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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  Will never buy a Kia again!! - 2008 Kia Spectra
  By Heather - July 10 - 9:50 am

  I do enjoy by Kia. I got it with 12 miles on it in May 08. I dont drive it very much, just to work. But Ive had it in the shop 3 time. My kia is a manual and I think thats the problem. the 1st 2 times it was in the shop was 4 months after I got it. It would not go into reverse.Well a new transmission and cluch later the service department said it was "Fixed". WRONG at 11months old sure enough its doing it again so i take it to the delership and they say nothing is wrong. Am I the only person having trouble???

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  Don`t be a leadfoot! - 2006 Kia Sportage
  By badbri1 - July 8 - 7:06 pm

  I am writing because there seems to be issues with a lot of folks about the gas mileage they are getting with their Sportages. I WAS averaging about 18.6 mpg at first. But after the first month and a half, and driving it like I had 1 gallon left in the tank, I was pleasantly surprised to see my mileage increase to 24.3 average mpg. I have noticed that despite HIGH gas prices, it doesn`t seem to slow anyone down...why? I think if most of you just stopped romping on the gas, you would find the mileage posted for the vehicle is quite accurate, and you should be doing your part to save fuel anyway. Stop trying to race everyone, and you`ll pay a lot less. I absolutely LOVE this vehicle; you should too!

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  Crushed Spectra replaced with a Spectra - 2008 Kia Spectra
  By BJM - July 7 - 10:40 pm

  I originally bought a Spectra in 2004 and really like it. I never had a problem with it until the day an SUV coming at me in the opposite lane was hit by a car that ran a stop sign, lost control, came into my lane and wiped me out. My Spectra was totaled. Although I was happy with my Spectra, I went to CarMax to see what else was out there. I drove a half a dozen cars or so, and nothing was better than what I had. I purchased another Spectra and have been very happy with it. I must have gotten a good one because I routinely get just over 40 miles to the gal. The comment I get most when people get in my car is "This is a KIA?" in an unbelieving tone.

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  Burned twice by Sorento - 2005 Kia Sorento
  By OCgrassgirl - July 7 - 4:43 pm

  I made a deal with the dealership to trade from my defective unrepairable 03 Sorento that had major electrical problems to a new 05 Sorento and within 2 weeks of receiving the replacement vehicle I began having major transmission problems. At 10,300 miles now they have tried everything to repair it and now want to replace the transmission. Have had the defective clock replaced 3 times and it still doesnt work. LOOK ELSEWHERE! When something seems too good to be true it usually is!

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  Great Car - 2005 Kia Spectra
  By TLS - July 7 - 3:06 am

  Love this Car. Had to replace a belt after 4 years, but no other problems. We have taken several trips both the the hot south New Mexico area and up to the high mountains in Colorado.

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  Happy So Far - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By esmith1172 - July 6 - 8:51 am

  Ive had my Sorento LX V6 AWD since 10/2010, aside from 2 minor recalls (which is not a bad thing), things have been good. Had a jerking/banging issue when truck started which was due to a transmission update which the dealer mechanic reset to factory specs, now everythign is fine. Kuhmo tires are ok. A little scared hearing the horror stories since I only have 10K miles on it, but, only time will tell.

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  Very competitive value - 2016 Kia Sorento
  By 3Bricks - July 6 - 2:03 am

  Buying decision came down to 2016 Ford Edge Titanium or 2016 Kia Sorento EX Premium. Actually preferred the Edge, but not to the tune of a $5500+ price difference. Driving feel is very good with ample storage and easy to use controls. Put 1100 miles on in the first 10 days without any issues. Hard to beat the warranty.

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  Great car the money ! - 2013 Kia Sportage
  By Mark the dog - July 5 - 11:59 pm

  Well, first of all the LX has a okay radio, the AWD is something else, I highly recommend this part because it serves me well, and I travel over 100 miles daily to and from work. I have a lot of confidence, in the AWD and I mean that ! Never been stuck in the snow or mud for that matter. I gave it a 4 star on the tech. because 1) I it didnt come with a Navigation system and talking into the voice command takes a little to get use to , I have to repeat myself several times and you have to speak slowing for it to work. The USB is in a bad spot, if you put sunglasses down you have to move them else where on the tray because the port is that close to the tray. Other than that I have over 110,000 miles on the Sportage and its a left over 2013 to top it off., Oh I get 29 mpg highway and pretty much thats all I do, Unless they do a lot of city driving, so I am not sure why some say they get crappy mpg unless its a Subaru LOL !!

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  Amazing - 2010 Kia Forte
  By Robert - July 5 - 2:20 pm

  Kia has definatly come a long way. This car has amazing handling and great power I did not even realize it was a 4 cylinder. I am 6’2” and have an enormous amount of legroom. Everything in the interior is easily accessible. The look is amazing it will be a great replacement to the Spectra. And 40 MPG can’t ask for anything more.

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  Are they using rubber in the tires? - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By skohansk - July 5 - 1:34 pm

  Dont get scammed by the cheap tires. Okay, frustration has set in. An online Kia survey and a call to my Kia dealership regarding the lack of traction have fallen on deaf ears. Well this morning my wife lost traction and caused an accident. For those thinking that the tires are probably bald.....the vehicle just hit 3000 miles. Finally ready for its 1st oil change. Just got off the phone with the dealership again and they said "well take a look at them when you bring it in for the oil change." Use this information for your own good.