2014 Kia Forte
Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues
Engine is the leading concern among 442 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the highest complaint count among 16 Forte model years with reports.
Of the 2014 reports, 32 involved a crash and 36 involved a fire. 29 people were injured.
What owners report most often
Recalls and investigations
EngineDec 2, 2020
Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2012-2013 Sorento, 2012-2015 Forte and Forte Koup, 2011-2013 Optima Hybrid, 2014-2015 Soul, and 2012 Sportage vehicles. An engine compartment fire can occur while driving.
An engine compartment fire increases the risk of injury.
Kia will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the engine compartment for fuel and/or engine oil leaks, perform an engine test and make any repairs, including engine replacement, as necessary, free of charge. In addition, Kia dealers will update the Knock Sensor Detection System (KSDS) software, free of charge. The recall began January 27, 2021. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC200.
Campaign 20V750000 on NHTSA.gov
Service brakes, hydraulic, pedals and linkagesDec 1, 2017
Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2012-2014 Forte and Forte Koup vehicles. The brake pedal stopper pad can deteriorate allowing the brake light switch plunger to remain extended when the brake pedal is released. This will allow the brake lights to remain illuminated continuously. It can also allow the shift lever to be moved without depressing the brake pedal, or activate the engine management brake pedal override feature.
If the brake light switch plunger does not retract as it should when the brake pedal is not being pressed, the brake lights may stay illuminated preventing accurate communication to following vehicles that the vehicle is slowing or stopping. Additionally, if the brake switch plunger is not retracted, then the transmission can be shifted out of PARK without depressing the brake pedal. Either condition increases the risk of a crash.
Kia will notify owners, and dealers will replace the brake pedal stopper pad, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin January 30, 2018. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC158.
Campaign 17V773000 on NHTSA.gov
Electrical systemJan 16, 2015
Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain model year 2014 Kia Forte vehicles manufactured December 5, 2012, to April 17, 2014. In the affected vehicles, the cooling fan resistor may overheat and melt.
If the cooling fan resistor overheats and melts, there is an increased risk of a vehicle fire.
Kia will notify owners, and for vehicles produced from December 5, 2012 to January 27, 2014, dealers will replace the cooling fan resistor and multi-fuse unit. For vehicles produced from January 28, 2014 to April 17, 2014, dealers will replace the multi-fuse unit only. Owners of vehicles with a 1.8L engine will also have the engine control unit software updated. The recall began on February 20, 2015. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC113.
Campaign 15V015000 on NHTSA.gov
Representative owner complaints: steering
64 reports, newest first. Show all
Steering, Apr 2, 2023
Steering Coupler in Steering motor defect. Known issue in many models and see a recall on some vehicles: this issue was corrected on my 2016 Sorento but not on my 2014 Kia Forte. My son’s friend also has his Kia Optima denied repair for the same issue. An acknowledged problem that somehow Kia has been forced to correct on ALL their models. A major flaw over poor design using a $5-7 part that Kia Dealers charge $500 to repair. Unethical.
Steering, Mar 23, 2023
Steering wheel started feeling loose then progressed to jerking back and forth. Jerks from side to side simply driving easy down the road. Making ticking, clicking, grinding noises too. I do not feel safe and can no longer drive my car. I’m taking it to the dealer tomorrow (a long wait) and suspect it is the same mdps coupler kia and Hyundai have issued an extended warranty on - for all vehicles except the Kia forte. What gives with that? Ridiculous.
Steering, Feb 1, 2023
Failure of the flexible coupling in the Motor Driven Power Steering (MDPS). This is a known issue and Kia has extended the warranty on the Optima, Soul, and Cadenza that use the exact same defective part. For some unexplained reason the forte has been excluded from coverage. It should also be noted that Hyundai has included the Elantra (which is the sister model to the Forte) as well as the Sonata. As mentioned all of these vehicles were assembled with the same, admittedly defective part. The warranty has been extended on every model with the exception of the Forte. The current TSB (CHA 074) acknowledges the problem without offering a comparable remedy as provided for all other affected models.
Steering, Jan 26, 2023
This morning I needed to move my son's 2014 KIA Forte. There was very notable clicking noise in the steering wheel with even the slightest turn. I googled "clicking noise in steering wheel" and found thousands of listings (all KIA and Hyundai) for failures of a coupler in vehicles along with numerous videos with the same symptoms that I experienced. I also found that for 2012/2013 Soul and 2014 Cadenza that KIA had done an extended warranty for 10 years unlimited miles that was posted on the NHTSA website. I could not find anything similar for the KIA Forte even though I found many on-line consumer complaints for the same issue in the KIA. I contacted both the nearest service dealer (no appointments until April) and KIA Consumer and they said they had a significant back-log for any service. I would like to know if there have been enough complaints from KIA Forte owners that the warranty extension would apply. If not, I would like to add this complaint for the KIA Forte so that the NHTSA knows that the issue is more widespread than just for the models listed in the original extension. Thanks so much.
