These help you judge whether this one is worth its price.
Costly problem zones ahead at your miles come with a Car Hunt Pass or Pro. See plans
Loading the EPA's yearly fuel cost
What about the price? Check the asking price on two listing sites. Buying from a dealer? Run its offer through the offer X ray.
Education, not financial or mechanical advice. Have any used car checked by a mechanic you trust before you buy.
The full record
Tap to open
What owners complain about
Loading owner complaints
Seller kit
Questions for the seller, test drive checks and price points
Car Hunt Pass or Pro
Walk up to the seller ready
Questions to ask the seller of a 2018 Kia Forte, built from this year's owner complaints and recalls. What to feel, hear and look at on the test drive, with boxes to tick at the car. Honest points to raise on price, from the records and never from guesses. Copy the questions to your phone in one tap.
Car Hunt Pass: $15 once for 30 days, a launch price. It never renews. Full refund if you ask within 7 days.
Write your offer
A ready to send offer for the seller, by text or email
Car Hunt Pass or Pro
Send the seller a fair offer
Type the asking price and your own offer for the 2018 Kia Forte, tick what you found, and get a polite message ready to text or email. Its reasons come from this year's owner complaints, recalls and crash ratings, and never from made up repair prices.
Car Hunt Pass: $15 once for 30 days, a launch price. It never renews. Full refund if you ask within 7 days.
When problems show up
Loading mileage at failure
Will it outlast the loan?
The month of your loan each problem zone lands in
Loading the problem zones
Recalls
3 recalls on file
Loading recalls
Crash ratings
NHTSA's stars out of five, for each version it tested. Front crash stars only compare cars of about the same size and weight.
Loading crash ratings
Fuel economy
The EPA's estimates for each engine and transmission, and its own yearly fuel cost. Yours depends on how you drive and the shape the car is in.
Loading fuel economy
True cost to own
The loan, fuel, insurance and upkeep, a month and over 5 years
Car Hunt Pass or Pro
What it really costs to own
What the 2018 Kia Forte costs a month and over 5 years: the loan and its interest, fuel worked out from the EPA's figures for the version you pick, and your own insurance, registration and upkeep. A cost a mile, a link that reopens your numbers, and the breakdown copied to your phone in one tap.
Car Hunt Pass: $15 once for 30 days, a launch price. It never renews. Full refund if you ask within 7 days.
Every year of the Forte
Owner complaints for each model year, this one outlined. Tap a year to open it. The newest 2 are not judged yet. Bars are totals, so older years stand taller; the verdict compares every year at the same age.
Loading every year of this model
Before you buy this one
Built from this year's numbers. Whatever the data says, the car in front of you is the one that counts.
A history report such as Carfax or AutoCheck pulls in more of the car’s past than these checks can:
Crashes and damage reported by police, insurers or shops, even when it was fixed.
Service visits that shops reported, with the miles each time.
How many owners, for how long, and the states it was registered in.
Whether it was a rental, fleet or lease car, when that was reported.
It only knows what was reported to it. A clean report is not proof of a clean car. Ask the seller first: many dealers hand one over for free.
Red flags in a history
Salvage title
Usually an insurer called it a total loss. In most states it cannot be driven on the road until it is rebuilt and inspected.
Rebuilt title
A salvage car that was fixed and passed a state check. It can be fine, but it is worth less, can be harder to insure, and needs a careful inspection.
Flood damage
Water can ruin wiring and sensors months later. Be wary of a flood brand that vanished after a move to another state.
Lemon or maker buyback
The maker bought it back over a defect it could not fix. Ask what the defect was and how it was fixed.
Odometer rollback
A mileage reading lower than an earlier one, or a title marked not actual miles.
Many owners, fast
Three owners in two years can mean a problem each one passed along.
Gaps in the records
Years with no service or registration. Ask why: it may have sat, been off the road, or been rebuilt.
Title words and rules differ by state. Not legal advice.
Before you pay
Pre purchase inspection
Have a mechanic you choose, not the seller, put it on a lift and look it over before you pay.
Insurance quote
Get a quote on this exact car before you sign. Ask your own insurer and one or two others.
