8.2

pretty bad
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
4,376 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.

2017 Kia Forte drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2017 Kia Forte Owner Comments

problem #8

Nov 152022

Forte

  • miles

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

Son purchased his first car and like the 17 forte. Bought it for around 12k and drove it for 8k miles and he had the engine start knocking. No indication lights nothing. Checked the oil thinking it could be that but it wasn-??t low on oil. Had it towed to our mechanic he said the motor was blown. Kia would not do anything after it sat in the dealership ship for 21 days. Just received an estimate of $7800 to replace a motor with a used motor with 42k on it!! Are you kidding me! These motors are horrible and there service is the same. Stand behind your product if you ever want to be successful. He could have been stranded in the middle of nowhere with a car having less then 100k miles on it. Needs to be recalled.

- Muskegon , MI, USA

problem #7

Oct 062022

Forte

  • miles
Failed/Malfunctioned component: Engine. Safety risk: Engine makes noises and stalls for no apparent reason. Reproduction/confirmation: I'm contacting the dealers&manufacturers. A third party mechanic said the engine noise was a knocking sound. Warning lamps/symptoms: Suddenly a noise started when the engine was working 3,000 rpm or more. After ~10 miles of driving, a louder noise started. After <10 miles more of driving (to visit a third party mechanic) from that, it had an engine oil lamp turned on, while the engine has enough engine oil. After ~1 mile, the engine failed.

- Merced, CA, USA

problem #6

Jul 212022

Forte

  • miles
Powertrain, engine light on, losing power

- Clarksville, TN, USA

problem #5

Jul 102022

Forte

  • miles

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

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.

- Battle Ground, WA, USA

problem #4

Aug 052020

Forte

  • 30 miles
Rough idling. Rough gear shift from 1st to 2nd and srutter on 3rd. Loss of power during take offs. Car is only 20,800 miles. Checked twice on dealer. Only wiped code and reset computer. Claim not to be able to replicate. Issue comes back with check engine light 30 mins after driving away.

- Chester, PA, USA

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problem #3

Mar 042020

Forte

  • miles
Had this car from the end of 2017. After one year there was a recall done on it for the spark plugs and coil. Not even 7 months after get it done the next set they add in the car almost bottom out on me with my child in the car and someone almost ran in the back of me. They fix it took a week to get my car back. And now I feel like something is going wrong with the transmission I ask the dealership is it time for service and they said no. I am a little worried about that. I say on top of all my service to the vehicle.

- Suitland, MD, USA

problem #2

Jun 052018

Forte

  • 33,000 miles
My car begins randomly shaking. I have had all maintenance done at the Kia dealership as per my warranty specifies. The last 4 weeks, my car will randomly shake violently while idle, attempting to accelerate in the different drive modes. Yesterday, June 21st, 2018, my car started shaking violently as I was parked at the food city in chattanooga on ooltewah ringgold road.I was on facebook video messenger with my friend eating a mcchicken. I dropped my sandwich and immediately popped the hood. Upon opening, I see the engine shaking violently as before. My friend witnessed it as well. I immediately called Kia motors customer service. They called roadside service to tow the car back to the dealership in cleveland, tn. Today, 6/22/2018, Kia claimed they were unable to duplicate the issue and blamed bad gas. Even though the shaking happened upon returning home. My car has continually done this even with me using shell, bp, or 100%gasoline. Kia refuses to give me a fair price for trading to another car. The engine also ticks. I asked about this at the time of purchase on Jan 13th, 2017 by the sales associate matt hake and was told it was normal, even though the ticking as intensified.

- Ooltewah, TN, USA

problem #1

Jun 282017

Forte

  • 1,975 miles
The vehicle is the S model, new for 2017, I have driven the car approximately 2,000 miles since leasing it in September 2016. The car has poor acceleration, especially going up hills and merging into traffic (moving, city). It hesitates at traffic signals (from a dead stop). The vehicle tends to sway side to side from time to time (moving, city), the vehicle is under warranty and has been looked at by two different Kia dealers. A technician has rode along with me; felt my concerns, but cannot duplicate it. I was told in March 2017 that the computer had been "tweaked", but no further information.

- Roseville, CA, USA

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