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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  Hard vehicle to love. - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By Unhappy - June 3 - 2:43 am

  Electrical problems from the start that still arent addressed. Now we are into the drive train(driveshaft replacement that didnt stop the shaking). Oh boy, cant wait to try out the new rear end parts that will be going in tomorrow. Maybe not, because they may not have them by tomorrow. The paint is looking like it may go the route of blister and pop- the little rusty starbursts give this white vehicle the look of measles without previous vaccination. How can I forget the brakes all the way around at 19,000 miles. Another 10,000 miles and it was tires. All this and a disappointing 14MPG. Oh, this baby is a Lexus in disguise all right. Stay away if you want a really good car.

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  Stop Making the Amanti, please - 2005 Kia Amanti
  By golfer775 - May 26 - 12:35 am

  Got stuck on vacation in Florida with less than 5,000 mi. and replaced the transmission. New transmission goes "zzzzzz" between first and second gear. Kia, from dealer to national manager, refuses to replace or fix it. Dealer says all Amantis go "zzzzzz." Yeah, right. Engine light goes on repeatedly and have had it reset more than 8 times. Dealer wont replace sensor. Dome light went out after 10,000 mi. Bumper finish is pealing. Now with 60,000. Transmission slips regularly. Stay far away from this lemon model and Kia, in general. Awful customer service. Never again.

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  not worth it - 2008 Kia Spectra
  By John C - May 24 - 12:30 am

  the gas mileage was disappointing.. The Spectra stared to fall apart in a year.. the service department was horrible.. I was hoping it would hold up and the dealership would honor the warranty but after taking it in three times for the door on the gas cap, they said it was a poor design and only cleaned it again.. and were so rude! they said I must have broken it and the seat belt that wouldnt retract.. the side door wouldnt always close.. and I always smelt something burning.. I wasnt planning to sell it in a year after buying new but lost confidence in this car and the warranty.. it is very top heavy and not a good car to drive in the real world.. I took a huge loss with Kia..

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  If I could only have a do over... - 2003 Kia Optima
  By mamanichole - May 8 - 10:05 am

  I bought my KIA with only 3,000 miles on it in late 2004. It was great until I ran out of warranty time, once that happened the car started falling apart. The timing belt went at less than 70,000 miles causing me to replace the whole engine (in 2010). For the past 2 years the car has decided to cut down when I am driving. It spent 3 months in a KIA Dealership repair shop and they still do not know what is wrong with it. How can a KIA Repair shop not know how to fix its own cars? They now say I need to spend another $1200 just to see "If that is the real problem." I loved my car during the first 5 years, but I wish I could go back and traded it at 4 years.

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  Worst car Ive ever owned - 2005 Kia Sedona
  By have to say - May 6 - 10:16 pm

  Im glad Kia offers a 60 thousand mile warranty, because I had to have this lemon in 8 times for warranty work. Many times the work was for the same problem over and over (cheap seat covers that tore, gear shift that locked up, locks that locked the car on it’s own, mechanical issues of all kinds). I’m over 60 thousand miles now, and the car is just slowly crumbling. There’s no way I’m ever buying a Kia again after this.

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  sportage - 2001 Kia Sportage
  By jen b. - April 24 - 2:00 am

  Owned for two years, taken off on rollback twice for warranty claims (mechanical). Has had new master cylinder, fuel inj system, cat converters, wiring, seats, drink holder, window motors(2) replaced. OK vehicle but would NOT buy again. Trade in value awful. Sick of truck and stuck with it until I can break even. On good side - great in snow and good for kids. On bad side - my 22 year old car has better reliability record. Manual tranny definitely better power than automatic. OK for someone just starting out because of warranty, but be prepared for problems.

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  18 trips/2yrs/"the little things" - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By tbo - April 24 - 2:00 am

  Love the power of the engine, hate all the little things. Kia is not open on Saturday...duh, this really makes you angry when you have to take off work to get all of the little things fixed. List of things: battery (2x) , visor, wipers (3x), broken seat, window off track, door slider broken, (just to name the ones I can think of immedietley!

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  Dont Buy KIA - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By g5club - April 20 - 1:23 am

  We have had nothing but problems with our Kia. We have had it in the dealership 3 times because the A/C wont blow cold air, not to mention that it moans loudly. Numerous times it has been seen for electrical wiring problems which keep running our battery down. The exterior paint is coming off the chrome which is rusting. The black strip around the windows is fading and it looks really worn. The worst part is that we have to keep dealing with the Kia service department which is less than cooperative.

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  Defective Vehicle - 2017 Kia Sportage
  By NCASE - March 25 - 8:18 am

  Loved my 2012 Sportage. This 2017 has a major defect that is apparently a recall in the waiting. The transmission is worse than bad. Mine has locked into a gear and would not change. It constantly downshifts when it has no business shifting...thus, planting you into the steering wheel. It has a proclivity to slip into neutral while driving causing the RPMs to redline for no reason. The dealer has no idea what to do about it because Kia hasnt come up with a fix. I am aware of three other cars just like mine with the same issues.....all brand new. Ive had strangers come up to me in parking lots and ask if my tranny is screwed up too. Kia has to be aware they are selling cars with a defect.

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  Dont make a mistake - 2006 Kia Sorento
  By pmjudianne - March 9 - 2:08 pm

  Had to replace headlights frequently and out of nowhere it started clicking in the motor. We called the local Kia dealer in Lufkin and they told us that sometimes a lifter gets stuck and just to put in "SeaFoam" oil. We did and the sound just got louder, we called again, the car had only 73000 miles and they repeated that there was nothing to worry about and just to "rev" the motor and it would work its way loose. One week later the car was still clicking and we called again, the mechanic said we would have to just give the oil time to work. We did just what they said and the motor froze up. Then we found out they would not honor the warranty because we were not the original owners.