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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  Fun AND Value - 2012 Kia Soul
  By kevster63 - January 17 - 5:08 am

  I have had my Soul for about 9 months now, and have 11K miles on her. I find it way too fun to drive, and as a daily driver I find my commute a far better experience than it once was. It has great performance considering the 2.0 liter engine (I also own a Hemi...), and scoots along just fine. The biggest issue is its lack of aerodynamics (but the BOX is cute!) so its mileage suffers on the highway if you are travelling faster than 65-70mph. Below 65mph it gets GREAT mileage, so I can easily average 30 mpg on my daily commute (20/80 city/hwy). Comfy seats, Awesome UVO sound system, bluetooth features, and more, make it fun! I have had absolutely NO reliability issues! 11K miles and HAPPY!

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  3 months and still thrilled ! - 2003 Kia Sorento
  By dlb14frost - January 16 - 2:00 am

  Must say Im VERY pleased with my Sorento EX 4X4. Vehicle has the luxury package but no ABS or load leveling and so far havent needed either. Its been colder and snowier than average here and its handled well in the snow conditions. I have to admitt its probably been the most fun to drive vehicle Ive ever had. Used to drive Subaru Outback and Forester but I like the Kia better. I was a bit reluctant to try a Kia but glad I made the switch !

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  best fuel efficient, reliable car - 2006 Kia Rio
  By euroboy - January 13 - 2:43 am

  My 2006 rio5 has already 385,000 km on it and is still running perfectly. Its my second rio, I drive it for a living, and I love the car, I cannot say a bad word about it, it never gave me any problems at all. The only thing I fixed so far are: ball joints, wheel bearings, tie rods (rough country roads) & fuel purge valve (filthy north American gasoline) buy the car new, maintain it well, dont drive it like a maniac (I. E. Floor the gas pedal), change oil every 5000 km, timing belt every 100,000, put premium fuel in it and she will never fail you! To the guy whose rio stalls & overheats on the hwy: go buy a tank!

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  2014 Optima LX - 2014 Kia Optima
  By merimac - January 12 - 11:00 pm

  We have owned our Optima LX for almost a year now. We are very happy with the car. We like the design, the sporty feel when driving it, and so far we have had no problems. We were amazed that the car could be purchased for about 20K. Other midsized cars we looked at were 3 or 4 grand more. Overall, a very good car at a very reasonable price. The long warranty was also a factor in our purchase.

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  Nice car - 2006 Kia Rio
  By David J - January 12 - 7:33 pm

  The car now has 14,000 miles and so far no problems. It handles/drives very nicely for a car of this class. I test drove a Nissan Sentra and a Honda Civic and they did not drive as good as this Kia. It is quiet on the road even at highway speeds. It performs well, engine is peppy. The automatic transmission shifts very smoothly. It steers/brakes excellently, turns nicely. Radio sounds great. Trunk has spacious room for this type of car, especially with rear seat backs folded down. I get 32.7 MPG combined with mostly city/heavy urban driving. You get good value for the money with this car.

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  Zoom,Zoom - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By annam1 - January 11 - 6:43 pm

  Ive put a thousand miles on this van in 3 weeks. I have enjoyed the driving time in the car. It is comfortable, quiet and all dials, etc. are conviently located and easy to reach. Mileage is better than advertised at 17.5 mph mostly city driving.

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  Stop Looking and Buy - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By Sedona Lover!! - January 11 - 10:00 am

  I love this Van. My husband and I bought this Van last year and we still love it. No regrets!! Even with the other new Vans we see on the road, it still feels new to us. When we see other people driving Sedonas, they even stop and talk to us. they say things like " Dont you love it" and "Isnt this a great Van" TRUE!! Its all TRUE. Thats how wonderful this Van is!!

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  Luxury at a bargain - 2005 Kia Sorento
  By Charles Bates - January 9 - 10:33 pm

  This easy to handle fun to drive SUV is a luxury bargain on wheels. The EX model doesnt have all the bells and whistles offered by the LX model, but you will still feel like you are driving a vehicle that is well designed from the ground up. The engine just purrs quietly but has ample pick up and passing power. Controls are easy to reach and clearly marked.

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  Pleased with my New Optima - 2007 Kia Optima
  By John M - January 7 - 4:33 am

  I have the LX AT version with the Appearance package. Ive had it for 3 and a half months at the time of this writing, and I am convinced that I made the right choice when purchasing this vehicle. I owned a Kia before this and had a couple of problems that needed warranty work, and the fit and finish were not that great. This has not been the case with this vehicle. I have yet to have any issues and no matter how much Ive inspected it, I havent identified any fit and finish defects, and the material seems high quality. The interior with the appearance package is just plain beautiful, worthy of a $30,000 vehicle, and I paid about half that after rebates; WAY LESS than an equivalent Accord.

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  Kia is reliability... - 2005 Kia Sportage
  By Big Ski - January 6 - 7:10 pm

  Great vehicle! I am 66" and the CR-V nor the RAV-4 had any space for me. A big plus is the price. I got what I wanted and stayed BELOW what I wanted to spend. My wife and I own a Sedona already as well and that has held up great as well.