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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  GREAT CAR!!! - 2008 Kia Optima
  By Chris Martin - March 28 - 1:03 pm

  me and my dad got this car for my mom. i was surprised as to how well a 2.4l 4 cylinder performs... quick on the accelerator, yet responsive on the brakes. not only does it have a lot of gumption under the hood for a 4 cylinder, it looks great, rides smooth, quiet, great sound, comfortable, accessible, and most of all, affordable! i definitely recommend this car to anyone, even if their on a tight budget! i give the Kia Optima a 9.5/10

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  New Rio 5 LX - 2008 Kia Rio
  By Peter - March 28 - 1:56 am

  We got the 2008 Rio 5 LX with 5-speed manual. We are very pleased with our choice so far. The car is attractive, fun to drive, and it is good enough power-, handling-, and feature-wise for us. Shortly after break-in, we took the car to TX (1800+ miles each way). Never dawdling, with two adults and two kids, fully loaded with toys and gear, we got 33 mpg. Not bad! It would do better, though, if Kia put a 6-speed in this model. 3500+ revs in 5th for typical Southern and Western U.S. interstate driving is too much. If I often drove on Southern or Western interstates, I would be less pleased with the car. But in the hilly, trafficky Northeast, where I live, I highly recommend it!

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  Great MPG and All Wheel Drive - 2012 Kia Sorento
  By alexr79 - March 27 - 12:54 am

  I have 1,200 miles on my Kia Sorento LX. It has all wheel drive and the convenience package. I recntly took a couple of trips that were about 150 miles each in total distance. I am very impressed with the mileage I am getting. The most recent was yesterday where I got 30 mpg. The weather was calm and pleasant (no a/c) and I was driving 70 mph on the interstate. The trip before that was a week ago on country roads. The weather was very hot (a/c was used) and it was windy. I was driving 65 mph and I got 27 mpg

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  Run Away Fast!! - 2004 Kia Sedona
  By RUN AWAY!!! - March 26 - 9:26 am

  When will the nightmare that is my car experience with a Kia end? We bought this car used. It only had 23,000 miles on it and had heard it was a very safe car and a good deal. My advice, if it is cheap, its cheap for a reason! Since owning this car three years ago, we have had to repair the brakes every year without fail. Replaced the rotors twice, the front bearings, failed wire in seatbelt and airbag, serpentine belt (along with every other belt in creation), power steering (ouch$) and the alternator. Of course all after the warranty was up and guess what, if you buy it used, you dont get the powertrain warranty! We were not told this info. So any faulty parts we must pay for. Run away!!

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  GOOD STUFF - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By tombelle608 - March 26 - 2:00 am

  I live in the mountains with lots of hills and curvy roads and my sorento handles all of these better than any other truck-suv that I have ever driven.

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  I Love My Sorento! - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By postitnote - March 25 - 10:13 pm

  After wanting to purchase a Spectra and deciding to go with the Sorento, I am a very satisfied customer. I love my Sorento and Im very pleased with my purchase. There are so many features on my Sorento that I would imagine would only come with a Lexus or a BMW, such as the side curtain airbags, child seat safety belt in the back, seats that fold flat, cruise control on the steering wheel, and snow traction. I went over a year before needing to replace a headlight bulb, a light above the license plate, and an interior light. I also like the shelf in the glove box that allows me to put my insurance card and business cards there so they dont get lost in the bottom of the compartment.

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  It is a good Soul - 2011 Kia Soul
  By miriz01 - March 23 - 11:59 pm

  All the "Soul" jokes aside, this is an awesome car. Ive had mine about a month and a half and have put over 7,000 miles on it including 1 trip from Tulsa to Corpus Christi and 2 trips from Tulsa to Waco. The Soul is lots of fun and handles very well. Running the AC at full blast contstantly all summer (it has been well over 100deg) I am getting about 26mpg average. My 2 sons love the roomy back and I have found that there is really a lot of room. We did install an aftermarket roof rack for extra cargo space too. This car is perfect for lugging the kids around town with all their sports gear. The front seat comfort wasnt quite as good as my Jetta GLX, but this is still very nice.

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  2014 Sorento SX-L, AWD, A great choice! - 2014 Kia Sorento
  By stuball45 - March 23 - 8:48 pm

  Our new 2014 Kia Sorento SX-L AWD is our second Sorento. We bought a 2011 EX V6 FWD in April 2010 and put about 60K (happy) miles on it. It had all of the available "bells and whistles" at the time but the new 2014 SX-L is a huge advancement in nearly every category. It is so feature-rich, comfortable, powerful and well finished that I think it beats the competition from Honda, Acura, BMW etc. for thousands of dollars less. Admittedly, this is the top of the line so the Nappa leather and panoramic sun roof wont be found on every model. Aside from the many features on the SX-L, I would strongly recommend the AWD version. It really makes a positive difference in how the vehicle drives.

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  Was Skeptical - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By JKM - March 23 - 6:56 pm

  When I first ran across this SUV in an ad I thought no way, but the price created curiosity. Once I test drove it and compared it to similar SUVs like the Pilot and a Trailblazer it was hands down the superior vehilce. It handles great, accelerates well (very important in Houstons no signal/blinker culture) and is very confortable. Has cost me $120 in tickets because my wife enjoys the acceleration but not bad for being pulled over 6 times in 3 wks! Only problem has been lights (head, rear blinker) short circuiting.

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  Eye Pleasing Performer - 2005 Kia Amanti
  By b - March 23 - 11:30 am

  I love the look and the feel, but not the gas mileage. It could use a little more horses under the hood just to match its competitors.