2017 Kia Forte
This year drew an ordinary 300 complaints for a Kia Forte — the model's median is 134. What they were about is the unusual part: 8.7% of them mention trunk, against 3% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 2 of the Kia Forte, which began in 2014 and ran to 2018. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 300 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 134 |
| Involving a crash | 23 |
| Involving a fire | 9 |
| Recalls | 3 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 28 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- trunk — 8.7% of this year's complaints, against 3% across the other years of this generation (2.9×). Owners wrote it as: trunk, latch, trunk latch, latches.
- keep — 7.3% of this year's complaints, against 2.7% across the other years of this generation (2.7×).
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
the trunk release failed to open the trunk as designed. The contact was able to use the key fob to open the trunk. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V622000 (Latches/Locks/Linkages) however,…
while attempting to open the rear trunk door lid, it was discovered that the trunk door lid could not be opened while using the key fob, the trunk release, or the emergency trunk release. Later while driving approximately 70 MPH, the trunk lid suddenly opened…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 22V031000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 21V622000 LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES Fixed free of charge.
- 21V260000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 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 2017 Kia Forte? What happened to yours?
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