Kia Forte vs Honda Civic
Reliability comparison based on 23,054 federal complaints.
Source: NHTSA Complaint Data
The Verdict
Based on federal complaint data, the Kia Forte has a stronger reliability record than the Honda Civic. This reflects complaint patterns across all model years — individual years may vary.
Head-to-Head
| Metric | Kia Forte | Honda Civic |
|---|---|---|
| Years of Data | 15 | 36 |
| Total Complaints | 3,487 | 19,567 |
| Avg Complaints/Year | 232.5 | 543.5 |
| Recent 5-Year Rate | 67.8 | 359.2 |
| Crashes Reported | 371 | 2,308 |
| Deaths Reported | 24 | 192 |
| Total Recalls | 34 | 357 |
Lower complaints and crashes = better. Green highlights the better number in each row.
What Breaks Most
Kia Forte
ENGINE
1,077
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
309
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
290
AIR BAGS
278
POWER TRAIN
189
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
150
STEERING
138
SERVICE BRAKES
133
Honda Civic
STEERING
2,116
AIR BAGS
2,099
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
1,218
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
1,059
ENGINE
998
POWER TRAIN
705
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
608
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL
516
Best & Worst Years
Kia Forte Best
2022
35 complaints
Kia Forte Worst
2014
634 complaints
Honda Civic Best
2025
80 complaints
Honda Civic Worst
2006
1,708 complaints
Year-by-Year Comparison
Click any year to see full details.
Kia Forte
Honda Civic
1990 (110)
1991 (143)
1992 (113)
1993 (178)
1994 (171)
1995 (252)
1996 (383)
1997 (452)
1998 (502)
1999 (404)
2000 (350)
2001 (1357)
2002 (876)
2003 (618)
2004 (424)
2005 (396)
2006 (1708)
2007 (1464)
2008 (1078)
2009 (497)
2010 (485)
2011 (220)
2012 (618)
2013 (430)
2014 (377)
2015 (480)
2016 (1301)
2017 (726)
2018 (807)
2019 (492)
2020 (281)
2021 (181)
2022 (1136)
2023 (318)
2024 (159)
2025 (80)
Complaint counts reflect consumer-reported issues to NHTSA and do not represent failure rates. Higher sales volume typically means more complaints. This comparison is based on aggregate data across all model years — reliability can vary significantly between individual years. See our disclaimers and methodology.
Page generated: 2026-03-29