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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  VERY Glitchy Electronics, very good Driving - 2008 Kia Sedona
  By Kris S..... - April 27 - 12:25 pm

  Headlights keep blowing due to faulty connectors to bulbs, power doors open/wont open randomly, 2-driver auto seat controls are a fantastic idea with horribly failed execution. Im tall and the car randomly squishes me up to my short wifes positions and I have to readjust EVERY part of seat position and mirror settings. Memory seat setting buttons forget the settings. CD player died (after 8 years). All that said, the driving experience is great, good power and road feel for a vehicle this size. Seats (esp 6-way power drivers) are very comfortable. Easily carries 2 bikes and gear to races w 4 people. Crams in 4 bikes and people with more bike dissasembly. Goes fine in snow w good tires. Great veh for long family trips or short hauls w lots of stuff. NO problems at all with the OEM sunroof. A/C and heat are both really good. Love the heated seats. At 116k miles now my mechanic says it needs a new steering rack (leaking) and power steering pump (killed by leaking steering rack.) Over $2,000 repair bill. Yikes. I dont recall the price we paid, but do remember we saved thousands over Honda and Toyota competing versions.

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  Great Mini Van - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By RSK - April 27 - 2:00 am

  We were thinking of buying a new van and on the first day out we drove the Kia and signed the papers that evening. I had already gone out on the web and investicated the different vans and prices. The ride and comfort of the Sedona was great and made our decision for us. It was also nice that it had a five star crash rating. Also the factory warranty of 10 years or 100,000 miles was a great incentive.

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  Great so far. - 2010 Kia Soul
  By McDaddy - April 26 - 5:20 pm

  I am 6 2" and was very surprised by the room inside. We bought the ! Soul with the 2.0 auto and it has plenty of power. The Soul fits it the garage right next to my Nissan Sentra and is just a bit shorter, but has much more room inside. I really think the styling of the Soul is just right. The rear hatch styling alone really helped make the decision. It is unique and fun without being goofy.

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  Way to go Kia - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By Sorento user/andre - April 25 - 10:00 am

  This is my first purchase of an SUV and my first purchase of a South Korean product and lets just say Im very impress with the product so far.I look at products from Ford,Nissan and Honda and when I look at Kia, I was very suprise how well the product was put together.

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  Awesome!!! - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By Tinman67 - April 25 - 10:00 am

  I read many reviews about the Sorento before purchasing. All were good, but all had the same complaints, mediocre gas mileage and somewhat rough ride. I found this to be true also, but the ride is not really that rough, actually smoother an our PT Cruiser. I am thoroughly impressed with the overall design and performance of my Sorento. I think Kia hit a home run when they hired Toyotas head engineer to design it (he designed the Lexus SUV). I would buy one again in a heartbeat. Keep in mind that this is the only SUV in its class with a FULL FRAME and rear wheel drive. It is a quiet ride, good acceleration, extremely nice highway ride.

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  I love my Kia - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By Kevin Lawter - April 25 - 10:00 am

  I love it,if I had to buy another one I would in a heart beat. I think it is a very sharp looking SUV.

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  Kia is stepping up to the plate. - 2005 Kia Sportage
  By Eddie White - April 25 - 1:13 am

  After careful planning and research, I finally bought my 05 Sportage (First one sold in Anchorage). I purchased the Black Cherry EX 4WD with the luxury package for a price of just over 22000. I was very skeptical about buying a Kia or any Asian vehicle (especially since I am from Detroit MI). However the reviews from the pros were considerably good. So after test driving one for myself, I felt I had to buy one (too hard to resist). The Sportage is done very well both inside and out and the luxury package makes it that much better. The engine has good pick-up and go when you need it too! Plus a ten year warranty thats unmatched by most. Kia steps to the plate with a home run hit

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  Great Mid-sized SUV - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By mogulman - April 23 - 8:43 am

  Live in Colorado. Really like the power of the 6-cylinder engine in the mountains. Fuel economy is really pretty good for the type of driving I do, also. Getting about 20 MPG. Love the panoramic sunroof, audio system, and GPS. Bluetooth and Speech recognition work well also. All wheel drive has worked fine in the snow so far. Car is brand new, so there arent a lot of accessories yet. 276 HP engine moves this along well.

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  3 months and 6400 miles - 2002 Kia Sedona
  By firemanVA - April 22 - 5:00 pm

  Cant say enough good about it. Bought in FL on trip. Dont like to buy cars away from home. Dealers tend to give better service if bought from them. Will see if KIA like that tomorrow. Have a "stress crack" in windshield. No, not a rock hitting it. Will see if the dealer tries to say road harzard for my insurance company to handle.

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  So far so good - 2008 Kia Optima
  By Eric - April 22 - 4:53 am

  I really like this car. Especially when compared to much more pricey models in its class. Drove Altima, Honda, and others, but landed with this car due to price and warranty. Paid 16K for the upgraded model with leather, etc. Very pleased.