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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  Best Kept Secret! - 2011 Kia Soul
  By smack1963 - August 28 - 9:42 am

  I bought a Kia Soul + to replace my Jeep Wrangler gas hawg. I didnt want to part with my Jeep, I loved it. Im glad I did. The Soul has so many standard features for thousands less than the competition. It has more power that other little puddle jumpers I tried. Its not a race car, but enough to pass 2 pokey cars at once. Im 6, 230#, it is super easy to get in and out of and plenty of head & leg room both front and back. Had to convert my .m4p files to .mp3 files to play in the usb port, but it works flawlessly. A friend has a Chevy Malibu with a usb port that doesnt work. Gas MPG is between 28 - 31 mixed driving. I added the euro-style racing stripe a few days later, LOVE IT!

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  MADE IN USA (well, 56% of it anyway!) - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By Kippster - August 27 - 8:03 pm

  Ive had my AWD EX w/Limited, Premium and 3rd row seat, for a week now, so far, so good! I promise to post updates every 1000 miles or so. My criteria for a SUV was simple (or so I thought). Get the same or better fuel eff as my 03 Acura TLS (which was trouble free until transmission issues at 125k); 23/27. Only averaging 20 mpg in mixed driving so far, well see if it gets better. And, it needed to be made in the US. Easy right? Not so. Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Mitsu, Acura? All overseas. Plus, I loved the monkey sock puppet commercial! Kidding. 60, 000 B2B, 100,000 eng and trans wtty. 4 cyl is a bit noisey on the otside, but not inside. Smartkey, nice leather, upgraded stereo w/nav, try one

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  Love the Car!! - 2002 Kia Spectra
  By mazkds - August 26 - 10:56 pm

  We bought our Spectra brand new with 28 miles on it. We have not had to put hardly any money into it (besides normal maintenance). We have almost 104,000 miles on it and have taken it on a number of long trips over the eastern half of the US. Our only complaint is that the front bumper is completely faded and the dashboard is warping. So I think the quality could have been a little higher. For $11,000 (brand new) I cant really say that I am disappointed. I think we have a great car and look forward to driving it for many more years. GO KIA!!!

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  Buy american - 2003 Kia Optima
  By thomas frye - August 26 - 7:20 pm

  Had problems with ac, tried to have door locks fixedseveral times never could find problem. In my opion Kia not much help, seems all work should be done at Kia dealers only. Will only buy American only, have owned VW, Toyota

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  Good Car for the Price - 2004 Kia Spectra
  By lorijohnston - August 26 - 4:05 am

  I am surprised at some of the other reviews. I bought this car used with 16,000 in early 2005. At the time, I needed an inexpensive and reliable car to get me back and forth between work, home and school. Six years later, I still own the car and I still love it. The only major expense was a timing belt change at 102,000 miles. Over the years I have had only one mysterious problem. The transmission at times would stick in one gear. Every time I have encountered this issue, I simply pulled over, put the car in park for a second, returned the car to drive and the problem ended. I would highly recommend this vehicle to anyone who needed reliability & affordability. I own 2 Kias today!

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  Dont buy a Kia Sportage LX 2008 - 2008 Kia Sportage
  By lanursa1 - August 26 - 3:26 am

  Dont buy one at all! I have asthma, and the airflow system is so bad, that every time I pass a vehicle with a bad exhaust system, all that polluted air comes into my vehicle, and I get an attack. Whenever it rains or there is an ice-storm, the elements pile up inside the rim of the door jamb, and this increases the possibility of the vehicle rusting. It is a spacious vehicle, but I would never recommend anyone buy this model. The ABS system is horrible. Dont even think about braking! It was my first experience with such a system, and I had to go to the dealership about 3 times, before I realized that this is what I have to deal with until I sell this vehicle.

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  2010 Sedona Brakes - 2010 Kia Sedona
  By kia2010owner - August 24 - 3:52 pm

  The rotors on my Sedona 2010 always stress on a downgrade. The whole system vibrates and sounds like it will fail. Car has less than 35,000. Dealer told me it is the way I drive. I live on flat land with little or no traffic to stress system. One "Goodwill Warranty" machined front brake 7/7 and rear brake 6/6. Within 3 months I had to drive the same grade...huge vibration. Immediately took car to dealer...Insisted I needed to replace all rotors (approx $500.)..Took to my local brake specialist...$70.00 ..machined left front rotor...pads good. Did not need to replace rotors. Again 6 months later brakes vibrate on a downhill grade. Anyone else experiencing this?

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  Good Cheap Car - 2001 Kia Rio
  By bassist_guy - August 24 - 10:00 am

  Ive had my rio for 2 years and I drive a lot of miles. The car has been reliable. For the most part it is comfortable on long drives because of the manual seat controls. However I do wish I could have had cruise control. I get anywhere from 35-38 miles to the gallon on average, but I mostly drive on the freeway. My only complaint would be a whistling sound from the front when traveling over 80mph or when there are strong winds. I did have an engine problem around 50,000 miles, but it was taken care of right away and I was really impressed with the service and concern that was extended to me.

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  What a surprise - 2003 Kia Rio
  By DWJ - August 24 - 10:00 am

  Wasnt expecting such a nice little car as the cheapest car in America. Theyve come a long way since the Ford Aspires and Yugos of years past. Havent had any problems with my Rio, driven it hard the whole time Ive had it. While it is an adjustment switching between driving my Expedition and the Rio, the nimbleness and trunk space is appreciated in this car.

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  Good vehicle for the $ - 2001 Kia Sportage
  By Little Jim - August 24 - 10:00 am

  Great warranty! USA manufacturers could learn from Kia. This is a fun truck for less money than all other competitors. If you want reliable transportation with lots of interior room, built on a truck frame with a Mazda B2000 truck engine, this is your vehicle.