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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  Kia Optima EX V6 - 2004 Kia Optima
  By Nauman - February 18 - 10:00 am

  Great driving car with alot of extras for the money. Would like to have a little better gas mileage.

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  Great Car - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By Mitohan - February 18 - 10:00 am

  My Sorento is fun to drive and very comfortable. I did a little research before purchasing one, and it ranks with some of the best out there.

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  Whatta Car! - 2004 Kia Amanti
  By dallas - February 17 - 2:00 am

  I cant believe I got this much car for the price paid. The styling is superior and it drives like a dream. I enjoy watching people walk around it, looking and admiring.

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  Just Plain Smart! - 2004 Kia Amanti
  By jm9736 - February 17 - 2:00 am

  With this car its a "win Win Situation" Great price for LUXURY! You get all the bells whistles and luxury for SEVERAL Thousand less than LEXUS, BMW and Jaguar plus you get a 10 year Warranty! The leather is SUPERB and the Styling Elegant! Can you hear me now! Buy one its worth every penny!

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  New Kia Owner - 2004 Kia Sedona
  By Leslie W - February 17 - 2:00 am

  We got a great price and a fully loaded van. The kids love it and we are so happy to have them out of a cramped SUV where they touched each other and fought over everything. Now they have their own space and everything is much quieter in the car!

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  Kia Sedona - 2005 Kia Sedona
  By naayaah321 - February 16 - 5:43 pm

  My parents own a Kia Sedona, 2005, and really like the minivan. It has been very reliable and done us well after 4 years. The brakes werre replaced prior 2 times and on the second tine, my dad made them put heavy duty rotors and pads and its been fine ever since. The engine has been very reliable and the problems noted n these reviews have never happened to us. We did replace the tires with the car tires they reccomend, and they wore out fast. What you need to do, is replace them with light truck and SUV tires and i fixes that problem. Think about it, the vehicle weighs 4800 lbs, and car tires are just not heavy duty enough. Overall, its been a great vehicle for our family.

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  Good Starter SUV - 2001 Kia Sportage
  By DNAgent - February 16 - 10:00 am

  Ive had two of these cars and I have been extremely happy with both. The first I drove cross-country twice and some bozo totaled it. The second has been just as sturdy and reliable as the first. No problems and a great warranty.

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  Dont waste your cash! - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By nonadoss - February 15 - 6:13 pm

  We purchased this car because of the warranty and the fact of having good luck with Hyundais. Our test drive was a couple of blocks, our mistake, bought the car. This is the roughest riding car I have ever driven, acts like it doesnt even have shocks. The Kia Rep. was in town, took our car for a drive and we were told that the roughness was due to the 17" wheels which are on the LX models, paid over $22,000 less than three months ago, they offered $17,500 trade-in on he EX model. I called the Kia Factory and they said we would just have to live with if or put 18" wheels at our expense. My advice is. STAY AWAY FROM THE HYUNDAI AND KIA CARS, the warranty is not worth it.

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  Needs Improvement - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By Disappointed Owner - February 15 - 2:43 am

  Purchased vehicle in March 2010, Kia needs to address the issue with the noisy front end struts and the ride quality on bumpy roads asap. I had to the dealer twice for this issue and they said that Kia is aware of the issue but has no fix as of yet. This is unacceptable! If they know there is a problem then why dont they take care of it. I would not recommend this vehicle to anyone at this point because of this issue. Very annoying.

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  Sorrento SX is the best value - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By darfer19 - February 14 - 3:45 pm

  We were looking for a replacement for our Chrysler town and country and the Sorrento is perfect. It has the 3rd row seating which is good for kids, and all of the features are better than expected. We looked at the Traverse, Hyundas, Honda Pilot, and Ford Edge. The Traverse was nice but still had a lot of generic plastic interior parts and the price was high.. with features mid to high 30s .. With teh Sorrento we bought an SX which has everything GPS , Sirius., Bluetooth, Voice recognition commands, heated seats , and safety 5 stars... best deal by far