Kia Forte
Problems & Worst Years

Complaint volume for the Kia Forte is concentrated heavily in the 2017 model year, which logged 129 total complaints across 36 distinct problems — more than double the 50 complaints spread across 11 problems that 2019 racked up. Electrical gremlins dominate the 2017 car's file: headlights failing frequently (11 reports) and headlights flickering and going out (6 reports) together point to a recurring lighting fault owners encountered often enough to describe in two different ways. Engine trouble runs a close second, with misfiring paired with check-engine-light illumination (8 reports), hesitancy and stalling (6 reports), and stalling at idle traced to a fuel system failure (6 reports) — a cluster of complaints that, taken together, suggest the 2017 Forte could occasionally leave a driver with reduced or lost power. One complaint that year was tagged at safety severity, and a single recall, 21V260, applies and should be checked for completion.

The 2019 Forte tells a different story built around the drivetrain rather than the electrical system: transmission failure leading to stalling and loss of power was the single most-reported problem (12 occurrences), followed by malfunctions in the forward collision avoidance system (7), engine misfires with fluctuating RPMs (6), grinding or growling steering noises (5), and instances of the engine randomly stopping while driving (4). No complaints that year carry a safety-severity tag, and no recalls are on record for it.

Whichever year is under consideration, it's worth remembering that these figures reflect what owners chose to file with NHTSA rather than a scientific failure rate, and that the newer 2019 model simply hasn't had as much time on the road to accumulate reports as the 2017. A pre-purchase inspection and a look at the specific car's service history will tell a buyer more than the year on the title.