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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  Best new car yet - 2008 Kia Optima
  By art - July 1 - 10:00 am

  I own a 08 optima. Was skeptical at first, but after a shake down Cruise of 500 miles, I was hooked. Got 31 mpg new. Only after market addition was a k&n air filter. Got 50.000 out of the original tires and believe it or not the brakes! Have had no major problems and it only left sit once a dead battery! I remember the earlier models and all the problems associated with them. Night and day! Way to go! Would recommend Kia to anybody looking for an inexpensive durable car. BTW mine has over 75,000 on it.

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  Transmission - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By ernie1 - July 1 - 10:00 am

  We purchased our new 2011 Sorento and after 3 weeks and 2000 km we had 3 major transmission shocks in a single day, as well as one event when it seem to completely come out of gear, before once again dropping into gear with a major jolt. This is our second Kia, we traded our Spectra as it was also having transmission problems when it would lock in third gear and only reset if we would stop and shut off the engine. right now we are not to pleased with kia, they have had the Sorento in the shop or 4 days and say it is a sensor problem. right now we are not very happy with Kia and regret our purchase.

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  Love our Kia - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By JIM FROM GEORGIA - July 1 - 10:00 am

  We also own a Kia optima 90,000 miles. You will love the warranty on your sorento roadside assistance is great. No one but Kia has enough faith in their vehicle to have a 100,000 mile warranty except Hyundai which is going to be made in same plant in ga everybody need a Kia

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  Dangerous - 2003 Kia Rio
  By Gail - July 1 - 2:00 am

  Poor visibility, has large blind spots when driving. It is a Rock Magnet. The second day I owned it, the front window shield was hit 3 times. There must be over 8 chips and seriously cracked 3 times by the base of the windshield.

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  Unintentional Purchase - 2017 Kia Sorento
  By Gene - June 30 - 11:45 am

  I intended to buy the 5 passenger Turbo 4. I drove one and it was excellent. This vehicle is for my wife and it was difficult to find a 5 pass , turbo 4 that had all the " needs " on her list. The dealer made me an offer I couldnt turn down on this 7 pass , V-6 and we are extremely pleased. The most difficult thing about senior citizens like us when buying a car is learning all the new features especially the audio / navigation and electronics. We owned the car for 4 weeks and have put 1200 miles on it. Our last trip was 386 miles of interstate and mountain driving. We got 27 MPG on this trip,

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  2005 Kia Sportage LX FWDR - 2005 Kia Sportage
  By Susanne - June 30 - 8:43 am

  A great SUV, fun to drive. Gas Mileage is at 19 and 26 per dealership. I love the storage capacity and the ease of flipping over the back seats that lay completely flat. Its comfortable to zip around town in all day and is a great cross country vehicle as well.

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  2009 Borreg - 2009 Kia Borrego
  By COLORADOMTNLUVR - June 30 - 5:00 am

  We bought a 2009 Borrego for my family 3 weeks ago. We love the features and the comfortable ride that the vehicle provides. Fuel economy is as advertised at 21 mpg, which is not bad overall considering the size of the vehicle. We are very pleased with this vehicle and I would definitely recommend it to anyone!

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  Extremely Disappointed - 2008 Kia Rondo
  By James Appling - June 28 - 6:23 pm

  I now believe I made a mistake buying this vehicle. I thought it was going to be a great investment. Not so. The gas mileage is poor and there is this extremely annoying wind noise on the drivers side. based on other commentary, it would seem that it can not be fixed. Yeah, the vehicle does not look great but we bought it for the features and the price. We are very disappointed and are looking at our options of getting something else. It does not handle particularly well on the road. It has a tendency to float and I can almost see the gas gage move. Like one other guy said, I guess you get what you pay for.

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  Will never buy Kia again - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By shawna - June 28 - 10:00 am

  We bought our Sorento 2 years ago with 46,000 miles on it, since then we have had nothing but problems. The clock never worked, and the radio never worked. We have brought it in for recall repairs a number of times. Now at 63,000 miles the engine started rattling, the warning lights came on, and it wont steer. It is our family vehicle and we only average 11,000 miles per year.

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  2ND KIA - 2010 Kia Forte
  By JACKTHEONE - June 27 - 11:43 pm

  First KIA was a 2006 Spectra5 SX, love it. with 106,000 miles no problems. Purchased Forte for 14850 out the door.with gas mileage package. Great looking car ( Dark Cherry), comfortable, roomy, great gas mileage, the last two tanks were 34.9 mpg on north east winter gas. 20/80 cityhighway. Transmission does not always shift smoothly, will take to dealer.