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2017 Kia Forte

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

More warning signs than most Forte years

Owner complaints for the 2017 Kia Forte are substantially higher than the model-year median of 141.5.

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When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

135 reports with mileage · 166 unknown

NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.

What to inspect

Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.

  • Engine. Review the 144 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Electrical System. Review the 46 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Exterior Lighting. Review the 43 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

23 crash reports9 fire reports14 injury reports

Engine complaints

144 reports
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Mileage unknown · Aug 30, 2022
EngineUnknown Or Other

Ongoing acceleration and shaking issues. Lose power randomly and has stalled randomly. Now is frequent. I was told it is normal for cars to have some shaking however this is not normal. I try to accelorate and cannot, I had my own diagnostic test done and asked for the coil to be replaced. Kia said it was the spark plugs. Took t…

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Ongoing acceleration and shaking issues. Lose power randomly and has stalled randomly. Now is frequent. I was told it is normal for cars to have some shaking however this is not normal. I try to accelorate and cannot, I had my own diagnostic test done and asked for the coil to be replaced. Kia said it was the spark plugs. Took the car back the next day because I again couldn't accelerate. Over a week later and no communication and I called and left a message. Now kia said it is the coil. Car now at approx 71K miles.

NHTSA ODI #11481992

Mileage unknown · Aug 23, 2022
Engine

In mid July 2022, the engine light was flickering on and off and my car started shaking. The KIA dealership told me the car needed the spark plugs to be replaced so I replaced the ones that they recommended. Then 2 weeks after that service the engine light came on again and my car began to shake so I took it in and they found a …

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In mid July 2022, the engine light was flickering on and off and my car started shaking. The KIA dealership told me the car needed the spark plugs to be replaced so I replaced the ones that they recommended. Then 2 weeks after that service the engine light came on again and my car began to shake so I took it in and they found a recall on the the ignition coils. They replaced those and then the next day the engine light came on and my car started shaking but this time, I started loosing acceleration in the car and the engine light stayed on. The KIA dealership tried to charge me $364.55 per ignition coil. It is scary to drive because I still have to go to work and church.

NHTSA ODI #11480711

Mileage unknown · Aug 16, 2022
EnginePower Train

Powertrain, engine light on, losing power

NHTSA ODI #11479685

Mileage unknown · Aug 15, 2022
Engine

While son was driving on I10 at 65-70 mph engine died. Was able to restart to pull off the side of the highway. Car driven to Kia dealership with loud knocking noise, using side roads with another driver following. Kia confirmed that engine needs replacement and is a known issue. Our vehicle was in the Kia system under a diffe…

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While son was driving on I10 at 65-70 mph engine died. Was able to restart to pull off the side of the highway. Car driven to Kia dealership with loud knocking noise, using side roads with another driver following. Kia confirmed that engine needs replacement and is a known issue. Our vehicle was in the Kia system under a different owner's name/address so we did not receive the 'courtesy notification' to have a fix that would extend warranty to cover engine problem. Many calls to Kia have not resulted in an agreement to fix or acknowledge severity of issue as far as engine failing while driving at a high rate of speed with an issue that is known to them.

NHTSA ODI #11479365

Mileage unknown · Aug 13, 2022
Engine

My car stalled in the middle of a busy rotary …no lights or warning…never had an issue with the car until that day …I always was on top of all maintenance…was very dangerous as I was in traffic and it just stopped working..,was luckily not rearended…when brought to a mechanic he inspected it and stated it was the engine and tha…

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My car stalled in the middle of a busy rotary …no lights or warning…never had an issue with the car until that day …I always was on top of all maintenance…was very dangerous as I was in traffic and it just stopped working..,was luckily not rearended…when brought to a mechanic he inspected it and stated it was the engine and that it was no good anymore…I did some research and found a lot of other Kia Forte of this year have had same issue but dealership said it’s not recalled and they would not replace until the government recalls it..This is a major safety issue as there was no warning at all that the engine had an issue, and this has happened to my last Kia …that was a 2015 optima and that engine was recalled so was able to get it replaced by dealership and I still have the car …I love my Kia but this is unexceptionable and DANGEROUS The car is currently at a mechanic waiting for a new engine to be installed at my expense…extremely expensive …do not have invoice yet as it’s not a completed job but I will be keeping in the event that this does become a recall as it is a hazard as there is no warning at all

NHTSA ODI #11479101

Mileage unknown · Aug 4, 2022
Engine

I was driving in the highway in front of a semi truck and the car engine failed. I couldn’t accelerate or slow down and I could barely turn the wheel. The semi just barely missed me. This is the second engine failure in a year. Kia replaced my engine with a brand new one in January of 2022 but have not added my vin number to the…

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I was driving in the highway in front of a semi truck and the car engine failed. I couldn’t accelerate or slow down and I could barely turn the wheel. The semi just barely missed me. This is the second engine failure in a year. Kia replaced my engine with a brand new one in January of 2022 but have not added my vin number to the engine recall.

