Unknown-€¦ The car has been having on going issues with shutting off while driving. With new battery, starter, tune up, plugs, and still no fix. The signal lights do keep busting. The headlights and brake lights. It-€™s expensive to keep changing the headlights that do not last more than 2 months. Driver side in particular.

- Richmond Hts, OH, USA

My car is affected by recall 17V773000, though it is not listed. Dealership refusing to fix.

- Longwood, FL, USA

I tried starting my vehicle and it wouldn't turn over so I pulled the key out of the ignition and the engine kept running. It stopped quickly, so I thought it was weird so I tried again and it made the same vacuum type noise and started smoking, all while the key was not in the ignition. It stopped smoking but I walked away for a sec and came back and the entire place was filled with smoke and the engine had then caught on fire. I was in a parking garage so many other vehicles could have been damaged, and people could have inhaled smoke and other things of that nature. I was also concerned that it would explode and cause even more damage. There was no other signs that this would happen, my vehicle had driven fine the morning of. The car is totaled of course and was towed off.

- Dallas, TX, USA

2012 Kia Forte Ex 2.0 I4 126k miles Daughter driving car to college, inside of vehicle filled with smoke, car engine stalled while on Hwy 430 in the middle of a construction zone. Barely made it to the shoulder of the road. I was close buy, I went and loaded up the car and took it home. Once home, I turned the ignition to on, to check for warning lights, None present! I looked under the car and could see oil! I looked all over the engine and discovered oil was coming from oil dipstick tube. I pulled the dipstick the rest of the way out and could see extreme metallic particles in oil. I drained what oil was left and the oil pan was full of fine metallic debris. I went ahead and changed the oil and started the car and the engine has an extreme knock, due to a common Kia failure. Faulty Rod main bearings. Contacted Kia and they told me to kick rocks. There-€™re corporate managers stated, -€œ I could care less if you ever bought a Kia and I could care less that the Rod Bearing failure is premature or a design flaw. We will not honor nor fix it.-€ This engine is in multiple Kia brands, they have recalled and replaced thousands of them. Since this engine is in a Forte, they stated my vin wasn-€™t in the selected range of defective engines. Even though, other models with the same engines are! Kia needs to stand behind and fix their faulty engines. My forte never had a -€œcheck engine -€œ light come on. The knock sensor never sent the car into limp mode and the vehicles pcm never acknowledged an issue to alert the driver of an impending disaster. Not only is my engine defective by Kia, they tampered with the vehicles software to where the knock sensor would never sense an impending problem, until the engine exploded in the consumer's face. Otherwise, the knock sensor would have alerted to an impending problem! Not one check engine light, not one ever came on! A computer scan also showed no stored codes, No active fault codes and No pending fault codes.

- Bigelow , AR, USA

This vehicle has now repaired 2 times for recall on brake light/wiring issue. We were charged by the jenkins Kia of gainesville, Florida for the last 2 times. This is a safety issue since brake light keeps burning out. Mechanic at another business advised bulb burned so much the bulb holder was burned. SC158 is recall number. Repairs done 10/22/2018, 2/14/2020 wiring harness & bulb holder replaced all at our cost. Recalled twice for this issue. Bulb now burned out again 2/15/21. Feel cheated by this dealer since has been recalled 2013 & 2015.

- Gainesville, FL, USA

My 2012 Kia Forte 2.0L engine keeps making a ticking, knocking noise. Took it in for service and the dealer said that they could not locate the issue, but that I may just need an oil change. Oil was severely low, even though oil was just changed. There were no leaks identified. Also, my car has a jerking issue when accelerating. The car sometimes gets thrown forward without a check engine light being thrown. This especially happens on the interstate, or if the car has been driven for longer than 20 minutes. This is an extreme safety issue.

- Douglasville, GA, USA

The NHTSA website says I have a recall under my VIN number but when I go to the Kia website and enter it for service it says no recall found, so I can not have it repaired.

- Griffin, GA, USA

I didn't get the recall for the brakes in 2018 radio just went out last year for no reason window on passenger just stopped working

- Gary, IN, USA

The stereo wires melted and started a fire in the dashboard. Fire was put out. Stereo is damaged.

- Milwaukee, WI, USA

Made a turn at approx 12 mph. Car bumped into neutral when groceries tipped over. Heater, radio, and engine all quit. Could not be restarted, vehicle had zero power. Stranded in intersection. Towed to repair, informed engine had seized due to over-revving in neutral. Had zero power, could not over-rev. Kia and warranty company refusing any responsibility or coverage. Being told it needs a new engine and a new starter. Estimated repair $8500, more than twice bluebook value. I see after research this is a common problem with Kia vehicles of this era. Approx. 83000 miles, all service up to date. I notice on the aul report the amount of wear on the engine, and the description of the damage using words like "heavily scored and worn to copper backing." I find it hard to believe this kind of damage could have been done in the minute or so the car was in neutral, especially since driver was aware of what had happened. (she saw the groceries tip over and hit the shifter).

- Alturas, CA, USA

The brake light on the car goes out often since I bought it, more commonly the right side. I have repeatedly checked and replaced fuses and bulbs. Sometimes the light won't last a month before someone tells me my brake light is not working. This is a hazard. I have not found any issues with the wires or fuses, but through research found earlier models of the Kia Forte had a recall for the same issue. The problem being the brake light switch by the pedal. Kia needs to find a fix for this and do a proper recall.

