How Many Miles Can A Kia Forte Last? (Answered)

How many miles can an American/Mexican-made Kia Forte last? When you’re in the market for a new or second-hand Forte, that’s, of course, a very reasonable question to ask. After all, you’re probably looking to get the most bang for your buck. In this blog, we’ll look at this question in great detail but first, let’s start with a quick answer:

On average, a Kia Forte lasts between 190.000 – 210.000 miles. A Forte needs to go to the garage for unscheduled repairs about 0.19 times per year, with a 9% chance of the problem being severe. Furthermore, Forte owners spend an average of $451 per year on repair costs.

Having said that, we’re certainly not done. Below we’ll first explain in more detail how many miles a Kia Forte can last. After that, we’ll also show you how much a Kia Forte costs per year and which production years are the most and least expensive. Furthermore, we also discuss the common problems that the car can have. Read on!

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How Many Miles Can A Kia Forte Last?

To answer this question, we have compiled hard facts and carried out extensive research to give practical data instead of computer-generated estimates. We went to many different sites and researched to see how many miles they can last without posing any major issues. The average highest mile turned out to be around 230k miles.

This is a respectable number, but the competitors have been seen with a much higher number. The next question that we were able to answer is that 1.79% of the Fortes listed for sale had crossed the 150k miles barrier, which is very bad; we expected to see this percentage close to 5%.

A normal car is considered reliable if it gets more than 3% crossing the 150k mile mark. Still, in this case, we have an awful 1.79% which shows that they are terrible in terms of reliability, and not only that, the data also shows that there are about 60% of them that haven’t even crossed the 45k mile mark yet.

This huge percentage of people wanting to sell their Kia Forte implies that there might be some underlying problem that we will reveal. For that reveal, we have performed even more tests, so the results are super precise.

Amount Of Miles	Percentage Of Cars
Cars With 150.000+	1.79%
Cars With 100.000 – 149.000	6.42%
Cars With 45.000 – 99.999	29.83%
Cars With 0 – 44.999	58.19%

Only 6.42% of all the used Kia Fortes listed for sale could cross the 100k mile mark, and 29.83% were able to cross the 45k mile mark.

Also read: How Much Can A Kia Forte Tow?

How Reliable Is A Kia Forte Compared To Its Competitors?

The best way to know if a car is truly reliable is to put it against the strongest of the enemy, and all the weaknesses shall reveal themselves. This method of rivalry-based advancements has been one of the most prominent triggers to enhance the technology and features to win against its competitor.

“What wins on Sundays, sells on Mondays” ideology has been one of the most important ideologies of the automotive industry.

Keeping that in mind, we have compared the data of the Kia Forte with competitors like Chevy Cruze, Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, etc. And we got extremely disappointing results and have lost all faith in Kia Forte.

But we have more tests on our plate to which we will subject the Kia Forte to see where it lies in terms of reliability.

Model	Sample Size	Cars With 150.000+ Miles	% Percentage Of Cars With 150.000+	Highest Mileage
Kia Forte	5860	105	1.79%	230000
Chevy Cruze	9631	338	5.56%	250000
Honda Civic	24354	1094	4.7%	290000
Toyota Corolla	16401	786	4.8%	310000
Hyundai Elantra	11950	317	2.65%	230000
Volkswagen Jetta	249	4	1,61%	185000
Mazda 3	4606	261	5.6%	230000

All the competitors have shown flying colors and have truly rivaled the Corolla and the Civic. Mazda 3 and Chevy Cruze have gotten a lot stronger than before and have now taunted Corolla and Civic for a challenge.

How Reliable Is A Kia Forte Compared To Other Kias?

This test lets us know the pecking order of Kia’s vehicles, and we will be able to tell where the Kia Forte stands among its brethren. This data will also give us an overall picture of how reliable Kias are in general.

Model	Sample Size	Cars With 150.000+ Miles	% Percentage Of Cars With 150.000+	Highest Mileage
Kia Forte	5860	105	1.79%	230000
Kia Optima	9,043	218	2.41%	230000
Kia Niro Plug-in	894	3	0.34%	140000
Kia Sedona	1052	92	8.74%	240000
Kia Sportage	6702	170	2.54%	220000

So it turns out that Kias are not reliable at all; they are the worst in reliability compared to any other manufacturer.

Only one of their vehicles, the Kia Sedona, has been able to show a better percentage. Still, even that percentage is no match for the rivals as it belongs to the van category, and they are supposed to have higher mileages. No wonder it got a better percentage.

In short, the Kias are not a good option; you want more proof? Well, then you are at the right place, we have more tests, which will decide their fate, and after we have all the test results, we will give you our final verdict.

How Much Does Maintenance Cost Per Year?

The next criterion that decides whether or not a vehicle is reliable is how much it will cost you on maintenance and repairs. This data might deceive you into thinking that the maintenance cost is not that much, but it’s just the cost for maintenance; it does not include the repair costs and other necessary expenditures.

