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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  Dont knock it til you try it! - 2005 Kia Sportage
  By jordans_stang - April 26 - 10:42 pm

  I am impressed. My wife and I have a 2012 Mustang and a 2013 Elantra and decided we wanted a cheap 3rd car to go off-roading and camping. I was so impressed with our Elantra that I decided to look at Sportages and Tucsons. I found that Sportages were listed cheaper, so I tested one. I actually really loved so much about it and so did my wife so we got it for such a good deal. It has so many features for a 2005! We took it up the mountain in 4 inches of fresh snow and it never slipped once--even going up steep hills. It easily tackled rocky and bumpy steep hills, too. I am more than impressed and cannot wait to go camping in the next few months. It has 125,000 miles on it and runs so smooth!

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  Amanti - 2004 Kia Amanti
  By ggage4000 - April 26 - 2:26 pm

  All the comforts and styling of a 60K luxury car for a lot less. Great reliability and warranty. Very easy steering and very smooth ride. The largest import luxury car I have driven.

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  Warranty alone overcomes short-falls - 2005 Kia Sedona
  By Dave - April 26 - 7:36 am

  Weve only owned our 05 Sedona for 4 months. 9000 miles on it now. I was surprised at the "normal" noisiness of the van. A/C compressor is extra noisy when it turns on. A clunking noise comes from the front end at any small bump in the road. Sounds like tie rod end bushings, but dealer mechanic says, "drive any 05 Sedona and youll hear the same thing." Same said about the A/C compressor. The seats are not particularly comfortable, but have a nice covering. I just had the rotors replaced from warping (8000 miles). My dealer said, "rotors not covered under warranty," a dealer in Illinois disagreed and changed them while I was on vacation.

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  Cant wait to Drive - 2010 Kia Soul
  By Soultastic - April 26 - 3:50 am

  I am a Kia Loyalist! My first car was a 02 Spectra and I drove the car everywhere! I bought it at a Kia which is gone now but I felt it was too small. Then I saw the Commercials for this car with the light up speakers and I was hooked! A year later around my birthday I bought a brand New Soul! I wish I would have been able to get the Sport but this works great. I went from only holding 2 of my friends to 5 and everyone loves the space! the ride is pretty smooth but the sun roof and sound over come any of that road noise. The handling is nice once you put snow tires on your good! I cant wait for the Hybrid 2015!

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  Best Decision I ever made - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By eternalaggie - April 26 - 2:00 am

  Friends warned me about kia suggesting they were unreliable. I am here to tell you they were wrong. I havent had a lick of trouble. And the price cant be beat

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  nice car, but wish it got better mpg - 2011 Kia Soul
  By seiri - April 25 - 3:50 pm

  Ive had the + for almost a year now and have around 12,000 miles on it. In the CITY I average 23.5mpg and near 27mpg HWY...it is a small tank and usually only costs around $30 to fill up and it lasts around a week and a half. HOWEVER, the cup holders are the worst design ever. There are bottle holders on each door, but for something with a lid and straw there is only one usable spot. The inside is nice, but scuffs up easily and the seats stain easily. There is a HUGE blind spot when backing out of a parking spot. I would not buy again over some of the new choices out there and would strongly consider spending 3-4k more on a slightly better designed car.

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  basic transportation - 2002 Kia Spectra
  By beauty - April 25 - 10:00 am

  basic car to get from point a to b. Dont expect much and you wont be disappointed.

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  Do not waste your MONEY - 2002 Kia Sportage
  By I hate this SUV - April 25 - 10:00 am

  This vehicle has nothing but problems. I have been to the repair shop at least 12 times with a stack of repair slips all for different problems. Unfortunatly the vehicle doest fall under the lemon law, so I cant get rid of it. Some probles were: Twice the starter went out, Twice the window mechanism broke. There was 3 recalls with the vehicle. Some problem with the engine that was not explained to me very well, but it could have caused a very bad accident according to the technicians. I know that all there vehicles are not like this but, you should consider money and saftey. Two of which Kia doest.

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  KIA Sephia LS - 2000 Kia Sephia
  By LeAnna Hendrix - April 25 - 2:16 am

  Very reliable and dependable automobile, vehicle is very easy to clean, maintain, drive and gas mileage is outstanding. Vehicle is comfortable, and is very acceptable on long trips. Trunk space is acceptable. The only negative comment is there is no place to set a coffee cup, or soda, without the gear shift or emergency brake being in the way. CD player exceptional, rear defroster really works well. Price of vehicle acceptable for what you get. Tires that came original on the vehicle OK, could be a better tire, original ones seem to dry rot after a couple of years. No noticeable blind spots.

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  110K miles and two kids. - 2010 Kia Forte
  By Milo - April 24 - 10:08 pm

  Bought cheap with 40K miles in 2012, its hauled two kids through high school and has the scars to show for it. Overall its been the perfect car for what we needed. I do my own maintenance and find it well designed for the DIY wrench. 25MPG on our regular commutes and low 30s on the highway...Ive never actually tried to get good MPG, Im sure 35 is attainable but Im in a hurry. Absolutely zero issues, gas, tires, oil and brake pads. Looking forward to getting 250K out of it, so far so good.