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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  Pretty good mini van - 2005 Kia Sedona
  By durangomom - March 22 - 6:10 am

  I bought this van used with 12,000 miles on it, it has been a good car for us, I was very hard on the rotors, and the brakes, we had to travel down a step hill often, so the rotors wore out pretty fast, that was about 2 years, after we bought it, also around the same time, the adjusting part of the p seat went out, and we had it replaced, its a good a car, and it can take hit in the back, it was in a pretty hard finder binder, and hardly crunched up at all. I do recommend this car, for the price its perfect, and I think it is pretty fast, i dont know what some of the poster are talking about, mini vans are meant for large families, they shouldnt be like sports cars, they should be safe for kids.

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  KIA - Killed In Action - Unsafe Turbo Engineering - 2013 Kia Sportage
  By GJ8 - March 21 - 11:18 am

  After the FCV recall, I lost all the performance I enjoyed and paid for in this car. I went to 2 dealers only to be told it drives fine. Well I and everyone who’s driven this car totally disagree. The ECM reflash - the recall- consisted of updating the software originally supplied by the car maker and changing its Air/Fuel Ratio algorithms. The rule of thumb is 12-14/1 optimum. The new software seems to keep the Turbos wastegate open too much during wide open throttle causing the Turbo Not "Spool Up" all the way, losing boost, and obviously power loss. So, why did KIA update the software instead of replacing the faulty FCV valve - because its cheaper than re-engineering the FCV. Or, even more expensive but better yet, why not replace it with a tried and true fuel pressure regulator- Cost for KIA? Instead the easy route was to detune the car so it doesnt reach full boost, saving the FCV. So the car is now "killed in action." But this did lead me to learn about certain safety issues that have me very concerned. The turbo is located near the firewall, on the backside of the engine. If the pressurized part and axial lode of the turbo Fails, and is spinning at an average of 150,000 rpms, this can act like a grenade under the hood, throwing shrapnel everywhere, possibly causing both driver and passenger injury or death, as the force of the pieces of hot steel and aluminum from the axial lode, plus the inertia of rotating blades at 150 rpms, would penetrate through the firewall.

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  Spectra Rating - 2004 Kia Spectra
  By R. J. Williams - March 21 - 10:00 am

  Transmission Questioable- Problems required the Transmission be replaced twice in one month after the original failed.

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  Looks Great Ride Tune Out Road Noise - 2004 Kia Amanti
  By A. NEWMAN - March 21 - 10:00 am

  Great fuel economy and comfort level. Rattle in front end cant be located after numerous attempts. One of the best cars Ive ever driven. Would recommend to anyone wanting luxury on a budget

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  2004 Kia Amanti by Bob Gum - 2004 Kia Amanti
  By bgum - March 21 - 10:00 am

  I bought my Amanti in May 2004. I am very satisfied with everything except the noise generated underneath the car on city streets. It could be sound insulated better to aleveate this noise distraction. It is very distracting. However, on the highway, it is very quite. In fact it is one of the quietest cars Ive ever driven on good roads. The wind noise is almost non-existance. The fit & finish is excellent. The gas mileage is a decent 25.5 MPG on the highway. The seats, both front & rear are very comfortable. It could use a little more horsepower but I highly recommend this vehicle. It is an excellent value for your dollar.

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  Great Car. - 2004 Kia Optima
  By SeaJay830 - March 21 - 10:00 am

  I love my Kia. It has performed better than I could have ever expected and I have the 4 cylinder model. I get 32-35 MPG highway and I dont drive it easy.

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  2nd Kia - 2004 Kia Optima
  By mandrew - March 21 - 10:00 am

  We truely love the Kia products and the Optimas value was extreemly good.We feel like we are driving a Mercedes at a fraction of the cost! Keep up the great work Kia!

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  2004 kia sedona - 2004 Kia Sedona
  By Kaydi45 - March 21 - 10:00 am

  I had a dodge Caravan but the new ones were to pricey. I also had a kia sophia as my second car, I like it runs well. So I went and looked at the sedona. The price was good and 2,000 off for Kia loyalty, made it even better, plus the warranty and 5 years road side asistence made it even better. It runs great and lots of room, on the down side it does use a lot of gas, but I know its a mini van, and it has all kinds of power very peppy.

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  A New "Return Buyer" for Kia - 2004 Kia Sedona
  By minivanmomma1 - March 21 - 10:00 am

  This van is dependable, comfortable, luxurious, and a thrill to drive. My husband and I dispute on who will drive it on the weekends. It has so much room for long trips and for the kids. It also was a huge help when we moved last April to our new house. I love this van as does my whole family. It is such a smooth ride and the engine is so quiet that my husband cannot hear me drive up. I really love this van! I highly recomend Kia vehicles to anyone. Just ask my brother. He and his wife just bought a Sorrento to take their new baby home in this July!

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  2004 Kia Sedona - 2004 Kia Sedona
  By Rip - March 21 - 10:00 am

  The Sedona by Kia has been basically a good purchase. I was disappointed in the gas mileage, both in town and out on the road. The "take-out" rear seats are heavy when removing.