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.
Pulling out into traffic, without warning my car lost power and shut down! The car had to be towed to the dealership who advised that the engine had a catastrophic failure and needed to be replaced. I was told by the dealership that KIA would not cover the repair for two reasons: 1) I was beyond the warranty period (the car has 60,264 miles on it and apparently as the second owner I am only covered up to 60,000 miles not the 100,000 that comes with the car), and 2) despite acknowledging that they engine had a defect, KIA did not issue a recall to fix the problem. Instead, they issued a performance improvement notice. KIA also acknowledged via a phone call on 3/10/23 that they have mailed these notifications to the previous owner rather than to me. I have on a number of occasions conducted recall searches on www.nhtsa.gov/recalls which does not list the known engine defect! It seems underhanded for KIA to recognize a defect and instead of reporting it as such and issuing a recall, they hid the problem behind a deceptive "performance improvement" label. It's not a performance improvement!! It's a known defect that if not fixed, it will result in a blown engine and COSTLY bill for the owner!!! The NHTSA SHOULD IMMEDIATELY ISSUE A RECALL AND REQUIRE KIA TO REPAIR OR REPLACE THE ENGINES IN THESE CARS. THEY SHOULD ALSO REQUIRE KIA TO REIMBURSE OWNERS WHO HAVE HAD TO REPLACE ENGINES NOT COVERED BY THE WARRANTY!
My car has had 2 engine failures in the last 2 years. The first time the repair was performed by Jeff Wyler Superior KIA in Cincinnati, Ohio a little over a year ago. Currently it's at Jeff Wyler KIA in Fairfield, Ohio awaiting repair. There diagnosis is another engine failure. There were no warning lamps before either engine failure. The first time the engine made noises so I stopped driving it and had it towed to the dealer. The second time it wouldn't start when I came out in the morning to go to work.
After slowing and making a right turn onto another street, I tried to accelerate but the vehicle would not speed up in heavy traffic. After driving downhill 0.2 miles, I made another right turn and the vehicle would not accelerate uphill and was making a loud noise from the engine. I managed to limp home and parked the vehicle as the engine is now always making a loud knocking sound.
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
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
Driving 8 miles to work my engine started making noise and then car started slowing down. I pulled over on to the side road and seen oil everywhere and my car wouldn-€™t start again and I had to get it towed.
Car shakes a lot with AC in setting 1 & 2. Kia official has checked and rechecked and stated to be -€œnormal-€. Car getting average of 17mpg and 250 miles per tank average. Despite being up to date. Car shakes excessively at idle
2016 Kia Forte Had the oil changed ~15 miles ago and now there-€™s no oil in it. There-€™s no leaks either. Mechanic said that the car is just using it up and exhausting it. It has happened twice. The check engine light has been coming on and blinking.
On June 16 2022 at 9:15 am I was driving my Kia Forte 18 miles from my home to the airport. I was taking my 8 year old granddaughter to meet her grandfather for a flight. There were no indicator lights that ever showed up. My car started making a banging sound. I got off the interstate into a parking lot immediately. I shut the car off and checked the tires.. and underneath the car. I didn-€™t see any damage or anything leaking. I parked the car and had it towed home. There is only 64,900 miles on it. The oil and fluids are checked and changed according to manufacturer. I have not had a diagnostic test run. I had it towed home because I don-€™t have the funds to leave it at a shop. I still owe three payments on it.
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.
Im a retired mechanic I have 2016 Kia Forte lx 1.8l 6spd manual from my diagnostic scanner it showed the instrument cluster has a short in it which caused all the warning lights to come on when really the only thing that was really bad was a right front wheel speed sensor I replaced it but with the instrument panel short the ecu cant tell what's working and what's not the car only has 64000 miles and all this is still going on a diagnostic scanner cant tell what real and what's not I will never own another Kia product in my life and [XXX] sure wouldn't recommend one. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Kia dealer states the engine is blown. Because of lack of oil in engine. I changed the oil in a timely manner and on a regular basis but the engine still failed only after 77,000. No prior warning of engine failure until the engine failed.Kia warranty refuses to cover cost of $8000 engine replacement because I didn-€™t keep receipts proving the oil was changed in a timely manner.
While driving my vehicle - My 2016 Kia Forte LX all of sudden had my dashboard light up with check engine light oil etc. before the engine turned off My vehicle gave me no warning signs up until the engine shut off The oil change and service is up-to-date After I had my vehicle towed to a garage-€" it was determined that my car barely had any oil left in it with my engine being ruined as a result of the defect. I-€™ve contacted Kia every single day since this occurred but I-€™ve not gotten any assistance whatsoever Meanwhile I have no vehicle and I-€™ve had to pay for a rental car daily while I wait for a response to rectify this travesty
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Forte. The contact stated while driving 70 mph, she heard a knocking sound coming from the front passenger-€™s side of the vehicle. The contact stated that the check engine and battery warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle decelerated independently and before the vehicle stalled. The contact was able to coast to a stop. The contact stated that a bystander jumped the battery however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was not drivable. The contact towed the vehicle to the local dealer. The vehicle was not yet diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 67,000. The VIN was not available.
My oil keeps on burning fast.. I had to get oil test from Kia dealer but they didn't find anything wrong with the engine and no leakage. Couple months later my engine is burning my oil fast before even oil change. This is not normal. The motor will make a cluster sound while at the stop sign. Uncomfortable sound all of the sounded.
I was sold a 2016 Kia Forte with a bad transmission and the dealership cancelled my warranty the year that I bought the car I was not aware that they cancelled it until I found out my transmission was bad and went to the dealership to try to have them fix it and they told me the warranty was canceled. I spoke to a mechanic and they told me that a lot of people are having the same issue with their 2016 Kia Forte's. I bought this car in order to get my son to his specialists he has spina bifida he needs to see a neurologist, orthopedics, urologist, etc over an hour away now my transmission is completely gone and I don't know what to do because I can't afford the repair. Please recall this car. I know a lot of people who have transmission issues with their Kia's my mother for example back in 2010 she purchased the Kia rio it was brand new at the time and a year later the transmission went bad on it every Kia transmission seems to be a hunk of crap I shouldn't have to deal with these repairs
I purchased my 2016 Kia Forte in March 2017 used and since then I've been having suspension problems. May 2017 I had 3 alignments and I constantly been getting alignments and replacing my brakes and tires. August 2020 my car started to cut off while I was driving and accelerate when I tried to stop. My check engine code an ignition coils problem so I did a full tune-up and oil change in September. But it didnt fix the problem so after that my car code an intake failure. I had it repaired in October but it still didn't fix the problem and on top of that the pistons in the engine started grinding. I took my car back to the shop and they said that I need a whole new engine. Now my car been sitting every since the beginning of November.
Driving the car smelled a gas smell, then later a burning smell, then the car stalled, cranked it again it stalled again. Was smoking under the hood. Had just had this car oil change and multipoint inspection they stated the car was fine. Today they tell me it's engine failure. We were driving when the car stalled.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Middletown, NY, USA