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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  OK so far...some minor issues - 2002 Kia Sportage
  By Robert R - September 12 - 10:00 am

  Purchased for 16.5K (has everything but 4WD and leather)after taxes with trade in. Took delivery in July, 02 and had a paint scratch on rear door, a scratch on instument panel plastic covering and my headlights would not come on. Have had everything repaired but the instument panel. The paint has also chipped in bottom door molding. I will get Kia to fix.

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  First foreign built - 2008 Kia Optima
  By fred r - September 11 - 11:36 pm

  Now have 1000 miles on 2008 LX. Fun to drive. Corners very well. Have only had city driving and getting 21mpg. Like the interior setup and the blue light on the dash. Would like a softer driver seat with a longer front cushion. The car has a "ping" sound when driving on rough roads. I had the car undercoated thinking it would help but it didnt. On smooth roads it is a quiet ride but a definite metallic ping on rumble strips.

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  Fun, Cute, and Reliable - 2005 Kia Rio
  By EJP1978 - September 11 - 12:30 am

  Ive had a few cars before this one, including a Ford Tempo 91, and a Volvo from 1990. (Volvo is a great car, but old ones become money pits when old parts start wearing out all at once. NOT a cheap vehicle.) The Rio is a great car because of reliability. And of course the number one thing is gas mileage. The 2005 does pretty good, somewhere around 30-32 on highway. (At least for mine.) Even in bad traffic its not too hard on the gas tank. Unfortunately only months ago it cost about $25-$30 to fill the little Rios tank, but nowadays its getting close to $40. Fuel economic or not, America is going to make driving nearly impossible in say six months...

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  Needs better gear ratio - 2009 Kia Rio
  By tony - September 10 - 6:36 am

  It gets perfect gas mileage as long as you do not get on the interstate-run 4000 rpm in 5th gear @ 80 mph-runs 3000 rpm in 5th gear @ 50 mph-needs 6 gears or different ratio for top end- accelerates fast through 1st and 2nd car is very quiet

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  Optima EX shortcomings - 2013 Kia Optima
  By altair47 - September 9 - 11:31 pm

  Car was delivered with a half tank of fuel and empty winshield washer fluid tank. The passenger seat is extremely low, my wife feels like she is sitting on the floor and there is no adjustment up or down? Dealer was not very friendly or helpful. The sales managers personal car was a new Ferrari and he had it parked right in front where all Kia customers had to walk by. Did not look good for KIA.

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  Great car BUT......... - 2004 Kia Optima
  By Chris Bell - September 6 - 2:36 pm

  I bought an 04 Kia Optima EX 4 cyl. from a used car dealer in August of last year. This a GREAT car! Ive been told it looks like from far away a Jag so I call it my Kia-Jag. Interior is great, power everything,leather, fog lights, wood grain, 6 speaker Infinity Sound system with a sunroof but I dont like the gas mileage. For a Kia I was thinking it was gonna be better but I should have done more research. 17/ city 23/highway was not what I was looking for, but hey you get what you pay for. Hope this was helpful

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  4 OC/7yrs - 2003 Kia Spectra
  By Gen - September 3 - 12:30 pm

  I have had this car for almost 7 years now and have actually only changed the oil 4 times. (Yes I know very stupid.) But here is the cool thing, it still runs great. I just hit 100,000 miles and no major problems. Have to change the headlights about every 6 months and the AC has a mind of its own but other then that really dependable.

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  Fun with Turbo - 2012 Kia Sportage
  By christophg - August 28 - 3:32 am

  Overall I am very happy with my purchase. The car is actually faster then I expected. The Turbo must work wonders with the little 2.0 liter. Even at 80 MPH, it still has some room to go. I have the Navigation option which I think is overpriced & would probably be better off with just using my iPhone. Fuel economy is not as good as I expected but it never is & I drive it pretty aggressively. It seems to have more road noise than some of its competitors & this was supposed to be improved on this model year.

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  I will buy another! - 2004 Kia Sedona
  By SchlingBlade - August 27 - 10:56 am

  Purchased our 2004 KIA Sedona LX new near the end of 2004. Lots of extended highway driving when we go on trips, and the van performs well. 20-22mpg on the highway if we keep it under 70mph. I have replaced the original tires (56K miles), and windshield (rock cracked it). No other work outside of normal scheduled maintenance (fluid changes, tire rotation). Will need to have the front brakes serviced for the first time when 60K miles rolls around. Interior has worn well, except for the drivers side floor where the carpet is dirty. Van is driven every day, regardless of weather, so it gets quite dirty in the winter. Once this van is paid off, Ill be purchasing another KIA!

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  beware - 2008 Kia Rio
  By gmclover1 - August 25 - 3:12 pm

  this is in response to some who say they need to purchase a good car great on gas. This car does ok with those two aspects but I recently had to take the car in to have the motor taken out of the car for the air conditioner. Not under warranty when they say it is your fault and you have put papers in the glove box!!! Who says you cant put papers in the glove box, there was nothing saying we couldnt, but now that the air conditioner has sucked in my oil change receipt, because of their design flaw in leaving a hole in the glove box, I shouldnt have to pay for this, now they are saying I cannot have my car back if I don;t because they fixed it!!! Did they fix the hole?????