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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  Awful Build quality! - 2010 Kia Forte
  By usereks1187 - June 29 - 1:03 am

  We purchased our 2010 Kia Forte brand new car has been the worst car we have every had, heated seats never worked it came from the factory with them not connected, sunroof cracked for no reason took a month for Kia to pay for it. Then windshield cracked overnight for no reason. now at 7000 miles transmission has went out and Kia said it will take two weeks to fix it and will not provide us with a loner car. We will be trading this car in when we get it back but it has awful resale value. We will never purchase another Kia.

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  Bang for the Buck - 2011 Kia Optima
  By mja2 - June 28 - 8:15 pm

  I have owned my SX for app. 3 weeks. Zero Complaints so far. Gas mileage in regular mode is in the neighbor hood of 26 MPG mixed driving. If I am gentle in ECO mode I have gotten 29mpg under the same conditions. Acceleration to 60 is good , acceleration above 60 is very impressive, it might even scare you alittle. Overall quality seems very good. I have the basic stereo and the sound is crystal, I can only imagine the upgraded version. The only negative so far is when I start it first thing I hear a faint rattle in the exhaust.

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  Great so far - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By bucky89 - June 28 - 6:06 pm

  We were hooked on this car after test driving it and comparing it to the Toyota Highlander. The Highlander drives like a boat and is similar to the minivan we had. The Sorento was just really fun to drive. Weve had it for a week now, and no problems so far. No rattles or strange noises or any other problems whatsoever. Very minimal wind noise at high speeds. Suspension is stiff and there is some tire noise depending on the road surface. Hope it continues to meet our expectations.

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  Best of the bunch! - 2016 Kia Sorento
  By Mark Mangus - June 27 - 6:48 am

  This is my second Sorento. I traded in a 2014 and there is a world of difference. This vehicle is quiet and smooth as a babies behind. We have the 3rd row (for emergencies) but the seats are folded down. The back is huge. Maybe not as big as the Pilot, but neither is the car itself. All I can tell you is to go take one for a drive. They range in price from $25k - $45k. Mine is the LX V6 AWD with convenience package and 3rd row seat. MSRP was $33k. They have several incentives like active military, veteran, student and combinations. Your mileage may differ.

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  Worst car Ive ever owned! - 2004 Kia Sedona
  By wmumpower - June 27 - 1:26 am

  Ive had nothing but transmission problems with my car since 9,000 miles. The dealership has made every excuse they can think of to not fix the problem. Supposedly at 18,000 miles they replaced the transmission with a rebuilt one. Problems still existed after the supposed replacement. Now they say that the transmission is no good because of the tires being of a different circumference even though they are marked the same size, refusing to fix the transmission. The car is in my opinion, junk and the dealership is a sham. Oh, they also had to replace the engine 2 weeks after the worked on the transmission. Seems the serpentine belt broke and got into the timing belt.

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  Love my Optima - 2013 Kia Optima
  By snerenbaum - June 25 - 4:58 pm

  I traded in a 2008 Honda Accord for a 2013 KIA Optima. I am extremely happy with everything about this car. There are so many bells and whistles. Its comfortable and the panoramic sunroof is great. My husband purchased this car for me and I love the Metal Copper color. Its fun to drive. KIA hit this one out of the ball park.

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  reliability stinks - 2006 Kia Sedona
  By Cindy Warring - June 25 - 5:13 am

  I have owned my Kia Sedona for alsmost 3 years. Within that time frame, the car has gone through 3 alternators. three times without mush warning, this car has left me walking. I dont think I would buy a Kia again.

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  I Love My Kia! - 2000 Kia Sephia
  By Kizerkitty - June 24 - 7:30 pm

  I have owned my Kia since 2001 and I love it! Its been wonderful and I havent had any major problems with it. Yes...there are some things that I would change about the model. For instance, the paint quality could be better and the brakes tend to squeal. BUT... the car has been great! My car now has 72,000 miles on it and I intend to put 70,000 more. The Kia dealership/ maintenance dealer is most helpful and accommodating! GO KIA!

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  Nice price, great SUV - 2005 Kia Sorento
  By BEE TEE - June 24 - 2:10 pm

  This is the best SUV for the money. It comes with all the bells and whistles you could possibly want in a vehicle without going overboard. Gas mileage like all SUVs is bad, but you would know this if you were looking at SUVs. The small complaints on this SUV are the rear speakers are weak sounding and the drivers floorboard is shallow for someone with bigger feet. The engine could use more beefing up! Overall, best SUV for the money.

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  LX Kia 5 Speed Best in class.... - 2006 Kia Rio
  By tcip - June 24 - 8:53 am

  Great car for the money. Huge improvements over 05 model. Great gas mileage. Very quiet at stand still. Car sits high up for a compact. Very roomy on the inside; has great handling around corners and turning radius. Kia has the competition beat; best in class model. Aggressive European styling.