Used car safety, rank #170 of 181
Kia Forte Safety Rating (2019-20)
Real IIHS driver death rates for the 2019-20 Kia Forte, a small car, compared with its class and with the current model.
IIHS 2023 edition Β· 2018β2021 crashes. Results apply only to the model years and drivetrain shown. This is the historical edition. See the July 2026 release for newer used cars.
The 2019-20 Kia Forte has an IIHS driver death rate of 111 per million registered vehicle years against a small cars average of 60.5, which is 83% above the class average. That places it #170 of 181 used vehicles with a safety score of 9.0/100.
What the Kia Forte death rate means
At 111 driver deaths per million registered vehicle years, the Kia Forte is 83% worse than the small cars average of 60.5. The 95% confidence interval is 62 to 160, entirely above the class average, so the gap is unlikely to be chance.
The other-driver death rate of 96 measures the opposite risk: how many drivers of other vehicles died in crashes with a Kia Forte. It is no higher than the Kia Forte's own driver death rate. Remember that death rates describe vehicles and their drivers together: IIHS adjusts for driver age and gender, but not for where or how carefully people drive. Our score weights this model's own rate at 70% and its class at 30%; see how we rank used cars.
Compared with similar used cars
The safest small cars in the IIHS study, by our score, with the Kia Forte highlighted. It ranks 9 of the 9 shown; the class leader is the Chevrolet Bolt at a death rate of 8.
| Vehicle | Years | Death rate | Score | Reliability | Used price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chevrolet Bolt | 2017-20 | 8 (0 to 19) | 65.3 | n/a | n/a |
| Toyota Prius Prime | 2017-20 | 23 (0 to 45) | 52.5 | n/a | n/a |
| Subaru WRX | 2017-20 | 38 (19 to 58) | 34.2 | n/a | n/a |
| Toyota Prius | 2017-20 | 45 (23 to 67) | 29.6 | n/a | n/a |
| Subaru Impreza sedan | 2017-20 | 46 (18 to 74) | 28.4 | n/a | n/a |
| Honda Civic | 2019-20 | 49 (29 to 69) | 26.5 | n/a | n/a |
| Toyota Corolla | 2020 | 58 (31 to 86) | 19.5 | n/a | n/a |
| Honda Civic hatchback | 2019-20 | 78 (26 to 130) | 13.6 | n/a | n/a |
| Kia Forte (this page) | 2019-20 | 111 (62 to 160) | 9.0 | n/a | n/a |
Class average for small cars: 60.5 driver deaths per million registered vehicle years.
Safety recalls for the Kia Forte
We do not have a verified NHTSA recall lookup for this nameplate and model year. Check by VIN rather than treating that as a clean record.
Recall campaigns from the NHTSA recalls database, retrieved 2026-09-16. A campaign covers a range of build dates, not every car of the model year, and IIHS reports this nameplate across several years while these results are for one year. Confirm against the VIN. Recalls do not affect the death rate on this page.
Kia Forte: Common Questions
Is the Kia Forte a safe car?
Not on this measure: its drivers died at a higher rate than its class average. IIHS recorded a driver death rate of 111 per million registered vehicle years for the 2019-20 Kia Forte, 83% above the class average (60.5 for small cars). That earns a used-car safety score of 9.0 out of 100 and rank #170 of 181 used vehicles.
What is the Kia Forte driver death rate?
111 driver deaths per million registered vehicle years, with a 95% confidence interval of 62 to 160. Drivers of other vehicles that collided with a Kia Forte died at a rate of 96 per million. Source: IIHS driver death rates by make and model, covering 2019-20 models.
How does the Kia Forte compare with other small cars?
The small cars class averages 60.5 driver deaths per million; the Kia Forte sits at 111. Among the 9 small cars compared above it ranks 9 by safety score; the top of that group is the Chevrolet Bolt with a death rate of 8.