Steering, Other or unspecified, Jan 2, 2023
My husband was driving down a street going roughly 45 miles an hour and all of a sudden there was a jerking feeling and the steering wheel locked up on him and he could no manage the direction that the car would go.yes it is available for inspection upon request. The steering and the direction of the car going 45. miles an hour definitely endangered us that was in the car and those that were on the road at the approximate time that we were. There was only 42000 miles on the car and we had only had it 58 days. We had it towed to the dealership Kia Nissan in Monroe La. And was told that it would cost 2000 to fix. So I then had it towed to another mechanic and got a completely different story. that the car had been wrecked before even though it didn’t show on the Carfax and they were there was ways to tell it and also told that rack and pinion‘s don’t break usually until 220 300,000 miles. I spent every penny I had saved after losing everything in hurricane Laura to buy this car. Not only do I feel very lied to by the dealership that I bought it from and misinformed and uninformed a certain issues that would’ve prevented me from buying a car on top of that I’m paying 24% interest rate and now they want to increase the interest rate because the car is broke down and they had to defer some payments because I can’t get to work because I don’t have a vehicle. I’ve had Kia check out the car and I’ve had two other mechanics check out the car and both of them told me separate stories different problems different prices and I need some help establishing where is the fault lies. Because I don’t think I should be responsible for a injury to a car or is it something that broke on its own and almost endangered our lives when the car had only been driven 42,000 miles. There was absolutely no warning signs no flashes of light no nothing to warn of this problem it happened out of nowhere and it was very scary and not rush I wanna keep the car anymore because I was scary.
Steering, Engine, Sep 7, 2022
My engine burns oil very fast, I am constantly putting oil in it even after oil changes. At one point, I was told by the dealership that I would need a new engine and that the catalytic converter needed to be replaced as a result of the engine problem. I ended up having to come out of pocket for the catalytic repair, 2 times... Thats right... 2 times. Upon returning to the dealership about engine, I was told that there was a recall for another issue in the engine that they would take care of. Upon asking about the engine, I was told the engine was fine. Also the coupler in the steering wheel column has gone bad, it was fine, until my clock springs were replaced by the dealership. The clock springs were under a recall/extended warranty issue.
Steering, Electrical system, Engine, Jul 10, 2022
Car shuts down while driving. ABS and traction control light comes on, cruise control shuts off, power steering light comes on and no power steering, screens and radio stop working, no a/c or heat, car finally completely shuts down.
Steering, Suspension, Engine, Jun 26, 2022, crash
On June 24, 2022 I was driving my vehicle on 435N to work. My steering wheel jerked to the left and started spinning out of control. I was driving at 60mph in the inside lane. When my steering jerked it caused me to turn headfirst into the inside wall. I proceeded to spin out of control across 3 lanes of rush hour traffic, clipping a second vehicle, before smashing into the outside wall and then resting in the outside lane horizontally. I was rushed to the emergency room where I suffered a broken back. Upon looking at the recalls and safety issues with my vehicle there was a recall #17V773000 for the brake pedal stopper; a most recent
Steering, May 4, 2022
Steering coupler needed to be replaced. There have been warranty extensions for this part on several Hyundai cars as well as Kia Optima. Same issue as I experienced. No recall yet on my vehicle. Had to pay $500 to get replaced. Failure around 78,000 miles
Steering, Electrical system, Forward collision avoidance, Apr 30, 2022
My steering wheel feels loose and makes a noise when turning. Feels like I need to turn the steering wheel a bit before my tires start to turn and then it clicks again when my wheel goes back to neutral. This also has caused my cruise control and windshield wipers to stop working.
Steering, Feb 21, 2022
Ki Aforte 2014 steering wheel has started making a noise while turning when stationary. As with Kia Soul and Optima models of same vintage, steering coupler part needs to be replaced
Steering, Dec 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2014 Kia Forte. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel made a knocking sound. The contact stated that the first time the failure occurred was in late September with the knocking sound only happening while turning either to the left or the right. The contact stated that recently the failure started occurring whenever the vehicle was being driven. The contact stated that the steering wheel was not secured and felt as if it was going to detach. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was contacted. The failure mileage was 52,177.
Steering, Jul 20, 2021
2014 Kia Forte 1.8l steering is very hard or stiff to rotate especially from right to left when driving at more than 20 mph rendering lane change on roads and expressways very dangerous, and simply maneuvering steering very difficult. It feels like steering is jamming or being stuck. Besides hear a click sound from the steering even when car is stationary. Started experiencing hard steering problem at the end of June 2021.
