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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  Re-think getting a KIA!!!! - 2000 Kia Sportage
  By sweetbeth - February 20 - 10:00 am

  My sportage has been in the shop a number of times. At 200 miles the starter & battery had to be replaced. It has died 3 times in the middle of heavy traffic- the dealership cant figure out why... The power steering went out at 10,000 miles. My whole exhaust system was replaced at 24,000 miles and it makes lots of strange squeak noises. I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER KIA.

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  Wish I had Not Purchased - 2002 Kia Rio
  By hatetherio - February 13 - 2:00 am

  I have had my Kia Rio for about 16 months now. The whistling noise is more than annoying, I have already had to replace the brakes and tires, although the gas milage is great there is nothing else good I could say about the car, I am trading it in this week for something much much more reliable.

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  KIA Problems - 2003 Kia Sedona
  By Martin F. Morgan Sr. - January 27 - 10:00 am

  My KIA sedona, within the first 15,000 miles had to have an alternator, and transmission replaced. The inside back Air control continues to fall out of the ceiling, and I have had to go through the factory to have it replaced. It continues to have the same problem with it, falls out of the ceiling. The interior is not well put together and the gas mileage is poor at best. The gas nozzel will cut off but pumping slowly you can still put four to five gallons of gas in the vehicle.

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  Not covered under the great 10yr 100k warranty - 2013 Kia Sportage
  By Doug - January 24 - 5:08 pm

  This car has not been a bad car until the engine light appeared, P2006 is the code, runner control stuck closed. Only way to repair is replace the intake manifold which cost $800 for the part and roughly 4-5hrs labor to accomplish. Oh and this is not covered by the "Great" warranty. Our Sportage has 85k miles we are the first owners bought it with 13 miles on it, 3 years and 10 months in first major repair is not covered under the warranty.... this is why we bought the car to avoid this situation with repair costs early on. I have learned my lesson. Go with the cars that are reliable and have a good reputation i.e. Honda, Toyota. dont trust the 10yr 100k mile warranty it doesnt cover a major component to the engine.

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  What a mess - 2004 Kia Sedona
  By sburdick163 - January 23 - 3:00 am

  I was told by the sales person that my van had the highest safety rating; dont believe it. I had to replace the wheel bearings and brakes. all the steel cooling lines rusted. it overheats for no reason. The steel lines coming from the radiator rusted. The blue book is low; I cant get financing for another vehicle because of low trade-in value.

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  No more Kias - 2003 Kia Rio
  By Kat Kat - January 21 - 11:10 am

  Worst Car ever once I got it I had to take in in after a few months do to the weather guard on the windows being deformed. Tires blow out so fast on this tire its not even funny. If it werent for the great mileage it would have no up side.

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  Try and find a part - 2004 Kia Rio
  By Andrew - January 12 - 3:36 pm

  After 50,000 miles the timing belt blew. Spent two weeks trying to track down a cylinder head under $900. Every Rio in the junk yard was in there for the same reason. Warranty void because I didnt replace the timing belt at 50,000 miles. Dont buy a Kia! Dont buy a Kia!

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  Not worth having - 2008 Kia Sedona
  By Marty - December 16 - 8:53 am

  We got this vehicle. I wished we hadent. The dealer didnt tell us that it would only get 14 miles to a gallon. The sticker says over 21 mpg. He didnt tell us that we had to pay $300.00 to get it servaced at 30,000. It keeps on dieing on us. So please spread the word dont buy kia.

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  Poor gas mileage - 2009 Kia Rondo
  By jerry - December 13 - 10:00 am

  it only gets about 20 miles to the gallon on the highway. And in one year it has a trade in value of $9400.00 I paid $19,000

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  2001 KIA RIO - 2001 Kia Rio
  By hallgnh - December 7 - 2:00 am

  Lots of trouble when I first purchased vehicle. It took dealer four service visits to find the problem. I have had no problem for four months, about 6,000 miles,