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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  NEVER AGAIN! - 2000 Kia Sephia
  By lizzie - October 16 - 10:20 pm

  You get what you pay for. In KIA terms, inexpensive means cheaply made. The gas mileage stinks for the car size. This car will nickel-and-dime you to death! The latch on the drivers door has been repaired at least 6 times. The doors freeze and wont shut (if you can even open them) if the temperature dips below 30. The engine is so loud, it sounds like a full-size pick up on the road. The body is cheap. It chips and dents very easily. When youre driving, the doors are like tin foil - you can actually hear the wind outside whistling through the door seal. I will NEVER buy another KIA again. If you need a small, inexpensive car, go for something with more substance.

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  DO NOT BUY A KIA - 2012 Kia Soul
  By Dont Buy A Kia - September 24 - 3:14 pm

  Dont waste your money on a Kia. The engine BLEW on my 4 year old car that I took wonderful care of - Connecting Rods failed. I had my car in my local shop for over 2 months and they couldnt identify the error. A month later, I receive a note direct from Kia that theyre extending the warranty of my car to 120,000 miles DUE TO THE EXACT REASON MY ENGINE BLEW (connecting rod failure). I had since sold the car to a junk yard for $500 (because no one wanted it) and I lost over $8,000 compared to the KBB value of my car. Now Kia wants nothing to do with it because I didnt choose to repair my engine for $8K (what the car was worth at the time...) BOTTOM LINE - Kia does NOT care about their customers - they do not care about brand loyalty or repeat customers. Theyd rather sell you a piece of junk car, wait for it to fail and then wish you luck with your next purchase. BUYERS BEWARE - DO NOT BUY A KIA.

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  Water leak in trunk compartment - 2014 Kia Forte
  By thatguy47 - August 7 - 12:20 am

  I am having the same issue as seen in this thread: http://www.forteforums.com/forums/noobie-questions-forum/39418-water-leak-trunk-compartment.html#post682049 The dealership couldnt figure out where the water was coming from and just dried out/cleaned my car without fixing anything. It appears to be coming from under the trunk liner and it is already starting to get more moisture/water just a few days after it was cleaned (only drove 10-15 miles since then). Brand new car bought in May 2013 that smells terrible even after the dealer removed the water and cleaned out the car. Hope this gets fixed the next time I bring it in...

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  Piece of Garbage - 2005 Kia Sedona
  By Jonathan N - August 5 - 4:53 pm

  I bought my Sedona used two years ago and have had nothing but problems. After three months the check engine light came on and when I took it to the shop, the mechanic said the hose used to transfer the anti-freeze to the radiator was missing. He installed the hose but apparantly didnt check the rest of the van. Less than two years later my engine blew and its not covered. The warranty and the KIA name are a joke. I take excellent care of all of my vehicles and this one is plain old Korean garbage. I will never buy a KIA again.

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  25miles per gallon hybrid - 2017 Kia Optima Hybrid
  By Aric Pease - July 20 - 5:19 am

  At 11k now in a lease for 39 months and it only gets 25mpg in city. 3 times dealerships say it just not broken in yet. Do not buy!!! Very poor service follow up. Filed case with corporate and still have yet to hear from them. Over a month now.

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  pathetic suv - 2002 Kia Sportage
  By worst car eva - May 22 - 2:00 am

  This is the worst vechicle ever, i have spent more time in the shop with minor to severe repairs in the past year than i have actually driving the vechicle. Please be fore warned and do not buy a Kia. I had the rear tailgate hinges break off on me at the airport with no warning. Within the first week the center console was broken, the glove box lock never worked from the factory. The muffler system iis always rattling. The transmission has had leaks, the radiator fan broke off the radiator was leaking. I have changed my oil exactly every 3,000 miles and this vechile was just a bad choice.

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  beware...................... - 2008 Kia Sedona
  By bb - May 13 - 9:53 am

  Sedona has most of the equipment that is expected. Can haul a lot of stuff and has a lot of room. However, it has a vibration in the front end that makes this vehicle a big dissapointment. Tires have all been changed out however vibration remains. I think KIA needs to address issues like this unless they do not care if they retain customers.....BEWARE...JUST A HEADS UP..........

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  ooops - 2002 Kia Rio
  By Ron Kotler - March 30 - 4:46 am

  Fuel mi.(@55mph.) stinks,,,trans. hunts all the time. driving layout poor. body, at freeway speeds, sounds like your in a wind tunnel. just a terrible auto! Im afraid to drive it, it may cost me again.It holds the road ,,,,Not.

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  KIA - Killed In Action - Unsafe Turbo Engineering - 2013 Kia Sportage
  By GJ8 - March 21 - 11:18 am

  After the FCV recall, I lost all the performance I enjoyed and paid for in this car. I went to 2 dealers only to be told it drives fine. Well I and everyone who’s driven this car totally disagree. The ECM reflash - the recall- consisted of updating the software originally supplied by the car maker and changing its Air/Fuel Ratio algorithms. The rule of thumb is 12-14/1 optimum. The new software seems to keep the Turbos wastegate open too much during wide open throttle causing the Turbo Not "Spool Up" all the way, losing boost, and obviously power loss. So, why did KIA update the software instead of replacing the faulty FCV valve - because its cheaper than re-engineering the FCV. Or, even more expensive but better yet, why not replace it with a tried and true fuel pressure regulator- Cost for KIA? Instead the easy route was to detune the car so it doesnt reach full boost, saving the FCV. So the car is now "killed in action." But this did lead me to learn about certain safety issues that have me very concerned. The turbo is located near the firewall, on the backside of the engine. If the pressurized part and axial lode of the turbo Fails, and is spinning at an average of 150,000 rpms, this can act like a grenade under the hood, throwing shrapnel everywhere, possibly causing both driver and passenger injury or death, as the force of the pieces of hot steel and aluminum from the axial lode, plus the inertia of rotating blades at 150 rpms, would penetrate through the firewall.

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  Dont waste your cash! - 2011 Kia Sorento
  By nonadoss - February 15 - 6:13 pm

  We purchased this car because of the warranty and the fact of having good luck with Hyundais. Our test drive was a couple of blocks, our mistake, bought the car. This is the roughest riding car I have ever driven, acts like it doesnt even have shocks. The Kia Rep. was in town, took our car for a drive and we were told that the roughness was due to the 17" wheels which are on the LX models, paid over $22,000 less than three months ago, they offered $17,500 trade-in on he EX model. I called the Kia Factory and they said we would just have to live with if or put 18" wheels at our expense. My advice is. STAY AWAY FROM THE HYUNDAI AND KIA CARS, the warranty is not worth it.