10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 2
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
18,243 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2016 Kia Forte drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2016 Kia Forte Owner Comments

problem #13

Nov 142022

Forte

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The car is unable to receive fuel adequately. Car was sold in an intermittently undriveable condition.

- Forest Park, GA, USA

problem #12

Sep 042022

Forte

  • miles
When driving on a divided four lane highway, after about one hour and at about 60 mph, vehicle would not accepperate to pass. Loss of power in traffic. Felt like transmission slipping, but the check engine light came on. P0240 code. It got progressively worse. An experienced mechanic diagnosed it as the engine, and was not sure I could drive to dealership. I had it towed. The warranty (10 year, 100,000 mile), covers engine, as agreed by delar. First, the dealer said it was catalytic converter $2200. When questioned, price was "corrected" to $1,200. Most for part and less than one hour labor. On a differen phone call, repair cost increased to $3300, saying the tech mistakenly thought it was the cat near muffler, but its the cat near engine, and comes as one pice with exhaust manifold. I am waiting on written estimate that I requested, and the dealer assurance there are no other problems with the car. I suggested they drive the car, and see that the problems are the same ones they used to have to video tape and send to Kia to get repairs approved on other engines. Still waiting on the written estimate and the assurance from dealer there is no safety risk in me driving it home. I can buy the Kia part they say it needs for about $500.

- Indianapolis, IN, USA

problem #11

Jun 202021

Forte

  • miles
Car engine caught fire driving on freeway. No apparent reason

- Perris, CA, USA

problem #10

Jul 182018

Forte

  • 55,180 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

When driving in motion my 2016 Forte the car stalls out. The power steering, breaks and dashboard do not work. This has caused me to lose control of the vehicle and the front end of my car went into a pond. This car stalling out before the incident has happened more than 5 times; I have taken the car into two different Kia dealerships aren't able to fix the problem or detect it.

- Pinckney, MI, USA

problem #9

Jun 142019

Forte

  • 44,500 miles
Kia Forte 2016 - while driving the engine shuts off and it loses power steering breaks, this has happened many times. Stopped at a red light, starting the car, driving 10 mph, 50mph, 35 mph. I have had to use the emergency break to stop. The car is still in drive, the key is turned on, the dashboard goes out, but the radio and clock stay on. I have taken it to 2 Kia dealerships 4 times total and the issues continue. Not safe to drive.

- Highland, MI, USA

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problem #8

Jun 012017

Forte

  • 10,000 miles
My Kia Forte has a hesitation in acceleration from any speed below 50mph. It is especially bad between 10mph and 35mph. It takes the car between.5 and 1.5 seconds to respond to a press down on the accelerator pedal. This has come close to causing me to have an accident on a few occasions when the car just would not go when commanded to do so. I have had it looked at three times by two different Kia dealers and one time with a Kia field service rep. Kia took over six months to respond to me with there ridiculous answer which was "your car operates as it should". I have owned may cars and have never owned one that had any noticeable throttle response delay. This Kia has a big delay in the transmission downshift and start to accelerate after pushing the accelerator pedal way down.

- Grayslake, IL, USA

problem #7

Mar 222019

Forte

  • 75,200 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

While driving my vehicle loses power while going above 65 mph and shutters when losing power. It also burns 1/2 quart of oil per week while driving or in use. Also when refilling oil there is a white substance on the dipstick when checking the oil levels. When it loses power while in motion the electronics dim or flicker. This have been on going for about 3 weeks now. This is an apparent engine failure like other Forte's.

- Somerset, WI, USA

problem #6

Dec 182018

Forte

  • 17,310 miles
The vehicle of concern reportedly had been parked all day in a parking lot at work with the doors locked and in park. At the end of the day the vehicle was remote started from inside the building approximately 20 feet away. The vehicle started and then a few seconds latter it apparently shifted into drive and then accelerated into the outside of the building located approximately 10 feet away. The incident was recorded on the building security video which shows that no one entered or exited the vehicle before or after the crash occurred. It also shows that the vehicle started and then rolled forward into the building. The edr was imaged by the E-N-K-01-00-0027 tool and no events were recorded.

- Nashville, TN, USA

problem #5

Aug 312018

Forte

  • 30,000 miles
Vehicle is unsafe to drive cuts off in the middle of driving while in traffic. Vehicle doesn't accelerate, it slows down while driving causing other vehicles to have to decelerate or go around to avoid hitting me. This is a serious safety issue and need to be investigated by Kia as soon as possible before a collision happens with my children in the car. This has happened more than one time.

- Bedford, TX, USA

problem #4

May 152018

Forte

  • miles
2016 Kia Forte. Consumer writes in regards to issues with transmission.

- Washington, DC, USA

problem #3

Jan 022017

Forte

  • 2,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The vehicle will accelerate on its own when driving at highway speeds. When driving in town, it will not accelerate after idling such as at a traffic light.

- Canadian, TX, USA

problem #2

Jan 012018

Forte

  • 2,865 miles
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Forte. While the vehicle was parked, the mats on the floor began to smoke because the vehicle was parked in the sun. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled frequently regardless of the speed she was traveling. The contact also had concerns with the transmission because the vehicle transferred gears on its own. The air bag indicator illuminated after the failure. Kia of greenville (2424 laurens rd, greenville, SC 29607) was notified of the failure. The vehicle was diagnosed, but the cause of the failure was undetermined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The VIN was unknown. The approximate failure mileage was 2,865.

- Greenville, SC, USA

problem #1

May 282016

Forte

  • 100 miles
I bought a brand new Kia Forte 2016 on 5/27/2016. Since day one, I've been facing a problem that I think is a big safety issue. When driving the car at regular speeds, the car suddenly loses acceleration and even if I hit the gas pedal, nothing happens for 2-3 seconds and after 2-3 seconds, the gas pedal starts to respond. This has landed me into problems at various times and I almost went to an accident. 1. once I was changing lanes while driving at 45 mph, and all of a sudden the acceleration of the car dropped and I felt certain that somebody would hit me from the side because my car just won't accelerate. 2. once driving at 50 mph, the car suddenly dropped acceleration and the car behind me came so close that I feared that it would hit me. Fortunately the other car driver realised my dropped accleration and slowed down. Incidents like #2 have happened many times and I have taken the car to a Kia dealership (gerald Kia of naperville, il) but they simply told me that there was nothing wrong with the car because they couldn't reproduce the problem. This problem is intermittent and I don't know of a sure fire way to reproduce this problem, but someone has to believe me that it happens all of a sudden in the middle of the road and it really scares the heck out of me. Since the car manufacturer and the dealership is not helping me at all, I want to bring this problem to the attention of the us government. I really feel that this is a big safety issue for me and my family and I don't feel safe at all while driving this car. I spent my money on a brand new car but the car manufacturer and the dealer are not ready to help me. My family members have also driven this car and they can also testify. Please help me with this problem. I don't have enough money to buy a replacement.

- Bolingbrook, IL, USA

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