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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  Not Impressed with the Optima or KIA - 2013 Kia Optima
  By Kris Parsons - May 7 - 10:34 am

  Bought a 2013 brand new KIA Optima LX (4cyl) at Cobb County KIA in Kennesaw, GA. I came into the dealership with my own financing. The salesman suggested that I should give their credit manager an opportunity to see if he could beat my current financing rate. I acquiesced and later regretted that decision. THREE hours later and after almost walking away from the deal, we finally got the paperwork signed. Apparently Cobb County KIA uses their credit manager to try and re-negotiate the deal. Extremely frustrated with how they do business. About a year later, Im driving down the highway when I realize I have a flat tire. No big deal...have had to deal with this several times in my life. So I pull over to the shoulder, get out, open the trunk and pull up the trunk mat to find....NOTHING...where the spare should be is a little box containing a small air compressor and a can of "Fix-a-Flat". [non-permissible content removed]?? So I call the dealer thinking that surely theres some mistake...but no, the service manager tells me that KIA doesnt put spare tires in the Optima LX. But they do give you a little air compressor and Fix a flat. Now Im pissed...I never even thought to check and see if the car had a spare when I was buying the damn thing. Logical assumption, right? Managed to get my car over to Discount Tire where they hooked me up in replacing my tire, and gave me a great deal on a cheap rim and used tire to keep in my car as an actual spare. Take notes KIA...actual customer service. Which is why I will always go back to Discount Tire but I will never buy another KIA product. Engine light comes on yesterday. Take the Optima by an AutoZone so they could check the code. Guy tells me its a fuel sensor code and that KIA hasnt released parts to the parts stores so Id have to take the car to the dealer for service. Got an appointment this morning with the Cobb County KIA dealership. They take it back and after about an hour and half they call me up to tell me that the bad fuel sensor was included as part of a recall and therefore there would be no charge. Great...finally some good news. Well drive it around front for you. While Im waiting, he comes back and says the engine light came on again...we need to check it out. After another hour of waiting, he comes out to tell me that another fuel sensor/GDI pump is bad...but this time its not covered by a recall or warranty (keep in mind I have 79k miles on the car and is still under the 100k warranty). $1,067!!!! Unbelievable. I express my frustration to him...less than 3 yr old car still under warranty and Im already paying over a $1,000 for repairs. Keeping in mind I cant go anywhere else since KIA has a stranglehold on their parts. This is the final straw for me. I will never own another KIA product and I will tell everyone I know not to purchase one either.

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  Not happy at all! - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By Connie - May 1 - 7:10 pm

  I purchased my Kia Sorento in March. Ive driven it 648 miles. So far, the car has at least 3 rattles that sound like the car is falling apart. I got the back up camera - a waste of time because it cuts down your view in the rear view mirror. The mirror dims at night so you cant see where cars are behind you - dangerous! It rides like a truck and the brakes make me pray every time I try to apply them -- never know if they will stop me! Fairly decent gas mileage. I traded in my Toyota Highlander for this vehicle, and as soon as I can save up enough money, Ill trade the Sorento in to get back to my Highlander. Ive driven Toyotas for 22 years -- never a rattle. Not so with Sorento!

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  Poor Reliability and Poor Service - 2013 Kia Sorento
  By neveragain727 - April 29 - 6:02 pm

  We bought a new 2012 Kia Sorento for our daughter in college in 08/2011. She put 9,800 miles on the car so far with all the normalized services being up to date. This Saturday 10/27/2012, she drove from Miami to Naple, and this car died on I-75! Thank the Lord that neither she nor her friend got hurt! She had it towed to Fuccillo Kia dealership in Cape Coral, FL. This dealership did the initial evaluation that day, but could not diagnosed the reason why the car died! Thus, my 20 year old daughter had to leave the car in the Cape Coral Kia dealership, and no one at this dealership offered to help her getting a loaner/ rental car through Kia warranty coverage! My daughter had to ask her friend to drive from Miami (an hour and 45 minutes away) to pick her up and bring her back to Miami that evening! Of course, nothing was done on Sunday. On Monday, the Cape Coral Kia dealership had to ask that we should contact our Kia dealership in Clearwater to fax all the service records to them as all the Kia dealershipsservice databases are separated with no connectivity or sharing capability among them. I called the National Kia Customer Service to ask for help as the Clerwater Kia dealership did not respond initially to our request. The toll-free National Kia Customer Service lady said that Kia National headquarter does not have any data on services at any of their dealerships, but she gave me a case # and her extension to call back or communication, which I thought initially as being very nice and helpful ( I even did a survey for her and gave her high marks!) I have to call the Clearwater Kia dealerships service manager to ask for help in faxing the service records to the Cape Coral Kia dealership to finally getting this done. After reviewing the well documented 3 services (on 08/11/11, 1/13/2012, and 06/11/2012), the Cape Coral Kia dealership agreed that we have had the car well-maintained by a Kia dealership during our short ownership, but th engine died fro unknown reason. The service manager there suggested that they will have to rebuilt the engine! We asked if this issue had been reported on other Kia Sorentos, and he replied that he does not or aware of any national recall nor issue with the Kia Sorento having premature engine failure. We asked that the engine should be replaced with a new engine from Kia factory in the Atlanta, Georgia plant in USA, rather from a rebuilt engine. The manager said that he will try to request for that. We requested that while the car being serviced under a Kia warranty-issue if my daughter could get a rental or loaner car for her to get to class at college. The dealership reported that they could do a rental car up to $30/day coverage only. However, since our daughter is 20 yo, she could not rent the car from any rental companies! The dealership insisted that they have no loaner car available for her to use! I called the Kia toll-free national customer service four times (twice on Monday 10/29/12 and twice on Tuesday 10/30/2012) using the previously given extension # to the service lady, Melinda. I was not able to get in touch with her either time, and upon calling back other customer service agents reviewed our case #, reporting that nothing was in our case report! So why created a case # and giving me an extension #!? At this time, we are waiting for Kias decisions to replace the engine, and to consider helping our daughter a way to get back from Miami to Cape Coral! With this occurence of the failed engine on a new 2012 Kia Sorento with 9,800 miles after one year of ownership, I have to say that I am very disappointed in this car and with the above service issues from Kia National Customer Service Center! Thus, I would NOT recommend this car nor this car company to anyone at this time! Hopefully, this automotive company will learn to improve their quality and service in the future!

