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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  WORST CAR EVER - 2004 Kia Rio
  By breezy7 - October 27 - 1:21 am

  My Kia Rio has kicked the bucket at 177k after a crap load of problems. I replaced everything under the sun in the cooling system. 2 new radiators. headlights, tail-lights. Drivers door doesnt lock. Two windows wont go down. I had a transmission fluid leak which was a pain in the butt breaking down every 20 min. New alternator belt. Brake fluid leak. and 2 bad oxygen sensors caused a horrible shaking. I HATE THIS CAR. EVERYTIME I GOT IT FIXED, something else went wrong.!!! NEVER AGAIN KIA. NEVERRRRR AGAIN !!!

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  Falling apart - 2002 Kia Rio
  By Da Skipper - October 20 - 10:00 am

  I got the car for good gas milage. Thats all Im getting. Two year old car with only 33,000 is falling apart. Having troubles with breaks, interior trim falling off, extreme wind noise, and not the factory radio has died. Service dept. at dealer I purchased it from is totally worthless and I refuse to return to them.

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  Love the car - 2017 Kia Forte
  By Wendy Harris - October 13 - 5:18 am

  I love my car. Was not aware when we purchased it that cruise control is not standard on all cars. Since we have had the car the front bumper and left headlight had to be replaced apparently due to shipping. They were both scratched up and not fixable without replacing them. Now at less than 2500 yes read that again less than "2500" miles the transmission has to be replaced!!! Apparently there have been 26 Kia Fortes that have had this problem and now I am # 27. I like the feel of the car, the color, all the Bluetooth options and the roominess but so far I have not been impressed at all with running of it. I have not even had this car 2 months and it has spent more time in the shop than I have had it to drive. Sorry Kia wish I could give a better review!

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  Features removed - 2016 Kia Optima
  By Harry - September 14 - 4:07 am

  Compared to previous years this is a big step back for the optima! A lot of the chrome highlights are gone! The dual exhaust chrome pipes are no longer! No more fog lamps either! The dash is no longer sporty looking! Was bad enough when the v6 was removed from the ex! I have a 2015 and wont go newer!

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  Parking lights stay on sometimes - 2008 Kia Spectra
  By Don - September 13 - 5:46 am

  Bought car 6 mo. ago, had this problem since I bought car, dealer said if it doesnt happen all the time, they couldnt fix it. That was fine in the summer but when I had to have it jumped 3 times in the parking lot at work in -10, thats a problem. Brought it back, still wouldnt fix it. Car is 6 mo. old, 13,000 miles, lost 6 grand in value. My mpg were 24-33 thats terrible. My folks big Buick gets 30 and its a nice ride, not like this.

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  You get what you pay for - 2000 Kia Sportage
  By ckzk - September 9 - 2:00 am

  My father, husband, and sister all talked me in to buying this vehicle because it was a great deal...well, 7 months later they now agree I need a new vehicle. It had 36,000 miles when I bought it and has been nothing but trouble. The 4WD does not work, I have had to fix the drivers door handle 4 times ($68 each time)and I still have to roll down the window to get out! The rear tire cable has broken, for the second time and now I cant get into the back unless I climb over the back seat. The cup holder is not only in a horrible place, blocking the clock, defroster, and other features but it bounces on the bumps and spills all over the place.

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  This Car Is Horrible - 2008 Kia Sedona
  By Dave - September 3 - 4:16 am

  This car is not what I expected. It looks good in the pictures, but is totally different in person. Its very wide and fat. The blueish color is disgusting, if you get this vehicle dont get the blue color. The interior is also bad. The fabric used for the seats looks and feels horrible. There is also not a lot of leg room, or storage. The vehicle drives like it is very stiff, and jerks every few seconds. I recommend getting a different vehicle, anything but this.

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  horrid, horrid, horrid car - 2001 Kia Optima
  By cleo - August 30 - 1:10 am

  nothing but problems from the get go, quite expensive, 3rd set of brakes, alternator, batteries, electrical problems, expensive replacement parts, never ever ever ever ever buy a kia, only car i ever had that came close was a renault

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  Worst Car Ive ever owned - Avoid at ALL Costs - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By Bob Lasher - August 29 - 11:39 pm

  In my life, I’ve owned numerous cars includeing Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Toyota & Ford, but none have been as huge, unreliable money pits as our 2002 Sedona. We bought it used with about 50K miles on it about a year ago (13 months) during that time, we’ve been forced to replace the following: The Brakes Struts - twice Water pump Pulley system that attaches to the water pump The timing belt The catalytic converter Drivers side power window switch (that stupid thing was $180) Front wheel Bearings Front CV Joint & Bearing Ignition coils (two trips to the shop) strut bushings (separate from the strut trip) Tires Alternator Engine Mounts Its an automotive nightmare!

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  Follow up review - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By jaedee33 - August 24 - 8:00 pm

  I purchased my sorento in 1/2010 I have had problems with sunroof not being fitted correctly and constant problems with Gas Mileage, Automatic AC, front seats not being secured properly and most recently Transmission problems. I have accumulated 15000 miles already and this week my car started out of nowhere slipping gears and revving unintentionally and even chirping the tires from each gear took it to a locale dealership and was provided with a rental car (dodge avenger) and notified i needed a new transmission after 15,000 miles Ive never experienced something like this and will no longer recommend or promote any Kia products. I was told it would be 2 weeks until i get my car. We will see