There are 9 stored owner reports matching the steering leading-label group for the 2012 Kia Forte in our NHTSA-sourced dataset. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
This group counts stored reports whose component label starts with one of this site's matching prefixes, ignoring case. Each matching report counts once within the group. Components mentioned later in the label or only in the narrative are not searched. How component counts work
Loaded 9 of 9 matching reports.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)See attached document for complaint
The steering wheel makes a clunking sound and can be felt when turning the wheel. There appears to be a recall/extended warranty for this part for other years of this car but not sure why mine was not included.
SLOW TO STOP WHEN COMING OFF THE HIGHWAY SLOWING DOWN
WHEN TURNING THE STEERING WHEEL WHETHER WILL DRIVING OR WHEN VEHICLE IS STOPPED IT MAKES A CLICKING SOUND AND FEELS A LITTLE LOOSE. IF WHILE DRIVING AND I HIT A SMALL BUMP THE STEERING WHEEL WILL TURN AND MAKE A CLICKING SOUND. I TOOK MY VEHICLE TO OIL CHANGE EXPRESS AND HE SAID THERE IS A RECALL ON A PART THAT'S DEALING WITH THE POWER STEERING IT'S A PART OF THE MOTOR. WHEN I CHECKED THERE WAS NO RECALL ON MY 2012 KIA FORTE BUT THERE IS A RECALL FOR THE KIA OPTIMA. WHY IS THERE NOT A RECALL ON MY 2012 KIA FORTE WHEN IT HAS THE SAME PROBLEM AS THE 2014 KIA OPTIMA TO BE EXACT. *TR
KIA,HYUNDAI THETA 2.4 ENGINE FAILURE, UNDER 100K MILES. I HAVE A 2012 KIA FORTE HATCH SX WITH THE 2.4 ENGINE. I PURCHASED IT FROM SUNSET KIA OF AUBURN VALLEY WA WITH 66,000 MILES NOT QUITE 3 YEARS AGO. IN THAT TIME I'VE PUT ABOUT 30K MILES ON THE CAR. I'VE HAD THE OIL CHANGED REGULARLY, AND IT HAS NEVER BEEN LOW. LAST WEEK, ON AUGUST 11, 2019, WHILE DRIVING TO WORK THE ENGINE SEIZED ON THE HIGHWAY. I LOST POWER STEERING AND BRAKE ASSIST. I WAS ABLE TO PULL OFF THE ROAD WITHOUT CAUSING AN ACCIDENT, BUT ONLY BECAUSE OF THE TIME OF DAY. HAD IT HAPPENED DURING HEAVIER TRAFFIC A SIGNIFICANT ACCIDENT COULD HAVE OCCURRED. FROM ONLINE RESEARCH IT APPEARS THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM FOR THIS CAR AND OTHERS THAT THAT USE THE SAME THETA II ENGINE. THIS CAR/ENGINE SHOULD BE RECALLED.
THE STEERING WHEEL STARTED TO MAKE A CLUNK WHEN YOU TURNED IT NOW THE EPS LIGHT IS FLASHING AND THE POWER NO LONGER WORKS THIS CAR HAS 67 THOUSAND MILES ON IT I
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 KIA FORTE. WHILE DRIVING AT AN UNKNOWN SPEED, THE STEERING WAS LOOSE AND AN ABNORMAL CLICKING NOISE WAS HEARD. THERE WERE NO WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO KIA AUTO SPORT (6637 PENSACOLA BLVD, PENSACOLA, FL 32505, (850) 457-7772), BUT WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 40,701.
THE STEERING WHEEL CLICKS REALLY BAD. MY STEERING WHEEL COMPONENTS ARE NO LONGER WORKING. THE AIRBAG LIGHT HAS ALSO COME ON WITH THESE ISSUES.
WHEN HAD MY ACCIDENT IN ON GOING TRAFFIC MY AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY,MY BRAKES SYSTEM WENT OUT, ALSO MY HORN DOESN'T WORK, AND MY CV AXLE MESSES UP AND CAN'T FIND ANOTHER CV AXLE.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
NHTSA source checks for this vehicle year
Checks are recorded separately for each dataset, not for the whole page. Dates use UTC. A missing check date does not mean no records exist.
Vehicle import recorded: Apr 28, 2026. This is the stored import date, not confirmation that every source was successfully refreshed.