Not every car needs every fix. Run the VIN at NHTSA to see which are still open. Repairs are usually free at a dealer for the brand; ask before any work.
Air bags
Jan 25, 2022 · Recall 22V031000
Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2017-2019 Sedona, Soul, Soul EV, 2017-2018 Forte, and 2017 Forte Koup vehicles. The Air Bag Control Unit (ACU) cover may contact a memory chip on the printed circuit board and damage the electrical circuit. Circuit damage may result in deactivated air bags that will not deploy in a crash.
What can happen
Air bags that do not deploy as intended can increase the risk of injury in a crash.
The fix
Dealers will inspect the ACU, and either update the software or replace the unit, as necessary. Repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 21, 2022. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC226.
Doors, locks and latches
Aug 9, 2021 · Recall 21V622000
Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2016-2018 Forte 4-door, Forte Koup 2-door, and 2018-2019 Rio 4-door vehicles. The trunk latch may become damaged, preventing the opening of the trunk from the inside. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 401, "Internal Trunk Release."
What can happen
A person inside the trunk compartment may become trapped, increasing their risk of injury.
The fix
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.
Engine
Apr 13, 2021 · Recall 21V260000
Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2017-2018 Forte vehicles equipped with a 2.0L Nu MPI engine. Foreign particles may stick inside the oil pump, which may cause an oil pump failure and engine damage.
What can happen
A damaged engine may stall, increasing the risk of a crash.
The fix
Kia will notify owners, and dealers will replace the oil pan, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed August 16, 2021. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC210.
Unverified reports, not adjusted for sales. One complaint can name several parts, so shares add up past 100%. Filed Apr 6, 2018 to Sep 2, 2026. 54% name a part that is usually costly to fix.
Owners reported 13 crashes, 3 fires and 9 injuries in these complaints.
Engine61 · 45%Usually costly to fix
Other or unknown30 · 22%
Air bags16 · 12%
What one owner wrote about the engine
The contact's son owns a 2018 Kia Forte. The contact stated that while her son was driving approximately 55 MPH and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended, with the oil pressure warning light and several other unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road, and the…
Filed Aug 31, 2026NHTSA complaint 117611011 of 18 owner quotes
Car Hunt Pass or Pro
15 more parts, and 18 owner quotes
Every part owners name for the 2018 Kia Forte, with their own words about what went wrong. Usually costly to fix among them: Transmission and drivetrain, Body and frame.
Car Hunt Pass: $15 once for 30 days, a launch price. It never renews. Full refund if you ask within 7 days.
5 checks, with a close look at the engine
The bar holds the middle half of the complaints that gave a mileage; the dark mark is the middle one. 35 complaints of 136 gave one. Owners file when something fails, so this shows when problems were reported, not how long the cars last.
EngineCostly55,000 to 105,000 mi
Half of these 22 complaints came between about 55,000 and 105,000 miles, the middle one around 85,000.
Run the VIN at NHTSA to confirm every recall was fixed.
This year has 3 recalls on file. Recall repairs are usually free at a dealer for the brand. Ask the dealer to confirm before any work is done. Look up a VIN at NHTSA.
Ask the seller for the service records.
Look closely for any work on the engine. It is the part owners complain about most for this year.
Have a mechanic you trust inspect it before you pay.
Ask them to look hard at the engine. It is usually costly to fix.
Look at a vehicle history report.
It can show reported crashes, flood or salvage titles, and mileage that does not add up.
On the test drive, pay attention to the engine.
Start it cold if you can. Listen for knocking or ticking, and watch for warning lights and smoke.
2018 Kia Forte: problems, recalls, verdict · WhipWorthy
Year verdict
Worthy
1.0× a typical year
About as many owner complaints as a typical year. Still get it inspected.
Confidence: Medium
NHTSA did not answer for 15 years, so the typical year may shift.
NHTSA did not answer for 15 years, so this may change.
How the dial was counted
Year verdict: Typical year: 108 complaints, the median of 8 nearby years. Each counted over its first 8 years from January 2017; this one had 108.
9 Worthy, 5 Maybe, 0 Pass, of 16 years on file
Our take: worth a look.Owners filed about as many complaints as in a typical year of this model.
