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Kia · NHTSA safety record

2017 Kia Forte

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

Owners have filed 303 safety complaints about the 2017 Kia Forte with the US government. Of those, 23 describe a crash, 9 mention a fire, 21 people were injured and 4 deaths are recorded. 3 recall campaigns are open against it.

The most complained-about system is the engine, named in 145 complaints, 48% of the total. The typical failure was reported at 40,000 miles, the median across the 135 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

Compiled from NHTSA's complaint, recall and investigation files · Covers March 2017 to September 2026 · How this is counted

What is on file

303 complaints on file

303

Complaints

23

Describe a crash

9

Mention fire

21

People injured

4

Deaths

A complaint is an unverified account by the person who filed it, not a finding of fault. One complaint is one ODI number, which is how NHTSA counts them.

Complaints rose 44% year on year: 36 in the twelve months to 2026-Q2, against 25 in the twelve before.

A recall is the manufacturer conceding a defect, and the repair is free. Whether one covers your particular car is a question only its VIN can answer, because a campaign covers a production range rather than a model year.

Which system owners named

Complaints naming each system
ENGINE 145 · 48%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 49 · 16%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 46 · 15%
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 43 · 14%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 29 · 10%
AIR BAGS 18 · 6%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 17 · 6%
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 14 · 5%
POWER TRAIN 12 · 4%
STRUCTURE 10 · 3%
STEERING 9 · 3%
VISIBILITY/WIPER 8 · 3%
0 62 123

Red marks a system with a recall campaign against it. One complaint can name several systems, so these add up to more than 303.

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2025 at 43.

48 36 24 12
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

This is the year the complaint was filed, not the year the failure happened. The range runs from 2017 to 2026, the last of them a part year, which is why its column is drawn faint.

Crash test ratings

NHTSA New Car Assessment Program

NHTSA crashes a car into a barrier and a pole and measures what happens to the dummies inside. This is what it awarded the 2017 Kia FORTE, and it is a separate question from what owners report going wrong later.

Test 4 DR FWD
Overall
Frontal crash
Frontal, driver
Frontal, passenger
Side crash
Side barrier
Side pole
Rollover
Chance of rollover 10.3%
Stability control standard Forward collision warning standard Lane departure warning standard

A dash means NHTSA did not rate that test for this vehicle.

Recall campaigns

3 on file

AIR BAGS

22V031000 · January 25, 2022

The 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.
The risk
Air bags that do not deploy as intended can increase the risk of injury in a crash.
The remedy
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.

Kia Motors America · up to 410,619 vehicles across all model years covered

LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES:TRUNK LID:LATCH

21V622000 · August 9, 2021

The 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."
The risk
A person inside the trunk compartment may become trapped, increasing their risk of injury.
The remedy
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.

Kia Motors America · up to 253,074 vehicles across all model years covered

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:OIL/LUBRICATION:PUMP

21V260000 · April 13, 2021

The 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.
The risk
A damaged engine may stall, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
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.

Kia Motors America · up to 4,069 vehicles across all model years covered

In owners’ own words

Quoted from the complaint file

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

2 deaths · fire

The 2017 Kia was parked in the attached garage of a private residence when a fire broke out. The building was fully involved by the time first responders arrived shortly after midnight on May 19, 2022. Both residents of the home were deceased at the scene, in separate bedrooms. The point of origin of the fire was determined to be at the Kia, which was heavily damaged in the fire. The individual making this report is the attorney representing the estates of the decedents.

NHTSA complaint 11471163. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

2 deaths · crash · towed · 3,500 miles

VEHICLE WAS IN A MAJOR CRASH ON ILLINOIS ROUTE 15 IN BELLEVILLE IL. VEHICLE WAS STRUCK IN THE FRONT DRIVER SIDE OFF CENTER BY A WRONG WAY DRIVER. PASSENGER IN THE KIA WAS TRAPPED UNDER THE DASH. PASSENGER WAS WEARING SEAT BELT AND IT APPEARS THE SEAT BELT FAILED TO LOCK. PASSENGER AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. PASSAGER WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD AT THE SCENE. DRIVER WAS WEARING SEAT BELT. DRIVER SUFFERED SEVERE INJURIES TO HIS HEAD FROM IMPACTING THE STEERING WHEEL AND WAS EJECTED OUT OF THE DRIVER SIDE WINDOW. SUBJECTS SEAT BELT BROKE AND RIPPED. AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY AS WELL. SUBJECT WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD AT THE SCENE. IMAGES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST FROM LAW ENFORCEMENT BELLEVILLE POLICE

NHTSA complaint 11120867, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

3 injured · crash · towed · 36,650 miles

AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY IN VEHICLE CRASH AT ABOVE 30 MPH

NHTSA complaint 11408393. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

2 injured · fire

My vehicle caught fire while driving also before fire vehicle started popping and stuttering rattling sound. I was on highway.

NHTSA complaint 11701841. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STRUCTURE:BODY
2017 Kia Forte (Recall SC216 Trunk latch - this 2017 VIN needs to be included

NHTSA complaint 11767943. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

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 same year have been diagnosed with, and a recall was issued. This vehicle is not covered under the recall, but should be. The engine recall should be extended to all 2017 Kia Forte models.

NHTSA complaint 11765978. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
See attached document for complaint.

NHTSA complaint 11758293. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE
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 independent service interventions. Most notably, in February 2024, a third-party professional repair - which included the replacement of the Power Distribution Unit (Central Fuse Box) was performed to address these electrical faults. Despite this professional intervention, the defect recurred in May 2026. The failure of the turn signals and brake

NHTSA complaint 11745123, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS
Kia has common problems on the airbags even tho my air bags is good but I want to still check it

NHTSA complaint 11739768. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
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. Today I took a huge list of things they should check to see why it’s doing this. This is the following list that I gave them -2017 Kia Forte - Service Request: •Issue: Headlights/dash icons flicker specifically when using turn signals. •Issue: Average MPG keeps resetting (Computer Brownout). •Mandatory Checks: 1Multi-Function Switch (internal

NHTSA complaint 11736367, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Kia Forte

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2023 63 3 1
2022 27 1 —
2021 68 2 —
2020 76 0 —
2019 147 2 —
2018 136 3 —
2016 135 1 —
2015 260 1 1
2014 442 3 —
2013 195 5 1
2012 292 4 3
2011 153 3 1
2010 221 3 1

Other 2017 Kia models

Sorento 804 Sportage 401 Soul 272 Optima 256 Sedona 134 Niro 82 Cadenza 32 RIO 31

Complaints on file, same model year.

Every Kia on this site — 181 vehicles.

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. How many repair attempts it takes, and how long you have to file, is set by the state you bought in and by nothing on this page.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

Compiled and maintained by
Independent developer and analyst