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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  We like our Kia - 2004 Kia Sedona
  By CT. rockman - March 19 - 2:00 am

  Bought ours 8/2002. Has 43,000 miles on it. In snow and bad weather the additional weight makes for better traction than our lighter Chrysler Van. Down side is the 15 -18 mpg around town. However, it does get 20/21 on road. Up side is that it is one tough van and the safety ratings more than make up for mpg for us.

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  Kia Sedona needs help - 2004 Kia Sedona
  By flmarijack@aol.com - March 19 - 2:00 am

  My Kia Sedona is excellant in design, engineering and convienance. Quality of components, fuel ecomony, exterior finish, and service are terrible. The interior panels rate are poor on impact resistance. The paint finish is full of orange . City is 14 mpg, Buckboard riding tires and an ear piercing noise from the rear air that Kia cannot fix. Complaints to corporate Kia landing on closed ears. I have entered this van for the "lemon law" program. I made a mistake buying this van. If you are thinking of buying this van, I suggest buyer beware

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  fun after 1000 mile trip with kids - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By Mattbrowninstien - March 19 - 2:00 am

  Drove to Orlando , Fl on vacation. the trip was smooth and we had plenty of room to carry what we needed. It is small enough that parking in that area was no problem. During the many rain storms we drove though them with no problems.

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  Best Deal - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By snooge - March 19 - 2:00 am

  The Sorento is the best deal.

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  2004 Kia Sorento - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By Cheryl Brown - March 19 - 2:00 am

  Although Ive only had my Sorento for a short time Im 100% positive I made the right decision when I bought it. I love the way it handles and it has ALOT of extra storage space. The 3.5 liter engine has plenty of power. This vehicle is well worth the money I paid for it.

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  KIA Sedona - A great ride - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By Joe Lawman - March 19 - 2:00 am

  I have owned just about every full size SUV on the market. I saw it on the lot, like its looks, took it for a 10 minute test drive and was sold that day. Its without a doubt, the nicest SUV Ive ever owned.

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  My wifes new ride... - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By murlinator - March 19 - 2:00 am

  Im a car salesman @ a dealer that has 16 diff. franchises to choose from. I get my emplyee price on any car here. Ive sold everything from the Sorento to the VUE to the Trailblazer to the Pilot and many more... I bought a Sorento. Ive had fewer customer problems with the Kias than almost any other franchise that I sell. I got the loaded Lux. Pkg. for the same price as a base Trailblazer and have a warr. for 100k miles! PLUS, the Sorento has the safest ratings out of them all and the lowest insurance ratings as well! You really cant beat the Sorento when it comes to a midsize suv. Take it from someone who could have taken a honda but didnt!

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  excellent 4x4 - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By ron siegel - March 19 - 2:00 am

  We really like this suv very much. more car than we had anticipated. this car should do well

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  New Kia Rio - 2008 Kia Rio
  By mathewslw - March 18 - 3:30 pm

  We traded a Ford F-150 because of rising fuel cost. What a difference. We bought a fairly basic automatic transmission model. So far we have been very satisfied. Great price too.

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  love it even with the problems - 2006 Kia Sedona
  By danielle - March 18 - 9:33 am

  I love the van but it had a vibration from new. Many parts later at 56,000 km Im getting a new transmission, which is what my husband had said it was from the day we drove it home. Ive been paying $590 per month for a vibrating tranny klunker. Other than that its comfortable with tons of room for my 4 kids.