2017 Kia Forte problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Engine (97) · Exterior Lighting (31) · Fuel/Propulsion System (22)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Kia Forte model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
🛣️ Complaints by mileage
135 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (3)
Air Bags 2022-01-25 · campaign 22V031000 · 410,619 vehicles
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.
Risk: Air bags that do not deploy as intended can increase the risk of injury in a crash.
Fix: 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.
Latches/Locks/Linkages:trunk Lid:latch 2021-08-09 · campaign 21V622000 · 253,074 vehicles
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."
Risk: A person inside the trunk compartment may become trapped, increasing their risk of injury.
Fix: 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.
Engine And Engine Cooling:engine:oil/Lubrication:pump 2021-04-13 · campaign 21V260000 · 4,069 vehicles
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.
Risk: A damaged engine may stall, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: 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.
Service bulletins (140)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Service Brakes 2026-07-18 · SC238_OWNR_501 · Service Campaign
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
Structure:body 2026-06-08 · CS2312_TSB_R2 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
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
Engine 2026-04-01 · PI2106_OWNR_501 · Other
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
Structure:body 2026-02-19 · TSB_CS2312_R1 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
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
Structure:body 2025-12-18 · TSB_CS2312 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
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
Structure:body 2025-12-17 · CS2312_OWNR · Other
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
Showing the 6 most recent of 140 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-10-05 · Electrical System · 🔥 fire“i was driving this car and received a check engine light and lulled over to find an electrical fire had occurred under the hood. i was able to use a fire extinguisher to put out this fire. the car was towed to a kia dealership near my home for confirmation and an estimate of the damages. it apparently was caused by a problem that kia has had with t…”
2026-10-03 · Exterior Lighting“i own a 2017 kia forte that has a recurring problem with water intrusion in the rear tail light assemblies. this issue was previously repaired around 2018 under kia’s service action related to moisture and water entering the rear combination lamps, but the problem has returned. moisture and water are again getting inside the tail light housing, whi…”
2026-09-30 · Structure:body“2017 kia forte (recall sc216 trunk latch - this 2017 vin needs to be included …”
2026-09-21 · Engine“there was a rod failure in the engine. the vehicle is currently at the repair facility. this rod failure caused the vehicle to die while traveling down the road, so it was a safety risk. the rod failure was diagnosed by a certified mechanic. there were no warning lamps, messages, etc. this failure is the same issue that many kia forte's of the…”
2026-08-20 · Engine And Engine Cooling“see attached document for complaint.…”
2026-06-18 · Vehicle Speed Control“the vehicle exhibits a chronic, systemic electrical failure characterized by the intermittent loss of critical lighting systems, including turn signals and brake lights. this failur5e has persisted over several years and thousands of miles, independent of battery replacements or specific usage patterns. the issue has been confirmed via multiple in…”
2026-05-24 · Air Bags“kia has common problems on the airbags even tho my air bags is good but i want to still check it …”
2026-05-07 · Vehicle Speed Control“the headlights and dashboard lose power intermittently while driving at highway speeds, specifically triggered by using the turn signal. this is ongoing since january when i started having to take it for a recalls.more things kept happening. i kept having to have more repairs. every time i went, i told them about this and it just keeps going on. to…”
2026-05-04 · Engine · 113,922 mi“the contact owns a 2017 kia forte. the contact stated while operating the vehicle at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle was misfiring, severely shaking and was losing motive power suddenly while operating on multiple constantly for about 3 weeks, and state she noticed a check engine warning light illuminated. the vehicle was driven to a independent …”
2026-04-20 · Engine · 110,000 mi“the contact owns a 2017 kia forte. the contact stated that while driving at 30 mph, there was an abnormal screeching sound coming from the engine. there was no warning light illuminated. the contact attempted to pull off to the side of the road, and the vehicle shut off. the contact attempted to jumpstart the vehicle, but after several attempts, th…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.