Kia Forte Complaints

2,563 consumer complaints on file.

#11455734March 8, 2022
ENGINE
The car started to smoke and caught on fire not even 2 from My house I had called and scheduled a appointment for the recall butt kia set the date to far away I only had the car for maybe 2 weeks not even 150000 miles on it
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11455409March 6, 2022
ENGINE
1 month and 2000 miles out of warranty engine started ticking at start up. 1 month later engine ticks all the time. Brought to Kia dealer and they said motor needed to be replaced.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11455417March 6, 2022
ENGINE
Campaign PI2002A. P1326 KIA Code - Knock Sensor Detection System, Milage 35,488. January 15: My MIL went on 2 blocks from the house. I parked the car. Towed to garage who ran the code and recommended car got to dealership. Towed to dealer on January 17 ish. The dealer installed the patch and I picked up my car January 27. I drove around the block and retruned my car for knocking- the higher the speed the louder the noise. The dealership worked with Kia to reosolve by making videos of my car for weeks. 6 WEEKS LATER dealership called to tell me that I need a new engine and that the rods need replacing but it is not covered by a recall that specifically states that rods and or engine should be replaced. They offer a liftime waranty and engine replacement for this same code in other Kias. Repairs or a new engine should be covered as is with outher Kias with same issue. TSB Number: PI2002YZ_TSB_R2 NHTSA Number: 10201615. Literally the same issue in DTC P1326 (PI1803Y/Z)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11455440March 6, 2022
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
When it rain, both rear taillight accumulate water inside of taillight lenses causing lights to blow. Dealership has replaced gaskets and it still happens. lights go out and no warning light indication on dash. Concerned this might contribute to rear end accident. This is a one owner car and no know accident to vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11455458March 6, 2022
AIR BAGS
I got into an accident by being struck by lightning. I lost consciousness when I came to I was very confuse. I was in the side of a bridge with my foot on the brake looking at a river. My car was totally! My airbags didn’t even deploy. I’ve been paying the price for this with higher insurance rates with an accident on my record. No police report was filed or called because I was fine just confused. Even with it being an act of god, I’m paying for it
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11455345March 5, 2022
ENGINE
Had major oil consumption issues, 2+ quarts a week with no visible drips, puddles or misting. Dropped off at dealer when on vacation. Dealer insisted that problem was oil pan and they insisted that it was the source of leak despite my protests. I was told that "...at any rate, Kia will not authorize engine replacement". No change to consumption after picking up car. KSDS software update performed. Flashing CEL and breakdown on highway several months later. Different dealer diagnosed needed repair as "engine replacement". Neither dealer nor Kia consumer care (KCAC) would do ANYTHING to take care of problem. Ignored my letter, and stiff-armed at every step. BTW, I bought 2 brand new cars from this dealership. Terrible quality and even worse customer service, if that is possible. Clearly this is a known issue and Kia is doing their darnedest to not have to add the Forte model to their recall as this is their biggest seller with this engine. Shame on Kia, their dealer network and the US consumer affairs agencies and NHTSA for not making this happen!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11455252March 4, 2022
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES
The contact owns a 2017 Kia Forte. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V622000 (Latches/Locks/Linkages) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11454957March 3, 2022
ENGINE
My car had recall service performed last year at First Kia in Simi Valley, CA. The work (for engine fires) took four months to complete, because on my first two visits they were refusing to perform recall service. The recall was to fix oil leaks and update the knock sensor. They never did fix my leaking engine. A few weeks ago some engine noise made me concerned. First Kia denied any warranty coverage on the work performed. The recall notice meanwhile explicitly describes oil leak corrections and warranty updates. At present my car has a knocking trouble code and I've now been misled by First Kia into great cost.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11454958March 3, 2022
ENGINE
i bought my 2014 kia forte last 5months ago. my car started to make a weird noise. i brought my car to dealership and they said it needs a new engine. i still owe around $8000+ with this car. i am student and i dont how am i going able to get money for a new engine.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11454878March 2, 2022
ENGINE
The contact owns a 2014 Kia Forte. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would suddenly go into limp mode and would not accelerate above 20 MPH. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer however, the cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 145,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11454903March 2, 2022
ENGINE
I want to preface this by saying my car (2015 Kia Forte5 EX) has been burning or leaking oil for a while now and no one I brought it to could ever figure out where. I brought it in for the recall check up a few months ago and they claimed to not find anything either. A couple of weeks ago I noticed a fairly loud ticking or knocking noise coming from my engine, I thought that maybe my oil was low even though I had just gotten it changed 2 weeks prior but I checked it and it was fine. Fast forward a few days and I get a prompt on my navigation screen to immediately have the car services and my check engine light started blinking. I brought it in to my local Kia dealership and today they told me that the engine is unfixable, and that they determined that it was something that should be covered under the warranty. But when they submitted the claim to Kia, Kia denied it. I am currently waiting on hold with Kia's customer service to file a complaint and hopefully resolve the issue but I thought I'd submit a claim here as well because Kia has been sued a number of times over the last decade for this exact reason.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11454672March 1, 2022