Steering, May 25, 2021
Steering coupler needed to be replaced. There have been warranty extensions for this part on several Hyundai cars as well as Kia Optima. Same issue as I experienced. No recall yet on my vehicle. Had to pay $500 to get replaced
Steering, Engine, Feb 8, 2021
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2014 KIA FORTE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE ENGINE VIBRATED ABNORMALLY. DURING THE FAILURE, THE VEHICLE LOSS POWER STEERING ASSIST AND THE STEERING WHEEL WAS VERY DIFFICULT TO TURN IN EITHER DIRECTION. THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING LIGHT AND OIL LIGHT REMAINED ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHO REPLACED THE ENGINE COILS HOWEVER, THE FAILURE PERSISTED. AFTER RECEIVING NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 20V750000 (ENGINE), THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO KIA OF GREENVILLE LOCATED AT 2424 LAURENS RD, GREENVILLE, SC 29607 HOWEVER, THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE CONTACT INDICATED THAT THE VEHICLE HAD EXPERIENCED THE SAME FAILURE LISTED IN THE RECALL. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 86,000.
Steering, Air bags, Sep 22, 2020
AIR BAG LIGHT FLASHES ON AND OFF FOR FEW WEEKS FINALLY RESTING TO STEADY ON. THERE IS NO CRASH CASE AT ALL. STEERING WHEEL MAKES KNOCKING SOUND WHEN ROTATED WHILE THE CAR IS NOT MOVING.
Steering, Electrical system, Air bags, Sep 7, 2020
THE RADIO TURNS IT'S SELF ON AND OFF. ONE MINUTE THE HORN IS WORKING THE NEXT MINUTE THE HORN IS NOT WORKING. THE HORN WORKS WHEN IT WANTS TO WORK. THE AIRBAG LIGHT CAME ON OUT OF NOWHERE THE CAR WAS NOT IN A WRECK OR ANYTHING OF THAT NATURE. SAME WITH THE BUTTONS ON THE STEERING WHEEL. IF YOU USE THE BUTTONS TO CHANGE THE SONG ON THE STEERING WHEEL IT ACTUALLY TURNS RADIO COMPLETELY OFF INSTEAD OF CHANGING THE SONG. AND THAT HAPPENS WITH THE VOLUME BUTTON AS WELL. I'VE ALREADY BEEN TO A MECHANIC AND TOLD THEM THAT I THINK THERE IS AN ELECTRICAL ISSUE BUT I JUST GET LOOKED AT LIKE I'M CRAZY.
Steering, Air bags, Sep 2, 2020
THE AIRBAG LIGHT STAYS ON. I'VE CHECKED AND THERE ARE NO ERROR CODES. CONTROLS ON THE STEERING WHEEL ALSO DO NOT WORK AND ARE UNRESPONSIVE. THE CRUISE CONTROL SETTINGS ARE UNRELIABLE AND CAN LEAD TO POTENTIAL SAFETY PROBLEMS. AFTER SOME RESEARCH IT APPEARS TO BE A DEFECTIVE CLOCK SPRING. KIA SHOULD COVER THE REPLACEMENT UNDER WARRANTY.
Steering, Sep 2, 2020
THERE IS A NOTICEABLE NOISE EACH TIME WHEN TURNING THE STEERING WHEEL BOTH AT REST AND IN MOTION. THE VEHICLE AND STEERING WHEEL HAS EXCESSIVE VIBRATION WHEN BRAKING. THERE IS ALSO EXCESSIVE PLAY IN THE STEERING WHEEL. THE SUSPECTED PROBLEM IS A FAILURE OF THE FLEXIBLE COUPLING IN THE STEERING COLUMN. KIA HAS ADDRESSED THIS ISSUE IN OTHER MODEL CARS SUCH AS THE OPTIMA OF THE SAME MODEL YEAR BUT NOT FOR THE FORTE.
Steering, Aug 26, 2020
MY 2014 KIA FORTE HAS STARTED MAKING A CLICKING/POPPING NOISE WHEN I AM TURNING RIGHT OR LEFT. IT SOUNDS LIKE THE STEERING WHEEL IS GONNA COME OFF OF THE STEERING COLUMN WHERE IT LOCKS, AND I AM AFRAID IT IS GONNA LOCK UP ON ME DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD. IT CLICKS/POPS WHETHER THE VEHICLE IS STATIONARY OR IF YOU ARE DRIVING, AND IS GETTING WORSE.
