Insuring a Kia

In the scheme of things, Kia vehicles haven't been sold in the U.S. for very long. The South Korea automaker has definitely made up for lost time, though, by offering a wide range of extremely affordable, feature-packed machines. While these cars will never be mistaken for being high-end cars, they typically offer a great deal of value. In comparable brands, finding vehicles that include many of the same features will set you back by a lot more money. Another way in which they save money is through low insurance premiums. The average yearly cost to insure cars from this make is $1,436.24, and it is ranked 12th on a list of 36 makes. If you'd like to own a car that won't cost an arm and a leg to cover, this may be right automaker for you.

Model Statistics

OPTIMA

What type of Coverage do Optima Owners Choose?

$634

Average Annual Cost to Insure

RIO

What type of Coverage do Rio Owners Choose?

$864

Average Annual Cost to Insure

SPECTRA

What type of Coverage do Spectra Owners Choose?

$861

Average Annual Cost to Insure

SORENTO

What type of Coverage do Sorento Owners Choose?

$1,018

Average Annual Cost to Insure

SPORTAGE

What type of Coverage do Sportage Owners Choose?

$1,461

Average Annual Cost to Insure

SEDONA

What type of Coverage do Sedona Owners Choose?

$681

Average Annual Cost to Insure

FORTE

What type of Coverage do Forte Owners Choose?

$717

Average Annual Cost to Insure

SOUL

What type of Coverage do Soul Owners Choose?

$684

Average Annual Cost to Insure

SEPHIA

What type of Coverage do Sephia Owners Choose?

$667

Average Annual Cost to Insure

SPECTRA5

What type of Coverage do Spectra5 Owners Choose?

N/A

Average Annual Cost to Insure

RONDO

What type of Coverage do Rondo Owners Choose?

$512

Average Annual Cost to Insure

AMANTI

What type of Coverage do Amanti Owners Choose?

$1,100

Average Annual Cost to Insure

BORREGO

What type of Coverage do Borrego Owners Choose?

$700

Average Annual Cost to Insure

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Brief History of the Brand

Kia is a South Korean automaker, but it didn't debut in the U.S. until the 1990s. When it was originally founded in 1944, the company manufactured bicycle parts and steel tubing. It stuck with those products for some time. During the 1960s, it branched out to start producing motorcycles and scooters. Not surprisingly, the company finally got into the auto-manufacturing game. The company built Korea's first car production facility in 1973. The car parts started to be used in makes like Fiat and Peugeot. The first car for the U.S. market, the Sephia, debuted in the early 1990s. Since then, the brand has produced a variety of very popular economy cars.

Improved Safety Ratings Help Costs

For a while, the cars didn't fare so well when it came to safety. The company set about to change all of that, and it's safe to say that it has largely succeeded. Although models like the Rio are not tested by organizations like the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the IIHS has tested the Sportage. Newer Sportages received across-the-board "Good" ratings by the IIHS. Late-model Fortes have also received mostly "Good" ratings from that organization. Safety ratings come into play when calculating premiums, and decent ratings help keep expenses low.

Theft Rates are Low for the Most Part

Another thing that insurers take into consideration when calculating premiums is theft rates. Vehicles that are stolen on a regular basis are usually slapped with higher premiums. Based on data from the National Insurance Crime Bureau, however, these automobiles are not popularly targeted by car thieves. In fact, not a single model shows up on the top-ten lists that the organization compiles for the 50 U.S. states. The top-ten nationwide list does not have a Kia on it either. This is good news in terms of costs.

Rock-Bottom Price Tags have Dramatic Impact on Rates

The main thing that keeps the cost of protecting one so low is the average price of these automobiles. They usually have very low MSRPs. Even higher trim levels are generally very affordable. The Rio, for example, has a starting MSRP of $13,400. The Sportage, which is an SUV, has a starting MSRP of $18,500. The Forte has a price tag that begins at $15,200. With prices that low, it's easy to see why providers cover these cars for so little.

The average annual amount to protect various models is as follows:

• Rio 4-Cylinder Sedan - $1,286.00
• Sportage 4-Cylinder SUV - $1,236.00
• Forte 4-Cylinder Sedan - $1,313.00