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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  2nd Review - 2006 Kia Sedona
  By Mike - October 20 - 8:03 am

  After owning this van for six months I can say that were very happy with it. As I read everyone elses reviews, I see that the mileage is complaint #1 and I have to admit at the beginning I felt the same way. However, now that we put about 3500 miles on it and the weather is getting better, we live in Chicago, were starting to see an improvement on this issue. Also, you need to hit the reset button on the console once in a while in order to get an accurate mileage reading. Other than that, we have no complaints. She still rides and feels tight as day one. After first winter, were surprised how well it handles the snow/slippery conditions.

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  Good Local Commuter Car - 2003 Kia Rio
  By MIKE - October 19 - 3:56 pm

  Have presently 72,000 miles on a 2003 Rio sedan automatic. Gets 35 mpg at 70 - 75 and a/c on. Changed tires at 62,000 miles and went with a 195 series instead of the 165 it came with. Ride is definitely better. Change oil every 5,000 miles. Changed timing belt at 58,000 miles. Problems: front exterior door handles have fallen off at 50,000. Dealer took care of problem immediately. Had air bags deploy at a very low impact. 3 mph. Zero damage to car, hit car in front who didnt go at stop sign. $2,000 for front pair of air bags and front seat belts replaced. Still love car. Would buy another.

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  Looking Good - 2005 Kia Amanti
  By gia - October 19 - 10:26 am

  Ive had this car since Sept. and so far it is fantastic - a beautiful car inside and out! The only thing that I dont like is the city mileage but for a car this size its not bad. My all around mileage is approximately 22.5 mpg and it is comprised of approximately 50% city and 50% highway driving.

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  Great Start...a few nitpicks - 2011 Kia Optima
  By flip00 - October 19 - 3:22 am

  Wow, Kia hit a home-run with the new Optima. Researched and then drove all the competitors in both 4 and 6 cylinder high end versions, and the Optima hands down was superior. had to wait almost 3 months to get mine, I had really just wanted an EX with the premium package...love those cooled seats in the hot El Paso sun, but have not regretted the SX. Have not experienced the pull to the left, and the car is as quiet as my former Accord EX-L on the road. A few quality issues with the sunglass holder and mood lighting not functioning on the passenger door and I do get have the rattle from the sunroof. getting an average of 24-28 in mixed driving in part due to elevation Would buy again!

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  A great value... - 2003 Kia Optima
  By bulldog485 - October 18 - 2:00 am

  We decided to look at the Kia Optima along with everything from the Olds Alero, Toyota Camery, Ford Taurus and a whole slew of others. The Kia Optima SE V6 won hands down for both the price, the features that came standard and the warranty. The same car in a Toyota Camery would cost about $5,000 more and I liked the exterior lines of the Optima. With four months and 7,000 miles on the clock, we are still happy with our purchase and I fully plan to have the car past its warranty. My personal goal is to have this car past 150,000 miles and from what I see so far, I will... Good car for the money.

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  Fuel - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By nevik - October 17 - 11:23 pm

  The only thing I am disappointed in is the fuel economy. It doesnt even get close to what the sticker says. I can see a couple miles less but when you get 8 to 10 miles off, thats a big difference. I based my decision to purchase this SUV because of the fuel economy it was supposed to have.

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  KIA Out Does Themselves Again - 2016 Kia Optima
  By Tom Gage - October 17 - 12:27 am

  If upgrading to the Harmon Kardon stereo system, you sacrifice a CD player. The sacrifice is worth it. You can use a personal Apple IPhone, Apple or other brand Ipad as well as an MP3 to play your recorded music with the USB cord. Other than this perhaps negative for some buyers, it is a delightful ride with all the top safety features and luxurious features of the finest cars offered by all top auto manufacturers and surpassing them. It should be noted that this is my second newly purchased KIA. The previously owned 2010 KIA Forte LX accumulated over 195,000 miles with only normally scheduled maintenance. BRAVO! I expect no less than the attainment of this achievement for my 2016 KIA Optima SXL Turbo when combined with the past exceptional KIA service.

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  Great little car - 2004 Kia Rio
  By stanley p tibbs - October 16 - 10:00 am

  This has been a very good little car . I have had absolutely no problems with this car . Ive put over 18000 miles on this car in less than a year. The gas mileage has been as high as 41 mpg, never below 33 mpg.For a low price car ,you just cant beat this little car.

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  Best value for comfort and performance - 2004 Kia Optima
  By glim - October 16 - 10:00 am

  Bid most 2-litre non-NA cars on the road

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  FUN SUV - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By Gslimboy - October 16 - 10:00 am

  I have had this SUV for 2.5 months and have loved every minute of it. I have taken it for a trip into Central Oregon and up into Washington and ofcourse in Beautiful BC. It handled beautifully. On and off the road it was great. The gas mileage is a little rough, but apart from that I love it. Only other negative is the towing capacity. I would have preferred it to be 5000 lbs as opposed to the current rated 3500lbs.