2020 Kia Forte: What to check before buying

The transmission slips out of gear, often at highway speed. RPMs surge between roughly 2,000 and 5,000 while the car loses drive, sometimes slowing to a crawl or acting as if it were in neutral. Hard shifting, delayed gear changes and weak acceleration from a stop also come up. Failures cluster between 70,000 and 88,000 miles, and some owners report that replacement transmissions failed again. Warning lights often stay off. In an injury report, a car placed in park rolled backward and struck the driver.

The car stalls or shuts off without warning, often at stops or low speed, and some cars randomly fail to start. Idle speed surges and drops while parked, and dealers often cannot reproduce the fault. Other reports describe false collision-avoidance warnings, a crankshaft position sensor that keeps failing and cuts power, jammed rear windows, and delayed brake lights. Water in the trunk can also disable the alarm and trunk sensors. Some theft complaints blame the missing engine immobilizer.

Oil disappears between changes, in one case 3 quarts, and some cars end up needing a rebuilt or replaced engine. Owners say no oil pressure or check engine warning came on before the damage was done. One report notes a growing gasoline smell in the oil. On a high-mileage car, a failing catalytic converter sets a check engine code and the car struggles on hills. One car caught fire after a pop and a stall and was a total loss. In another case, white smoke and power loss came from a missing drain plug.

The car stalls while driving, with the check engine light on. In one case, at about 117,892 miles, a dealer traced the stall to a failed catalytic converter. In another, the engine knocked before stalling, and a mechanic found failed intake and exhaust camshaft position sensors along with metal shavings. Both cars lost power on the road, one at about 55 mph. Only 2 complaints are on file.

No deployment in a crash is the claim in all 4 complaints here. The crashes include a side impact at the driver's front door, a rear-end hit that pushed the car into a truck, and a deer landing on the windshield at highway speed. Five people were injured across these crashes, and one driver was knocked unconscious. No report describes an air bag warning light beforehand.

The wheel stiffens or locks up together with the key, usually at low speed or while backing up. One owner reports this happening 3 times. A more serious report describes stiff steering right after startup, followed by brakes that seemed not to work on a downhill street. That car left the road and crashed. With only 2 complaints on file, no broader pattern is clear.