There are 5 stored owner reports matching the steering leading-label group for the 2018 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 5 of 5 matching reports.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)Driving car at about 40/mph and suddenly acceleration was lost. Released foot off of gas pedal and reapplied pressure but car continued to lose velocity and came to a full stop. Engine is now unable to turn over and car is completely not functional
Kia Forte 2018 - the engine stopped working while driving (around 55mph) the car shut off and I could barely control the car as I no longer had speed control which made it risky going from one line to another to get off the road and pull over, putting myself and the other drivers at risk of an accident, and almost at the end when leaving the road the steering column became hard and I could not control the steering wheel very well. The car was towed to the dealer but they said they couldn't check it because they were overloaded for the next few weeks and the closest to check it would be at least 10 to 15 business days after they finished their current services (I called 4 other kia agencies around the winston-salem NC area and they all told me the same thing), so the car was towed to an independent service where they inspected it and determined that the engine had a problem with some internal components and that it is necessary to replace the whole engine, I called the dealer but they told me that because it has more than 100,000 miles the engine no longer has a warranty (currently it has 118,000 miles), a few days before the engine light on the dashboard came on but the next day it went off and then it did not turn on again.
Steering wheel making a clicking noise when turning both ways, stationed and moving, also rattles a lot when going over speed bumps, seems like a manufacturer defect as this is a common thing heard around these Kia’s
I WAS HAVING AN ISSUE WITH A "USED" KIA THE DAY I BOUGHT IT I SAY USED BECAUSE IT HAD LESS THEN 2000 MILES WHEN I WAS GIVEN THE KEYS, IT HAD WOBBLY TIRES AND THEN ABOUT 2 WEEKS INTO HAVING IT, THIS NOISE CAME UP IN THE FRONT RIGHT TIRE, CLANKING AND GRINDING ALMOST; WHEN I PULLED INTO A PARKING SPOT, TURNING THE WHEELS ALL THE WAY LEFT, A POP HAPPENED. I STRAIGHTENED THE WHEELS AND GOT OUT. LOOKED AT MY FRONT DRIVER AND IT LOOKED OKAY, BUT THEN WHEN I WENT TO THE FRONT PASSENGER IT WAS TURNED ALL THE WAY INWARDS. THERE WAS A LINE WITH A LUG NUT ON THE END THAT WAS DISCONNECTED. I'M HAPPY IT DIDNT HAPPEN DOING 65 AROUND A CORNER.
I WAS ENTERING AN ONRAMP AT ABOUT 15MPH; A CAR YIELDED IN FRONT OF ME. I HIT MY BRAKES AND YET SLID INTO THE REAR OF THE FRONT CAR. I DID NOT STOP, EVEN WITH BRAKES APPLIED, AND SLID IN TO THE FRONT ACRE. NO AIRBAGS DEPLOYED AND MY KIA WAS TOTALED AND UNDRIVABLE.
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.