Used Kia Forte for Sale in San Francisco, CA

After purchasing the car I felt as though you wanted a review too soon. I hadn't gotten to know the ins and outs of the car yet. Now I can give an honest and detailed review. First of all, the acceleration, handling, steering they're all good. But, I've noticed that the brakes tend to lose pressure if I am applying the brake while encountering a severe bump or pothole, or even a patch of ice. According to the service department my brakes are fine so there must be a problem in the engineering or design. Second, this car is noisy! I have all windows closed and it still sounds as though they are open! And, even with new tires I get bumps aplenty when traveling even new paved roads. I don't know if it is suspension or tires but it rattles my teeth. Speaking of the windows, they don't work very well. If you try to raise or lower them just a bit, the motor takes over and they open or close completely. Inconvenient and potentially dangerous in the wrong situation. Third, and this is VERY important, the dashboard lights up even when you don't have your lights on. I'm old enough to know that a lit dash board is a sure sign of your headlights being on. When the dash is already lit you can forget to turn them on. For inattentive drivers this can be disastrous. Also, your headlights do not melt snow. In most of this country you get snow in the winter. If the headlights don't melt it you can't see and the other driver can't see you. It's dangerous. I do like the back up camera. I was confused at first but now I truly appreciate it. The remote. This overly large remote is so sensitive that it sets off the alarm if I bump my pocket. It needs to be smaller with recessed buttons, or have a cover over the buttons to prevent accidental operation. The trunk door. This door can be opened from the outside if I am in it with my remote in my pocket THAT is dangerous for those who prefer to keep their doors locked. You REALLY need to look into that. The windows fog up in the winter if the fan isn't blowing full blast. The windshield wipers do not do a very good job, especially the rear wiper. The service department in my area is GREAT! These guys do an amazing job keeping the car in good condition, but I notice that the engine still sounds rough sometimes even after a tune up. I'm at about 28,000 miles I hope this won't be a trend as it gets older. I wish it got better gas mileage. I get about 30 mpg on the highway and around 25 in the city but I thought an engine this size could be better. I'll worry about the resale value later. All in all I like the car for what it is, an economy car. But I hope your future cars can address these points I have indicated because there is a good chance I will buy another KIA in the future. Thank you for listening. I DO like your cars.

This is a little unknown hot hatch. I didnt even know Kia made this car until some online new car browsing. Got a great deal and was actually pretty hard to find one which means you stand out since rare to see another. Turbo engine has great pick up at any speed or gear! 6 speed manual trans is alittle too geared towards city driving vs hwy. 5th and 6th just isnt a hwy gear it should be. I average 30mpg with high octane gas. Car hates cheap gas. Great build quality and warranty!! The zip and handing makes it fun. I even embarressed a GTI on hwy. This is a low car so getting out and in provides some hand support from the seat. Options galore on the SX model like heated and cooled seats in front and heated in back which is rare for this class of car. Heated steering wheel . Mine didnt come with the Nav and Hid headlights but not spending the extra $$$ on a in dash Nav with phones these days. Only two main gripes with this car is radio just sucks for sound and loudness and steering is electric with is very touchy with any input makes you wander. Also it seems to have a "sticky" feeling when driving straight . Its brief but alarms you when u go to turn . Otherwise been a great,reliable fun car! **Update** -- I now have almost 50k miles of no mechanical issues what so-ever. Has never let me down and still feels and looks new. I do get alot of road noise but mainly due to replacing tires with something that wasnt as quiet. Not the cars fault.

I bought this car new in 2015 with little known about it. Kia doesn't advertise it at all. The SX model is well worth the extra money in my opinion with a pretty powerful 201hp turbo 1.6 liter 4. I travel 100 miles a day in this thing and average 30mpg on premium gas. This car DOES NOT like cheap gas!! It performs poorly and idles even bad on 87. I do on occasion run 89 octane which it does do ok but I do still feel a difference. The car handles great and brakes are super strong. Very stable car! I like the manual trans but wished they didn't use economy gearing. It has plenty of power for a lower ratio which would equal better mpg. In 40k miles now it has been pretty trouble free. Biggest grip on this car is the steering which is electric and hard to get use to. It tends to wander on the road because there isnt a center feeling to the steering and the slightest input you do and will veer off. Car shows no wear besides the few rock chips. You really cant beat the warranty with KIA and Hyundai brands. This is my 3rd product from them and I am very pleased. Great thing is you rarely see another on the road because they are unknown.

The Kia Forte has lots of competition -- Corolla, Civic, Impreza, Mazda 3, Ford Focus, VW Golf, Hyundai Elantra (similar) and others. None of these is best at everything. We've had the Kia for 38 months now. An LX base package, automatic transmission. We wanted a hatchback, but the bigger engine that comes with it uses more fuel. The standard 1.8 has more than ample power everywhere, and is an outstanding match for the transmission. The ride, engine/transmission, warranty, price, reliability, and overall design were why we bought the car. They continue to be its strengths. In a 160 mile test drive we got 41 highway, 27 city gas mileage. These figures have held up over the last year. We generally use the Eco button on the dashboard. So it is better than average in its class on fuel, similar to a Honda Fit. (Update: At about 4000 miles we started getting between 43 and 47 mpg in long highway trips. At 19,000 miles, we continue to be in the 43-47 mpg area, 40 in the mountains. Occasionally get 50 mpg on a 200 mile trip.) This car is especially likeable on hilly, curvy highways, or on expressways in the West Virginia mountains. And it tends to get 39-40 mpg in those conditions, an extra plus. Weaknesses are shared by many newer cars of other manufacturers: the design limits vision anywhere to the rear of the driver; headrest positions are not great; rear window gets dirty quick; not especially easy to enter/exit the car, shape of car is harder to park than older models. Not as nimble as a Honda Fit in the city. Looks like the Forte is meant to go head to head with the Honda Civic. We previously had a 2005 Honda Civic. This is a better car in most ways, except for the weaknesses I just mentioned, which most manufacturers have adopted. It handles crosswinds on expressways much better than that Civic. Rides smoother. Handles even better. Engine feels very strong. Based on experience so far, we'd buy it again, though still wishing for a hatch with the standard engine. We also could not buy one in white that wasn't a hatch. The Mazda 3, Ford Focus, Subaru, and VW Golf all have a lot of good things going for them, but this seems like the best overall car. I would compare it to Toyota and Honda in the 90s. It will not knock your socks off, but it is maybe the best car to own. Two specific gripes: Driver's side window has always been a little noisy when shut, more like a ten-year-old car. The Dealer found no fix. In warm weather on a long trip sometimes the steering wheel will tighten up in the middle, making it hard to make the minor unconscious adjustments you make on a straight expressway. On curvy roads, we've never had this problem. So it seems related to warmth and not using the steering wheel much. The dealer did not experience this on their test drive. I believe it is a problem with some percentage of these 2015 Fortes. Update April 2017: Our continued satisfaction with this car has us interested in the new Kia Niro hybrid, which is highly reviewed and not real expensive. If we were to add a second car, that'd be our first place to look.