I owned the Sorento for only 2 months before things started to break. It only had 1000 miles on it before the sun roof broke, and the trim pieces around the door started falling off. I never could get the UVO system to work properly. When I went to the dealership the Sportage was what I wanted, but they didnt have it in the trim level that I wanted and when they did get one in I wasnt impressed. When I took my Sorento in for repairs thats when I saw the 2017 Sportage and decided that this was a huge upgrade from the 2016. So I went all in. So far Im really impressed with this car. The look is sexy and sporty, and fun. The interior feels expensive (in most places), the tech package and all of the upgrades are awesome. This car has it all. It drives and handles great, and I love that the turbo engine give me all of the power I need to pass easily, and move in and through traffic without worrying about having the get up to make it into tight spaces. I can see myself driving this car for 10+ years. Pros: Excellent technology package, TONS of features like autonomous breaking, front collision warning, ventilated and heated seats, beautiful styling and I LOVE the dark brown leather seats. Lots of power and speed when its needed, comfortable ride, and the car feels spacious. Placement of all of the controls is perfect, everything is easy to find and easy to use. Android Auto is AWESOME!!! Cons: Some of the finishes feel a little cheap. I would have been willing to pay a little more for visors that dont feel like they are made of cheap plastic, The lack of the memory seat function, and the lack of the easy entry seat also gives the car a little bit of a cheap feeling. These things are very noticeable because the rest of the finishes are better quality. It would be nice if this car had the same luxury feel that the Sorento has. UVO system is still troublesome. I can only get the eServices portion to sync to my phone sporadically, and its a bummer that you need to have the phone plugged in to use it. Same with Android Auto there seem to be a few glitches like after taking a call the Google Play Music wont restart. I believe some of these things will be fixed throughout the year as updates are released. Still it would be nice to be able to use these functions via Bluetooth instead of needing to plug the phone in. More road noise than the Sorento, and the Optima. Bottom line this is a GREAT car, and I look forward to many years of enjoyment from it.

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  Liberated from a "Liberty" - 2005 Kia Sorento
  By Nancy Lavely - March 28 - 10:00 am

  After driving a Jeep Liberty for two years that I truly hated , I purchased a Kia Sorento that I now am extremely happy with. When my husband and I test drove it, we were like, "What is this? A joke?" All the features did not compute with the low price.

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  Awesome zippy little car! - 2011 Kia Soul
  By saems78 - March 25 - 7:43 am

  So i recently bought the 2011 Kia soul a week ago. All I have to say it is absolutly amazing! The avg mpg stats 24 as a base around town, well i get nothing under 29.5 mpg around town, and 39.9 highway! With the way these gas prices are, that is very helpful to say the least! It rides very nice, and is very very roomy, I absolutly love this car. If you are looking for a well built, stylish car, look no further, you have found it with the soul, and so have I!

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  A Great Car - 2002 Kia Optima
  By raz - March 25 - 2:00 am

  This car was bought just yesterday. I think that it is a wonderful car. I do not care about what Kia/Hyundais past reliability were. I just know that this is a great car.

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  Good Van - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By Tanker 1 - March 25 - 2:00 am

  Have 15K on it. Milege improved after 10K. Wife loves it. Plenty of Zip and smooth tranny. We like the tray between seats. Very well designed