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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  Bad Spectra - 2009 Kia Spectra
  By kennyg - February 25 - 7:13 am

  This is the worst car I have ever owned. I have an intermittent (has happened about 25 times) problem when the brake pedal will go soft while braking and the car takes a greater distance to stop. The dealer cannot replicate, this time they drove car 53 miles. KIA national does nothing to help me with this problem. I have had to pay for a rental car. The car is going to hurt someone, probably me. I will never buy another KIA. You get what you pay for.

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  Not Enough Bang For The Buck - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By nojoke1 - February 21 - 6:14 pm

  We purchased a 2011 SX AWD with 42,000 miles recently. This being my first Kia and first SUV I was excited to say the least. However, after a few weeks of driving I started noticing little things such as rattles, rough ride, touchy steering, road noise, acceleration issues (barely touch the pedal and expect a whiplash), cheap plastic interior, uncomfortably flat seat cushions, and seat warmers with one setting (scalding or off). It has already been in the shop for shift lock cam being loose and within a month is going back for the same problem. I believe the Sorento has potential as being a quality vehicle but has several issues to improve on. I find it substandard for the price!

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  Never Again - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By bnksmith - January 31 - 7:16 pm

  Purchased van w/ 48,000 miles. Ran fine when purchased. Heat caused dash compartment latch to break now its up all the time. Im not fat and side plastic on seat broke. A/C went out, spent 500.00-broke again-all summer!! Very squirrely in wet driving conditions-its all over the road. Traded out from Rendezvous, because I needed a van. Not much space in back when using 3rd row. (Should have stuck with Rendezvous) Having ghost lights on dash. Brake and other light on ALL the time-no reason. Engine light on-no reason. Gas mileage STINKS!! Figure Ill upgrade to Excursion. It gets around same MPG! HATE IT HATE IT HATE IT!!!

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  3 words RIGHT FRONT STRUT - 2004 Kia Amanti
  By NotLuxury - January 23 - 12:30 am

  The car is beautiful. The right front strut is a disaster. It may look like a luxury car; it may be priced a little under the luxury cars, but the right strut noise makes this purchase my worst nightmare. Dont trust the test drive unless you can keep it for at least two weeks.

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  Bad deal - 2006 Kia Sportage
  By Greg - January 10 - 3:13 am

  Hate to say, I dislike my car. Its nice when its standing on parking lot. No fun to drive at all.

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  Green lemon on the road. - 2003 Kia Spectra
  By lemonowner - January 6 - 10:00 am

  I purshased my Kia on June 1, 2003and it has been in the shop four times already. This is the worst car I have even own, drove or even been in because it is a brand new car and has so many different problems including but not limited to poor gas mileage, water pump, radiator pump going and a few more problems.

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  Bad to the bone. - 2011 Kia Optima
  By snowman22 - January 4 - 12:04 am

  My 2011 Kia hybrid is now just a bad memory. The hybrid system is nothing short of dangerous. Push the pedal and it would not go. Lots of fun when pulling into traffic. Jerked,hesitate and just awful to drive. Did I mention unsafe. Also seats as hard as bleachers at the ball park. Just horrible. No padding at all. Last---no resale. The Kia dealer would not even take it in on trade. They cant even get rid of it. They offer the lowest auction price. Dirt bottom. So stay away from these vehicles. You will regret the purchase. Dont believe the bull of---we now have the update fit. Not true---just as bad. These cars are a accident waiting to happen. Just Remember--DANGEROUS TO DRIVE.

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  A Soul + at a Soul ! price - 2017 Kia Soul
  By Tim - January 2 - 5:55 pm

  Ive always liked the Kia Souls but never got one because I felt they were under powered. Enter the 2017 Kia Soul ! and its 1.6L turbo engine. The engine isnt the problem with this car. The problem is that it is only available on the Exclaim model and the Exclaim has added and subtracted a few things. Theyve added a red strip that goes around the bottom of the exterior and gave the interior Leather/cloth seats with orange stitching. They didnt make the Soul a race car by any means, they just added an engine that gave it enough power not to feel like you had to floor it everywhere you went. So why would they make it like a kids toy and add stupid little things like that? On to the list of things that are gone. The front cooled seats are no longer an option and the heated front seats are still there but now only have 2 heat settings instead of 3. Those items are still available on the Soul +. So instead of getting the Soul ! that used to be the top trim level youre getting a Soul ! that isnt even fully loaded. Still, it is a great car Kia just needs to figure out their color schemes and option availability.

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  Never Again - 2005 Kia Sedona
  By Leftyflinter - December 27 - 7:03 am

  I have owned 6 brand new vehicles and this has to be worse than the 15 year old Subaru I got rid of that had 235,000 miles on it. I can not think of any positive feedback for this vehicle. The warranty is only good if the manufacturer will fix/repair the problems.

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  Many problems with my Kia - 2000 Kia Sportage
  By purpledog - December 23 - 10:00 am

  Have had many problems with my Sportage. Have 32,000 miles on it and already had the exhaust system replaced, new brakes and tires. They just had to replace the 4 wheel drive system and now it needs a whole new fuel system including gas tank and fuel injectors. The ride is loud, noisy engine even when idling. Luckily almost everything has been covered under the warranty.