Model Year	Annual Maintenance Cost
2011	$438
2012	$481
2013	$485
2014	$478
2015	$452
2016	$425
2017	$453
2018	$567

You would have to spend $451 on average annually. This cost isn’t that high and can be considered good, but the problem is that you can’t have your budget based on the maintenance cost alone.

Kia Forte Common Problems

A huge factor that plays the most important part in deciding how long a car will last are the common problems. Common problems are inversely proposal to the longevity of a car.

Also read: 15 Annoying Problems Of A Kia Forte

NOTE: Before buying a used car, I always like to make sure the vehicle isn´t having any problems that you should be aware of. The easiest way to do this is by buying an OBD2 scanner. These scanners can easily be plugged into any car you’re interested in, and they’ll give you a rundown of potential problems.

No Sound From The Speakers

This is a common problem because you will lose all kinds of audio output from the speakers, and you would have to reset the computer as it’s just a glitch, and you don’t really need any part replacement for this fix. Just disconnect the battery’s negative terminal and wait for like 15 minutes, and you would get back the audio function.

Check Engine Lights

These check engine lights are commonly caused by yet again a software issue. The PCM would require updated software to correct the issue.

The check engine light should be properly diagnosed before, which will cost you about $100, and if the issue turns out to be what we suspected, you would have to update software that would solve the problem.

Steer Clear From The 2010 Model

The 2010 model has been dubbed the worst model year because it was the first production year for the Kia Forte. We know that all vehicles face tons of problems in their first production year as there would be a lot of assembly issues that won’t be resolved until some time later into the production.

Engine Noise

This is one of the alarming noises you would hear from a Kia Forte. Engine rattles aren’t a good sign; in most cases, it’s the timing chain issue that can lead to catastrophic engine failure, and then your engine is done for. These Fortes have this problem, mainly because their engines aren’t that good in quality.

To keep your engine healthy for a long time, you would have to keep on replacing the engine oil at very short intervals, and don’t follow the recommended timings as they only look good on paper to tell you it has a meager maintenance cost.

Also read: Types Of Gas A Kia Forte Takes (All Generations)

Is a Kia Forte A Smart Buy?

Kia Forte has a depreciation rate of 45% in the first 5 years of its run. Even though the depreciation isn’t super high, and this value can be considered in favor of the Kia Forte, is it really worth it?

There have been some major issues with these cars, i.e., the timing chain problem, catastrophic engine failure, water leaks, etc., which makes them quite unreliable. It’s the price point because of which these cars bring in sales.

The biggest plus point to the Kia Forte is that it’s cheaper than the competitors, and you want a car for mainly city rides and doing groceries, then go for it. 

However, the recent models have received quite an applause in the automotive world, and the reviews are getting better and better with each new model year. So far, this year’s model has been the best out of all the previous models.

So if you are in the market looking for a Kia Forte and you have made up your mind that you will get it, you should opt for the latest model to have the warranty coverage along with all bells and whistles of the latest model year. 

Kia Forte Maintenance Schedule

A well-maintained car can last much longer, so you wouldn’t want to go wrong in this area. It’s important to know about a car’s maintenance schedule to ensure that it stays healthy for a longer period of time.

Normally the manufacturers give a farfetched schedule that looks good on papers and would show low maintenance cost, but you should dump that schedule because your car won’t last that long with their schedule; you would have to replace stuff earlier to ger better performance and longer life.

Before/On Every 10,000 Miles

• Change Engine Oil
• Replace the oil filter.

It’s actually better to change these before/on 7500 miles for best performance and long-lasting protection.

Before/On Every 20,000 Miles

• Replace the passenger compartment air filter
• Inspect the tires
• See if there’s any prevailing rust
• Check for any fluid leaks
• Tire replacement if necessary

Before/On Every 40,000 Miles

• Replace the air intake filter
• Replace the transfer case fluid
• Inspect the evaporative control system
• Change the automatic transmission fluid

Before/On Every 60,000 Miles

• Inspect the spark plugs
• Inspect the ignition coils
• Have an engine diagnosis with a scanner tool and see for any abnormal reading.
• Inspect the electronics system
• Inspect the brake pads and rotors
• Drive belt replacement
• The manufacturers recommend changing the first coolant at 60k miles and the later ones after every 30k miles. It depends on different factors, you should check the color of the coolant to tell which one is it.

If it’s the silicated one, you would have to change after every 30k miles, and if it’s the extended drain coolant, you can change it after 100k miles.

Before/On Every 100,000 Miles

• This is where the suspension components start to wear out and you might have to replace the worn-out ones
• Inspect the transmission fluid and replace it if necessary.

Other Maintenance Tips

• Make sure that you keep your Kia Forte clean because as a rule of thumb, you would be able to keep it maintained as well.
• Don’t let mud stay on your Forte, mud contains moisture and moisture causes rust.