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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  My 2003 Kia Sorento Best Car I ever have had. - 2003 Kia Sorento
  By sorento2012 - October 3 - 11:00 pm

  Minor problems like horn, clock not working. Had to replace the U-joint front and back. Everything else is fine and working. Minor leak in sunroof, was adjusted. Paint on side mirrors came off and the same for the tail hatch. Made out of plastic.

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  Better Than Decent Van - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By bracing - October 3 - 2:00 am

  Quite pleased, especially for the price. Looks nice, rides well, feels safe. Fit and finish better than imagined it would be.

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  one year later - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By BDESMP - October 1 - 6:00 am

  Bought it after reading reviews and I need a true 4 wheel drive for snow and mud. Really like the ride, and support from KIA.

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  Great car - 2006 Kia Spectra
  By Coty2000 - October 1 - 3:33 am

  Travel 50 miles each way with this roller skate. Absolutely reliable! Not a thing wrong in 3 years and 72,000. Change the oil 3500 and put gas in it and away you go. Have a 2994 sorento as well. Another great car. 82k and not a thing wrong, ever. Also have a 2006 Audi a4. Forgetaboutit! Never again!

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  value plus - 2006 Kia Sedona
  By al weir - September 25 - 5:13 pm

  As my wife is handicapped and she was having difficulty in entering our 2003 Dodge Sport Van, I visited every different dealership in our area and measured every minivan for seat height etc. We then proceeded to try those vans with the lowest threshold etc. and the Kia won hands down as my wife slid in with no problems. We purchased the vehicle after a test drive and we both find it very comfortable and easy to drive. This is a top of the line unit, solid, and relatively quiet even with the sun roof in the open position. Much quieter than the Dodge Caravan. Gas mileage has been great. 25mpg city/highway average and I anticipate 30/34 mpg on straight highway at 65/70 mph. A great van for the dollar.

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  I miss my CDs - 2016 Kia Optima
  By Joe - September 24 - 11:03 pm

  Why would the manufacturer decide not to put in CD players. We love our car which we have owned only one month, but on a recent trip through mountains both our "Sirius" and our "radio frequency" kept stopping as they couldt pick up the satellite. I love our CDs with the continuous music wherever the road leads, so when I went to put in a CD and couldnt find a place for it I called the dealership and was informed they had discontinued the CD player. Now all we get is choppy music. I am very disappointed. I wish the dealer would have mentioned it, we probably would have not gotten a KIA.

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  Things That Make you go Hmmmm - 2017 Kia Sorento
  By tombeaman - September 24 - 7:52 pm

  Ive got about 1500 miles on my new Sorento so far, and there are SO many things that I love about it. It seems to be a great value, a very comfortable car for the money. There are some items that make me scratch my head: The so-called third seat...REALLY? That is crazy in every SUV I have been in. Give it up, people. If you want a third row, get a mini-van. For the Sorento, getting that third row not only gives you a couple of seats that only an 8-year old could sit in, it also loses you some handy storage bins! How stupid! Another poorly designed feature is the power rear hatch. The Sorento has a great feature that allows the hatch to raise just by approaching the car...that is cool. What is NOT cool is that the hatch will open up while you are in the garage and then bang your hatch into your garage door. If that happens (say, your fob button gets pressed by your other keys), then you go out to the garage and open your garage door, causing hundreds of dollars of damage! This is not a problem with only the Sorento, but I never thought of it until I owned an SUV. Beware! A feature that I am having trouble with is the Automatic Forward Braking system. Its supposed to monitor traffic ahead and warn you or apply the brakes if needed to lessen a collision. A great safety feature...that turns off dozens of times each trip...about once every four miles! Accompanied by a "ding ding!" I feel like its going to be Christmas all year round! Its going back to the shop tomorrow, so well see if they fix it or not. My next whine is the leather seat warmers. Why would the switch have to be engaged every time I start my car?? And why have a switch that requires multiple taps to cycle through the options, instead of a two-or-three position switch? My other cars with this feature have an Off-Low-High toggle switch, and when you a running errands the heater comes on to the last setting. But the Sorento has to be turned on each time, and then you have to push the button repeatedly to go from high to medium to low heat. Now, after that list of complaints, I still LOVE how it drives. A powerful engine (a little too touchy on the gas pedal), smooth tranny and ride, tight turning radius, great visibility. I am happy, but I do wish those things on my list were not so puzzling. Another oddity about KIA is that accessories cost twice as much if you wait to get them after the sale. Seems to me that a posted price for an accessory should be the same whether the item is installed at the dealer or at the port. And another thing??? Hire someone who actually knows English to write your owners manuals! UPDATE: The Forward Braking problem is already a service advisory from KIA. So the good news is they are on top of it. The bad news is the fact that it was not done properly to begin with, and now the part is on order. Ill update this again as the repair process proceeds.

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  Worth what I paid! - 2003 Kia Sedona
  By DC7864 - September 21 - 10:00 am

  I had it just over a month with 1200 miles on it. Good van for the the price. 50% larger cargo space will really make the daily duty more functional as van. There is a background acceleration sound coming from AC pipe vibration every 3 to 5 minutes when cruising. Very annoying when driving. For such a heavy vechicle (over 4800 lb) KIA should use larger tires than 215/70R15. With full load there is only about 500 lb of safety margin. Sienna and Odyssey has over 1000 lb of margin. Only time will tell the car will worth the money for the next 5 years. I brought the van after I saw many good comment, hope everyone is right about this van.

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  Great Gas Mileage. Priced to high. - 2012 Kia Rio
  By larrytauch - September 15 - 3:17 pm

  The New KIA RIO is a eye catcher. We averaged 37 MPG around our Town. On the Highway we got 42.3 MPG, and it wasnt a Hybrid. Front Passenger Seat is mounted to low. Drivers Seat was fine with manual height adjustment. If you need Power leave the ECO button off. If you want Great Gas Mileage leave the ECO button engaged! We have had our KIA RIO LX Sedan for 21 mths. Parts are mostly only available at the Dealer! Parts are very expensive!

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  Solid Value, - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By Phil - September 12 - 2:00 am

  Shopped/drove $19-23K competition(used Edge, Mariner, CX7, CR-V, Pilot, Highlander, old MDX), we drove both 4/6 cyl Sorento. Kia dealer experience better than expected. Ultimately new Sorento V6 LX final price was competitive with other cars that were 4 years old and had 30-40K miles. Kia 100K mile warranty is world class. Have 1500 miles. Would give car a solid B. Ride is compliant but a bit tough over pot holes. Comfort is very good. V6 engine is strong, idle is not perfect, gas mileage only fair. Visibility from drivers seat takes getting used to, but mirrors are big. Base radio has good features but only fair fidelity. Bluetooth not solid. Got third seat, still good room. So Far So Good.