Buyer Research

2019 Kia Forte — Should You Buy One?

Typical asking price: $10,000–$14,500. There are 3 high-severity known issues you need to know before handing over a check.

Deciding between model years? Compare the 14 Kia Forte years we've written up →

Kestrel Take

First year of the third-generation Forte, and the first with Kia's IVT — a continuously variable transmission — behind the 2.0-liter Nu engine on every automatic trim. The record is 147 complaints, and the top two clusters are the drivetrain, in order: 47 transmission reports (32%) of the car over-revving at 65 mph while speed falls away, followed by a replacement IVT, then 40 engine reports (27%) of oil disappearing, a knock, and engines seized around 110,000 miles, two of them on fire. The 2018 sedan's oil-pan recall did not carry over to this new engine, but owners describe the same ending. Add a left-front axle shaft that can snap for lack of heat treatment (recall), LED headlights aimed wrong from the factory (recall), a forward-collision system that brakes for nothing, and a key-start car thieves can start with a phone cable. It is a sharp-looking, well-equipped compact with a lot of first-year record behind it. Buy the manual FE if you can drive one; buy an IVT car only after a hard highway drive with the tachometer watched, a full cold dipstick, both recalls closed, and Kia's written word on what powertrain coverage transfers to you.

What we checked

Reconciled against public records, 2026-09-25

NHTSA holds 147 owner complaints for the 2019 Kia Forte, and 2 recall campaigns.

A big number here usually means a lot of these were sold, not that it is a bad vehicle — popular models collect more complaints for the same rate of trouble. So the total on its own says little. What is worth reading is the shape of it. 32% of them are about one thing — the transmission and drivetrain. That much concentration is a genuine pattern rather than background noise, and it is the first thing to check on any example you look at.

2 recall campaigns cover this model year. Recalls are repaired free, for any owner, with no time limit on most safety campaigns — but only if someone books it in. Ask the seller to show it was done, or have any dealer check the VIN; it takes them a couple of minutes and costs nothing.

Counts come from the NHTSA complaint and recall database — free, public, and worth checking yourself.

Known Issues for the 2019 Kia Forte

Ranked by wallet impact. These are documented, recurring problems — not freak accidents. How we decide that.

IVT transmission over-revs at highway speed with no drive, then needs replacingHigh — wallet impact

The story owners tell 47 times: cruising at 65–70 mph, the engine suddenly climbs to 4,000–7,000 rpm while the car slows, sometimes shaking and sputtering, and the driver limps to the shoulder. The dealer's answer is usually a new IVT. It has happened at 2,000 miles and at 24,000, and at least one owner had the replacement unit start failing too. Kia's 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty belongs to the original owner; a used buyer typically gets the balance of 5 years/60,000 miles, so ask a Kia dealer in writing what this VIN still carries. On the test drive, hold 65 mph for ten minutes and then floor it: RPM should rise with speed, not instead of it. Any shudder or flare from a stop is the same warning.

Repair cost (estimate): $4,000–$6,500 for a replacement IVT outside warranty; $0 if Kia covers it — get that in writing before you pay — around 53% of what this car is typically worth

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the transmission and drivetrain (47).

2.0 Nu engine burns oil with no low-oil warning, then knocks and seizes — two fires on recordHigh — wallet impact

Forty engine complaints, and the pattern is oil consumption first: owners say the engine drank oil between changes with no dashboard warning, then knocked, then seized — several at 110,000–113,000 miles, one thirty days after a remanufactured replacement went in. Two owners report the car catching fire on the highway; one was told afterward that the oil pan was the source. This is the redesigned 2.0 Nu MPI, and it did not get the 2018 sedan's oil-pump recall, so there is no free fix to check for. Instead: pull the dipstick cold and read the level, ask for oil-change receipts and compare the mileage gaps, listen for a tick or knock at idle, and get a Kia dealer's written answer on any extended engine coverage for this VIN.

Repair cost (estimate): $4,000–$7,000 for a replacement engine outside warranty; $0 if Kia covers it — get that in writing before you pay — around 57% of what this car is typically worth

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the engine (40).

Headlamp wiring smoking, brake lights dropping out, dead dash at speed — and a key-start car with no immobilizerMedium

Twenty-two electrical complaints with three crashes and two fires in them. One driver saw smoke from the driver's-side headlamp and had the harness disconnected on the roadside; a burned connector at the back of the LED headlamp is worth a two-minute look with the hood up. Several owners report the 'Check Brake Lights' message and brake lights that do not come on when the pedal is pressed, which is a brake-light switch or its wiring — and two of the crashes are rear-endings. One car lost the instrument panel, radio, A/C and power steering at once at 35 mph. And a 2019 Forte with a metal key has no engine immobilizer: an owner here had the car stolen with an iPhone cable and a broken window. Kia's anti-theft software update is free; push-button-start trims have a factory immobilizer.

Repair cost (estimate): $50–$250 for a brake-light switch; $150–$600 for a headlamp harness or connector repair; $0 for Kia's anti-theft software update

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under electrics and electronics (22).

Left front axle shaft may not have been heat-treated and can snap under way (recall)High — wallet impact

Recall 20V459 covers 2019 Fortes: the left front axle driveshaft may have skipped heat treatment, and an untreated shaft can break while driving, which means a sudden loss of drive and a car coasting in traffic. Dealers check the shaft for a heat-treatment verification code and replace it if the code is missing, free. Run the VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup; if it shows open, make the seller close it before money changes hands, because a broken axle on the highway is not a negotiating point.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed

Source: 2 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Forward collision-avoidance assist brakes for nothing, or throws a 'Check FCA' warning and quitsMedium

Seventeen complaints on the forward collision system, which is standard on the 2019 Forte. Owners describe the car braking hard on an empty road — a shadow, an overpass, a car in the next lane — and, the other way, the system disabling itself with a 'Check Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist' message that a dealer clears and that comes back. The camera sits behind the windshield and the radar behind the grille; a replaced windshield that was not recalibrated, or a bumper tap, will do it. Drive it on a road with overpasses and watch for a phantom brake, and check the windshield for an aftermarket brand.

Repair cost (estimate): $150–$400 for a camera recalibration; $600–$1,400 for a camera or radar unit

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the driver-assist and automatic braking systems (17).

LED headlights aimed wrong from the factory (recall), and brake lights that stop workingMedium

Recall 18V771 covers 2019 Fortes with LED headlights: the low beams left the factory aimed incorrectly, which fails the federal lighting standard and cuts what the driver can see at night. Dealers check the aim and replace the headlamps if needed, free. The other half of the 15 lighting complaints is brake lights that fail — two of the crashes in this record are behind that — and it belongs with the brake-light switch described under the electrical issue. Have someone stand behind the car while you press the pedal, and look at the low-beam cutoff against a wall at dusk.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed; $50–$250 for a brake-light switch

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the lights (15); 2 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Walk-Away Red Flags

✗Engine RPM climbing while road speed does not, at any point on the test drive
✗Shudder or hesitation pulling away from a stop
✗Oil below the low mark on a cold dipstick, or a tick or knock at idle
✗'Check Brake Lights' or 'Check FCA' message at start-up
✗Melted or discoloured connector at the back of a headlamp
✗Metal-key ignition on a car with a replaced door window or damaged column shroud
✗Seller cannot show recall 20V459 as performed

Good Signs

✓Recalls 20V459 and 18V771 both shown closed on the NHTSA VIN lookup
✓Replacement IVT or engine fitted by Kia, with the dealer invoice and its own warranty paperwork
✓Kia's written confirmation of remaining powertrain coverage on this VIN
✓Oil at the full mark, honey-coloured, with oil-change receipts at 5,000-mile intervals or better
✓Manual-transmission FE trim, which sidesteps the IVT that dominates this record
✓Push-button-start trim with a factory immobilizer, or the anti-theft update recorded in the service history
✓Steady RPM and smooth acceleration held at 70 mph for ten minutes on the test drive