NHTSA ODI #11477579

Mileage unknown · Aug 4, 2022
Engine

The engine is malfunction. My car is shaking feally bad, as well as while driving it seems like it wants to shutdown. My engine warning indicator stays lit.

NHTSA ODI #11477535

Mileage unknown · Aug 1, 2022
Engine

I started my car on Friday July 29th@9:45 am. The car sounded like it backfired. Then i attempted to drive to work thinking it was a fluke.. but a mile away the engine sputtered and then stopped. I had no warning lights come on in my car ever. I had the car towed to the local dealer kia(cherry hill nj) and they havent done anyth…

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I started my car on Friday July 29th@9:45 am. The car sounded like it backfired. Then i attempted to drive to work thinking it was a fluke.. but a mile away the engine sputtered and then stopped. I had no warning lights come on in my car ever. I had the car towed to the local dealer kia(cherry hill nj) and they havent done anything for me yet. They keep telling me there are open recalls on the car… but I can not fine this recall info anywhere. I was never notified of a recall, via, mail, phone, email. I dont understand. My car has 51k miles on it, and it was purchased in late september of 2017. So i an within the warranty, and dont understand why this even happened!

NHTSA ODI #11476992

Mileage unknown · Jul 18, 2022
EnginePower Train

In or around July 10th, 2022, the vehicle’s engine began making knocking sounds on several occasions while my wife was driving. On July 20th, 2022, I brought it into the dealership (Dick Hannah Kia, Vancouver, WA) where it was diagnosed as a problem with a bearing of a piston rod within the engine. On my drive to the dealership,…

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In or around July 10th, 2022, the vehicle’s engine began making knocking sounds on several occasions while my wife was driving. On July 20th, 2022, I brought it into the dealership (Dick Hannah Kia, Vancouver, WA) where it was diagnosed as a problem with a bearing of a piston rod within the engine. On my drive to the dealership, I experience a loss of power, knocking sounds from the engine, and the oil light come on indicating a loss of oil pressure. Vehicle has 70,xxx miles. Dealership has advised me that the vehicle is unsafe to drive, but is failing to cover this under powertrain warranty. Seeing that this an engine similar to those noted in a NHTSA as related to Flaherty et al. v. Hyundai Motor Company et al., I wanted to file a safety report so that others are aware of the potential safety issue.

NHTSA ODI #11474534

Mileage unknown · Jul 15, 2022
Engine

Rod bearing has failed, as I was driving my car jolted and die as I was on the highway and almost got hit in the rear due to my car not being able to move. Unknown,unknown.i did not have any warning lights prior or after this happen

NHTSA ODI #11474129

Official recalls

3

22V031000 · Air Bags

Jan 25, 2022

Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2017-2019 Sedona, Soul, Soul EV, 2017-2018 Forte, and 2017 Forte Koup vehicles. The Air Bag Control Unit (ACU) cover may contact a memory chip on the printed circuit board and damage the electrical circuit. Circuit damage may result in deactivated air bags that will not deploy in a crash.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: Air bags that do not deploy as intended can increase the risk of injury in a crash.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect the ACU, and either update the software or replace the unit, as necessary. Repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 21, 2022. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC226.

21V622000 · Latches/locks/linkages:trunk Lid:latch

Aug 9, 2021

Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2016-2018 Forte 4-door, Forte Koup 2-door, and 2018-2019 Rio 4-door vehicles. The trunk latch may become damaged, preventing the opening of the trunk from the inside. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 401, "Internal Trunk Release."

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: A person inside the trunk compartment may become trapped, increasing their risk of injury.

Remedy: Dealers will replace the trunk latch assembly, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on February 10, 2022. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC216.

21V260000 · Engine And Engine Cooling:engine:oil/lubrication:pump

Apr 13, 2021

Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2017-2018 Forte vehicles equipped with a 2.0L Nu MPI engine. Foreign particles may stick inside the oil pump, which may cause an oil pump failure and engine damage.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: A damaged engine may stall, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Kia will notify owners, and dealers will replace the oil pan, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed August 16, 2021. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC210.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

0

No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.