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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  Be careful I love the sportage but not 2017 model - 2017 Kia Sportage
  By jerry - December 2 - 4:02 am

  Let me start by saying my wife and I have owned 2 kias and we have loved them. You cant beat the warranty and I think the build quality is good. There is only 2 dealers near where we live so we went to the closest one first to take the 2017 out for a test drive. When we first seen the car we loved the way it looked and the inside was even better (we looked at a Hyundai before we went to the kia dealer and they are almost the same) the problem I had was when I turned the key and heard the noise the engine made. It was HORRIBLE, I have a strong mechanical background and the tapping noise the car makes inside and out is unacceptable to me. What it is is the high pressure injection system (fuel pump and injectors) . Now if you know nothing about machinery you may not notice the noise this makes and if so buy the car it is a good car I am just giving my opinion about the fuel system. Now the dealer will try to tell you that this noise will stop after the car has warmed up but this is just not true, They may also say that this is new technology but this is also false. All I am asking is you research direct inject systems and educate yourself on the positives (and there are a bunch) and on the negatives. Sorry to be such a downer on this I love the car but they could have relocated the fuel pump and insulated the firewall better to quiet the tapping noise..

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  Watch out Kia Motors does not honor warranty - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By Chris Brady - November 27 - 5:36 pm

  From the beginning, this van consumed oil excessively. Kia dealers refused to address the problem. Not a lot of space for groceries. Internal pieces are cheap and they fall off.

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  BIG MISTAKE TO BUY - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By BWRS88 - November 4 - 2:00 am

  AFTER 9 TRIPS TO THE DEALER IN 16 MONTHS, IVE GIVEN UP AND IM GETTING RID OF THIS PIECE OF JUNK. I DONT KNOW WHAT IS WORSE, THE DEALER OR THE CAR. 4 MONTHS AFTER I PURCHASED IT, IVE HAD NOTHING BUT CONSTANT PROBLEMS STARTING WITH THE A/C NOT WORKING TWICE, STRESS CRACK IN WINDSHIELD, TRANSMISSION REPLACEMENT,COOLING SYSTEM, DRIVER SEAT COMING LOOSE. NEED I SAY MORE!

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  The Worst Vehicle I have Ever Owned - 2007 Kia Optima
  By Miles - October 29 - 8:56 pm

  Well I am on my third automatic transmission. The first replacement was under warranty but the latest one cost me 2500 bucks. What happened to the "Best Warranty in America"? Totally bogus. This car has horrible build quality. Mechanically this car has by far been the worst vehicle I have ever owned. Starters go out and leave you stranded, unable to start the car. Even with synthetic oil changed every 3,000 miles my engine had to be replaced at 65,000 miles. My neighbor has the exact same car as me and hes had even worse luck mechanically with the car so I should consider myself lucky I guess.

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  Never again - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By Cricket - October 22 - 5:03 am

  Every month has been problems & when you try to trade it - be sitting down because you wont get offered much. The last time I handed the dealership the keys & said just pay it out & Ill leave - THEY didnt want it - what does that tell you! I bought it fully loaded with all the bells & spent a lot in add ones - which as long as it doesnt move it looks really pretty. At 32,000 km the tranny started on fire while pulling my new trailer that was rated 8000 pounds less then what the Kia is to be able to haul. This was the 1st new vehicle Ive every bought & I kick myself every day for doing it.

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  What kind of meds are the hamsters on? - 2013 Kia Soul
  By John Ranous - October 20 - 12:36 pm

  The Soul is a vehicle with great potential. Good looks. Nice interior. Lots of room (Im 64"). Good entertainment system in my base model. BUT, with just 12000 miles on the odometer, Ive got a rattle in the front suspension AND the steering column. The big negative for the Soul is the suspension. Everyone describes it as firm. Id say brutally, and unnecessarily stiff. If you are fortunate enough to drive nothing but new pavement, you will love this vehicle. Real world roads bring out the worst in the Souls road manners. I drive 22 miles to work, and Ive been introduced to every pavement fault along the route. You soon learn to avoid the big ones, or suffer the bone jarring consequences. But, even the small irregularities are magnified to uncomfortable proportions. Lots of road noise...suspension rumbles...now I know why the hamsters have the music cranked up. If you are considering a Soul, give it a good real world test drive, or rent one for a weekend.

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  Mixed Bag - 2002 Kia Spectra
  By LJM - October 16 - 5:00 pm

  This car has been good to me, but it has also caused me a LOT of undue stress and financial burden....I have replaced so many parts-my bumper literally just fell off while driving one day, has never been in a collision (to my knowledge) and it just fell right off...was expensive to replace, and then the driver side came loose 2 weeks later, have had to have the alignment redone far too often as it pulls very hard to the right and the heater breaks regularly. The inside of the car has just fallen apart as well, the bolt holding the seat in place fell out and i had to play over $400 to get it fixed, and then told it was not "the perfect fix, but the best they could do..." dont buy..

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  Dont buy this car. - 2010 Kia Soul
  By Soul Stinks - October 13 - 12:56 am

  I think Kia thought that people would buy this car just for its styling. Well I bought it just for that reason and I couldnt have been more dissapointed. The fuel economy isnt what they say it is, I get 15mpg in the city. I dont know how this could possibly be. The interior and exterior are amazing but, the interior material quality is dismal at best. The ride is jumpy and jolty and no fun at all. I thought that since I got the sport model with the manuel it would be fun but, I was sadly mistaken. The stick shifter is mushy and un precise. Also, just from the poor quality of materials I dont bealive this car is going to last me that long at all.

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  Dangerous Vehicle - 2006 Kia Sedona
  By Joe - September 16 - 6:16 am

  I have owned my 2006 Sedona LX for just over 2.5 years (45,000 miles). Approximately, 14 months ago, at 22,000 miles, the car started sporadically dieing while driving. The acceleration/speed would completely go out. This has happened twice while driving on the freeway and four times in total. Fortunately, no one has been injured. Each time I take the vehicle to the dealership and they assure me it is fixed. However, the problem keeps recurring. Kia Motors has done little to address this other than to claim they have fixed it just to send my family and I out to break down again. Kia obviously has little concern for consumer safety and no sense of business ethics.

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  Worst Car Ever - 2002 Kia Spectra
  By MS - September 9 - 10:00 am

  This car has been nothing but issues since it was purchased. It had only 60,000 miles on it which is generally ok and since it wasnt a car for commuting, the mileage wasnt a big deal. After replacing the brake lights- needed new wiring harness, the brake system, the passenger side window that decided to not roll up one day. and various "check engine" lights and sensors later, the Kia WAS working. But alas, now the driver side window fell down by itself while parked in my driveway. Its not even worth the money thats already been dumped into it so at this point, Im hoping the broken window gives someone some incentive to steal it.