KIA Forte vs Subaru Forester

Both cars' complete complaint records, side by side.

Read the totals carefully. NHTSA publishes no sales figures, so the car that sold more collects more complaints regardless of quality. The rows worth weighing are the proportions — the share of complaints that involved harm, and which part dominates.

Measure	KIA Forte	Subaru Forester
Complaints on file	3,596	8,703
Model years covered	2009–2024	1998–2026
Worst model year	2017	2016
Best model year	2024	2026
Crashes reported	378	891
Fires reported	201	157
Injuries reported	228	376
Deaths reported	21	9
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Windows, Mirrors & Wipers
Share of complaints involving harm	23%	16.5%

KIA Forte by year

1 317 214 404 272 644 325 202 432 188 216 101 95 42 97 46

09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 1,175 32.7%

Electrical System 321 8.9%

Other & Unspecified 320 8.9%

Airbags 292 8.1%

Brakes 218 6.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 215 6.0%

Lights 178 4.9%

Steering 160 4.4%

Subaru Forester by year

138 156 95 169 109 238 270 105 121 89 67 228 307 195 140 94 576 897 617 796 678 1,084 807 285 140 111 41 126 24

98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 1,265 14.5%

Engine & Cooling 1,014 11.7%

Airbags 908 10.4%

Other & Unspecified 814 9.4%

Electrical System 793 9.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 564 6.5%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 531 6.1%

Fuel & Propulsion 511 5.9%