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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  DONT BUY THIS JUNK!!!!! - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By sniper_munkee - June 7 - 11:10 am

  Constant disappointment. I was told it would take over 5000.00 to fix this junker. Its been sitting for over a year since I found that out. Now I dont know what to do and Im still making payments on it.

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  Deceiving - 2001 Kia Sephia
  By Blaze - June 3 - 2:00 am

  Thought I was getting a great deal. After the first year everything went downhill. My car has had a new transmission, a new alternator, and now theyre not sure if it needs a new starter or what. Great warrantey except it takes a week for them to figure out what is wrong with it. Also, if the least little thing hits the car (rock,etc.) it leaves major dents. My mother ownen a differnt Kia and traded it in after 3 months due to problems it had. Please, some one take this peice of junk!

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  Got 166,000 miles but with problems - 2002 Kia Spectra
  By julia17 - May 23 - 10:00 am

  My 2002 Kia Spectra just threw a head gasket at 166,000 miles. Previous problems: the a/c went out in 2007 and was repaired for $1400. It went out again about 9 months later and the mechanic wanted another $750. Shortly afterwards, the heat went out. I replaced the clutch 3 times. Also replaced a valve in the braking system for $250. Lots of the cheap plastic interior broke and/or fell off including the drivers side sun visor. The driverside seatbelt also broke and had to be replaced. I did a lot of driving for work and both knees and hips were hurting me due to driving this car. If youre only going to put maybe 10-12,000 miles/year on a 2002 Spectra, it may be worthwhile.

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  tremendously disappointed - 2013 Kia Soul
  By jenese2004 - May 21 - 5:33 am

  Ironically I had a kia soul plus, one that I got in 2010 and I had no complaints with it. I had a wreck in December of 2012 and had to get another car. I chose to upgrade and get another soul exclaim, premium package. BIG MISTAKE!! It is an extremely bumpy ride and my kia plus wasnt like that so I was confused by this!!! The leather seats are so hard I had to get a cushion to place on the seats. Whenever I clean my seats or sit on them, lent is always left on them. No matter what I do, lent is always left!!!! Plus i have nothing but problems with the Bluetooth!! The mpg is acceptable I guess and the wheel turns nicely. Those are the redeeming qualities. ALL in all im disappointed.

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  Worst Car Ive ever owned - 2006 Kia Sedona
  By frommissouir2 - May 16 - 2:46 am

  I have had the oil changed at the dealer for the entire life of this car simply because every time it was time to change the oil something else was broken on it. The air bag light just came on this morning, and the check engine light has been lighting up regularly so BACK TO THE DEALER we go. I still plan on driving it until the wheels fall off but I will NEVER buy another KIA.

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  A fair car for the price - 2008 Kia Optima
  By patdaddyt - May 9 - 5:49 pm

  Weve had our car for 3 1/2 years now, For the last few months our car has really bad road noise like a wheel bearing is going out or somethings wrong with the new tires we just put on the car. tom. were going to get it checked out a kia dealership maybe they can fix it.

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  Latent Battery Related Issues - 2010 Kia Sedona
  By mytwocents - May 3 - 6:27 pm

  Purchased in March 2010, roughly 6 months later began having unexplained occurrences of the battery dying. Dealer found nothing wrong, yet the issue persists sporadically even to this day.

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  You get what you pay for - 2000 Kia Sephia
  By Bob M - April 20 - 6:06 pm

  I bought this vehicle new. We needed basic car, not fancy. Manual tranny is a plus as we expected to move to the snow belt. My records since purchase have shown consistent 31-34 mpg for all driving. First major repair was brakes at 85,000 miles. Second was ball joints at 127,000 miles. Now at 149,000 and going strong; however body is showing rust and systems are starting to fail. Great car for us and worth the minimal $$. Not for all drivers, but regular maintenance gives solid transportation.

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  The Warranty - 2005 Kia Sedona
  By SAd - April 15 - 5:23 am

  The warranty on the car is not worth it wait in gold. I have had the car for 4years have replaced the tires 9 times the brakes 5 times and now the car is in the shop and has to have a new engine. This is not covered by the warranty even though I only have 70,000 miles on it. They say it is my fault for not having the oil change like I should I have proof that I do have it changed like I should and they say it is still my fault. The answer is either fix it which will cost me 3,500 for a used engine with a 6 month warranty or I could trade it in on a new one. I think this is very sad that my husband 20 year cars engine still runs great and a 4 year old engine needs to be replaced.

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  Live and learn - 2006 Kia Sedona
  By David Shelton - April 6 - 4:53 am

  Due to the great warranty and price with options we decided to take a chance on a Kia vehicle even though we knew about the not so good re-sale value. The vehicle has 60000 miles on it. The vehicle performed fine until about 45000 miles. After 6 visits to the dealership the air conditioner was finally fixed. At about 58000 miles the power lift gate stopped working and was fixed. I have replaced two fog lights and one head light bulb and now the tv has quit working. Everything was under warranty except the bulbs and tv. After contacting Kia about the tv, which would cost $1100 to replace, I was told I was out of luck. The bulbs lift gate and tv all went out within two weeks.