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, ENGINE
When driving the car will stall. I was in a parking lot moving forward at 3mph, hit the brakes and the car stalled. After work the other night, while exiting one freeway ti enter another driving about 45mph, the car just stall and shut off. I had to put it in neutral, turn the ignition to the off position(which turns the lights off), and restart the vehicle. This is extremly dangerous.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11454447February 28, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
The collision light comes on and a drop down on the dash says the collision is not working. Upon occasion the breaks with go off randomly. When the breaks all of a sudden slam it makes a horrible noise that scares me and I automatically want to slam on my breaks when that happens. I have a fear of someone rear ending me. I don't know if the break lights come on when that happens. Smith Kia in Bellingham WA. has looked at the car numerous times. They could never duplicate the problem so nothing ever got fixed for a long time. Then one day it was reproduced by them and they said they got a reading on it and fixed the problem. But it didn't fix the problem it still is doing it. They kept my car again a few times but this time cannot duplicate it so they gave me my car back. I even sent them lots of pictures every time it happened with the mileage in the picture. The manufacturer has never looked at my car. No insurance, police or other has looked at my car. The warning lights would just come on randomly at any given time. The same with my breaks randomly going off. There was a drop down stating a lot of words but I could never read it because it popped back up so fast but when the breaks went off there was no dash lights saying anything only the drop down. There was never any warning ahead of time. It just happened with both occasions, NO WARNINGS!!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11454092February 25, 2022
VISIBILITY/WIPER
The front and rear windshields has some kind of defect when oncoming headlights are approaching there is a snowburst type of glare affect that is not clear but blurry. Can't see oncoming objects or street signs clearly.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11454128February 25, 2022
ENGINE
My car consistently is running out of and low on oil which is affecting my engine and how it runs. My car did break down and now Kia is performing an engine test over 3000 miles but have not recalled the engine/car even though they've told me this is a common issue with these cars. Prior to the breakdown, there were no warning lamps or messages for me to know this was happening.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11453691February 23, 2022
ENGINE
The contact owns a 2015 Kia Forte. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was a knocking sound coming from the vehicle. The vehicle then lost motive power. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic and diagnosed with rod bearing failure. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 85,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11453371February 22, 2022
POWER TRAIN
Driving along the highway and transmission failure occurred, causing engine RPM to jump sky high and rapid deceleration without warning or brake lights. Luckily we were not hit by any other cars and were able to pull get off the highway onto the service road. Check engine light came on and the car wouldn't move. Turned the car off and back on after a few minutes and the transmission wouldn't move forward without massive RPM and no faster than 12mph or so. This is the SECOND time this has happened. I didn't report the first time because figured it was a one-off occurrence. The first time we had 26,000 miles on the car, this time, the new transmission went out after only 8,000 miles. All services have been performed by the Kia dealer directly. Car is back at Kia dealer for the transmission replacement again. No confidence in keeping the car given they replaced it with the same transmission that had problems twice!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11453266February 21, 2022
STEERING
Ki Aforte 2014 steering wheel has started making a noise while turning when stationary. As with Kia Soul and Optima models of same vintage, steering coupler part needs to be replaced
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11451504February 11, 2022
ENGINE
The contact owns a 2015 Kia Forte. The contact stated while his girlfriend was driving approximately 30 MPH, there was a knocking sound coming from the engine compartment. The vehicle then stalled without warning. Upon inspection, it was discovered that there was no oil in the engine although oil had recently been added. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer who diagnosed that the engine was damaged and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 62,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11451523February 11, 2022
ENGINE
On November 2nd of 2020 my vehicle could barely make it up a highway incline, the RPM's would go high but, vehicle could get no speed or shift gears. My car actually cut off on me with no warning and at that time I was not in the slow lane which was dangerous. So I coasted off the exit and the car would not start. The car was towed to dealer and was checked out and repaired for a catalytic converter. Now on November 5th 2022 the vehicle started doing the same exact thing as before. Keep in mind its only been barely over year since converter was replaced. The engine again stalls out while driving and would not start. So, on 02/07/2022 I had a flex pipe put on the car. On 02/09/2022 I took it to an exhaust shop to have it checked. Once again they had to replace the converter due to it being clogged. The repair shop stated that this is a problem with GDI engines and that's it burning more oil causing the converter to clog. So this is unsafe to the consumer where it either stalls out or cuts off without notice. There is a problem because now I'm on my 2nd converter in little more than a year.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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