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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  Great Car! - 2007 Kia Optima
  By Happy Owner - September 26 - 12:06 pm

  Were such a great buy we bought two! The equipment for the price was unbelievable! Nice, solid fun to drive car. Have had both for a little over 2 years. Never had any mechanical problems with either one. MPG is the only downfall I found. Mine only averaged 18 mpg. The other one is better averaging 25. Probably my fault and the way I drive. Fixed that problem though. Traded mine in for a 2010 Kia Forte. So far so good. 27.6 mpg with the first fill up. But a totally different car. Resale price isnt that good so if you are looking to keep a great car for a long time the Optima is a good bet. As long as Kia is making good quality cars I will probably stay loyal!

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  Nice Smooth Van Lacks some comfort - 2007 Kia Sedona
  By Prsnlty - September 25 - 10:53 pm

  Ive only owned this van 1 month. Great van overall but has a few problems. Rear hatch door leaks during heavy rain. Rattle in rear and windows rattle. Stereo should be better for standard issue. Had a Mazda MPV - trans went so I bought this van. Love its handling. But slow from go, super fast and smooth passing. Crappy gas mileage compared to my Mazda of more weight. Hate the drivers seat adjustments. Im short and you cant lower the front of the seat so on long rides my legs fall asleep. The wheel rims make the van look cheap even though its a beautiful looking car. Hazard button is right under stereo controls, they turn on often! Love the safety features! Buying EX model next time.

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  Wish I Wouldnt Have Leased So I could Sell It! - 2012 Kia Optima
  By bjk2 - September 20 - 7:43 pm

  If I had bought this car I could sell it & cut my losses on gas. Most everything is great about my 2013 Optima SXL 2.0 Turbo except that I average 16 mpg. No I dont drive it hard or fast. I get better mpg in my Chevy HD2500 4x4, 4gr, long bed diesel. If I was getting the advertised 22 mpg city Id be happier. I hope there is such a thing a a break-in period to get the advertised mpg. Id rather have my gutless 1.8L Toyota Matrix that gets great gas mileage at this point in time. The low ratings are all about the mpg.

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  MPG - 2013 Kia Sorento
  By bunnyskier - September 15 - 5:18 pm

  Love my Sorento. It is one of the best looking SUVs out there. I have gotten 27 MPG on the Hwy. I took a trip camping with 4 girls and all our gear and got 24 MPG. This is partial hwy and partial mountain driving with plenty of steep grades. I use the ECO option to keep my foot and pedal in check.

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  My Sorento! I Love it! - 2003 Kia Sorento
  By danoarx - September 8 - 10:00 am

  I checking the SUVs that are affordable for me and also are comparable to expensive SUVs, since one year. Came across KIA Sorento. As it was KIA so I wasnt sure whether it is I should buy it or not. Started to read its reviews, and found that everyone is saying it is a great SUV. Finally I decided and got one last month. I really like this SUV.

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  My Experience with my Kia Rio - 2009 Kia Rio
  By Inrm - September 6 - 10:00 am

  I bought this car about a month ago. Everything is fine but it has a very weird squeaky noise with the rear brakes. Ive taken it to different places and nobody knows whats going on with it. The car is cheap and is no luxury at all. Everything inside is very simple. Is a little bit small, but i dont care about it because i use it to commute. Fuel economy is OK. Car is very quiet on both streets and highway. Tires are a bit small. I think that what you get for the money is fair.I like my car. I just wish We could find out whats going on with the brakes.

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  Fun to drive - 2012 Kia Sorento
  By dagreene57 - September 6 - 7:29 am

  Have an EX with the V6. Fun to drive, but definitely have the throttle lag mentioned in other posts. Weirdest thing was a week or two ago started to get apulsation/vibration under acceleration. Took it to the dealer and they found a snap-ring on the left-front had slipped and was allowing the front axle-shaft to move around. They put on a new one and found that the correct part was undersized. They found a correctly sized part and no more problems. The service manager said this was the 3rd one he had seen. This was at about 15K miles. Other than that, a blast to drive, handles great, good power.

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  Kia 2004 - 2004 Kia Sedona
  By fred2boo - September 4 - 3:20 pm

  had a hard time actually buying a minivan, but works well for my family.

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  Great Family Car! - 2008 Kia Rondo
  By Happy Kia Owner - September 3 - 6:40 pm

  We did a lot of research before we bought this vehicle. We were replacing our 98 Ford Windstar, we wanted better gas mileage, but still versatility. So we rented this vehicle for the weekend, highly recommended. Took it to the ocean and for the weekend and got 25mpg (200m 60% Hwy & 40% city). It handles worlds over a minivan, fun to drive, and parking lots are easy. Purchase process, we talked to the car sales arm of the rental agency, said we wanted dark as possible interior and 7 seater, they brought in a Silver exterior, with black interior. Ultimately we purchased it for $13,000 with 7,000 miles on it and we have gotten 21.8mpg strictly in town driving, that is what we expected.

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  Optima - 2002 Kia Optima
  By plm - August 27 - 2:00 am

  The only problem we had with our Optima was a passenger side window that would get stuck if you closed the door with the window open. After the second trip to the dealership this problem was solved. We also had concerns with the was the transmission shifts. We were told that since the car was a demo, that the electronic transmission never had a chance to "learn" the drivers preferences. I would like a little more pick-up but other than that the car has been a great buy. I wish we had waited one more year to buy though. The 2003 has the Infinity stereo, a garage door opener, and auto dim rear view mirror, all standard.