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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  Squeeky brakes - 2001 Kia Optima
  By C Johnson - January 4 - 2:00 am

  I bought a used 2001 optima about 6 months ago. The brakes wont stop squeeking, even after new brake pads. The seats are not very comfortable. The starter feels like it is going out. The door lock keeps jamming. Poor gas mileage. Stiff suspension.

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  Honest Opinion - 2007 Kia Optima
  By Not sure - January 1 - 8:53 pm

  I bought my car in September 2007, I drive about 40 miles to work every day. Since September I have the weather stripping on my windshield come off, I have had a bad tire, and the gear shifter cable undone twice leaving me stuck because my car was stuck in reverse, I have had it towed to the dealership twice within a month. Thank god the warranty covered it but not fun when you rely on your car to get to work.

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  THE SMILING COBRA - 2005 Kia Optima
  By alantalbot - January 1 - 4:27 pm

  I bought it used from Enterprise Cars in Jan 2007, it had 40K miles on it then. Had it for almost exactly 5 years. In that span of time, nothing really ever went wrong with it. It drove great. I did all the required maintenance on it. Timing belt was done at 75K. After about 4 years, gas mileage started to decline. Took it in for fuel system cleaning and a few other things. Suddenly, with no warning, there was an engine malfunction. It wasnt even overheating or making noise, but it was permanently damaged. I said goodbye to it was it was taken away to the junkyard, got 600 bucks for it. I was told by others that altho Kia is kinda cheaply made, that theyll run forever. What a lie.

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  Dont buy this car! 2000 Kia Sportage - 2000 Kia Sportage
  By dewfuss - December 30 - 4:03 am

  This car is good looking, good 4x4 action and nice interior but thats it, its really bad on gas for a small 4 cylinder, underpowered, and annoyingly noisy. If you have one with about 150k and its extremely underpowered then your catalytic converter might be clogged, that was my case.

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  No issues after 3.5 years and 74k miles - 2012 Kia Optima
  By Tracy Payne - December 14 - 12:05 pm

  This has been an excellent car. There have been no repairs required and fuel economy is 32-34 mpg for highway. OEM tires were poor, but replaced with Michelins and car drives and handles well.

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  good - 2003 Kia Rio
  By erndew1 - December 13 - 10:00 am

  fun to drive economical - little more power and bigger gas tank would be pluses - but fairly well satisfied after six months

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  Never buy a Kia - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By fullofregret - December 13 - 5:27 am

  Purchased the Kia Sorento Sx because consumer reports rated it very highly and they recommended it. (They have since taken away their recommendation). I had the vehicle for a year and in that time it was in the shop six times to try and repair squeaks and rattles. The drivers seat would squeak, they replace the back of the seat and a month later it too started squeaking. Rattles were happening from beneath the console in the doors and the sunroof. Once the dealer told me that the squeaks were coming from my sunglasses in the sunglass compartment. Of course when I took the sunglasses out, the same rattles were happening. I traded my Kia in for a Grand Cherokee and took a $11000 bath!!!

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  Good basic car - 2002 Kia Rio
  By skishopgirl - December 7 - 2:00 am

  I purchased this car because of the great price. I soon realized what I gave up. "Top of the line" means CD player, "power locks" (push down on driver lock), spoiler and I believe alloy wheels. I was misadvised at the dealership that the rear seats folded down. This caused a huge problem when I accidentally locked my keys in the trunk on a Fri. night - had to wait until Mon. for dealer who could only rekey my locks, not get into the trunk. Car was in the shop 4 x b/c service engine light constantly came on. Replacing gas tank cap didnt fix that. I soon upgraded to a fully loaded Chevy & have only vague memories of my dissapointments in this car.

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  Love her when shes not being serviced - 2014 Kia Forte
  By Corey - December 1 - 4:16 pm

  Has been to dealer for several minor repairs. At 44k miles started having over heating issues. Cooling fan stopped working. Been at dealer a week. Not a major repair and the dealer is being very helpful but concerning that it needs these repairs at 44k miles!

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  Kia Rio - 2003 Kia Rio
  By D - November 10 - 2:30 am

  I had this car for two years and had a lot of problems with it mechanically. Through the short time I had it, it dropped a cylinder, the timing belt broke, bending all of the valves and the ball bearing went bad three times. It was very fuel efficient and not a bad deal for the price, but there is a reason that they are so inexpensive.