Kia Forte Complaints

2,563 consumer complaints on file.

#11447262January 12, 2022
ENGINE
On 10/31/20 my 2012 Kia Forte completely died at 49,000 miles while I was traveling at around 45 mph. I lost all power, the engine started smoking badly and I was stuck in the center of a 4 lane road with cars flying past me at around 50 mph. I had to call 911 because I could not get out of the smoking vehicle and I could not get the vehicle out of the middle of the road. The police officers had to do a pit maneuver to get me safely off to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to the dealership where I originally purchased the vehicle in 9/2017. I was told after inspection that it had a severe knock sensor and catastrophic engine failure. My extended warranty company was charged for the $15000 engine that they replaced And I paid my $100 deductible. Although at the time the service department at Kia knew that this was an engine recall call situation that the manufacturer was responsible for, not my extended warranty company. My Kia forte Was in the shop for 2 months and the 1st engine they replaced did not work properly so they had to put another engine in during that period of time. Kia paid for the 2nd engine that was replaced. On January 27th of 2021 I received a notice from Kia Motors notifying me that my vehicle was part of the fire engine recall. I have had my vehicle in my possession a total of Maybe 380 days out of the last 438 since this happened. Kia corporate and the service parts Manager have been completely uncooperative, deceptive and negligent in their treatment towards me.I have gone through Maybe 25 loaner vehicles, had to bring the vehicle back 30 times, now a 4th engine is in the process of being replaced, I have defaulted on my car payments due to out of pocket expenses charged by Kia, the service department manager has stuck me with a $600 rental bill, a $250 traffic camera ticket, put me in a defective loaner that caused an accident and has now spent probably around 90k on a vehicle that is worth a fraction of that.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11447059January 11, 2022
EXTERIOR LIGHTING:TAIL LIGHTS, LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES:DOORS:LATCH
1st incident, 10/09/20 water intail lights smells of mildew 2nd " 11/1/20 water is leaking in trunk installed new gaskets to the tail lights 3rd " 6/9/21 removed drivers seat and gas/trunk latch lever and fuel door lever cable cable was found to be stretched and needs replaced. Parts were ordered 01/10/22 parts never came in because according to Kia they don't know how to fix it. I'am so sorry I bought this car with 2,992.31 still owed you should compensate by paying this off
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11446797January 9, 2022
STRUCTURE:BODY
Paint delamination issue. We are original owners. Car only has 64,766 miles as of today, 1/09/22. Affected areas are hood, roof, both side mirrors and all four door handles.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11446670January 7, 2022
ENGINE
The contact owns a 2018 Kia Forte. The contact stated while driving at 10 MPH, the vehicle was approaching a train track when the vehicle suddenly lost motive power and stalled. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and continue to drive to her residence. The contact had the vehicle towed to the local dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that due to low oil consumption, the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 51,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11445899January 3, 2022
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:EMISSION CONTROL:CATALYTIC CONVERTOR
I recently went to the dealership to get a diagnostic's test on December 22nd, 2021. I bought the car October 14th, 2020. My vehicle had a recall on it that was issued in December 2020 and they claim it was fixed a few years ago despite the car only being 5 years old. I believe they did not fix it and sold the car to me As-Is knowing they installed a faulty aftermarket part. From my understanding, Catalytic Convertors are supposed to last around 10 years but the car was only 5 years old at the time of purchase, meaning they replaced it prior to me buying the car. I went in and they claim my catalytic converter was no good and I would have to spend $1700 to replace it. I feel like it is a money grab where they clear the codes on the vehicle, sell it knowing there are issues with no warranty, and then wait for the customer to return to pay to fix the vehicle. I believe the recall was never repaired despite them saying they did as I am having a lot of the issues customers faced with the recall and I am genuinely concerned for my safety and finances as this car cannot pass an emissions test despite them claiming it passed (again, probably cleared the codes to pass). I feel like the vehicle needs to be relooked at and repaired by them since they sold it with aftermarket parts they installed when a Kia dealership should only be repairing and replacing with genuine parts manufactured by Kia, not a third party. Again, just because they sold it "As is" with issues they potentially created should be illegal and they need to be held accountable. I will report to BBB and an consumer attorney. The engine idles and the vehicle slows down and speeds up while driving. There is a gurgling and knocking sound while the engine idles.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11445969January 3, 2022