- Altamonte Springs, FL, USA

Center mount stop light assembly - the brake light burned out and burned the assembly. I smelled something burning from my vehicle and when I checked the vehicle found this light had burned through the assembly. This burning of the center assembly shorted out my brake lights which left me without brakes. The mechanic stated that looking at the center assembly as well as the other brake light ports-there was a surge of some sort which caused this to happen. The areas in the brake light sockets were black. I was driving when I smelled the burning in the car and thus far no other electrical or light areas have been affected. I thought this should be reported in the event Kia trunks start burning.

- Douglasville, GA, USA

My wife and I were passing another vehicle going about 75mph on a highway in southeast kansaswhen my car essentially turned off. Luckily there was a shoulder to pull onto. Tried jumping it with no luck. We had it towed to a nearby town to a body shop who kept it over the weekend to try and replicate the issue. This was a Friday and we returned that following Monday to pick up the car. Bodyshop stated they could not get the car to repicate what had happend and nothing flashed on the computer. We drove it in the town a little bit with no issues and proceeded home. We were out of the town about 10 minutes when we heard a small knocking that continued to get worse. We pulled over. We continued down the road to the next town which was about 5 miles away to a body shop. We just got into town when the car died again as if I turned the car off. I muscled the car to a parking lot. Tried turning the car on again and engine started smoking. Got it towed back home to a local body shop who looked at it the next day to inform me I needed a new engine, main wire harness, and starter. I contacted Kia, eventhough I was only 11K miles over warranty, to see what could be done. Got it towed to a local Kia dealership who looked it over and found lots a metal in the oil. They put a claim in with Kia which they denied. I called customer service who then sent it to the district manager and he denied any help. It then got escalated to a higher department and they denied any help either. Prior to this I had no issues or problems with the car. During the time I had my car I had proper oil changes and maintenance. The car is only 5 years old with only 71,462 miles on it and now needs a whole new engine. Thankfully the times it stalled, which no warning light ever came on nor was there ever a noise of any kind indicating anyting was wrong, my wife and I were not in a crash.

- Bentonville, AR, USA

Driving home on christmas day from my parents on the freeway, heard a noise in engine immediately pulled over. Noticed that the car was smoking. The car wouldn't turn off and my husband got out and upon opening the hood of the car noticed it was in flames. He immediately yelled for us to all get out of the car. As we started running the entire car went up in flames. Thankfully we got out when we did, however all of my children's christmas gifts, all of our belongings weren't so lucky. My kids are traumatized and in shock. The car only had 40K miles on it. Recently had the 35K service by Kia and nothing was wrong with it. Yet their warranty meant nothing. They won't even inspect the car yet they determined that it isn't their problem. How does a relatively new car just burn up "!"!

- South San Francisco, CA, USA

The alternator isn't charging the battery fully according to my voltmeter. According to the Kia dealership I just needed a new battery. This is the 3rd battery already. Luckily the car seems to die after it is parked. Also while driving it on the highway it accelerated on its own once and interior lights flickered and radio cut out. Hoping it is just a freak occurrence because the battery was weak.

- Ellicott City, MD, USA

Just recently (within this month) I have noticed that when I turn on my blinker either way, or step on my break my radio or music from my phone cuts out. It does not happen every time and I do not notice it happening at a particular speed. It happens mostly on the freeway but I just notice it did it on a surface street today. My headlights and my inside roof lights flicker also. Had a friend check it out and he said he could not find anything. Checked all the wiring for corrosion, something grounding where it shouldn't be, check my battery voltage and my transmission. Cannot figure out the problem and I am concerned about it being an electrical issue due to me driving 100+ miles a day, 6 days a week. Last thing I need is for my car to catch fire...

- Barstow, CA, USA

The contact owned a 2012 Kia Forte. The contact stated that the vehicle caught fire as he walked outside. The contact noticed that the windows were black from the residue of the fire. The vehicle was destroyed and towed. A police report was not filed. The fire extinguished itself before the firefighters were called. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 54,000.

- Freemont, CA, USA

My 2012 Kia Forte has a problem with the engine suddenly racing, and acting like it is out of gear. I have taken it to my mechanic and they keep telling me that they can't find the problem. I also get problems with the brake lights: I get told that they're out when they aren't. I do regular maintenance and oil changes on my vehicle. It started in April, 2014, at first occasionally, but now it is almost constant. If the problem is not found and fixed, I am in danger of losing my transmission and worse....updated 12/10/15

- Indianapolis, , IN, USA

I was pulled over by transit police and was informed that my brake lights were not working. I took it to the dealership and they want to charge me to have them look at it. If the problem falls to the warranty they will do it, but I still have to pay for the check-up. My tail lights work, but my brake lights do not illuminate when I press on the brake. Is there a recall?

- Toa Alta, PR, USA

The contact owns a 2012 Kia Forte. The contact stated that while the vehicle was powered off and parked, the engine started racing. The vehicle stopping after running for one full hour. The contact had to have the vehicle towed to a dealer however, the dealer could not find an issue with the vehicle. The failure recurred later and the vehicle became engulfed in flames. In addition, the air bags independently deployed. The fire department was called and was able to extinguish the fire. The vehicle was then towed to a dealer, who stated that the coating around the wire near the emergency brakes had melted and left the wires exposed. The dealer stated that the wiring harness needed to be replaced. The contact called the manufacturer and filed a complaint. The failure mileage was 35,000.

- Mcdonough, GA, USA