Kia always manages to surprise customers with its quirky-looking vehicles irrespective of the segment and the Kia Forte shows that compact city cars don’t need to be boring. The 2016 Kia Forte impresses with its less trouble-prone reliability aspect along with its strong set of traits. As of now, the sedan has seen 75 complaints and a single recall officially. The sedan has seen the most complaints against its powertrain followed by its electrical system and airbags. The sedan has also faced a complaint regarding engine fire that is enough to raise eyebrows in terms of the car’s overall reliability and safety. In the segment, the Kia Forte competes against the Honda Civic, the Toyota Corolla, and the Hyundai Elantra.
Kia Forte user complaints and problems
Engine problems
- Engine fire: A single case of engine fire was reported against the 2016 Kia Forte. The complaints say that while the owner was driving, there was smoke from under the hood followed by fire shortly afterward. The driver was lucky to have escaped in time and the vehicle was destroyed completely.
- Excessive oil burning and oil leak: Several owners are hit by these problems. The oil leak issue occurred less than the oil burning problem. The oil leak problem happened due to the faulty and leaking oil pan seal on the underbody. The oil leak led to engine stalls and engine failures due to oil deprivation.
- Sudden loss of power and engine stall: Both these issues have troubled a lot of owners of the 2016 Kia Forte sedan. The engine stalls occurred during driving, posing a major safety risk, and the affected vehicles were required to be towed since the engines failed to start. The sudden loss of power also occurred while driving where the drivers were unable to accelerate in situations such as in the middle of an interstate or a busy lane.
- Engine failure: A handful of engine failures are present for the 2016 Kia Forte apart from the engine failures resulting from the oil leak. The engine failures occurred randomly and required a complete engine replacement.
Electrical problems
- Complete electrical system failure: A few reports regarding this issue are present for the 2016 Kia Forte sedan. The reports state that the electricals of the vehicle failed suddenly while driving causing the engine to stall and disable the power steering and exterior lights as well. In a couple of cases, the dashboard went out completely with some other electrical components failing.
Safety problems
- Airbag failure: There are plenty of reports regarding the airbag failure for the 2016 Kia Forte. The reports mention that the affected owners were involved in crashes under various scenarios and the airbags did not deploy despite having all the criteria and situations for deployment.
- Power steering failure: A few owners complain about power steering failure in their 2016 Kia Forte. The reports mention that while driving, the vehicles started to pull to one side and became hard to steer.
2016 Kia Forte recalls
|
S.No. |
Recall Date |
NHTSA Campaign ID |
Issues noticed |
Additional remarks |
Remedy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
August 9, 2021 |
21V622000 |
Trunk Emergency Release May Fail/FMVSS 401 |
A person inside the trunk compartment may become trapped, increasing their risk of injury. |
Dealers will replace the trunk latch assembly, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on February 10, 2022. |
Should you buy a used Kia Forte?
The Kia Forte is an impressive sedan that gets a spacious cabin, extensive warranty coverage, and striking design language. Going by the brand’s reputation for reliability, the car hasn’t been entirely trouble-free in the recent past and the current model also ran into several problems. However, the numbers are quite low as compared to the overall sales volume of the car. Getting a used example won’t be a problem if you perform all the mandatory inspections and get it from a trusted used car dealer.
