Kia Forte: which model years to avoid
Complaint and recall totals for every Kia Forte model year we track, ranked by severity.
| Model year | Complaints | Recalls | Crashes | Fires | Severity | Most-reported system |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 289 | 4 | 20 | 21 | 157.1 High | ENGINE |
| 2013 | 195 | 5 | 16 | 13 | 163.1 High | ENGINE |
| 2014 | 437 | 3 | 32 | 35 | 130.4 High | ENGINE |
| 2015 | 258 | 1 | 16 | 20 | 120.9 High | ENGINE |
| 2017 | 300 | 3 | 23 | 9 | 158.0 High | ENGINE |
| 2018 | 134 | 3 | 13 | 3 | 106.0 High | ENGINE |
| 2019 | 146 | 2 | 11 | 4 | 74.0 Medium | POWER TRAIN |
| 2020 | 71 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 135.2 High | UNKNOWN OR OTHER |
| 2021 | 67 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 131.3 High | ENGINE |
| 2022 | 25 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 136.0 High | UNKNOWN OR OTHER |
| 2023 | 56 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 257.1 High | STEERING |
| 2024 | 23 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 121.7 High | UNKNOWN OR OTHER |
Across 12 model years, the 2023 Kia Forte carries the highest severity index (257.1, driven by steering), while the 2019 is the cleanest at 74.0.
Source. NHTSA public complaint and recall APIs. Complaint counts are not normalised by units sold; a high-volume seller will attract more filings than a rare trim.