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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  Electrical systems from the 1950s - 2006 Kia Sorento
  By Rich Hart - July 1 - 11:37 am

  Overall, a comfortable (Im 63") solid vehicle, but poor fuel economy and many electrical problems. Dome light diode (whoever heard of such a thing), door lock actuator (never had one fail even in the GM garbage of the 70s and 80s), heater blend door actuator, and crankshaft angle sensor ($900 repair to replace shitty magnetic pick up, but buried in engine). The sunroof plastic guide rail broke at 5 years with little use, so roof will slide but wont tilt. Temperature gauge has never worked reliably, even after 3 trips to dealer when new. I finally gave up as it wasnt important. Factory replacement windshield wiper blades last only 18 mos! Most of the problems are just annoying, but the crankshaft sensor problem is way too frequent...should have been a recall. Also, seat belt retraction springs are going bad. The build quality on the new models looks worse, so it will be a Honda, Nissan, or Toyota next time. I also have an 18 year old Infiniti with 70,000 miles, and have had less than one- fourth the problems! Update 8-22-16: Valve lifter (tappet) now ticks if the car sits more than a day or two without being driven. Not burning any appreciable amount of oil. Gas mileage down to 15 mpg using the E10 fuel now sold here (was 16 mpg with 0-5% ethanol). Have had to replace another failed electrical part, the A/C & heat temperature door actuator. Got the Kia brand part on the internet for about $70, replaced myself so no labor cost. Still driving the vehicle because it is much more comfortable to sit in (excellent leg room) than most others, and property tax is very low. Overall impression of an average quality SUV remains the same.

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  Good inexpensive car, and sporty. - 2002 Kia Rio
  By EMT_Rob - July 1 - 10:00 am

  I bought a Kia Rio Sedan in light gold. The car looks catchy on the outside, while offering for the money, a decent, but no too powerful engine, good interior ergonomics, and overall great handling. You have to patient with the 96 horsepower engine getting up to speed, but take your time driving, and this sporty little car will get you around with good gas mileage and comfort for its class. Smoother ride than the comparable Toyota Echo.

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  MY 2001 KIA SEDONA LX - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By LAM THANG - July 1 - 10:00 am

  HAD PROBLEM WITH PASSENGER SLIDING DOOR WEATHER STRIPPING. AIR CONDITION PROBLEM. VAN VIBRATES WHILE DRIVING ON FREEWAY AT 70 MILE. IT STUMBLES ONCE A WHILE WHEN GAS PEDAL IS DEPRESSED. AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT IS ON INDICATES PROBLEM WITH SYSTEM. BRAKES SQUEAK WHEN VAN IS SLOWING DOWN TO COMPLETE STOP. WIPER BLADES WORN OUT. GAS MILE PER GALLON. HARSH RIDE.

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  One sweet import. - 2005 Kia Spectra
  By Devin - June 29 - 11:30 pm

  After looking at Civic, Corolla, Cobalt, Mazda 3, and Spectra5, it was a pretty easy choice. Cheaper, more features, better warranty, and a hot looking car to boot. And its always nice to be able to pull up along side some little punk in a Corolla or Civic, and blow him away off the line. They dont seem to appreciate it as much as I do though....

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  Its been a great car! - 2002 Kia Rio
  By Jon Hill - June 29 - 4:40 am

  As yall read this, understand that we bought this car new and use it in Egypt. We have gone from one end to the other including the Sinai on numerous trips. Gas mileage is great (even though gas is .80 cents a gallon here). We have depended on this car with our lives and to date only replaced both the front drive axles. The roads are notorious with potholes, etc. Would buy another one and more. Try it ... you wont be disappointed.

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  Great vehicle for low price - 2009 Kia Sorento
  By schun - June 28 - 11:46 pm

  I bought this SUV to haul stuff that wont fit in my Accord. Love the roomy back seats that my 62" son-in-law can fit it comfortably. The back seats can fold down flat so I can put a large flat screen TV in the back. Great that Im seating high so I can spot pot holes before I hit them. The 10-speaker MP3/CD player sounds great(although I cant spot where all of them are). Its a fun vehicle to drive, plenty of zip when I want it. The cruise control on/off switch on steering took a little while to figure out, but work great for longer rides.

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  Fabulous vehicle - 2016 Kia Sedona
  By Peter - June 28 - 1:20 pm

  Had for over one year, two huge road trips. On 12,000 mile trip at the moment. Getting 24.5 mpg. Looked at Pacifica, didnt like. Turning circle much better on Sedona, didnt like transmission knob. Sedona can be shifted manually, was great in the Colorado mountains last week. Sedona looks and operates more like a SUV than a minivan. Zero problems. Update January 2018: The Sedona still has not had one problem. It has nearly 29,000 trouble-free miles, and has averaged 23.9 mpg in all types of driving. For some reason car reviews knock the Sedona for bad mileage. Lead foot maybe? Normal driving gets excellent mileage. Plus its quick. Car and Driver clocked it at 7.4 seconds 0-60. I had an upscale 2015 SUV as my last car and it didnt handle as well as the Sedona, was less comfortable, had much less cargo space, had poorer visibility, and on and on. To me, the minivan makes a lot more sense than an SUV -- unless you plan to go off-road, which few people do. There are other good minivans to buy, but I wouldnt trade my Sedona for any of them. Plus, it has the best warranty in the car business. Easy decision, at least for me.

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  Rio - 2004 Kia Rio
  By mickshapiro - June 27 - 10:00 am

  Its been great so far! Milage, comfort, design, all very good.Ive owned concordes and intrepids that had the luxury upgrades that seem to have more problems AND the warranty was not as good!

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  What a Great Car! - 2006 Kia Amanti
  By DAVID - June 26 - 2:03 pm

  This car is unbelievable. It is the best car I have ever owned and I have owned some pretty expensive cars. It has a very smooth ride and wonderful luxuries. It is very roomy and has a big trunk.

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  MY Kia - 2008 Kia Optima
  By kiaman - June 26 - 10:30 am

  When researching all the cars in the same class as my Optima I know I got more bang for my buck over every other car.