2011 Kia Forte Electrical Problems

The centered high mounted brake light overheated during normal vehicle operation. The plastic bulb socket and housing melted, causing the bulb to dislodge and fall into the interior of the vehicle. The bulb was extremely hot and burned holes through an interior fabric item that was stored in the rear cargo area for less than 15 minutes. There was no collision or modification involved. This created a potential fire hazard inside the vehicle. No warning lights or dashboard messages appeared prior to the incident. The cause of overheating is unknown. The damaged bulb, socket, and surrounding components were available for inspection at the time of the incident.

NHTSA ID

11703885

Incident

Dec 8, 2025

The NECU system failed and blew the engine and caused a fire no longer available for inspection. No move running. No warning lamps at all of any sort.

NHTSA ID

11623917

Incident

Oct 8, 2024

Recalls

NHTSA ID

11620503

Incident

Oct 18, 2024

I was driving and the car caught on fire.

NHTSA ID

11572205

Incident

Feb 15, 2024

THE HYDRALUIC ELECTRONIC CONTROL UNIT MAY SHORT CIRCUIT AND CAUSE A FIRE WHILE DRIVING OR PARKED AND THIS RECALL HAS BEEN OPEN FOR MONTHS AND NOT FIXED. RECALL HAS BEEN OPEN SINCE SEPTEMBER OF 2023.

NHTSA ID

11564428

Incident

Jan 9, 2024

I went to Friendly Way Motors sometime on April 28th for a 2011 Kia Forte, there I met salesperson [XXX] who showed me the vehicle, it were my first time dealing with a dealership I'm sure he were aware, I then went on to have him jump it so I could go on a test drive, when then I noticed a whistling sound but [XXX] used his kinda old OBD or OBM meter to check and stated there may be nothing to it, so I listened to his expertise and later went on to purchase the vehicle through [XXX] in the office with [XXX] the owner I think, I kinda began to feel something was off when I had spent over $584.44 on car insurance through [XXX] with Dairyland through the dealership, but I assumed that's the way things are since they concluded it were due to inflation, we went through some papers concerning my contract which a few papers I went through myself since[XXX] suddenly got a call and then we resumed the papers, I left with the car felt sound at last, until not literally a couple weeks later I were experiencing a myriad of defects with the car, like it kept dying on me, kept making a myriad of distinct noises and mechanical malfunctions, all through which I contacted [XXX] to inspect and or fix until then when I were going to Tampa the 2011 Kia Forte then began to have power steering issues, and brake issues, both of which I almost got in an accident over, a putrid powerful burning smell from the power steering reservoir, battery problems, key ignition cylinder getting stuck on me, all of my dash lights coming on with the engine sign constantly on, not to mention although I am paying more than I would normally pay for car insurance, I ran into a ditch off of 100 Wolf pack Run in Deltona FL because of the power steering, I had no road side assistance. The police department, fire department and school campus came and went with no help, I had to wait till morning for someone to get me out. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

NHTSA ID

11470093

Incident

May 22, 2022

BRAKE LIGHT ILLUMINATES WHEN CAR IS OFF, I HAVE TO PUSH UP ON BRAKE PEDAL TO TURN IT OFF. WHILE DRIVING IT SEEMS LIKE THE BRAKE ENGAGES CAUSING THE CAR TO LOSE POWER, I HAVE TO STEP OFF THE GAS, AND REAPPLY AND SOMETIMES IT STILL FEELS LIKE THE BRAKE IS STILL ENGAGED. THIS ISSUE DOES HAPPEN AT LEAST 3 TIMES DAILY. PUSHING UP ON THE BRAKE PEDAL DOES GET IT TO STOP UNTIL I HAVE TO BRAKE. WHILE DRIVING MY TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT WILL ILLUMINATE. I HAVE REPLACED THE BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH TWICE IN 2021, THINKING THIS WOULD FIX THE ISSUE AND IT DOES NOT. HAS BEEN AN ONGOING ISSUE FOR THE PAST COUPLE MONTHS

NHTSA ID

11408500

Incident

Mar 15, 2021

Mileage

200,000 mi

MY ENGINE CAUGHT FIRE AND THE ELECTRICAL WIRES WERE BURNED

NHTSA ID

11405273

Incident

Mar 20, 2019

Mileage

55,000 mi

HAD FRONT COLLISION AIR BAG DEPLOYMENT ISSUE RECALL NOTICE LETTER FROM KIA I NEVER RECEIVED A FOLLOW UP NOTICE TO FIX.

NHTSA ID

11399300

Incident

Jun 1, 2018

ENGINE ISSUES! THIS ENGINE NEEDS TO BE RECALLED FOR SAFETY REASONS AND POSSIBLE LEMON. MY CAR HAS ONLY 106,890 MILES ON IT. THE ENGINE STARTED MAKING A TAPPING NOISE. THEN I STARTED TO HAVE A LOSS OF POWER WHEN ACCELERATING OR GOING UP HILL. HAD THE CODES READ AND IT SAID THE CRANKSHAFT POSITION SENSOR. REPLACED THAT. THEN IT STARTED TO IDLE ROUGH. HAD CODE READ AGAIN. IT SAID MAP SENSOR AND NUMBER 2 CYLINDER MISFIRE. REPLACED PLUGS, COILS, AND MAP SENSOR. NOW IT WON'T START. IT HAS NO SPARK. NOW IT IS SHOWING CODES FOR MAP SENSOR AGAIN. NUMBER 2 CYLINDER MISFIRE, THROTTLE ACTUATOR CONTROL SENSOR AND THE POWER TRAIN CONTROL MODULE. AT JUST OVER 100,000 MILES THIS SHOULD NOT BE HAPPENING. OTHER MODEL CARS WITH THE SAME 2.0 ENGINE HAVE BEEN RECALLED. THE 2.0 ENGINE NEEDS TO ALSO BE RECALLED IN THE 2011 KIA FORTE KOUP EX. I'M NOT THE ONLY OWNER OF THIS MODEL CAR THAT HAS HAD MULTIPLE ISSUES AND OR TOTAL ENGINE FAILURE.

