2016 KIA FORTE — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 132 complaints · 1 recalls
Most-reported system: ENGINE (46 complaints · 34.9%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 15
  • Fires 6
  • Injuries 11
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2015 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution ENGINE appears in 46 of 132 owner complaints (34.9%) in this vehicle snapshot. ENGINE: 46 complaints, 34.9% of reports ENGINE 46 · 34.9% · 1 crash reports 2 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 11 complaints, 8.3% of reports POWER TRAIN 11 · 8.3% · 1 crash reports 1 fire reports AIR BAGS: 10 complaints, 7.6% of reports AIR BAGS 10 · 7.6% · 10 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 9 complaints, 6.8% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 9 · 6.8% · 1 fire reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 9 complaints, 6.8% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 9 · 6.8% · 1 crash reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 8 complaints, 6.1% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 8 · 6.1% WHEELS: 5 complaints, 3.8% of reports WHEELS 5 · 3.8% FUEL SYSTEM: 4 complaints, 3.0% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 4 · 3.0% SERVICE BRAKES: 3 complaints, 2.3% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 3 · 2.3% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 18 complaints, 13.6% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 18 · 13.6% · 1 crash reports 1 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
ENGINE 46 34.9% 1 crashes · 2 fires
POWER TRAIN 11 8.3% 1 crashes · 1 fires
AIR BAGS 10 7.6% 10 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 9 6.8% 0 crashes · 1 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 9 6.8% 1 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 8 6.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
WHEELS 5 3.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 4 3.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 3 2.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 18 13.6% 1 crashes · 1 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Apr 2016; the first recall shown was reported in Aug 2021. 2016-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2016-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2016-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2017-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2017-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2017-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2018-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2018-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2018-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2019-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 2019-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 2019-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2019-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2020-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2020-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2020-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2021-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2021-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2021-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2021-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2022-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2022-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2022-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2023-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2023-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2023-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2023-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2024-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2024-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2024-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2025-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2025-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2025-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 2025-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2026-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2026-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2026-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 Owner reports Apr 2016 Jul 2026 Recall campaign 21V622000 ◆ Recall campaign 21V622000
  • Campaign 21V622000 was reported 1,805 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2016-Q2 Owner reports 3
2016-Q3 Owner reports 5
2016-Q4 Owner reports 3
2017-Q1 Owner reports 4
2017-Q3 Owner reports 2
2017-Q4 Owner reports 1
2018-Q1 Owner reports 5
2018-Q2 Owner reports 4
2018-Q3 Owner reports 4
2018-Q4 Owner reports 1
2019-Q1 Owner reports 7
2019-Q2 Owner reports 7
2019-Q3 Owner reports 4
2019-Q4 Owner reports 2
2020-Q1 Owner reports 2
2020-Q2 Owner reports 2
2020-Q4 Owner reports 4
2021-Q1 Owner reports 4
2021-Q2 Owner reports 2
2021-Q3 Owner reports 4
2021-Q4 Owner reports 4
2022-Q2 Owner reports 3
2022-Q3 Owner reports 4
2022-Q4 Owner reports 6
2023-Q1 Owner reports 3
2023-Q2 Owner reports 3
2023-Q3 Owner reports 5
2023-Q4 Owner reports 3
2024-Q1 Owner reports 1
2024-Q2 Owner reports 4
2024-Q3 Owner reports 4
2025-Q1 Owner reports 1
2025-Q2 Owner reports 3
2025-Q3 Owner reports 6
2025-Q4 Owner reports 2
2026-Q1 Owner reports 3
2026-Q2 Owner reports 3
2026-Q3 Owner reports 4
Recall campaign 1 21V622000
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (1)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 21V622000

    Report date
    Component:
    LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES
    Consequence:
    A person inside the trunk compartment may become trapped, increasing their risk of injury.
    Remedy:
    Dealers will replace the trunk latch assembly, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on February 10, 2022. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC216.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 132 complaints · page 1 of 6

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources