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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  Fun vehicle to drive - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By lab1 - July 18 - 8:06 am

  Like some people, we were nervous about buying a Kia. I test drove several small SUVs and fell in love with the Sorento. I have 50K miles on it with no problems whatsoever. Ive pulled a trailer and the 4wd has been great for the winter snow. I have been extremely happy with my Sorento and have been pleased.

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  Kia Forte Koup Rocks! - 2010 Kia Forte
  By mark - July 14 - 3:53 pm

  I leased this Forte EX Koup for a great price. Got the deep blue color. Have been driving it for about 3 weeks an an quite impressed for the price. Good tight build quality. Nice,peppy ride and everything well layed out. I highly recommend you put this car on your test list.

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  My Amanti - 2005 Kia Amanti
  By Gene Broussard - July 14 - 1:26 am

  Best deal I ever made in a car purchase. Great auto. Never had a problem. Only improvement would be better gas mileage which is not good.

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  FOLLOW- UP REVIEW - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By ldward45 - July 12 - 5:33 pm

  Ok, I feel the 4cyl is not an adequate engine for this SUV. The six speed transmission is down shifting all the time at all speeds just to keep this vehicle at 55-60 mph. Which in return makes this vehicle use a lot of gas. I was told at the dealership, "let it get 1000-2000 miles on it and it would get better". Ok it just rolled over to 5000 miles and the mileage is just as bad. So the dealership tells me now,"it will get better at around 7000- 8000 miles". REALLY NOW how much longer are they gonna make excuses for putting an inadequate engine into this SUV. But that is really my only complaint with this SUV. I shouldve gone with the V-6 model or another make.

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  having trouble - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By shylaine33 - July 10 - 5:53 pm

  I bought my car not even 2 years ago and I have had to have it towed 3 times already for 3 different reasons, first reason was something with the computers the car would just not start and everything locked up when I went to start it, second reason was because there were loose wires in the care, it shut off on me at a gas station, I went inside to pay for the gas when I came out it would not start and now they are saying that there are problems with the starter. we bought this car so that we would not have to worry about these issues and we thought a new car would be reliable but so far my husbands car bought in 2002 has been the reliable car :( were prob going to end up trading in the car.

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  Sporty Hatchback - 2016 Kia Forte
  By Jeff Guttenberger - July 10 - 8:19 am

  Plenty of power. Turbo lag after shifts is annoying. Favorable comments on looks, wheels get the most remarks. Not equipped with a spare tire, jack, lug wrench. Good leg room in rear seat.

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  Six Years Later - 2001 Kia Sportage
  By Inazone - July 9 - 6:20 pm

  I purchased my Sportage new in August of 2001, with utility truly being the #1 selling point. I wanted something with 4WD, decent ground clearance, and easy access for loading and unloading large, heavy equipment. The various car-based SUVs lacked in one or more of those areas. The Kia has been very "adequate" overall. The fuel economy was as listed, which honestly was a bit disappointing to me. Handling on a windy day is poor, and it is worthless on slippery roads without 4WD engaged. Ive had numerous locking hub problems fixed under warranty - never left stranded, but I dont trust it entirely. Problematic power windows and alarm, but it runs great with scheduled maintenance.

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  Total airbag failure - 2005 Kia Spectra
  By sciguy - July 9 - 4:00 am

  This was a great car for price until another car ran stop sign and hit it head on. I was traveling on open road at 40-45 mph. Other driver turned into my lane and hit me going maybe 15 mph in dead center front. Total failure of all airbags. 2 other family members in car at time. 6 airbags and not one popped. Damage in excesss $6000. If you want a safe car do not buy. Had been happy with all but spoiler falling off repeatedly and very lousy gas mileage. Do not put your family in this car.

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  Well Worth the Money, Riverside Kia AMAZING - 2017 Kia Sorento
  By JWDEVUS - July 6 - 6:34 pm

  Well Worth the Money and RIVERSIDE KIA was Amazing and they were great to deal with, so with that said: PROS: Many PROS LIKE PRICE AND WARRANTY, STYLING IS VERY NICE, interior is pretty nice for the price, Headroom is good as I am 6 and it works well with my daughters car-seat :-) It has pretty good storage room but but could use a little more :-) CONS: A 3" SCREEN for Radio and CONTROLS ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!! You cannot see the screen most of the time due to the angle and glare from the sun/window it is HORRIBLE and I MEAN HORRIBLE come on KIA you can due much better then this!!! The sound system is OK nothing to brag about! ANOTHER BIG CON IS NO AUTOMATIC HEADLIGHTS and I forget to shut them off all the time thinking they will off automatically like most other older cars and most if not all NEW Cars! ANOTHER VERY POOR CHOICE ON KIAS PART!!! FUEL ECONOMY is not that great right off the bat as I got the car with 8 miles on it and it now has over 600 but not over 700! I really have to watch what I am doing driving wise to get 19/20 around the city. I got the SUV on 8/31/2016 so most of my driving is around the city as I am retired :-) I REALLY LIKE THE SORENTO DESPITE MY CONS, WHICH MANLY ARE PET PEEVES AND KIA SHOULD HAVE DONE A LITTLE BETTER IN THESE AREA!

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  Kia driven for 133,000 - 2004 Kia Sedona
  By russ75 - July 6 - 4:31 am

  I bought my Kia new in 2004 and have riven it for over 133,000 miles. Overall the car has performed well without unreasonable mechanical problems; except, the lines for the rear heater have rusted out twice. The first time I paid over $600 to replace them and Kia just said, "Gee, I am sorry to hear you had that problem." Reviews that criticize Kia for not doing something better for their customers are correct. Also the rear window defrost has failed. I have not experienced any problem with rust on my Kia and I live in Michigan. As my car has aged, in the recent months it has experienced a series of problems; for which I am considering replacing it. Everything gets old eventually.