Owners have filed 16 complaints on the Kia Forte Koup, covering 2010–2016. The system named most often is Engine (6 reports). Worst years by volume: 2010, 2011, 2016; cleanest: 2016, 2011, 2010. 0 reports describe a crash, 1 a fire. On average the car was 7.1 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Kia Forte Koup
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 16 Forte Koup complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine 6 Read
I had a 2010 kia forte koup that caught on fire 5/29/18 while going down a highway approximately 55 miles/hr. Before the fire began, there was some knocking in the engine and all power went out, including power steering and brakes. I was able to get it to the side of the road and popped the hood to see flames coming…
The motor blew at 55,000 miles
I took the car in to have a coolant line recall installed. The service manager and later a mechanic remarked that the engine had a serious "knock" and both mentioned that the engine either needed to be rebuilt or replaced. It only has 81k miles. Subsequently, when I asked about possible trade in value I was informed…
Air Bags 2 Read
Hello, long story short, kia has faulty airbags I have a very pregnant wife. They have yet to die right by the customer and off safe vehicles to replace these until a fix is found. I went to kia in turnersville nj to have a hub assembly replaced. At this time I requested the technician to run the VIN for an airbag…
I recently took my car to have the most recent recall with the air bag fixed. After the repair occurred, the air bag light came on. I took the car back to the dealership to see if a malfunction occurred during the repair. The dealership service department told me the air bag module and clock spring needed to be…
Power Train 1 Read
My car broke down in december 2015, when I took it to the kia service department and they fix it. I paid over 1000 usd. 2 months later there was a safety recall for the same reason my car broke down couple monts before that recall. Until this day I have tried to get my money back and they dont want to give me a refund…
Vehicle Speed Control 1 Read
My car accelerates on its own. Fully stopped, my car is on 1000rpms, I will be driving at a constant speed and my RPM shoots all the way up
Electrical System 1 Read
My seat belt driver side will not click into the buckle which makes it hard not be pulled over and very unsafe. As well as, my lights on the inside of the car do not turn off they are always illuminated once starting the car. My brake lights go out every so often, as well as a few other electrical problems. Also my…
Structure 1 Read
I was driving on the interstate doing about 65 mph when suddenly I heard a very loud boom. No other cars were near me when the boom happened and I thought I just ran over something. A few minutes later my wife opened up the sunroof sliding cover and we saw that the sunroof had shattered. The whole sunroof glass looked…
Seat Belts 1 Read
The seat belts will not automatically roll back into the door frame of the car after taking them off. You have to jerk the belt up and down close to twenty times to get them to retract. Also, I've noticed that the cruise control doesn't function like normal. It only works once in a while. I have to try to set my speed…
Wheels 1 Read
I was driving on route 77 in charlotte at approximately 60 mph. While driving, my wheel had a structural failure. I retraced my route and do not see anything on the route (I.e. Major obstacle). Regardless, this failure is completely unacceptable. I have had other cars in the past and have run over substantial road…
Forte Koup years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Engine | — | — | |
| 2011 | Air Bags | — | — | |
| 2010 | Air Bags | — | 1 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 13 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.2 |
| Worst single series | 2 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 7.1 years |
A model average of 1.2 hides a worst series at 2. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Forte Koup?
By complaint volume, 2010, 2011, 2016 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Forte Koup years are the cleanest?
2016, 2011, 2010 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Kia Forte Koup have?
16 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2010–2016. Of those, 0 describe a crash and 1 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.