NHTSA lists 304 complaints for the 2017 Kia Forte, 23 of them mention a crash and 9 mention a fire. 14 complaints mention an injury, with 21 injuries and 4 deaths reported.
Data build 2026-10-08.
NHTSA lists this vehicle as KIA FORTE.
At a glance
Complaints
304
With crash
23
With fire
9
With injury (complaints)
14
Injuries
21
Deaths
4
Recalls
3
Do not drive recalls
0
Park outside recalls
0
Recall potential units (maximum)
410,619
Investigations
0
Open investigations
0
Manufacturer communications
141
Complaints per 100k sold unavailable. The available sales group does not match this vehicle variant.
Where the complaints are
Top systems
System
Complaints
Share of this vehicle's complaints
ENGINE
145
47.7%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
49
16.1%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
46
15.1%
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
44
14.5%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
29
9.5%
AIR BAGS
18
5.9%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
17
5.6%
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
14
4.6%
POWER TRAIN
12
3.9%
STRUCTURE
10
3.3%
Top subsystems
System
Subsystem
Complaints
STRUCTURE
BODY
9
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
ENGINE
2
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
TAIL LIGHTS
2
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
IGNITION
1
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
WIRING
1
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
EXHAUST SYSTEM
1
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
BRAKE LIGHTS
1
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
HEADLIGHTS
1
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES
DOORS
1
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES
TRUNK LID
1
One complaint can name several systems, so shares can add to more than 100 percent.
Confidence is the model's own probability for the label it chose (0 to 1), not accuracy.
Model-generated labels on tagged complaints only. Model years 2013 and newer are tagged in full; 2012 in part (see tagged_share); earlier model years have no tags. NHTSA's own flags remain separate in the complaints block.
Defect: 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: 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.
Defect: 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: 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.
Date: 2021-04-13. Systems: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING.
Defect: 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: 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.
Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.
Investigations
0 investigations; 0 open.
Manufacturer communications
141 manufacturer communications.
Communications by system
System
Count
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
48
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
30
STRUCTURE
20
EQUIPMENT
19
POWER TRAIN
15
ENGINE
11
STEERING
9
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
8
11035090
Date: 2026-07-18. Type: Service Campaign. Systems: SERVICE BRAKES.
VOLUNTARY SERVICE CAMPAIGN: OWNER RENOTIFICATION (SC238 Flight #501) - This document is the owner renotification advising that Kia is conducting a Voluntary Service Campaign to inspect and, if necessary, replace brake line(s) in certain 2014-2017 MY Forte and Forte Koup vehicles that were originally
11034003
Date: 2026-06-08. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: STRUCTURE.
TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: THEFT DETERRENT IGNITION CYLINDER PROTECTOR AND DECAL INSTALLATION (CS2312) - This bulletin has been revised to include additional information. New/revised sections of this bulletin are indicated by a black bar in the margin area. This bulletin prov
PRODUCT IMPROVEMENT CAMPAIGN: OWNER RENOTIFICATION (PI2106 FLIGHT 501) - This document is the owner renotification advising that Kia is conducting a Product Improvement Campaign to perform a software update on 2017-2018 MY Kia Forte vehicles equipped with 2.0-liter Nu GDI engines to protect the engi
11028908
Date: 2026-02-19. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: STRUCTURE.
TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: THEFT DETERRENT IGNITION CYLINDER PROTECTOR AND DECAL INSTALLATION (CS2312) - This bulletin has been revised to include additional information. New/revised sections of this bulletin are indicated by a black bar in the margin area. This bulletin prov
11026825
Date: 2025-12-18. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: STRUCTURE.
TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: THEFT DETERRENT IGNITION CYLINDER PROTECTOR AND DECAL INSTALLATION (CS2312) - This bulletin provides information to install a Theft Deterrent Ignition Cylinder Protector on certain 2010-2022MY Kia vehicles outlined on page 19, which may not have bee
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION CAMPAIGN: OWNER NOTIFICATION (CS2312) - This document is the owner notification advising that Kia is conducting Customer Satisfaction Campaign. A software upgrade that addresses the social media theft method has been made available to owners of eligible Kia model vehicles free
11026698
Date: 2025-12-09. Type: Other. Systems: BACK OVER PREVENTION.
PITSTOP: TECHNICAL OPERATIONS: EXTERNAL DAMAGE TO ULTRASONIC SENSOR: This Pitstop provides information related to Parking Distance Warning (PDW) alerts and repairs involving ultrasonic sensors. The PDW system alerts the driver while parking, by calculating distance based on the difference in signal
PRODUCT IMPROVEMENT CAMPAIGN: OWNER RENOTIFICATION (PI2106) - This document is the owner renotification advising that Kia is conducting a Product Improvement Campaign to perform a software update on 2017-2018 MY Kia Forte vehicles equipped with 2.0-liter Nu GDI engines to protect the engine from exc
11017172
Date: 2025-04-17. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: POWER TRAIN.
TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: TRANSMISSION FLUID APPLICATION GUIDE - This bulletin has been revised to include additional information. New/revised sections of this bulletin are indicated by a black bar in the margin area. This bulletin provides information relating to the correct transmission fluid ty
11017109
Date: 2025-04-03. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ENGINE.
TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: EXCESSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION NU/GAMMA/THETA/KAPPA ENGINES - This bulletin has been revised to include additional information. New/revised sections of this bulletin are indicated by a black bar in the margin area. This bulletin provides information on diagnosing and/or repair
Notes on this record
Complaints from the API and bulk file are merged and deduplicated by ODI number; the API alone misses records.
System and subsystem counts are numbers of distinct complaints, recalls or communications that name them. One record can name several systems, so shares across systems can add to more than 100 percent; a single share never exceeds 100 percent.
Recalls are counted once per campaign, investigations once per action and manufacturer communications once per NHTSA id, even when NHTSA lists several model names for the same record.
A sales denominator is a calendar-year proxy, not the population of vehicles still in use. Rates are copied from verified pipeline output.