2013 Kia Forte
This year drew an ordinary 195 complaints for a Kia Forte — the model's median is 134. What they were about is the unusual part: 8.7% of them mention maintained, against 1.9% across the other years of this generation.
Last year of its generation. This Kia Forte ran from 2010 to 2013, so it had the whole run for its faults to be found and fixed. Last years are usually the most sorted of a generation.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 195 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 134 |
| Involving a crash | 16 |
| Involving a fire | 13 |
| Recalls | 5 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 4/5 |
| EPA combined | 28 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- maintained — 8.7% of this year's complaints, against 1.9% across the other years of this generation (4.7×). Owners wrote it as: maintained, well maintained, records, optima.
- seized — 8.2% of this year's complaints, against 2.2% across the other years of this generation (3.8×). Owners wrote it as: seized, towed independent, diagnosed engine, engine seized.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
2.4L ENGINE SEIZED WITH NO WARNING WHILE DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEED. CAR WAS WELL MAINTAINED, OIL CLEAN, 109,000 MILES. THIS WOULD'VE BEEN VERY DANGEROUS IF THERE HAD BEEN TRAFFIC AT THE TIME. IT APPEARS SAME ENGINE IN OTHER MODELS SUCH AS OPTIMA AND HYUNDAI SON…
Was driving at approximately 60 MPH and heard an abnormal knocking noise sound coming from the engine compartment. The knocking noise occurred whenever the accelerator was pressed. No warning light was illuminated. Took car to mechanic where it was diagnosed a…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 20V750000 ENGINE Fixed free of charge.
- 18V363000 AIR BAGS
- 17V773000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
- 16V312000 SEAT BELTS Fixed free of charge.
- 23V652000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Kia Forte was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2013 Kia Forte? What happened to yours?
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