Who said the kit lens was bad?
Main reasons I moved mine along were no constant aperture, distortion at the wide end, CA at the 55mm end in my experience, slow AF, very ... and it just felt like it would fall apart after a slight bang. I got a Tamron 17-50 2.8 for very cheap, and it delivered much more. I immediately noticed the difference in image quality, bokeh, sharpness ... the tamron isn't a tank, but it sure feels healthier then a kit lens.
People make this big deal about kit lenses, to prove their worth, like we're all hating on it. Everyone has owned one at some point. But most people sell them on or they gather dust in a cupboard after moving to 2.8 glass or primes.
The kit lens is ok ... if you don't want to spend or don't have much of a budget. But then, if you're on a tight budget you're not buying higher end gear anyhow.