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:

• 

  PIECE OF JUNK KIA! - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By Sandy - November 5 - 9:06 pm

  Quality is NONEXISTANT!I am getting rid of this car Has been repaired countless times.Driver side door handle broke off.Pull down handle for trunk broke off. CD player is eatting my cds.Paint has chipped off of all buttons on radio and A/C controls. Paint has flaked off of the entire roof,tops of the mirrors & along wheel well trim. Shocks/arms that keep the trunk & the back window glass open have failed, so you have to hold them open manually. Car just had 3k worth of work done which included A/C compressor, leaking valves, coolant reservoir replaced.Coolant reservoir just cracked again yesterday.Head&Tail lights burn out every 6 mths.Sunroof leaks.Worst car Ive ever owned!

• 

  save your money - 2002 Kia Sportage
  By worstchoiceevermade - November 5 - 2:00 am

  this car sucks! it stays in the shop. 2 wks after i got it the window switch broke, the interior seat covers had to be replaced...the belts gave out..the brakes messed up, the air went out and now the windows dont work at all...no wonder they come w/that long warrenty..youll need it. how can i get rid of this piece of junk???

• 

  Pleasantly Surprising Car! - 2007 Kia Spectra
  By Molly M - November 4 - 7:16 pm

  I got this car after my 2005 Honda Civic EX was (unfortunately) totaled. I bought it used with 35k miles and it now has 38k. Let me stress that I absolutely LOVED my Civic, so I wasnt exactly thrilled about getting a new car. But after 3000 miles, Ive learned to love my Spectra almost as much as the Civic! It only has about 30 more horsepower than my Civic did, but its very noticeable. The engine is extremely quiet upon acceleration, and I have to watch out or else Ill end up doing 80/90mph without even noticing. Fuel economy is great. Ive gotten up to 430 miles on 12 gallons (close to 500 on a full 15 gal). The seats are very comfy (I drive long distances often). Great little car!

• 

  Optimal Optima Follow-up - 2011 Kia Optima
  By rockinrn - November 4 - 4:54 pm

  This is a follow-up review to my 12/12/10 review. Just drove the Optima to California from Arizona in March 2011. I was astounded by the road roar the car makes at 70 MPH on the freeway. The noise is so loud it is impossible to make a cell phone call and the radio had to be turned way up to drown out some of the noise. I feel that the low rent Nexus tires are to blame. Many, many good features on the car, just extreme road and wind noise on the highway. Before buying one take it on the freeway for a while at 70 MPH and evaluate the ROAD NOISE.

• 

  Best features for under $20K! - 2010 Kia Forte
  By Skittles - November 4 - 1:13 am

  Fun to drive, sporty interior, amazing features (see below), best bang for buck ever!

• 

  Kia Good and Bad - 2004 Kia Rio
  By Elmer Wood - November 3 - 10:00 am

  My only complaints is the paint is thin and scratches just looking at it-----It shimmies at 60-65 and cant be fixed

• 

  Lots of kit for less dollars - 2004 Kia Spectra
  By Good value - November 3 - 10:00 am

  havent had my Spectra long but Im satisfied with it. The engine provides reasonable power but the automatic transmission could shift smoother. Good cabin materials and nice exterior. Some might have trouble finding a fully loaded model however.

• 

  Love My Kia Sorento - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By tobylm - November 3 - 10:00 am

  Ive also owned expensive cars and was a little weary about buying a Kia. It turns out this Kia Sorento is awesome. I love the look of it inside and out and it drives like a dream. I have people stop me all the time in parking lots, complimenting me on the car and asking how I like it. I love it!!!!

• 

  Love My Kia! - 2001 Kia Rio
  By Bobby - November 3 - 12:50 am

  I bought my Rio, brand new, 6 years ago, and Im still driving it. It now has nearly 90,000 miles on it. Its been in an accident, been broken in to, hauled furniture, been on a couple trips halfway across the states, and generally not been treated with kid gloves. Through it all, I have not had any problems, and it has been a very reliable little trooper. I am completely satisfied with this underestimated jewel.

• 

  Do NOT buy if you drive in rain or snow - 2002 Kia Sportage
  By Lori - November 1 - 6:46 pm

  Its a 4x4, bt extremely dangerous to drive in rain or snow, doing below speed limit. The backend slides out constantly, regardless of having new tires because of it being a light weight vehicle. When problems arose w/ an oil leak, the dealer blamed express lube. I was given an attitude by the dealer. They were very expensive. When 4x4 wasnt working, th car was in shop for 3 days, returned unfixed and had to drop it back off for 3 mere days! I replaced the fan belts, alternator and starter. Another annoying fact, it would gt stuck in reverse all the time. I would have to roll a little in reverse, then put in drve for it to go forward from a parked position. It was very noisy w/ the soft top. Catalytic converter smelled going uphill, dlr sd normal