ENGINE
Vehicle has 103k miles. Ticking noise evident from engine., which reacts to increase in RPM. Took to local Kia dealer for diagnosis - recommended a new engine. Cost of $6-7000 to replace the engine. This vehicle cost was just arouns $7000 last year when purchasded.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11446038January 3, 2022
ENGINE, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
We have not been able to get this vehicle to pass emissions, ive taken it to multiple kia locations and no one has been able to help. The engine light has been on and theyve changed the sensor as thats what repair shop suggested it may be, but still nothing. Then just out of the blue its stopped working. I took it to a smaller shop as i no longer trusted the kia dealership and the guy told me it was a recall as this is not an old car and it needed engine work. I contacted kia and they said yes there was an important sfety recall that we should of received a letter, suggested to call 18003334542 for a tow, but i have spoken to 6 people who i cant understand and have been able to get a tow to a kia dealership
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11446065January 3, 2022
ENGINE
The engine has had a ticking noise which has only become louder with more miles on the engine. The car has been serviced by Kia dealership regularly. The car started stalling during random times while drive. You release the gas pedal, it will almost stop. You push the gas pedal and sometimes you will regain power to the engine. This has almost caused me to have several accidnts. The car was taken to the Kia dealer and told the engine oil level was low. It was change 3 months earlier and had not been driven more than 1000 miles. The Kia dealer said it was an engine failure and would need to be replaced. I researched the car and discovered that it had 2 recalls. I have never received any information about any recall on this car ever. I was not notified of any recall when it was serviced at Kia for routine maintenance (oil and brake changes). I have owned the vehicle for 10 years now and it has 100,000 miles. I am disappointed in the engine failure which I was told $4600 to have a used replacement installed by Kia. I am seriously upset that I bought this car at the Kia dealership. Had it serviced at a Kia dealership multiple times and no one told me about any recalls, and I never received anything in the mail, email or by phone. Isn't Kia responsible to notify consumers when recalls happen etc?
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11445772January 1, 2022
ENGINE
I have 2 Kia Forte I was a 4dr my current is a 2 dr Koup . The engine makes noises the motor actually blew on my way to work with the 4dr then purchased a 2dr it’s doing the same the guy says it’s a cylinder but why do I feel like I’m getting ripped off by Kia bc this is an ongoing issue
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11445798January 1, 2022
STEERING, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
I have noticed recently that the car keeps all of a sudden pulling to the right and I have not had the lane assistance on since a week after I bought the car. It is at 4000 miles right now and this problem began at approximately 3000 miles. Not sure if anyone else has noticed this but if it is just as if the lane assistance was turned on. I have also noticed that when I have my work bag which is approximately 40 pounds in my lunchbox in the front seat without the seatbelt connected the seatbelt warning does not come on like it did in my last car with the same items on the seat. Not sure if there is a different weight limit now but I figured I would add this in in case there isn’t.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11445726December 31, 2021
SEAT BELTS
Driver’s seatbelt buckle will no longer accept the seatbelt. The sensor for the seatbelt thinks the seatbelt is buckled as well.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11445585December 30, 2021
BACK OVER PREVENTION: CAMERA SYSTEM
Back up camera only whats some of the time. When it sometimes works it is when the outside temperature gets around 65 degrees or lower, but even then it works some of the time. The screen flickers sometime when it working as well.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11445553December 30, 2021
ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
I tried starting my vehicle and it wouldn't turn over so I pulled the key out of the ignition and the engine kept running. It stopped quickly, so I thought it was weird so I tried again and it made the same vacuum type noise and started smoking, all while the key was not in the ignition. It stopped smoking but I walked away for a sec and came back and the entire place was filled with smoke and the engine had then caught on fire. I was in a parking garage so many other vehicles could have been damaged, and people could have inhaled smoke and other things of that nature. I was also concerned that it would explode and cause even more damage. There was no other signs that this would happen, my vehicle had driven fine the morning of. The car is totaled of course and was towed off.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11445372December 29, 2021
