Home · 2018 Kia Forte Koup · Complaints
What 134 owners told NHTSA about the 2018 Kia Forte Koup
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.
3 of 134 complaints match · Engine · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters
Sep 5, 2025Electrical systemEngineFire
Unknown. Fire was located under in the engine compartment area and fire was visible from below the engine under the car. When it happened I was driving on the freeway when noticed my car seemed to be struggling stay at the current speend and to loose speed then a it suddenly l no longer would accerlatoed so I pulled over to call 911 a passing vehicle stopped and informed me there was flames under my car. I safetly exited and called for emergency services. The Safety risk of major bodily harm by fire to myself or risk of harm to the environment around me a risk. The check engine light had come on before the fire. Reached out to manufacturer for a fire investigation and was instructed to take car to dealership to for service department to inspect. Was told a ETA of 2 weeks before they will check out my car.
NHTSA ODI 11685190
Mar 25, 2021EngineCrash
I GOT MY 18 KIA WAS PURCHASED WITH 25K MILES ON IT AND WHEN IT GOT AROUND 72,000 MILES THE CAR STARTED TO SHUT OFF, MAKE A GRINDING NOISE AT TIMES AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WAS ON. I TOOK THE CAR TO KIA AND GAVE THEM ALL MY OIL CHANGE RECEIPTS. THEY SAID I WAS MISSING 1 MAYBE 2 SO IT WOULDN'T BE COVERED. SO PICKED THE VEHICLE UP TOOK IT BY O RILEY'S WHERE THEY TESTED IT AND SAID IT WAS A CRANK SHAFT SENSOR WE REPLACED THAT AND IT DID NOT FIX THE PROBLEM. WE'VE BEEN DRIVING IT BECAUSE IT'S OUR ONLY FORM OF TRANSPORTATION SO TODAY MY HUSBAND WAS DRIVING IT AND THANKFULLY NOT GOING VERY FAST WHEN IT CUT OFF, MY HUSBAND TRIED TO PUT IT IN NEUTRAL TO RESTART AND ENDED UP GOING DOWN A HILL AND HIT A TREE. KIA NEEDS TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS ISSUE! MY HUSBAND COULD HAVE BEEN REALLY HURT AND THANK GOD I WAS NOT IN IT I'M PREGNANT NOR MY 2 SMALL CHILDREN. THIS HAS REALLY MADE ME NOT EVER WANT ANOTHER KIA OR WILL I EVER RECOMMEND ONE TO A FRIEND OR FAMILY MEMBER! WHAT'S KIA WAITING FOR TO FIX THIS PROBLEM? SOMEONE TO DIE FIRST BECAUSE THE CAR CUTS OFF IN TRAFFIC AND YOU GET SLAMMED!!! WHAT IF THIS WAS A TEENAGE IN THEIR FIRST CAR THEY WOULD NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO I BARLEY KNOW WHAT TO DO WHEN IT STALLS I'M TRAFFIC. JUST RIDICULOUS!*DT
NHTSA ODI 11404920
Jan 18, 2021Transmission & drivetrainElectrical systemEngineCrash
NOTE: THE INDIVIDUAL SUBMITTING THIS STATEMENT OF FACTS IS PREPARED AND WILLING TO TESTIFY BEFORE CONGRESS OR ANY COURT OF LAW THAT ALL OF WHICH THAT IS CONTAINED WITHIN THIS SUBMISSION IS BASED ON FACTS AND TRUTH . ALSO LET IT BE KNOWN A DEGREE IN "APPLIED SCIENCE IN AUTOMOTIVE & DIESEL TECHNOLOGY AND ADVANCED DRILL FLUIDS TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING" IS HELD BY THIS INDIVIDUAL AND THE LATER DEGREE DEALS WITH THE CONSTRUCTION AND ENGINEERING OF NEWTONIAN AND NON-NEWTONIAN FLUIDS (I.E.> WATER BASED AND OIL BASED FLUIDS SUCH AS A ENGINE OIL ) IS WELL WITHIN THE INDIVIDUALS UNDERSTANDING OF THE MOLECULAR CONSTRUCTION AND DECONSTRUCTION OF ELEMENTS . I WAS APPROACHED BY A FRIEND WHO HAD A SITUATION THAT REQUIRED QUICK ACTION IF ANY HOPES OF A REMEDY WERE TO PREVAIL , AND THE END RESULT FOR MYSELF WOULD BE OWNING A 2018 KIA FORTE . THE SAID VEHICLE HAD A TOTAL OF 41,117 MILES CALCULATED AND DISPLAYED ON THE INFORMATION DISPLAY ATTACHED TO THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER . THE VEHICLE WAS WELL MAINTAINED BY THE KIA DEALERSHIP AS PROMISED UP TO THE WARRANTY PERIOD OF 12000 MILES AS PROMISED BY KIA , AT NO EXTRA CHARGE TO THE CUSTOMER. AFTERWARDS THE 1ST ORIGINAL OWNER WOULD CONTINUE THE SCHEDULES SERVICE AS OUTLINED IN THE OWNERS MANUAL . THIS MAINTENANCE SERVICE WOULD ALWAYS BE PERFORMED AT THE OWNERS USUAL TRUSTED REPAIR SHOP AND IF NOT WITHIN THE AREA AT THE TIME SERVICE WAS NEEDED , A REPUTABLE REPAIR SHOP WOULD BE THE CHOICE . WITH A WELL MAINTAINED VEHICLE IN MY POSSESSION I SOON EXPERIENCED AN ENGINE FAILURE DUE TO METAL SHAVINGS CAUSING POOR OIL CIRCULATION AND PAIRED WITH SEVERAL OTHER FACTORS CAUSING SLUDGE BUILD UP WHICH RENDERED MY VEHICLE GARBAGE . THE DEALERSHIP CLAIMED IT WAS DUE TO NEGLIGENCE AND IMPROPER MAINTENANCE . THE FAILURE HAPPENED WHILE MY CHILDREN WERE IN THE VEHICLE DURING A THUNDERSTORM WITH FLASH FLOODING . "SATISFACTION GUARANTEE" IS A LIE !
NHTSA ODI 11388762
Working with the data? Download all 134 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 26, 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 2018 Kia Forte Koup verdict →