Steering, Electrical system, Air bags, Jun 1, 2020
MY AIRBAG LIGHT CAME ON AND THEN THE STEERING WHEEL CONTROLS ALL ARE NOT DOING WHAT THEY ARE INTENDED TO DO. I DID A GOOGLE SEARCH AND IT IS SAYING THE CLOCK SPRING. IT ALSO STATES THAT THEY ARE MADE TO LAST A LIFE TIME OF THE VEHICLE. I TOOK IT TO TOWBIN KIA IN HENDERSON NV. THEY CONFIRMED IT IS BAD AND NOT COVERED UNDER MY EXTENDED WARRANTY. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE BEING IT IS THE AIRBAG IN THE STEERING WHEEL. AND IS VERY EXPENSIVE TO FIX. I NOTICED ON THE GOOGLE SEARCH MANY MANY OTHER PEOPLE ARE HAVING THE SAME ISSUE. WHEN I AM IN THE DRIVERS SEAT WHETHER I AM STATIONARY OR IN TRAVEL MOTION THE AIR BAG LIGHT IS ON CONSTANT . THE CRUISE CONTROL BUTTONS DO NOT DO WHAT INTENDED...FOR EXAMPLE PUSH CRUISE AND IT COMES ON BUT WILL GO RIGHT OFF. THE AUDIO CONTROL SUCH AS BLUETOOTH BUTTON TURNS RADIO UP ... THE CALL BUTTON SAY PLEASE SAY A COMMAND THE HANG UP BUTTON WON'T HANG UP THE CALL AND CHANGES THE STATION ON RADIO. VERY CONFUSING. BUT THE CLOCK SPRING CONTROLS AIRBAG AND STEERING WHEEL CONTROLS ....CONFIRMED BY KIA THAT THIS IS INTENDED FUNCTIONS . NONE WORKS . I FEEL THIS ITEM SHOULD BE A RECALL ISSUE DUE TO SAFETY REQUIREMENTS OF THE AIRBAGS. IF THE AIRBAGS DEPLOYS WHILE DRIVING WITHOUT AN ACCIDENT OR IF IT DOES NOT DEPLOY AT THE TIME OF AN ACCIDENT COULD BE DEADLY EITHER WAY. *TR
Steering, Air bags, Other or unspecified, Jan 12, 2020, crash
AIRBAG LIGHT FOR PASSENGER COMES ON AND OFF WITH OR WITHOUT A PASSENGER SITTING IN THE SEAT. AIRBAG LIGHT FOR THE DRIVER IS ON NOW, AS WELL AND WILL NOT TURN OFF. THE STEERING WHEEL KNOCKS WHEN THE CAR IS MAKING A LEFT OR RIGHT TURN AND THE HORN HAS NOW STOPPED WORKING BECAUSE SOMETHING IS IN THE WAY AND WON'T ALLOW THE PRESSURE IN THE STEERING WHEEL. WE HAVE REPLACED BULBS FOR THE TAIL LIGHT, BRAKE LIGHTS AND HEADLIGHTS MULTIPLE TIMES A YEAR. THIS CAN'T BE NORMAL! WE NOW KEEP BULBS IN THE CAR TO BE PREPARED TO REPLACE AT ANY TIME. WAS INVOLVED IN A WRECK, WHERE A TRUCK RAN THE RED LIGHT AND HIT THE PASSENGER SIDE OF THE CAR AND NO AIRBAGS DEPLOYED. THIS IS TROUBLING AND EXTREMELY UNSAFE.
Steering, Dec 13, 2019
MY VEHICLES STEERING COUPLING PINGS AND SOUNDS LIKE IT'S COME LOOSE OR BROKEN. SAME ISSUE HAPPENED TO ANOTHER KIA IN THE FAMILY A 2012 KIA SOUL MY BROTHER IN LAW OWNS. THAT KIA HAD A RECALL FOR THE STEERING COUPLING, THE 2014 KIA FORTE DOES'NT HAVE THIS FOR A RECALL YET BY KIA. I CONTACTED KIA COMPLAINT #13202206 FOR RESOLUTION BUT NO RESOLUTION REC'D TO DATE 12/13/2019.
Steering, Nov 4, 2019
DROVE OVER TRAIN TRACKS AT 15 MPH AND FELT IT BREAK. AT STOP, STEERING WHEEL HAS PLAY WHEN TURNED LIGHTLY. KNOCKS LOUDLY WHEN GOING OVER BUMPS AND TURNING. PART CAN CAUSE STEERING TO LOCK UP AT ANY MOMENT WHILE TURNING AND VERY UNSAFE. $13 PART, $200 LABOR
Steering, Exterior lighting, Jun 23, 2019
STEERING: STEERING MAKES A LOUD KNOCKING NOISE UNDER THE DASHBOARD WHEN TURNING THE WHEEL LEFT OR RIGHT. NOISE HAPPENS WHEN VEHICLE IS STATIONARY OR MOVING AT ANY SPEED. KIA HAS RECALLED SOME 2014-2016 SOULS WITH THE SAME PROBLEM BUT THEY HAVE NOT RECALLED THE FORTE. LIGHTING: HEADLIGHTS AND DASHBOARD LIGHTS GO OUT WHEN TURNING ON THE TURN SIGNALS.