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What 195 owners told NHTSA about the 2013 Kia Forte
These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.
2 of 195 complaints match · Lights · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters
Jan 30, 2024Electrical systemLightsEngineFire
MY WINDOWS BEGAN TO ROLL UP SLOWER THAN USUAL. WHEN I ROLL MY WINDOW UP SEEMS LIKE MY LIGHTS WOULD DIM. BUT NOT ALL THE TIME. ON THIS PARTICULAR DAY, I PARKED MY CAR. IT SEEMED TO BE RUNNING JUST FINE BEFORE I TURNED IT OFF. HOWEVER, WHEN I WENT BACK OUT TO TURN IT ON, THE KEY WOULD NOT TURN NOR WOULD THE GEAR MOVE. ONCE I SAT FOR HOURS WAITING FOR A FAMILY MEMBER TO ASSIST ME. THE FAMILY MEMBER CAME AND WAS ABLE TO GET THE CAR STARTED. ONCE STARTED WE BEGAN TO SEE AND SMELL SMOKE. IT SMELLED LIKE ELECTRICITY. THE CAR DIED OUT AND CONTINUED TO SMOKE REALLY BAD AND THE SMELL OF ELECTRICTY BECAME STRONGER. THE CAR WOULD NO LONGER START.
NHTSA ODI 11568694
Jun 20, 2021Electrical systemLights1 injury
I have owned my 2013 kia forte for over 7 years. Within the last 3 years I have had significant issues with my tail lights and break lights burning out. To the point that the socket completely melted and shattered the light bulb.upon attempting to fix and remove the melted socket I sliced my hand open. I have been pulled over multiple times for my lights flickering or even just being out. It's to the point where I carry spare light bulbs in my car. I've had a mechanic look at my vehicle and I've been advise that I need to have the whole tail light assembly replaced. This is a huge safety issue especially when traveling with my small children. I've spoken with many people that have this model car and all experience the same issue. I'm shocked to know this is not a recall issue!
NHTSA ODI 11421549
Working with the data? Download all 195 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 14, 2026
How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your
pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the
full 2013 Kia Forte verdict →