NHTSA ID

11349555

Incident

Aug 7, 2020

Mileage

106,890 mi

THE BRAKE LIGHT BULBS ARE BURNING OUR VERY 3 WEEKS WITH THE PLASTIC BULB CONNECTOR GETTING VERY , VERY HOT.

NHTSA ID

11171813

Incident

Jan 9, 2013

Mileage

33,000 mi

TAKATA RECALL CAR STARTING SMOKING WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY.AFTER THE CAR WAS TURNED OFF SMOKE INCREASED FIRE INITIATED IN CAR ON THE LEFT SIDE(DRIVER SIDE) IN THE CORNER UNDERNEATH WINDSHIELD. ENTIRE CAR ENGULFED IN FLAMES.

NHTSA ID

11120051

Incident

Aug 13, 2018

Mileage

200,000 mi

I KEEP REPLACING LIGHT BULBS AND THE PART WHERE U INTRODUCE THE LIGHT BULBS IS MELTING. I WAS TOLD TO CHECK FOR RECALL ON THESE. THANKS. I BOUGHT THIS CAR USED FROM A DEALER 1 YR AGO AND HAD REPLACED LIKE 4 BULBS WITHIN A YEAR.

NHTSA ID

11064298

Incident

Jan 15, 2018

WHEN YOU START THE CAR WHILE IN PARK THE LOCKS ON THEIR OWN WILL LOCK AND UNLOCK REPEATEDLY. IF YOU START THE CAR AND PUT IT IN DRIVE THE LOCKS WILL ON THEIR OWN AGAIN LOCK AND UNLOCK 7-8 TIMES ON THEIR OWN. SINCE THIS ISSUE THE KEY SET WILL NOT LOCK OR UNLOCK THE DOOR. KIA MOTORS CAN'T FIND THE ISSUE AND HAS DONE NOTHING TO FIX IT.

NHTSA ID

11013723

Incident

Jan 1, 2017

Mileage

75,000 mi

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 KIA FORTE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE HIS DAUGHTER WAS DRIVING AT 30 MPH, THERE WAS SMOKE COMING FROM THE PASSENGER'S SIDE WINDOW. THE CONTACT ALSO STATED THAT WHEN THE DAUGHTER APPLIED THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL, IT FAILED TO FUNCTION AND THE VEHICLE GRADUALLY STOPPED COMPLETELY. THE CONTACT'S DAUGHTER GOT OUT OF THE VEHICLE AND SAW A RED FLUID UNDERNEATH THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS LEFT AT THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TOWED OR TAKEN TO THE DEALER. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 16V070000 (POWER TRAIN), HOWEVER THE PART TO DO THE REPAIR WAS UNAVAILABLE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED AT 800-333-4542. THE MANUFACTURER STATED THAT THE VIN WAS PART OF THE RECALL. A CASE NUMBER: 12391153 WAS PROVIDED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 75,000.

NHTSA ID

11001351

Incident

Jun 24, 2017

Mileage

75,000 mi

CAR WOULD NOT COME OUT OF PARK. I HAD NO IDEA AT THE TIME WHAT THE ISSUE COULD BE BECAUSE IN THE KIA OWNERS MANUAL IT DOES NOT STATE THAT ONCE THE BRAKE LIGHTS GO OUT, YOU CAN NOT TAKE IT OUT OF PARK. CAR WOULD NOT GO INTO GEAR UNTIL I USED THE SHIFT LOCK RELEASE TO TAKE IT OUT OF GEAR. DROVE IT HOME AND FOUND A BLOWN FUZE (BRAKE LIGHT FUSE) .. REPLACED IT AND DROVE FINE (WHILE IT WAS DOING THIS THE ELECTRICAL SUSPENSION LIGHT CAME ON ALSO). FAST FORWARD 7 DAYS, WAS DRIVING OUT OF TOWN AND THE SUSPENSION LIGHT CAME ON WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE EXPRESSWAY AND I KNEW THEN THE ISSUE WAS BACK. SURE ENOUGH. HAD TO TAKE IT TO A KIA DEALERSHIP OUT OF TOWN .. THEY REPLACED MY FUZE, BRAKE LIGHT BULB AND BRAKE LIGHT ASSEMBLY SWITCH. FAST FORWARD A WEEK AND A HALF AND THE PROBLEM IS BACK ... KIA IS TELLING ME OVER $1000 AND I'M NOT GOING TO BE GUARANTEED THAT THIS WILL FIX THE PROBLEM. I'M A SINGLE MOTHER AND PURCHASED THIS CAR BECAUSE I FELT IT WOULD BE A SAFE CAR FOR ME AND MY SON AND NOW I'M STUCK WITH A CAR THAT IS NOT SAFE ... NO BRAKE LIGHTS ARE SERIOUSLY NOT SAFE AT ALL!!! *JS

NHTSA ID

10690252

Incident

Feb 6, 2015

Mileage

87,721 mi