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:

• 

  02 Kia Optima - 2002 Kia Optima
  By Chris Gallant - April 26 - 12:16 am

  Overall, I really like this car. It has good power and handles well. Comfort and design are good. I only wish the gas mileage was better, but I guess that is the price you pay for the power. Big trunk. Changing headlight bulbs is a pain, and my power mirrors went out.

• 

  auto critic - 2016 Kia Sorento
  By Richard Kalinowski - April 25 - 2:19 pm

  i purchased a 2014 Sorento v6, and drove it for over a year, and really enjoyed the vehicle. Then i saw the lines on the 2016, and thought it was a big improvement on style, so I traded up. First time I used the GPS it took me to the wrong location. I also found that the font size could not be changed on the Navigation, and a lot of the street names did not appear, so it was a big mistake paying for that feature. I also liked the blind spot lights on the mirrors, but in 2016 they are smaller, and dimmer, and in sunlight almost useless. I could not believe that something that worked so well was changed drastically on the 2016. I mentioned this to Kia by phone, and the attitude was very poor. I did get the 4 with turbo, which is ample for me, but like someone else mentioned, the mileage is not that much better then the 6. The only other problem that has happen twice, is after starting the car, radio would not work, until you stopped the engine, and restarted. I have not had time to check with the dealer on that issue yet, but will on next visit. Yes on a long trip this summer, it was a pleasure to drive across the country.

• 

  Cannot Align? - 2004 Kia Spectra
  By tommywebb - April 25 - 8:36 am

  When I got the car it needed an alignment, should have made them fix it then. We loved the car. We paid cash for it. Well.........I took it to get new tires and an alignment in Oct. of 07 and the alignment tech told there is no camber adjustment on the KIA so he could not align the car. WHAT? He then proceeded to tell me I had to buy an aftermarket kit and it would cost $200 to install so my car could be aligned. I thought they were just fishing for money. So I called the dealer and sure enough I had to buy an aftermarket kit. WHAT?I bought a car you cant get aligned! KIA said it adjusts, the dealer and the tech says no. Now I am stuck with a car I can never get aligned. Never buy another!

• 

  Look At Something Else - 2013 Kia Soul
  By loversoul - April 24 - 9:51 pm

  Ok so here is the deal at this point I have over 12000 miles on the car. I bought it in Jan 2013. I knew about some of the bad things like bad blind spot at the rear of the car and the MPG not so great but there are more bad starting to show up like the following: 1. It is noise like crazy when it rains you can hear the rain on top of the car. It sounds like you are in a tin can. 2. The road noise is bad with the windows down but even worse with them up. 3. The paint is starting to chip in some places. 4. The wippers leave a streak in the middle of the drivers side and KIA wont fix it and says the work fine. Bottom line dont get one

• 

  So fun - 2014 Kia Soul
  By Daisy - April 24 - 2:07 pm

  This car surprises everyone that sees it, when I tell people I have a Kia their reaction is " Ewww a Kia!? " But when they get in it, they say " I cant believe its a Kia " I love everything about this car except the resale value, which is like giving the car away for free right after you drive it. Driving this car is fun yet elegant, its smooth and spacious even though it looks like a small toy from the outside. Ive had this car almost 2 years and I still smile when I walk up to it :)

• 

  sportage - 2001 Kia Sportage
  By jen b. - April 24 - 2:00 am

  Owned for two years, taken off on rollback twice for warranty claims (mechanical). Has had new master cylinder, fuel inj system, cat converters, wiring, seats, drink holder, window motors(2) replaced. OK vehicle but would NOT buy again. Trade in value awful. Sick of truck and stuck with it until I can break even. On good side - great in snow and good for kids. On bad side - my 22 year old car has better reliability record. Manual tranny definitely better power than automatic. OK for someone just starting out because of warranty, but be prepared for problems.

• 

  18 trips/2yrs/"the little things" - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By tbo - April 24 - 2:00 am

  Love the power of the engine, hate all the little things. Kia is not open on Saturday...duh, this really makes you angry when you have to take off work to get all of the little things fixed. List of things: battery (2x) , visor, wipers (3x), broken seat, window off track, door slider broken, (just to name the ones I can think of immedietley!

• 

  Not a bad ride - 2003 Kia Rio
  By molly - April 23 - 9:30 pm

  The car had limited power but was reliable and had amazing gas mileage. There were numerous problems but each was a low cost repair or not worth repairing. All door locks failed to work, doors would not stay shut in the winter, interior lights flashed, check engine light turned on and off, there was always oil in the 3rd cylinder, clutch began wearing at 70,000 miles, front brakes were replaced at 60,000 miles. Various noises started coming from the front end or engine after about 60,000 miles. I miss the fuel economy but the car was traded in at 78,000 miles do to numerous problems. Though because of reliability, I upgraded to another kia product.

• 

  Not bad - 2006 Kia Sedona
  By legend - April 23 - 11:36 am

  Just inherited this van from father-in- law. Its got everything you want in a minivan. Only thing that bothers me is the somewhat heavy steering feel and interior squeaks from the rear of the car. It turns out squeaks are coming from side plastic panels. Airbag light came on but thats probably an easy fix. Other than those two things cant really complain

• 

  Reliable Spectra - 2003 Kia Spectra
  By Sean Watters - April 23 - 9:50 am

  I have had this car for the past two years and the only complaint that I have is the fact that it is a smaller car. It is obvious that a car that performs this well on and offroad, (from my experience) that size does not matter. I am extremely satisfied with this vehicle and believe that this car is perfect for college students or the everyday on the go person. It never crossed my mind when I got the car that I would be this satisfied with it. Since I have had this car, I have put 39,000 miles on it and it runs just as well as it did when I first purchased the car. In short, this car is a very reliable car as long as it is well maintained.