2013 Kia Forte problems
Owners have filed 272 complaints with NHTSA about the 2013 Kia Forte. Engine is the most reported problem area, at 40% of complaints. Next are brakes (14%) and electrical system (9%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 272 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 40% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 26 and 23
- Injuries and deaths
- 27 and 3
- Typical mileage
- 76,000 miles 161 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 22 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 12 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 21 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 31 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 26 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 20 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 18 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 9 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Of the 161 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 76,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 85,000 miles (76 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 26 complaints mention a crash; 23 complaints mention a fire; 27 injuries reported; 3 deaths reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 88% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2013 ranks 11th most-complained-about out of 15 model years of the Kia Forte with enough data (94 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 5 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Air bags and seat belts did not work during an accident. Car was traveling 40 mhp on a city street when it struck another care from behind. Front driver and passenger seat belts did not lock and air bags did not deploy resulting in facial injuries and concussion for driver and passenger.
On [XXX] , my 2013 Kia Forte SX Koup caught fire while I was driving on the tollway. Kia failed to notify me that I was sold a Lemon Car, leading to this life-threatening incident. The steering wheel and gas pedal became unresponsive, and my brakes stiffened, making it extremely difficult to stop. I feared for my life and safety as I struggled to pull over. After parking, I smelled fumes and saw fire under the hood. I called 911, and emergency services arrived to extinguish the fire.
I was looking up the blue book value and noticed that it was a recall on my car dealing with the breaks, seatbelt, and airbag. I made a call to kia, gave them the VIN number and they said the car haven't been fixed. I was not aware of this and I did not get a carfax sheet.
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Forte. The contact stated that while driving 45 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated, and the vehicle went into LIMP Mode. The contact stated the vehicle was unable to exceed 20 MPH. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, and the knock sensor was replaced as a temporary fix. The failure reoccurred 2 days later.