Problems · by component

2019 Kia Forte power train problems

48 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2019 Kia Forte cite power train, 32% of all 150 complaints for this model year. NHTSA also lists 1 recall on this component.

Complaints
48
32% of all complaints
Crashes
0
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
0
Reported by owners
01 —Owner reports

What owners say about the power train

Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“The contact owns a 2019 Kia Forte. The contact stated that while driving at 70-75 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power and the check engine warning light illuminated, causing the contact and her daughter to be stranded on the highway. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who replaced the spark plugs and ignition coils; however, the failure persisted. After allowing the vehicle to cool down, the contact restarted the vehicle and drove to the residence. The vehicle was then taken to Jiffy Lube, where the transmission fluid was changed; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where DTC P0730 was retrieved, indicating an Incorrect Gear Ratio, and the dealer determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The contact associated the failure with Technical Service Bulletin: MC-11029037 and Voluntary Emissions Service Campaign SC199; however, the vehicle was not covered under either program. The manufacturer was notified of the failure by phone. The failure mileage was approximately 106,000.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Oct 13, 2026Power trainODI 11770774
“Transmission was getting stuck in gear and slipping intermittently would cause the car to not accelerate over 20mph especially in the cold unless you switched it to the manual mode and manually shifted up two gears ans then back down two gears. If you looked at the tach while it did this is would bounce between 500 and 1500rpm and then would stutter and bounce between 1500 and 2500rpm until you did the manual gear trick. Eventually it started making a strange noise. I have serviced it on time and complained to Kia before about the issue which they stated they could not repeat so there was nothing they could do at that time and now when I took it back to Kia they stated its an internal trans issue and it now needs to be replaced but there was nothing they could do as it was now out of warranty. The car has less the 95k on it. I've had cars that had well over 400k on them in the past and still ran like new. The trans should not be failing already.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Mar 6, 2026Power trainODI 11722394
“My daughter was driving on the highway. She was driving at 65 mph and then the car started to jolt a couple of times. She kept driving and then it started to feel sluggish and lost some power. Would not accelerate over 45 mph. She was almost rear ended several times and people continually swerving in and out around her as she couldn’t maintain the car at a normal pace. It eventually wouldn’t go over 35 mph. Extremely DANGEROUS speed on a highway commute. She was able to finally get off highway. The car stalled. No warning lights ever lit. She was close to home at this point. Drove it home with barely any power. Got it towed to the dealer and transmission was blown and they will not cover it because it’s past warranty of 5 yrs (2nd owner). The car is a 2019 with 53k miles. It should not need a new transmission. Apparently this car is now having many transmission issues. There was a service campaign issued by Kia back in 2018, 2020, and 2022 for this exact problem. Clearly there is an ongoing issue with their transmission. But since it is not a recall, the consumer has no way of know this until after it’s too late. When a transmission just shuts down without any…”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Oct 5, 2025Power trainODI 11691425
“I accelerated from a stop to turn onto the a road. Upon doing so, the car made loud sputtering and grinding noises. So I pulled it off the road and checked it out and that’s when I noticed that the engine was sunk towards the driver’s side. I got it towed to a local repair shop for them to take a look at it. When they called me I was told the transmission mount had snapped in half as well as the front drive axle and the water pump was broken. So then I called Kia and asked if there were any recalls on my car for any of those parts as this was not normal wear and tear. Of course there wasn’t so I asked if there’d be any way that I could get these repairs refunded because this is not normal, the car was never in an accident nor do I jump on the hood and kick the crap out of my car, they told me to take into a Kia repair center for them to take a look at it and send pictures to Kia to get them to possibly refund it. So I towed from the first repair shop to the Kia repair center for them to look into it. The guy at the Kia repair center took a look at it and communicated with Kia on his end about the parts that were broken to try and get a refund issued. The Kia…”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Mar 24, 2024Power trainODI 11579161
“The contact owns a 2019 Kia Forte. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with transmission failure. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact had previously received an unknown recall notification regarding the transmission. The transmission was not replaced; however, the transmission control module software was updated in January 2021. The contact stated that the failure had recurred. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 44,959.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Sep 7, 2023Power trainODI 11543124
“I have always gotten my oil changed on time and even had it changed a few days before my engine failed. I was driving down the road going home from work when my car started making a ticking sound that soon turned into a hard knocking sound coming from the engine. My car then shut off in the middle of traffic while at a red light. I tried to start it back up but nothing was happening. My check engine light never came on to give me any type of warning that the engine was in bad shape. Took it to the Kia dealership where it took over a month and a half to get someone to look at my car and give me an answer as to what was wrong with it. Kia knows that the engines in these cars are not built to last and that they could have failed before reaching 100,000 miles. I was also hung up on by someone from the Kia consumer hotline. I feel Kia should be responsive and held accountable as far as paying for the repairs and me not coming out of pocket. I will not be dealing with Kia ever again.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jun 6, 2023Power train, EngineODI 11525664

Showing 6 of 48 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.

Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Oct 29, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
02 —Related recalls

1 recall on this component

Power train: axle shaft

Free remedy

Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2019 Forte vehicles. The left front axle driveshaft may not have been heat-treated, which can cause it to break.

Power trainReported Aug 5, 2020NHTSA 20V459000
Data from NHTSA Recalls API · synced Oct 29, 2026

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.

Other 2019 Forte problem areas