ENGINE
My car is constantly stalling and I have nearly gotten into several accidents because it would stall at red lights, or while driving, turning it stalls. In order to keep it from stalling have to keep putting it into neutral. I can't get a proper scan on it because the engine light isn't on. This has been happening for about 2 months and it is getting worse. I have under 50,000 miles on it.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11445437December 29, 2021
ENGINE
The contact owns a 2016 Kia forte. The contact stated while driving approximately 15 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was not able to restart. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the battery needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the vehicle failed to start. The independent mechanic diagnosed that the starter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact mentioned that there was a knocking noise coming from the vehicle while the oil pressure light was illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken back to the mechanic where the contact was informed that the oil was changed and the oil was not reaching the top of the engine block as needed. The dealer was informed of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 150,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11445494December 29, 2021
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
My wife's older car needed a new engine, so we decided on buying a new car since her work requires a good deal of driving. One week after the purchase, we discovered there was no spare tire! This IS a major safety issue, and although the car has many good safety features, this lack is really frightening. I read that AAA begged car makers NOT to get rid of this, but the brand we bought has had this at least since 2017. This affects all those who can LEAST afford it, since the more expensive larger cars mainly have spare tires. Why hasn't this been a bigger issue? Other popular competitive makes still have the spare, and if we had known this problem we likely would have gone to another make, although our choices are limited. I can't believe that this has been going on with this car model since at least 2017 and that more people haven't complained.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11445237December 28, 2021
ENGINE
Engine seized while driving. Car had just over 60,000 miles. Approximately 61,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11445263December 28, 2021
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC
I got my car April 18 2021. It is a 2021 car and i got it off the lot with only 30 miles. I had the car for only 2 months and my breaks were already making a squeaky noise. I took it in to get them replaced I asked why i needed new ones sooo quick and i was told that maybe the manufacturer breaks weren’t good. I took my car in again December 28 2021 because the breaks are making a squeaky noise AGAIN and my car is only at 7k miles. I’ve had my car for 8 months and have had my breaks changed twice when I shouldn’t of even had to get them changed because my car hasn’t even reached the mile li mit for new break pads. This is absurd.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11445151December 27, 2021
ENGINE, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
On 12/12/2021 my car stalled while driving. I started it up got to my destination, when leaving just a few minutes later it stalled again. On 12/13/2021 I was almost rear-ended when my car stalled while turning a corner on my way to work. On 12/14/2021 my car stalled two more times while driving. I have not driven it since. I had two different mechanics come and look at the car, both told me that the engine has failed. One mechanic found the engine recall on line. I contacted the dealership 3 times that week (twice via live chat and one direct phone call) each time directed to leave my information and someone would get back to me. I was finally able to speak to someone on 12/20. I explained what happened and was told that my VIN doesn't have a recall because my car was made in Mexico. I contacted a second dealership and was told the same thing.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11444822December 23, 2021
STRUCTURE:BODY, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The trunk of my 2017 Kia Forte wouldn’t open in the morning. I checked for a solution online and saw there was an active recall (SC216) on the latching mechanism of the trunk which was causing it to get stuck. Took it to the dealership to get it fixed. They fixed it but then told me I needed to pay for it. When I told them it was a recall issue they took the new part off and told me to leave. Now my trunk doesn’t close and it’s being held in place with a piece of string.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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