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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  Sedona on Course! - 2004 Kia Sedona
  By JOrlando540 - September 9 - 2:00 am

  Sedona holds road just fine Interior has lots of goodies including first aid kit under seat. Only problem is fuel consumption. On 1600 mile trip to Fla averaged 15 MPG.

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  STILL GOING AND SURPRISING - 2008 Kia Rio
  By cf - September 8 - 12:23 pm

  An Update. My 08 Rio is coming up on 39k. I drive all highway and still am impressed on the way in which the car handles, except in snow well go figure. Nothing major, all regular maintence so far. The car is a little trooper. round trip I drive 140 miles, reason i bought the lil sipper. The car has all I need. I have noticed what others are saying about the slow shift with the automatic transmissions, especially when the car is cold, which in the northeast is common. I am not worried yet about it. I tell you the car takes a beating and is holding up, I am hoping for long too. I am rough on the cars I drive so I hope to have it a few more years in this one.

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  Waiting for results - 2006 Kia Sedona
  By RF - September 6 - 12:06 am

  This is my first minivan purchase; everything else I have owned has been a car, but starting a new family persuaded me into the "Family" car. Overall, I love the van, the features, and space. Comparing it to other competitors, I found that it felt more solid and car-like than others. The price was also significantly lower for equivalent features. Theyve built a winner I think. A couple of problems that still need to be fixed though. At 1200 miles, the check engine light came on because of misfiring. Ever since then it has been back in the shop every 750 miles or so, and they still dont know what is wrong with it. Hopefully gas mileage will go up after this problem is fixed.

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  Great for the Price! - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By Jeff Pottberg - September 4 - 11:25 am

  Started with a lease of the 2011 Sorento AWD. Was looking for a safe AWD for my daughter to use in college in New England. This model is great in snow and has a very tight turning radius. Didnt get many options as I was looking for a base model under $25K. I ended up buying out the lease and still like to drive it. Just came back from a 3,000 mile road trip with it and even though I have back problems. I found it comfortable to drive for long periods of time.

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  Good Choice - 2009 Kia Sportage
  By Chris - September 4 - 7:30 am

  Overall, we really like the Sportage. The ride is excellent and very smooth for a SUV. The acceleration is a little sluggish but isnt missed in normal driving. The headrest positioning is a little uncomfortable but can be adjusted with some work to a workable compromise.

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  Nothing lasts forever..! =( - 2000 Kia Sephia
  By loves2drive1 - September 1 - 9:53 am

  I bought this car last year from a woman on Craigslist who she was sad to sell it, and I quickly found out why! I paid less than $400 for it with 180k. I did not have to do any major work at all! I do a lot of back & forth driving & this car was perfect for me & my child.Great gas milege,the car was very well cared for before I got it&I kept up w reg maintenece.Only issue I had was rear defrost didnt always work. AC needed charging.The cup holder design is terrible,as others have posted.Today,it has 201,982 mls & will be heading to the scrap yrd,sadly it has a minor crack in head & w this many mls,I am getting something else,but am sad to see it go!I def say YES to Kia, we had a great run!

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  Nice Car - 2013 Kia Optima
  By webelnv - August 31 - 6:46 am

  We bought the SXL. It looks great and drives nice. It does have a few blind spot you need to get use to. Weve had the car for 3 months now and are fuel mileage for street and highway has been about 21-22 mpg. We havent taken it on a road trip yet. The only thing I didnt like about the SXL is you can only get white or black interior. In the northwest I really dont like black interior so we went with white. It would have been nice if you could get tan or a grey interior in the SXL. We have had some problems with the nav. system not working. Have had to turn car off and restart it to get it to work.

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  Very Poor Gas Mileage - 2013 Kia Optima
  By winks1 - August 24 - 11:54 pm

  I have had my 2013 Kia Optima for 6 months have over 15,000 mile on it do mostly highway driving have yet to get better that 26 mpg. Most of the time averaging low 20s. Although it is a beautiful car I would not buy it again. I would go with a car with more proven gas mileage. I Was getting 45+ with my VW Jetta TDI, Will probably go back to them next time.

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  expensive repairs - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By resimc2 - August 24 - 5:16 pm

  I made a major trip ( 6000 miles back & forth & the van was wonderful).Very comfortable driving & interior. Once it crossed the 60,000 miles bumper to bumper warranty it started to have every major problem. # 1 some kind of pulley broke inside ( total cost $ 1300), then alternator ( cost $ 600), then seat belt ($ 125), then steering shaft ($ 200), then engine light ( minor issue but I didnt fix it).The plastic on the sides of the doors is kind of weak), bumpers are thin & fragile( I didnt fix it) finally a trauma to the backlight will cost $ 250 to replace. This vehicle is expensive to repair. Gas mileage is not great but not that terrible anyway.

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  Good looking ride - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By Raylan - August 24 - 10:00 am

  Purchase a 2004 Sorento, used from Kia of Santa Ana, CA. The dealer was great. No pressure, no hassles. Did everything I asked before taking the truck. Everything except the mileage is good to go. Nice style, quite ride, although a bit rough at time in the back seats. Several before paid off but if a few things improve (see suggested improvements), I will purchase another Sorento when the time comes.