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  Poor Poor - 2000 Kia Sephia
  By Neil Wright - April 25 - 8:43 am

  I bought this car new in 2000,the first things to go before 400 miles were the battery twice.Then the alternator the rubbers around the doors is constantly coming off,oh how about the one around the front windshield that blew out on the highway the second day we had it. the color just rubbed off when you hand wash it These cars were built cheap it has no pick up dont try to merge into traffic from a ramp because you will not make it there are no pick up power. i have a 1995 Toyota Corolla with 226,875 miles and the KIA SEPHIA is no match to it.last but not least gas mileage is lousy for a four cylinder we went trade it with only 48,000 miles recently they only want to give us $1,000.

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  NEVER BUY A KIA!! - 2004 Kia Rio
  By akheier - April 15 - 2:33 am

  I was driving home down hwy 50 and the car suddenly shut off. There were 2 semi-trucks behind me that had to swerve to miss me! I was almost killed over this stupid car! As I drove it happened a few more times and it turned out to be the circuit breaker. Since then I have had probs with brakes, AC, axle, and now the trans! The car I drove before this gave me very few minor probs until the trans finally went out at 206k miles. The Kia only has 52K! Please listen to my advice and stay away from Korean cars or any Asian car for that matter

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  Run,dont walk-AWAY from the KIA dealership! - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By babayaga - April 12 - 11:33 pm

  After much saving and even more reasearch, my wife and I finally decided to make our first purchase of a new car in over 25 years a Kia Sorento(yes 25 years,I was in sales and was lucky to always have a company car) Well, let me tell you,we purchased the loaded 2011 Ex in April of 2010(SX not even available) and the joy lasted about one month.That was when the transmission went.It has been downhil ever since and we are seriously considering retaining an attorney to pursue the Lemon Law defense. The car was in repair for almost 2 months and now we are experiencing new transmission issues along with a plethora of new annoyances. DO NOT BUY THIS GARBAGE!

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  Piece of Junk - 2003 Kia Sorento
  By changt82 - April 10 - 3:16 pm

  Second owner of this Kia sorento. Bought this car @ 53k only $9800.00 in 07 over a highlander and rav4 due to looks and price. I guess I got what I paid for. Within 2 months of purchase, you would have to say hell came with this car. First Climate control malfunctioned, then Windows power control, then one window power motor, then wiper motor assembly broke off, then rotors warping, then headlamp and brake lamp every other month, then Radiator fan gone out, the Ac compressor gone out, then now the car just wouldnt start anymore. Don"t ever buy a Kia, they are cheap and expensive the repair and maintenance.

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  Dont Recommend - 2003 Kia Sedona
  By reesa76 - March 30 - 8:32 am

  Ive been driving my Kia Sedona for about 3 years now. I purchased it used and its been pretty reliable and gets to where Im going, but not comfortably. Like the others, the AC has never worked.My husband tried to put freon in it and it didnt work. The first 2 winters, the heat worked fine and now this year (coldest winter on record in our area) hot air only comes out of the rear heater and that doesnt really warm up the front even after its been running for a while. The drivers door only opens from the outside because the inside handle broke. The driver side back door handle is broken on the outside. The sunroof leaks. Stay away. Not worth all the trouble!!!

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  500 Km to My First BREAK DOWN - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By jrid - March 18 - 2:16 am

  I will keep this short.......Bought the 2011 Sorento 2 weeks ago.....and still on the first tank of gas and just under 500 kms right off the dealer lot........my new car breaks down!!!! Its now been 5 days with the car still in the dealer garage.......WOW....thats really reliable (sarcasim). I am not pleased. Asked dealer for a loaner car and was refused....becuse I did not buy the extended warrenty. Excuse me! I have just paid over $32K for my car and it breaks down and the Kia dealer left me high and dry!!!! Never shall I sway from my American 3 choices,........this Canadian will only buy American from this day on......

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  Kia... designed to fail at 61,000 miles - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By Skylar Sutton - March 6 - 10:59 am

  Were the second owners of this vehicle, purchased it 2 years old with about 20,000 miles on it. We had minor/insignificant issues during the 60k bumper-to-bumper warranty period (which DOES transfer to the second owner)... insignificant things like a backup camera that needed replaced and some minor vibrations on the interior that just needed tightening up. Let me tell you though, almost the MINUTE that warranty was up parts started falling off this thing like a cartoon. We just had to take it in for a $450 oil pressure sensor that caused us to lose the entire contents of our engine oil in less than an hour. Thats a MAJOR engine component and WOULD have been covered under the 100,000 mile powertrain warranty... EXCEPT it doesnt transfer to the second owners. Ive owned cars with 200,000 miles on them that never needed an oil pressure sensor replaced. That is a major engine component that should last the life of the vehicle. Im terribly disappointed in this vehicle and Kia service in general. If you absolutely have your heart set on one of these, intend to have it paid off and traded in by the end of your 60,000 mile warranty or its going to cost you thousands per year to keep it limping along.