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:

• 

  my screamin spectra - 2004 Kia Spectra
  By jimwags - February 26 - 8:10 pm

  so far at 3000 miles my spectra is on par with the 91 corolla i bought new then traded for the 05 kia. it has more power than i expected and highway manners are better than the 05 corolla i almost paid 2500.00 more for with less features than spectra. mpg hiway is now up to 36.8 i am looking for 38.5 @70 mph. great warranty on this car worth looking at seriously............

• 

  Nice car but...... - 2012 Kia Optima
  By sassy1866 - February 24 - 9:05 pm

  So far I really like this car. Handles great, no lack of speed and enjoy the interior. A couple of negatives are gas mileage, wind noise and the passenger seat feels like youre sitting on the floor.

• 

  Great car but... - 2007 Kia Rio
  By h2oelemental - February 24 - 4:32 am

  I love my car, it gets great mileage and until recently it was very reliable. I put 30-36K miles a year on my car and do a lot of stop and go driving. I have over 166K on my car. In the past 3 yrs we have had to replace 3 ignition coils, both O2 sensors and now we have to replace the catalytic converter. She also tends to eat front tires. Constantly out of alignment. She has done very well overall and if possible will buy another Kia. Considering the kind of driving I do, she had held up very well.

• 

  Kia Pet - 2005 Kia Spectra
  By srm858 - February 24 - 12:13 am

  I have not driven the car for too many miles yet, but it does handle well, great A/C, excellent mileage, very roomy interior. I bought it for a winter car while my Mazda RX8 sits in the garage. Its no RX8, but it will hold my bike and go through the snow, which were my primary requirements. The price was very reasonable at $12,500 and I like the look. Just hope it holds up as well as our old 92 Saturn which still looked and ran great after 12 years and 175,000 miles.

• 

  Bad credit but Im driving a new car. - 2003 Kia Spectra
  By Silky99x - February 20 - 10:00 am

  I was skeptical at first about buying a Kia but its an OK Car. Using premium gasoline I got 205 miles to 1/4 tank. If you run the A/C it drinks gas like vrazy. My co-workers talk about how cheap Kias are but at least Im driving a new car. Although, one co-worker said, its good quality with low price. Its growing on me.

• 

  2017 Kia Sorento TOWING TONGUE WEIGHT REDUCTION - 2017 Kia Sorento
  By TireKicker - February 19 - 3:37 pm

  NOTE IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING TOWING WITH A 2017 SORENTO --- 2016 Kia Sorento AWD 6-cylinder with tow package: towing capacity 5000 lbs with tongue weight 500 lbs (Owners Manual p. 5-104). 2017 Kia Sorento AWD 6-cylinder with tow package: towing capacity 5000 lbs with tongue weight 350 lbs (Owners Manual p. 5-113). Separately, you might also be interested to know that to change the oil it is necessary to first remove a cover plate with 17 bolts before you can access the oil drain plug. Consequently, most will end up hacksawing an access hole in the cover.

• 

  I Love My Kia - 2003 Kia Rio
  By elizabeth2001 - February 14 - 10:00 am

  Its a good car, I dont see why everyone is dogging the Kia company, my Rio has been a good car.

• 

  Rio RX-V - 2003 Kia Rio
  By Marcus Walters - February 14 - 10:00 am

  Very fun car to drive, handles surprisingly well. A bit noisy at high speeds though normal considering small engine. All in all amazing bang for your buck.

• 

  Koup for Keeps - 2010 Kia Forte
  By Rockin RN - February 14 - 3:03 am

  My Koup is Racing Red with an automatic transmission and sport cloth interior. I have owned the car for 3 weeks and so far it is an exceptional car for the money. The build quality is solid with absolutely no sqeaks or rattles, doors close with a reassuring thunk, the paint looks good and the fit and finish is very good. The engine runs and idles very smooth with more than adequate acceleration. Nice sporty ride, not too harsh over bumps. I traded in my 2005 Acura TL for this car and I can honestly say that I dont regret it.

• 

  Vastly underestimated car, I think. - 2006 Kia Spectra
  By Stan - February 11 - 1:20 pm

  I bought my 2006 Spectra in May 2008 with 28000 miles on it, so have driven it six months and roughly 4000 miles thus far. Overall I have been impressed with the cars quietness, acceleration and ride, and have had absolutely no problems. My only quibble would be the fuel economy which does tend to run 22 mpg in city driving and 30 mpg on the hwy. I had hoped the city mpg would be a bit better. But overall I am very satisfied and if the car holds up this well over the next couple of years I will probably buy another Kia.