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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  Worth checking out - 2006 Kia Sorento
  By dstockdale - April 7 - 10:37 pm

  Bought my 2006 Sorento in 2009 with only 15,000 miles on it. If youd have asked me 5 years ago if Id buy a Kia, Id have told you no. This one had all the bells and whistles I wanted (heated leather seats, moon roof, etc). Being the 2nd owner, I still had 45K miles left on the bumper to bumper warranty when I purchased it and, here I am at 57,000+ miles and still thrilled. Is it a BMW? No, but I knew that going in. After 2 years of ZERO issues, Im pretty happy. Oh, it does tend to need headlight and tail lights changed frequently but whatever.... even me, a girl, was able to do that myself and for cheap. Would I recommend, yes, definitely.

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  Not a bad car - 2006 Kia Rio
  By xntexan - April 6 - 5:30 am

  Pretty good car for the money. Auto transmission very sluggish, but the manual has decent performance. Comfortable ride but excessive road noise. Great fuel economy and spacious for small car. The interior panels are a bit cheap, scratch easily. Plenty of safety features. Overall I highly recommend for an economy car.

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  Poor Sevice Department - 2005 Kia Sorento
  By tgh1357 - April 5 - 8:10 am

  Bought new. 1 week later found out sunroof leaked due to poor manufacturing. Fought with dealership to fix (said we probably walked on the roof!) Finally fixed, but had paint overspray all over vehicle. Passenger air bag didnt work. Kia service told me to sit with legs tightly squeezed and it would work! Finally agreed to fix it. Sent seat out for repair. Scratched door jams really bad and gave me touch up paint to fix a new vehicle myself! Too many headlight changes to mention. Dome light motor replaced, electric seat motor replaced. Paint very, very thin and dents easily. Dealing with below surface rust on the tailgate now. Rims have corroded beyond belief and look terrible.

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  Kia - some problems - 2007 Kia Rondo
  By roadrunner - April 3 - 7:13 pm

  The Rondo is roomy, excellent for elderly parents to get in and out of, okay on gas, looks great and handles well. However, I am taking it back for repairs for the third time for the gear shift locking, the ESC light coming on and off, the brake does not disengage the cruise control (very scary) and now the cover on the steering wheel that covers the air bag has come loose and rattles. But, still would recommend the car for other features. Hopefully the dealership can fix these problems for good this time. Did I get the only lemon? After having the 2004 Optima, I was very impressed with Kia and its warranty program.

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  i was a against it! - 2003 Kia Sorento
  By dml - April 3 - 10:00 am

  did not even want to look at this car. then i was forced to test drive and changed my mind. still took me a month before i realized it was the best deal! price, comfort, warranty, ride, ex features, couldnt ask for more....

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  So far, so good - 2011 Kia Optima
  By im714 - April 1 - 7:55 pm

  Ive had this car for 6 weeks now and have put 1600 miles on it. The build quality seems to be pretty good although there is a squeak coming from the passenger door. The turbo is a lot of fun to drive, but doesnt make the vehicle a sports car. The vehicle makes the weirdest sound when accelerating but I guess that is normal (sounds as it if has an electric engine or something). Visibility out the back window is limited but you get used to it after a while. I love the exterior design of the car. The interior is good but it could be better. I wish I had gotten the Infinity stereo-the standard is loud but thats about it. As for MPG, the computer estimates 2 MPG higher than the actual number.

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  Its early, but so far so good. - 2010 Kia Soul
  By Soul man - April 1 - 6:43 am

  I was shopping for a 2006 Scion xB(the newer one grew way too big and milage sux), but it was hard to find a good one where I live, so I checked out the Soul. For only about $1,000.00 more than a used 2005-2006 xB I got a 2010 Soul with the great warranty. This box on wheels is a bit longer than the xB with a tad more room behind the rear seats and a longer hood. It is ugly with far to "busy" exterior styling. I prefer the early xB or the Cube for looks but the interior is laid out better in the Soul with the instrument cluster in front of the driver for easier visual access. I wanted the best gas mileage so I chose the base model, 1.6 L engine with no automatic transmission available.

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  Great price not so great car - 2004 Kia Sedona
  By nick - March 30 - 11:43 pm

  Our family bought the van used in 12/07 and already has had internal engine issues and timing chain/cover replacements and found out it has had major engine work previously and it only has 21,000 miles. Almost everything was covered by warranty although it did take them 5 weeks because a certain part had to be shipped from Korea. I think this is not a good running car because of the problems Ive had. When the car runs it is all in all a cheap but pretty good van

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  Reliable Gas Guzzler - 2005 Kia Sorento
  By Mar - March 29 - 1:23 pm

  I had a 2-door Honda Accord before this so I was not prepared for the cost of gas to fill this tank. It is a drain on my wallet and Im looking to sell and go back to a car. Its a good looking car, pretty fun to drive (except for eying the fuel tank gauge). Very good in the snow, Ill miss the reliability of driving up a hill in snow and not worrying about getting stuck. Bought it w/ 32k miles, Ive put 12k on it, still under warranty, had a couple check engine lights that turned out to be the gas tank O2 sensors. rear light bulb went out, fixed it myself for $2. If I was an SUV driver and didnt care about gas mileage, Id keep the Sorento, but Im not so it has to go.

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  Great car - 2014 Kia Sorento
  By pathlight - March 28 - 3:02 am

  14th car Ive owned and my first Kia after owning mostly Fords and Toyotas. I test drove virtually all of the competition and settled on the Sorento as the best combination of size, handling, quiet ride, technology, cargo layout (5-seater) and V6 option. The lengthy warranty helped me make the decision because Id never paid any attention to Kia in the past and reliability was an unknown. Ive driven it about 2,500 km and so far, Im delighted.