AutoUtility currently tracks 301 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2017 Kia Forte. Engine & Cooling issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 139 complaints (46.2% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 23 filings cite a crash, 9 cite a fire, 14 report one or more injuries, 2 report one or more fatalities.

Key Problem Findings
  • • Total NHTSA Complaints: 301 reports
  • • #1 Reported Problem Area: Engine & Cooling (139 reports • 46.2% of submitted complaints)
  • • Secondary Problem Areas: Electrical System (46), Exterior Lighting (43)
  • • Crash-Citing Complaints: 23 filings
  • • Fire-Citing Complaints: 9 filings
  • • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 14 injury filings • 2 fatality filings
Reporting Methodology: Statistics describe unverified consumer submissions voluntarily filed with NHTSA. Complaint volume is not normalized for vehicle sales volume or miles driven. Multiple components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission.
Total Complaints
301
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
23
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
9
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
14
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
2
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2017 Kia Forte

Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records

#1 Problem Area 46.2% of complaints

Engine & Cooling

139 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
⚠️ 3 crash reports 🔥 3 fire reports
#2 Problem Area 15.3% of complaints

Electrical System

46 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 3 crash reports 🔥 2 fire reports 🩹 2 injury report entries
#3 Problem Area 14.3% of complaints

Exterior Lighting

43 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 2 crash reports 🔥 2 fire reports
#4 Problem Area 10% of complaints

Fuel & Propulsion System

30 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 2 crash reports 🔥 2 fire reports 🩹 5 injury report entries
#5 Problem Area 6% of complaints

Air Bags & Restraints

18 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
⚠️ 13 crash reports 🩹 14 injury report entries
Domain Share Note: Share percentage represents the proportion of unique complaint filings referencing each vehicle system. Because single complaints may cite multiple systems (such as engine and electrical simultaneously), domain percentages represent individual category incidence and may sum to over 100%.

Symptoms Mentioned in NHTSA Owner Reports for 2017 Kia Forte

Specific mechanical, electrical, and driver-assist defect symptoms identified via deterministic narrative analysis

AutoUtility uses deterministic phrase matching to identify recurring symptom descriptions within consumer-submitted NHTSA complaint narratives.

Powertrain & Transmission 4% of complaints

Loss of Motive Power While Driving

12 complaint narratives describe this symptom
Symptom Identification Method: A complaint may describe more than one symptom, so percentages may sum to more than 100%. Symptom identification reflects text contained in consumer-submitted complaint records and does not establish a confirmed mechanical diagnosis.

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2017 Kia Forte

Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11758293
Filed: 08/20/2026

"See attached document for complaint."

Incident Date: 06/03/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech NHTSA ODI ID: #11745123
Filed: 06/18/2026

"The vehicle exhibits a chronic, systemic electrical failure characterized by the intermittent loss of critical lighting systems, including turn signals and brake lights. This failur5e has persisted over several years and thousands of miles, independent of battery replacements or specific usage..."

Incident Date: 05/26/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE
Air Bags & Restraints NHTSA ODI ID: #11739768
Filed: 05/24/2026

"Kia has common problems on the airbags even tho my air bags is good but I want to still check it"

Incident Date: 08/24/2022 • Raw NHTSA Component: AIR BAGS
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech NHTSA ODI ID: #11736367
Filed: 05/07/2026

"The headlights and dashboard lose power intermittently while driving at highway speeds, specifically triggered by using the turn signal. This is ongoing since January when I started having to take it for a recalls.More things kept happening. I kept having to have more repairs. Every time I went, I..."

Incident Date: 05/06/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11735523
Filed: 05/04/2026

"The contact owns a 2017 KIA Forte. The contact stated while operating the vehicle at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle was misfiring, severely shaking and was losing motive power suddenly while operating on multiple constantly for about 3 weeks, and state she noticed a check engine warning light..."

Incident Date: 04/13/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE
Consumer Narrative Notice: Excerpts are sanitized text descriptions submitted by vehicle owners to the federal ODI database. They reflect the reporting consumer's observations at the time of filing and have not been independently confirmed by vehicle manufacturers or government investigators.

Complaint History for Kia Forte

Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2024)

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2015 Kia Forte 258 16 1 View 2015 Problems →
2016 Kia Forte 2 0 1 View 2016 Problems →
2017 Kia Forte Current Page 301 23 3 Current
2018 Kia Forte 134 13 3 View 2018 Problems →
2019 Kia Forte 147 11 2 View 2019 Problems →
2020 Kia Forte 74 9 0 View 2020 Problems →
2021 Kia Forte 67 10 2 View 2021 Problems →
2022 Kia Forte 26 3 1 View 2022 Problems →
2023 Kia Forte 60 10 3 View 2023 Problems →
2024 Kia Forte 24 5 0 View 2024 Problems →
Comparative Disclaimer: Complaint totals are unadjusted historical counts and are not normalized for vehicles sold, active fleet size, or total road mileage. Newer model years naturally have had less calendar exposure time to accumulate owner filings.

Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2017 Kia Forte

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 68 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Reported Injury Entries Reported Fatality Entries
Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE 88 2 2 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 25 1 1 0 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 22 3 1 1 2
Engine & Cooling NHTSA category: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 12 0 0 0 0
Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS 11 7 0 10 0
Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 10 0 1 0 0
ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 9 1 0 1 0
Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 8 0 1 1 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 7 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 7 0 1 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING 6 1 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE 6 0 0 0 0
Wheels & Hubs NHTSA category: WHEELS 6 0 0 0 0
Doors, Latches & Locks NHTSA category: LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES 5 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 4 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 3 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 3 0 1 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 3 0 0 0 0
Steering NHTSA category: STEERING 3 0 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 3 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 3 0 1 2 0
Vehicle Speed Control NHTSA category: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 3 0 0 0 0
Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER 3 0 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS 2 2 0 1 2
EXTERIOR LIGHTING,VISIBILITY/WIPER 2 0 0 0 0
Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN 2 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 2 0 0 0 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES 2 0 0 0 0
Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE 2 0 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 1 0 1 0
AIR BAGS,STRUCTURE,ENGINE 1 1 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 1 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM,VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 1 0 2 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 0 0 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING,LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES 1 0 0 0 0
Fuel System NHTSA category: FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC,SERVICE BRAKES, AIR 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS 1 1 0 2 0
STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SUSPENSION,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 0 0 0 0
Suspension NHTSA category: SUSPENSION 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES,VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 1 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
VISIBILITY/WIPER,VISIBILITY 1 0 0 0 0
Data Attribution & Reporting Methodology: Complaints are unverified voluntary submissions to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). Because multiple vehicle components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission, component-level rollups may sum to more than the unique complaint count (301). Injury and fatality entries in the detailed table reflect raw values entered by reporting consumers across individual submissions; they are not deduplicated casualty statistics and may include duplicate or unverified entries. Complaint volume is not normalized for sales volume or vehicle mileage and does not represent an audited component failure rate.

Related Official Reports for 2017 Kia Forte

Cross-reference safety recalls, crash test safety ratings, and EPA fuel economy for this model year

Official US Government Data Provenance

The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.

Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.