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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  Kia has officially blown me away - 2016 Kia Soul
  By Brian - September 19 - 2:59 pm

  Let me preface this review with the fact that my daily driver is a BMW X5, and my previous vehicles were Infiniti JX and 2 Lexus GX470s. So I tend to be very harsh when reviewing non-luxury cars (I absolutely cant stand my wifes Toyota Sienna, but then again, I dont have to drive it). We purchased this car primarily as a third family vehicle now that our son is driving. My goal was to find a nicely equipped vehicle with excellent safety and great visibility. Honestly, I wasnt too concerned with interior quality, fit/finish or ride quality. My goal was a decent car for around $20k. We looked at quite a few different cars: Mazda 3, VW Golf, Honda Fit, Honda Civic, and Toyota Corolla. After test driving the snot out of all the above named cars, we kept comparing everything to the Kia Soul. We ended up purchasing a 2016 Soul + with the audio and primo pkgs and some add ons (MSRP $25,550) for $21,325. We actually had an offer from a dealer that was 3 hours away for $20,680 but I didnt really feel like driving 6 hours round trip to save a few hundred dollars. What floored me is the fact that the Kia Soul absolutely blows away the competition for what you get for the money. The interior is excellent at this price point: Leather seating, a mixture of soft touch, hard touch surfaces and a very intuitive navigation/entertainment system with a feature called Evo that allows you to set notifications on various parameters such as traveling outside of a certain geographic radius, driving over a designated speed or driving past a set curfew (all of which are excellent for keeping track of your young drivers), plus the feeling of a spacious cabin. The ride is firm yet comfortable and cabin noise is far better then expected and the fact that for $21k you get auto on/off headlights, leather, navigation, keyless remote entry and keyless engine start, remote start, panoramic sunroof, upgraded audio system with subwoofer (that is actually pretty darn good), fog lights, LED interior lighting, speaker lighting, homelink rear view mirror, rear view camera, heated and cooled front seats, heated rear seats, heated steering wheel, leather wrapped steering wheel, etc. Simply put, the Kia Soul was far better equipped for the selling price vs. all of the other cars we considered (the VW Golf was close to $30k for similar equipment and still didnt include cooled seats or heated rear seats). My only complaint is the cheap Nexen tires that came on the vehicle. They are pretty bad. Within the first week, we had a pretty light rain and I was spinning the tires from a stop. Needless to say, I took off the Nexen and put on Pirellis and the difference in performance is not only night and day, but the road noise has improved as has the ride quality. The point of my review is that Kia was never on my radar screen, but my wife thought that the Soul was cute and quirky so I drove it expecting to quickly cross it off the list. I never expected this type of quality from a car that only cost $21,000. I remember sitting in an MBA class about 5 years ago with a fellow student doing an analysis of Kia and thinking to myself that "Kia will never be able to compete with the major automobile companies because they make cheap crap." Well, today Im eating crow.... gladly. Theyve given us a very nice vehicle for a reasonable amount of money. Great job, Kia.

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  Great Purchase! - 2010 Kia Forte
  By Krystal - September 18 - 6:40 pm

  This car is truly fun to drive! This car had everything we wanted in a car and then some. I seriously cant think of anything bad to say about it.

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  I love my Sorento - 2005 Kia Sorento
  By Kristin - September 16 - 4:10 pm

  I have wanted a Sorento for about 2 years now. I finally got mine in June and I couldnt be happier. I love driving it. I have put almost 3,000 miles on it already. If I could afford it, I would have 2!

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  Great Deal, Love mine! - 2010 Kia Forte
  By ikn0wbetter - September 16 - 11:46 am

  Ive been a loyal VW customer, but after my last fiasco with an 03 Passat I had to move on. The Forte is smaller than my Passat but I LOVE IT. I got the dark cherry (the interior and exterior color is so nice and matches very well), it is a little jerky when it shifts gears though and the paint does seem to scratch a little more easily than Id like, but overall I LOVE IT. I got the fuel economy package and can get almost 450 miles to a tank when Im driving long distances. It has already been on several 5-9 hour road trips and there has never been a problem. The Bluetooth comes in VERY handy- I hate driving other cars without that feature now!

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  love my kia - 2004 Kia Optima
  By lizzy - September 16 - 10:00 am

  I JUST GOT MY KIA A MONTH AGO. I GOT NEW TIRES AND RIMS AND LOVE THE LOOK. THE CAR HANDLES VERY GOOD AND I HAVE TWO KIDS SO I LOOKED AT THE SAFETY FEATURES. THE SIDE AIRBAGS GOT ME HOOKED.I AM GETTING GOOD GAS MILEAGE AND FOR ALL U NEW BUYERS----WAX UR CAR AFTER U GET IT HOME AND ITLL CLEAN UP REAL GOOD

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  I had no problems, worries or hesitation - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By jamesjean - September 16 - 10:00 am

  this car is reliable

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  love my sedona - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By jlaubin - September 16 - 10:00 am

  after 6 months and 6000 miles..the car is still like new..no rattles or screw ups..it"s only been to the dealer for an oil change..the es delux package is a must.....22 mpg on the highway,,18 in town..nice stereo..

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  Love everything but the infotainment! - 2016 Kia Sorento
  By Cindy Logan - September 13 - 10:34 pm

  Great car! Drives very smoothly, and the gas mileage is great for an SUV. The interior feels very upscale. It is quite comfortable. If not for riding so high, you would think you were in a regular car. I am very happy, except for the infotainment system and navigation. First, you cannot change the home screen. It automatically defaults to navigation every time you turn on the car. I dont know about most people, but Im not using navigation on a day-to-day basis, so I really dont need a map visible at all times. So, every time I get into the car, I have to switch the view to the radio/satellite screen. Why cant I choose that as my default, Kia? Second, there are 18 presets for the satellite, and you have to scroll through all 18 (or go backwards) to get back to the beginning. Not the end of the world, but kind of annoying. I ended up choosing 6 stations and programming each in three times so I can scroll through without having to go backwards. Also, the volume function is not responsive--no chance of turning the volume up or down quickly. You can spin it as fast as you want, but it still raises and lowers at the same speed. Finally, the Bluetooth works great. It connects immediately. However, the voice-activated phone book is a disaster. It rarely recognizes the name I say. Its almost not worth using. So, there are kinks in the infotainment system, but all-in-all, I am happy with my Sorento.

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  Best Midsize Car for 2011 Update #1 - 2011 Kia Optima
  By dankocke - September 13 - 7:49 pm

  So I too have noticed the left pull issue after a few days of driving. This is a known problem by Kia with no good fix for it YET. This problem is not found on all Optimas but only a select few. Please test drive your car on the highway at speeds more than 65mph. My left pull is pronounced but not ridiculous. I did call Kia Custoomer Service and they are very helpful. If you open a case file with them on this issue they will guide you and the dealers through a preliminary fix until Kia engineers figure out a better fix. Gas mileage has been 28 mpg on all 4 tank fill ups in mixed mostly highway driving. Overall still love the car. NAV traffic is great!

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  In Your Favor - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By SilvrSorento - September 11 - 10:00 am

  We have had our vehicle since July of this year which really is only a short time, but so far without a doubt, it has shown me everything I wanted and expected in a mid-sized SUV in its price range. I have to agree with the Editors and other Consumer ratings! I find it an excellent buy and a "hard to beat" warranty. Im anxiously awaiting winter and the bad weather to see how we will fair....a good snow this year will be a good test for the 4x4. With a positive answer this winter, I would say "everything is in favor of a Winner"