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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  Good Value - 2003 Kia Sedona
  By CGreen - October 9 - 10:00 am

  Have put 1,200 miles on it so far - No REAL PROBLEMS - door hinge bolt came loose on the drivers door - 14mm - 10 seconds to fix myself. We were going to buy an Odyssey - looked at these for fun - drove it home ! if you are considering the honda - you owe it to yourself to check these out.

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  KIA Sedona 2003 - 2003 Kia Sedona
  By gatorn2 - October 9 - 10:00 am

  We were pleasantly surprised with our new KIA Sedona and were so excited that we took it 2 days after buying it on a long (500+ mile trip). Gas mileage on the highway was better than advertised and although we were leery of KIA and the Sedona being so new we were favorably impressed with its features comfort and handling.

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  Nice sport SUV with sunroof/leather seats - 2006 Kia Sportage
  By munguia - October 8 - 1:00 am

  Easy to drive and park in tight spots, Powerful air conditioning and heat system, looks more expensive than it is. I feel very safe with the 6 airbags and other safely features. Nice cargo space for a sport suv with the front passenger seat folding down.

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  It does what it says it will do! - 2008 Kia Rio
  By Fletch - October 4 - 4:40 am

  This car is a great economy car. It drives well and the gas consumption is great. The warranty is fantastic. The bearings in the front wheels went and were replaced by Kia dealership without hesitation and no cost to me. Very reliable and gets you from point A to point B comfortably, cheaply and with no problems.

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  nice little car - 2008 Kia Optima
  By Chris B - October 3 - 7:26 pm

  Im 511, 265 lbs. This car offers plenty of room and a great many stock features which all work well. I do have some complaints however. The pillars on the front windshield can be difficult to see around and I have removed the headrests because of visibility issues as well. The shift gate is an absolute nuisance when trying to go from "D" to "R". The key fob frequently opens my trunk because of additional keys in my pocket, but thats pretty nit-picky. Stock tires bad - I put "winters" on this year to manage that. All in all, a sound vehicle at a terrific price warranties are questionable only because of the difference between dealerships. Seat adjustment are just ok.

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  GOOD CAR AND MPG - 2012 Kia Optima
  By cde5151 - September 30 - 7:56 am

  Had the optima 1 month, have put on a 1000 miles, has total of 21432 miles now. comfort fairly good, I am 62. I think the car looks great. Can fit 4 adults, 5 would be a tight fit. A lot of talk about poor mpg. I drive 40 miles a day. 30 miles on hwy and 10 a day in the city(Lawrence, Ks.)I average 32 mpg so far. So no complaints here,,,...

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  Soul is a Plus - 2010 Kia Soul
  By Kirk - September 30 - 6:50 am

  Ive had my soul + a week. 2.0L automatic has enough pep for me, but then Ive never been a gunner. I really like the vision I have when driving this vehicle. The seat is as high as many of the mid-level SUVs. More space than most of the Japanese wagons/cross-overs in its price range. I would have like to had saved $$$ off the MSRP; but they wouldnt budge. Not a good buying experience; but Im enjoying the car.

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  Not happy at this time - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By lisamil - September 30 - 4:16 am

  I purchased my Kia April 2010. The dealer suggested that we buy the Simonize package, what a mistake that was. When I picked up the car, after being simonized it still had bugs on the mirror and the front of the car. Well it gets worse, the seats were simonized as well, now every time a drop of water gets on the seat, it makes a spot. I have contacted the dealership and trying to get this resolved, so far nothing, but Im hoping that they will fix this mess. It looks horrible and Im very dissatisfied with the seat issue. Water stains the seats, body sweat or anything that touches the seats make spots on them.

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  Our 2005 Kia Optima - 2005 Kia Optima
  By Roy Deamer - September 29 - 1:36 pm

  My wife and I bought this car because of the 10 yr, 100,000 mile warranty. I really do like this car, it is fun to drive and I surprise a lot of people with the accelleration and power this car has. The only drawback to it so far has been the gas mileage, it only gets about 25 hwy and 20 city, but I still like the car. Kia could have a real jewel with this car if they install and overdrive gear, this car would get 30 to 35 mpg, easy.

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  Beware of around town driving - 2012 Kia Sorento
  By dmcfee - September 28 - 6:07 am

  We purchased our Kia Sorento new about 6 months ago. Around town I have never gotten over 16 mpg. My lowest has been 13.4 mpg. On the highway i get 31 mpg. I took it back to the dealer and was told I had to to run few more tanks of gas then it would get better. Four more tanks and it remained about 14 mpg. I went back and the head maintenance man said I only averaged 18 mph in the city and that is why it was so low. I told him I did not expect the 22 mpg we were told it would get but had no idea it would be 7 mpg under advertised mpg. The salesman knew all my driving was around town and acted very surprised when I told him the problem. Love the car, but the gas mileage is unacceptable.