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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  Buy a donkey not KIA - 2010 Kia Forte
  By jack234 - May 17 - 6:20 pm

  I have had this KIA for a year and 1/2. Been in shop more than a dozen times but still have problems with it. Even worst, in the last 1 1/2 year it lost more than $15,000 in value. Payed $19,000 for it in May 2011, it is now August 2012 and the trade in value is at $4,000. The exterior and interior are in great shape. DO NOT BUY KIA you will loose big time. You and american economy.

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  Junk - 2004 Kia Sedona
  By Junk - April 22 - 11:50 pm

  Bought the vehicle because I was told they are a great buy for the price. Nothing but problems with the piece of junk since. Had to change the power steering pump, always needs an alignment, unknown overheating problem. This overheats when it wants to with no explanation for it. Changed thermostat, radiator lines, water pump and fluid. Still over heats when it wants. Now it needs new struts and what they call a transmission but really is a trans axle. Was told it was like putting a snow blower tranny into a van. Lots of rust around the rear hatch handle. Motor is very loud. Overall, just a huge piece of junk. Do not buy in my opinion. Will never recommend a Kia to anyone.

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  Dont buy Kia - 2007 Kia Spectra
  By Lorri - March 24 - 12:55 pm

  Dont buy Kia. I have had my Kia for 7 years and the check engine light has come on and off since I owned it. brought it in a few time to a dealer and they cant find anything wrong with it. now I have to have it emission tested and the check engine light is on so it failed. Kia wont do anything about it of course because it is out of warranty.

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  lemon car - 2008 Kia Rio
  By charlie1 - February 28 - 2:23 am

  I bought a kia rio sedan in 2008 have had a new transmission put in to date still having problems with transmission automatic shift from park reverse or drive to revervse is very slow I am left seating in the road waiting for it transmission to shift I feel this is a safety issue and kia should correct it after many many time taking it to shop they tell me I dont know have to drive and there is nothing wrong with my car, it is the worst car I have ever had will not buy another one nor would I recommend anyone else to buy one.

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  horrible customer service - 2013 Kia Rio
  By Raj merchant - February 22 - 5:29 pm

  Car is so so, but the dealer service and quality is horrible, I took my Kia to 3 different Kia dealer and they have no customer service. My car purchased came with wrong battery installed. after 2 years the battery died, I took into the dealer to have them provide the correct battery the dealers refused.

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  never ever buy a kia again - 2001 Kia Sportage
  By nevereverkiaagain - February 3 - 10:00 am

  its totally a cheap dirt.i wish i could go back on time and did not buy this junk ( 2002 kia sportage ). you pay more than $20k with taxes , etc and on the second year you can sell it only at $12-13k. all the materials used are cheap. you cant imagine, they corrected the power windows 3 times and its not working today again. over 65 mph , the car is so affected by the wind that the car starts sliding to right and left. it becomes really hard to keep it in the lane. not enough storage. the cd player is a stupid cheap one.

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  Do Not Buy, stick with Toyota - 2012 Kia Optima
  By Sad - January 27 - 3:00 pm

  I bought this car to Have the Benefits of the Hybrid, but I also liked and preferred the sporty style over the Camry ( have been a Toyota guy and got off that wagon to get a sporty, more fuel efficient Hybrid....I have regretted it ever since). As far as I know, 2012 was the first year Kia did the Hybrid, and with anything new, there are going to be flaws. I should have done more research prior. I bought this 2012 Hybrid with 64,000 miles. Before I even got my plates, the transmission started skipping. I took it to the dealer here in SLC, UT and the dealer could not diagnose the problem for 3 days. You would think something this messed up would not be blamed on the driver - especially at only 66,000 miles. The dealer had to call the main factory in CA, and after a few more days it was determined that the transmission was messed up due to the fact that it was a Hybrid, it was not engaging correctly with the engine. This was a $3500 fix. Here is where it would be nice for a manufacturer to step up, admit their flaws and faults and fix the problem - not charging the consumer. Too many times manufactures try to duplicate their competition and in so doing have to figure out the kinks and problems - like every manufacturer does...the problem here is Kia expects the consumers to not only tell them what is wrong (by bringing the car into the dealer to get fixed), but they expect the consumer to pay for it as well. Kia is basically getting their research paid for by consumers so that the next year they can fix the flaws and have a better car...this seems messed up and backwards to me. I would have been loyal for life if Kia would have accepted responsibility and resolved the issue. They need to have a recall on the transmissions for the 2012 Hybrids, but unless something kills someone in todays society, no one admits to anything. Again, I should have done more research, I thought that I would not have any problems with a car that only had 66,000 miles. I will never own or trust Kia again, I will stick to Toyota.

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  Get ready for a very noisy ride - 2016 Kia Sedona
  By John S. - January 12 - 6:07 am

  Very disappointed in the ride. On the highway the tire and wind noise is so great that you need to blast it out with the radio. It shakes and rattles like a used 10K vehicle. At 13,000 mile had to have brake rotors turned. Worst Mini Van we ever purchased.

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  2004 Sorento Marginal at Best - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By ablebaker - December 1 - 8:30 am

  Rust and reliability issues, dealer maintenance costs are exorbitant and warranty issues are always issues. 23,000 miles and a plastic bushing from a defective intake manifold gets sucked into the #6 piston which it destroys. Gas mileage is abysmal - 12mpg in town 17mpg highway going downhill with a tailwind. Next time itll be a Honda.

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  What a disaster... - 2001 Kia Sportage
  By Lan Lan - November 27 - 4:26 pm

  Bought it new... loved it for about 6 months when everything went wrong... Replaced exhaust 3 times, drive train broke and service center destroyed my hubs (to factory standard apparently)... heater fan replaced 2x... took it to a non-dealership to have heat shield replaced and weld one in... rear seatbelt (where my kids where)... broke and wasnt usable... dealership wanted $150. to replace, bought at a wrecker for $20., rear hinges on rear tire bracket rusted within a year... no warranty here either!(look at all of them they all rust!)... All I discovered about Kia was dont trust their warranty. Id never... ever buy one again!