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
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Seller kit
Questions for the seller, test drive checks and price points
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Walk up to the seller ready
Questions to ask the seller of a 2023 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.
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Write your offer
A ready to send offer for the seller, by text or email
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Send the seller a fair offer
Type the asking price and your own offer for the 2023 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
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Recalls
3 recalls on file, 2 saying do not drive or park outside
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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.
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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.
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True cost to own
The loan, fuel, insurance and upkeep, a month and over 5 years
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What it really costs to own
What the 2023 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.
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.
Suspension
Apr 1, 2024 · Recall 24V244000Do not drive.NHTSA says: Park it until the repair is done.
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023 Forte vehicles. The right front lower control arm may have been improperly welded, which can cause it to fail.
What can happen
Front lower control arm failure can cause a sudden loss of steering control, increasing the risk of a crash.
The fix
Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the repair has been performed. Dealers will replace the right front lower control arm, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed April 17, 2024. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC306. This recall expands previous NHTSA recall number 23V-649.
Suspension
Sep 22, 2023 · Recall 23V649000Do not drive.NHTSA says: Park it until the repair is done.
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023 Forte vehicles. The right front lower control arm may have been improperly welded, which can cause it to fail.
What can happen
Front lower control arm failure can cause a sudden loss of steering control, increasing the risk of a crash.
The fix
Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the repair has been performed. Dealers will replace the right front lower control arm, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed September 27, 2023. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC283.
Steering
Dec 8, 2022 · Recall 22V906000
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023 Forte vehicles. Due to a manufacturing error, the front left steering knuckle may crack, which can result in a loss of steering control.
What can happen
A loss of steering control increases the risk of a crash.
The fix
Dealers will inspect and replace the front left steering knuckle, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 12, 2023. Owner may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC259.
66 complaints; the part named most is the driver assist and cameras
Unverified reports, not adjusted for sales. One complaint can name several parts, so shares add up past 100%. Filed Dec 20, 2022 to Oct 22, 2026. 30% name a part that is usually costly to fix.
Owners reported 11 crashes, 5 fires, 5 injuries and 1 death in these complaints.
Driver assist and cameras15 · 23%
Steering15 · 23%
Electrical11 · 17%
What one owner wrote about the driver assist and cameras
Four times, my 2023 Kia forte has went into limp mode. Three times accelerating onto the freeway, the blindspot/anticollision (BCA) system reset. This put the vehicle in limp mode and it deaccelerated to 3 mph. I had to pull over and restart the car. The other time, I was turning right at an intersection. After the light turned green, the system reset…
Filed Sep 21, 2026NHTSA complaint 117659681 of 18 owner quotes
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13 more parts, and 18 owner quotes
Every part owners name for the 2023 Kia Forte, with their own words about what went wrong. Usually costly to fix among them: Engine, Transmission and drivetrain, Body and frame.
Run the VIN at NHTSA to confirm every recall was fixed.
This year has 3 recalls on file. 2 of them say not to drive the car, or to park it outside, until it is fixed. 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 driver assist and cameras. It is one of the parts owners complain about most for this year.
Have a mechanic you trust inspect it before you pay.
Ask them to look at the driver assist and cameras first.
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 driver assist and cameras.
Try the cameras, sensors and every driver assist feature the car has.
2023 Kia Forte: problems, recalls, verdict · WhipWorthy
Year verdict
Maybe
1.7× a typical year
More owner complaints than usual. Buy only with records and an inspection.
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: 37 complaints, the median of 8 nearby years. Each counted over its first 4 years and 10 months from January 2022; this one had 66.
Same car, better year: 2022 or 2024 Forte (both Worthy)
Our take: only with records and an inspection.Owners filed 1.7 times the complaints of a typical year of this model, and two recalls say do not drive it until it is fixed.
