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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  Best Mini on the market - 2003 Kia Sedona
  By adowd1 - January 3 - 2:00 am

  Personally, I believe this is the best minivan on the market.. After reviewing the features on this mini for almost 8 months, I finally decided to purchase the Ex Model with all of the bells and whistles except for the tow hitch. For $350, I could use this extra cash for the Valueguard paint protection plan.. For $19,300, you cant pass this deal up as other mid-size minivans usually costs around $27,500-$38,900 for the same features found on the Sedona. MY RECOMMENDATION: SAVE THE EXTRA $10,000!

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  great small SUV for the price - 2008 Kia Sportage
  By Will Heater - January 3 - 12:07 am

  this vehicle has FWD, but with good snow tires it was the best winter auto ever. MPG not great. Having a 2.7 L engine worth getting less milage. I would buy another Sportage. Only been in the shop twice in 8 years other than routine brakes , oil and filter,etc.

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  Rusted/Rotted Out Frame w/ 65975 miles. - 2001 Kia Optima
  By KarenD - January 2 - 6:56 pm

  My experience with my 01 optima has not been pleasant. I have had to have both front windows repaired several times and they still dont work properly. My door locks dont work right, I have had to put money into this car hand over fist and now to find out that according to my inspection station (certified kia dealer) that this car is junk because it has a rotted out frame. I will never buy another kia again. I have had nothing but problems with this car since I bought it brand spanking new.

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  Try This! - 2008 Kia Rondo
  By Well Worth It - January 2 - 4:56 pm

  I commute about 90 a day & the Rondo is better than I expected. Interior comfort, gauge layout (nicely illuminated @ night), road manners are all top notch. Safety features all around! Excellent. At idle, the 2.7L V6 is nearly silent. This engine has been a proven asset to Kias line-up. 6-Speed auto. w/triptronic shift are remarkable - it hums @ 80mph. Using synthetic oil now & this has helped the overall performance. I tinted all windows. At 6.3", I am comfortable for long trips. Only regret - not adding leather & sunroof. Kias are "cheap" in cost because the U.S. dollars buy more on Korean products. Kias are not cheap in quailty. You should look into Kia next time around. Trust me.

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  Gas mileage terrible - 2013 Kia Soul
  By ronn714 - January 1 - 9:53 am

  The reason I rated this a "1" is because of the gas mileage. I have the 2011 Soul 2.0. I wanted more bells and whistles so I had to accept the larger engine. Terrible terrible terrible gas mileage. On a full tank, I only get a range of 259 miles at best. It sucks up the gas like as if youre driving a big ol Buick back in the day. I may consider another Soul when I trade this but deffinitely not the larger engine. Its just terrible

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  mountain road king - 2008 Kia Sportage
  By Tony M, - December 30 - 1:46 am

  I had tried my kia sportage 4 wheel drive 6v from las vegas to salt lake city and back after two days, had feeling of confident that it works well in up and down the road, zigzag was not a road threat at all, it can be maneuver easily and controlled, engine power is excellent, it will not turn you down, At first I am not confident about her performance, but with long driving, I can testify that it is a quality SUV, I dont blame myself for having Kia brand.

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  Can anything else be wrong - 2005 Kia Sedona
  By P Contreras - December 30 - 12:33 am

  We have a 2002 Sedona and have loved it until one thing after another keeps going on. The van keeps dying out on me. We have changed the motor mounts, 02 sensors, the air flow filters, and the alternator. So far the check engine light has not turned on so the dealer is guessing on what could be wrong. Up to now we have spent close to $2000 and still dont know whats going on. At this point I regreat letting my husband change my mind from buying the Toyota Sienna. WOMEN DONT LET YOUR HUSBAND CHANGE YOUR MIND. For a mom with 3 small kids this is not a safe car!

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  steering problem - 2012 Kia Soul
  By signman945 - December 29 - 7:50 pm

  i just leased one and found it seems to wander from one side to other ,constantly having to move steering wheel back and forth (a small amount but after awhile this gets annoying)never had a vehicle do this, it is like being behind a tractor trailer or in high winds even in local traffic if you let go of wheel it goes slightly right then after correcting it for this it goes to left ,then you correct and then stars all over again, going to take back to dealer only have it for one day. test drive was on back roads not on straight open level roads

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  Optima satisfies - 2003 Kia Optima
  By wayneroe - December 29 - 10:00 am

  Ive owned a Cadillac Sedan dElegance and a Lincoln Town Car adn a Chrysler Minivan. This car rides and drives as good as any of them and the quality is better than the Town Car and far superior to the minivan (if it should have a problem I fully expect KIA to fix it - Ford refused to fix problems with my Town Car). I love my Optima.

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  Pleasantly Surprised - 2003 Kia Spectra
  By Hayes - December 29 - 10:00 am

  When I moved to the US from Canada I did not bring my 99 Honda Civic SE with me. I immediately went car shopping at auto dealers in my new area. While I was looking over a variety of models at a huge automall I came accross the Kia Spectra GS/GSX models and was immediately struck with its appearance especially from the back. I had actually planned on buying another Honda Civic/Accord or Toyota Camry but I decided to take a closer look at the Spectra GS. I took one for a test drive and was impressed with the ride and performance. I purchased a Spectra GS and have not regretted it for one minute.