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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  Not at all what its supposed to be - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By lokiinlv - November 1 - 6:37 am

  Bought the high end SX thinking it would have all the great features and a responsive engine. The engine was terribly unresponsive. The electronics in the vehicle kind of worked when they wanted to. Not at all what I expected from the high end model of what was supposed to be a fairly reliable vehicle. We took a loss and quickly traded this vehicle in because of the multitude of things that were going wrong and the poor support that came along with it.

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  Mix if good and bad - 2007 Kia Sportage
  By ken90004 - October 22 - 2:59 pm

  After six years and 65,000 miles, we are sending off the last payment. It is nice to have a vehicle that outlasted the loan. Still under extended b-2-b for another 35,000 miles, so we can pay ourselves. This car will give you peave of mind One only issue we had a the A/C stopped working. It ended up being a loose bolt. We even towed a light pop-up with this, with no issues. Its been a great vehicle. Peppy off the line but slow on the highway. Good in the rain and snow. But the gas mileage is terrible for such a small engine. One of our better buys .

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  Blown Engine - 2012 Kia Optima
  By J Supanich - October 19 - 3:00 am

  Engine blew at 47,000. Like others have posted, my engine blew driving 70 mph on the highway. I bought the car used with 36,000 miles. At 42,000 it needed the fuel pump replaced (under warranty). When the engine blew, it took a long time for Kia Motors to approve the work. They will try to find reasons to not cover the work. I finally got my car back 6 weeks later. Another issue I have is it is consistently pulling to the left. I have had it looked at 3 times already and its still not fixed. I do really like the some of the features of the Optima though. The Navigation and Climate Controls are on point. And it has a nice sporty feel to the car, but at this point Im looking to trade it in ASAP before something else goes wrong.

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  bumpy, bumpy, bumpy - 2007 Kia Rondo
  By Bearoness - October 16 - 5:46 am

  I enjoy driving the Rondo but you feel every bump in the road and that is uncomfortable. The gas mileage is okay but I had hoped it would be better (dont we all?)

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  Nice car, shady dealer experience - 2018 Kia Stinger
  By carenthusiast - October 13 - 10:58 am

  KIA made a nice car, but, they need more professional sales people and marketing tactics. They did a nice job copying the exterior of an Audi A5 Sportback with the interior of a Mercedes. The materials and fit are still subpar. For example, the push button is hidden behind the steering wheel. The temperature gauge feels like cheaper silver plastic, too. For some reason KIA won’t let you buy the GT with a sunroof, and the roof materials are dark making it a bit too claustrophobic for me. A lighter roof color would be better. Also, most of the GT1 and GT2 colors come only in red leather. To me, the gray Nappa is best but only comes in blue and few dealers carry it. Lots of red, black, and whites. The dealers experience was such a turn off I began looking at the Audi instead. It’s about the same price without all the bling, including the cheap plastic airports on the hood that serve no function.

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  My thoughts - 2004 Kia Rio
  By crapmail - October 1 - 2:00 am

  I only have 400 miles on it so far. It is a little slow and the seats are real firm. Not really a complaint because I did not expect a great deal from a car in this price range. I bought it to get to and from work. It gets much better MPG than my other car which is a main reason for the purchase. So far I am quite happy with the car.

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  Problem with electronic steering - 2011 Kia Sportage
  By garydevans - September 30 - 3:21 am

  My vehicle has two distinct issues with the electronic steering. 1) When driving in a straight line the car wanders to the left and right. There does not seem to be a preference. Sometimes it goes left and sometimes it goes right. 2) There is some stiction in the steering wheel control. As you try to correct slightly for the wandering the steering does not react to the first slight control pressure but as the pressure is increased it does release usually resulting in an over correction. As a result of these two problems the car will weave down a straight road with the need for constant corrections on the steering wheel.

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  Caveat emptor - 2006 Kia Sportage
  By Edzo - September 30 - 2:16 am

  In <13K miles and 6 months ownership the engine has been replaced twice on mine. Service has been barely adequate and honoring the warranty provisions was met with reluctance. Its comfortable, quiet and reasonably efficient. It handles well on all road surfaces and has a number of great safety features. All controls are easily accessible without distracting the operator. Sound system is decent for being stock, too. Frankly, I love my Sportage. If not for the poorly re-engineered engine and weak service Id recommend it whole- heartedly.

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  Beware of dealer - 2012 Kia Soul
  By thuds - September 22 - 1:28 am

  Quite a few dealers sell KIAs as a secondary model-more of a "cost leader". Some really dont care whether the customer is happy with poor service because its not their "main" brand. If factory mats fail at 7000 miles thats standard due to "cheap" materials. I was disappointed with dealer treatment and with their service department, plus poor followup from their sales department. Had Scions, Mini Coopers, Jetta TDIs and got outstanding service. Not in KIAs case. Mileage not as advertised, but did not expect it to be. All round, I feel the car can be great, just dont expect decent service or followup after the sale.

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  Not impressed in Nashville - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By chicks in nashville - August 30 - 6:20 pm

  After an hour and half of us signing on the dotted line, we had a check engine light come on. When you read the manual it says its related to the omission sensor. After 3 months and many visits to the dealer, we (dealer/manufacturer) think the problem has been resolved. Kia sent a field engineer to the dealer who spent, in total, 3 days trying different things and replacing several parts. Also, over the course of these three months we had other issues arise. The backup camera picture was distorted at times. The DVD player didnt work. The Auto climate control function went out and makes a rattling noise. And the list goes on and on. First time buying a Kia and not impressed.