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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  Great car for the price. - 2006 Kia Sorento
  By Brenda - July 14 - 11:16 am

  I just bought this car earlier this week and have to say that so far so good. I got out of driving a gas guzzling V-8 and I have been driving the Sorento all week and gas gauge has hardly moved down at all. Easy to get in and out of with two toddlers and easy to find a parking spot. You get a lot of car for the money. Fun and easy to drive. Handles great in town and on the freeway.

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  my zip car - 2003 Kia Rio
  By paul salim - July 13 - 1:33 am

  I love this little car. My main car is a Ford 150 Super. I bought this little Kia Rio for when I dont need a truck to save on gas. I am a tall big guy, and it is very comfortable. I love the pickup of a stick, i am amazed at how good of a car it is for the price. I have almost 17,000 miles on it and zero problems (knock on wood). Love it.

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  Great buy! - 2006 Kia Spectra
  By Jesse - July 12 - 12:06 pm

  I recently purchased a Kia Spectra after reading good reviews on the car and I have not been disappointed. I commute over 100 miles per day for work and (over 90%) hwy driving) and this car gives exceptional mileage. I have a large Dodge truck so I needed something fuel efficient and comfortable and this car does not disappoint. The build quality is really high and the materials feel as high quality as a Toyota Corolla or Honda Civit (and a step above a Mazda 3) I would recommend anyone to purchase this car. You will not be disappointed.

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  THE choice in affordable 4-dr Hatchbacks - 2000 Kia Spectra
  By S. U. Potter - July 12 - 10:00 am

  I had been looking at used 94-98 VW Golfs for a Hatchback before I realized Kia started making one in 2000. Lacking refinement compared to a Honda or Toyota, but has an excellent 4-Door Hatchback layout, and for the price, its good enough.

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  Good Disposable Car - 2003 Kia Spectra
  By vader716 - July 12 - 10:00 am

  I was putting a $100 here and a $100 there fixing my old 92 escort. Kia ran a special buy one get one free or one for 50% off. I decided to pick one up for a daily commuter. I paid $8200 +taxes and tags and have been very happy so far. It is a great little car for commuting. Nothing special nothing terrible. Id buy it again. Heck $130 a month for a brand new car? Cant beat it. Ill run it into the ground and then get rid of it.

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  rip off - 2001 Kia Sportage
  By Tim - July 12 - 5:00 am

  Timing belt broke at 105,000 miles and Im being told that after the belt breaks while driving it ruins the engine. Nice to know after it breaks that when this happens it is self destruction. Basicly made to be a disposible vehicle.

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  Great car Bang for your Buck!! - 2016 Kia K900
  By Rich Arabian - July 11 - 3:06 am

  Great luxury without the high maintenance cost and typical breakdowns with most luxury high-end cars. It is a reliable, sharp looking and luxury ride without worry of high cost and high maintenance bill that you would have to pay $4000 plus for an extended warranty for some German made luxury cars and a less expensive Japanese luxury car. An engineer at KIA from R and D said KIA buys their engines currently from Toyota. Essentially, you are buying a Lexus for half the cost.

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  Rescending My Original Review - 2004 Kia Amanti
  By Chris G - July 10 - 6:43 pm

  After a month or two of ownership I wrote a favorable review of this car. However, 30,000 miles and 2 years later I have determined that this car is JUNK, JUNK, JUNK!!!! Lets run it down: Front-end suspension problems that the dealer(s) could never resolve. Car would periodically shut off while driving down the road, again, no dealer resolve. After 30,000 miles the car had problems starting. Very fragile, insecure handling. Horrible MPG - Resale, Resale, Resale

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  So-so Sportage - 2000 Kia Sportage
  By kslater91 - July 10 - 10:00 am

  I have owned my Kia for 3 years its my first car. I have had to put A LOT of work into it. The original owner ran her hard. First some wires rusted and fell apart, a wire on my brakes got twisted, my rear axle rusted over and broke, (that was scary), one of my back doors wont open from the outside, I recently had a problem that is I go through gas way too fast and when I go to fill up it makes a really weird hissing sound! I had this part removed from the gas tank to prevent it from rusting so its not that. But when I get the money to get it fixed it will be perfectly fine. I love it!

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  Great solid car - 2005 Kia Optima
  By Rhonda - July 10 - 10:00 am

  I have owned this car for 4 yrs now. Bought it used with 20,000 miles on it, now has 130,000+. Only money I have spent on the car is oil changes and tires (still havent tuned it up), oh yeah and like many others, lots of headlights. Just 3 weeks ago though my speedometer went out. No idea how much that is going to cost me to repair. I have taken the car on many across the country road trips with no problems. Love the car except the annoying headlight issue, what is up with that anyway?