2018 Kia Forte problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Engine (37) · Vehicle Speed Control (9) · Air Bags (8)
🧭 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
51 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 (100)
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.
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
Back Over Prevention: Warnings 2025-12-09 · PS797 · Other
pitstop: technical operations: external damage to ultrasonic sensor: this pitstop provides information related to parking distance warning (pdw) alerts and repairs involving ultrasonic sensors. the pdw system alerts the driver while parking, by calculating distance based on the difference in signal
Showing the 6 most recent of 100 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-09-02 · Fuel/Propulsion System“there is an issue with the fuel pump where it would stall or shut off while driving or at a stoplight…”
2026-08-31 · Engine And Engine Cooling · 100,300 mi“the contact's son owns a 2018 kia forte. the contact stated that while her son was driving approximately 55 mph and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended, with the oil pressure warning light and several other unknown warning lights illuminated. the contact slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road,…”
2026-04-27 · Exterior Lighting“have to replace running lights every 4-6 months on both of my headlights. happened every 4-6 months since i got the car in 2017…”
2026-03-24 · Engine And Engine Cooling · 104,000 mi“the contact owns a 2018 kia forte. the contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle failed to accelerate as needed. there was no warning light illuminated. the vehicle was taken to the dealer, and it was discovered that the engine oil level was extremely low. the dealer kept the vehicle for nine months and performed an oil chan…”
2026-02-25 · Engine“recently, while my boyfriend was driving my vehicle, the engine suddenly lost power without warning. he had the accelerator pedal fully depressed, yet the vehicle would barely move. he was fortunate to safely maneuver the vehicle off the road. upon inspection, he discovered there was no oil present in the engine. critically, neither the low oil war…”
2026-02-19 · Power Train“while driving the car with the flow of busy traffic, the engine failed and the car stopped. it eventually turn back on (side of the road) but now drives with hesitation, a strange noise, and with the engine light on. this cycle continued until we arrived at the repair shop. and after much research, it seems that this experience is common for other …”
2026-02-16 · Unknown Or Other“engine would run fast and then sound like was going to stop and then it would start shaking and rumbling while driving on highway and in town. car would stall while at a stop. gas smells inside the car. did not feel safe driving. had the car towed to an independent garage on february 7th and they did an oil change, change 2 sensors, changed all th…”
2026-02-09 · Unknown Or Other“i went to kia dealership in groton ct 06340 for an oil change. they also fixed a recent recall, and after i picked up my car, both of my key fobs weren’t working. i can’t open my car. i can’t lock my car and they are refusing to fix it. i contacted kia corporate. they were not helpful. what can i do here to have this situation resolved? i’m worried…”
2026-01-29 · Unknown Or Other“the car turn off while driving it. this creates a serious safety concern. we took the car to a mechanic and he was not able to identify the problem, he suggested we take it to the dealership. we then took it to the kia dealer ( covina) and they have had it for months and yet are not able to fix it. yesterday we received a call telling us, the eng…”
2026-01-29 · Engine“no warning lights/ indicators at all. well taken care of vehicle 84,400 miles on the vehicle second owner. had an oil change and my husband noticed bad blow by, had it diagnosed by a mechanic. they said we need a whole new engine. dont understand how this would happen unless some manufacturer defect. no recalls apparently for this vehicle. seems to…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.