Used Kia Forte for sale near Lake San Marcos, CA under $25,000

What an amazing experience! I had the pleasure to have John Khalil as my sales agent, who happens to not only be a welcoming and zealous sales agent at CarMax of Oceanside, CA, but also a very talented painting artist!! He had great compassion for my autistic son and made sure he was always comfortable during the efficient waiting process by offering him a cute CarMax car toy, a CarMax coloring book and crayons. He went above and beyond when complex situations came about during the bank’s verification process. The determination he had to push my situation through with his persistent diligence as I watched him communicate with high professionalism and positivity as a team with his colleagues/finance management team was remarkable!!!! Thank you, CarMax of Oceanside, CA!! You all are an amazing TEAM!! I’m so happy with my car!!!

Bought the vehicle new in October of 2023. Now it’s March of 2025. Have yet to have an issue🤞though have heard of common problems many have had. I’ve put roughly 20 k miles on the car in a year and a half (mostly interstate driving). Technology package is lovely and the vehicle has an overall stylish feel. It’s important to keep in mind, though, that you’re buying a 20k dollar vehicle from 2023. It’s plastics galore in there, so, though stylish, the material quality isn’t the best. If you’re someone who takes care of your things, you shouldn’t have an issue! Use the maintenance schedule found in the Owner’s manual and this vehicle should get you where you’re going for a reasonable amount of years. That being said, if you’re trying to decide between and LX[S] and GT (not including GT-Line), choose the GT. Though you’re paying a little extra, you get a standard transmission with real gears (the car has more power than you’d think too) rather than the CVT found in the LX[S] (and GT-line). CVT tech has greatly improved within recent years, but they’re still known to be problematic at times. All in all, this generation of Kia seems to be more reliable than most previous gens. Definitely a real deal competitor with the carolla/civic and worth the consideration!

Bob Delaney was phenomenal and very personable. went by on a Friday afternoon and was able to finalize a deal in 2 hours from start to finish.

I drive the 2023 Kia Forte GT Manual, and I couldn’t recommend this car more!! The only complaint I have is now that I’m trying to find a new car with a more fancy name to impress clients, I can’t find anything I enjoy nearly as much. The car is built on a BMW M3 chassis, has the luxury features and interior to match with an average combined fuel mileage of 34mpg and the reliability of a newly redesigned Kia. It handles phenomenally well and is unmatched within its price point. It loses value quickly (until the general population realizes their tech and reliability recently surpassed Toyota and Honda) so buy a used 2023 or 2022, and you’re smooth sailing. I drove this car from Philadelphia to Los Angeles and was complimented by strangers in almost every city I stopped in along the way!

Didn’t make a deal but Todd is a pleasure to work with. Still looking.

Bought a 2023 forte gt-line for my daughter. We have had the car for 13months and have driven about 12,000 miles. I honestly cannot believe the 1star reviews, nor should you. I was a loyal Honda fanboy for over 30 years before I bought this Kia. I bought a totally loaded Forte non turbo for a hair under 25k with a crazy good warranty. Why not? I figured. 13 months and 12k miles later it rides better, has more power and is quieter than the day we bought it! Zero issues with anything. No squeaks, rattles or interior flaws. Sadly no tire wear. I cannot wait to replace the Kuhmos it came with. It handles great and is fun to drive. My wife calls it “a peppy little thing”. And she drives a CX-5 turbo or my 5.7 liter ram. Over 40 mpg on highway and mid 30s driving around town. This is a fine car. Not a cheap version Hyundai. Much nicer IMHO than the Hyundai. For those knocking the resale… run the numbers and try to buy one as cheap as you say you sold yours for. The Harmon Kardon stereo sounds awesome! This is one of my favorite purchases because its value continues to surprise me. And they give a $500.00 military discount. Don’t buy based on my opinions go test drive one! Test drives are free. Go to carvanna or get on car gurus and see how cheap you can buy one a year or two old used one for.

I purchased my GT turbo - automatic in 2021 as 2022 model and my only regret was that didn’t wait for the cooling seats package. Great looking vehicle with above average performance and great fuel efficiency. It’s one of the best affordable sports sedans in the market and one of the few where you can actually fit a 6’ adult in the backseat. I’m looking to add another with my desired package soon.

I bought a pre-owned Subaru Impreza RS. Great overall experience. Navid and Max were awesome, and they did everything they said they would. I was able to get an OTD price via email, and when we got to the dealership, there were no gimmicks. Max even held the vehicle for me without requiring a deposit! I highly recommend these guys and this dealership to anyone who is done with dealerships playing games. No e of that here!!!

Bought my Forte Gt line at Mathews of Blakley Kia, great salesman ship, i had Dylan, he was very knowledgeable. My Forte is beautiful paid under 23000. and got a car with alot of options other dealers would have charged you for looks great and performs well, i have read other reveiws that slam the kia brand but they have come a long way

The response time was really fast, I had received an email back within an hour. I was actually surprised how quick they had contacted me about my inquiry and I would recommend them to a friend

I have owned a Kia Forte for 7 years now. My husband and I love it! We do regular oil changes and maintenance, and keep the car in the garage. At almost 60,000 miles it needed new tires and brakes, but that's not a big surprise. We LOVE the performance of this car -- the turbo function makes it fun to drive and great for passing. It's compact enough that we can park anywhere. And the hatchback is surprisingly large! We ended up selling our Toyota Camry and keeping our Kia because the Kia is a workhorse that hauled furniture and boxes for my husband's business. Way more room than the Camry when we needed to haul things or take our electric bikes on an adventure.

Mark was my salesperson. He was knowledgeable and did not give me the "car salesman" feeling. He listens and pays attention to your remarks. I was very satisfied with the buying experience. Hertz gives great deals on those used cars, I did not even negotiate. The facility is comfortable but looks like a trailer with AC that does not need to be blasting! While the finance guy (bought my car cash) was very nice and courteous, the buying process could be shorter. Although this is not due to Hertz's financial service, but to the number of documents we have to sign. I have to point out that it was much faster at Hertz than at my previous dealership. So to conclude, go there, buy it, and drive home.

I bought my Forte LXS in Feb of 2024 and i've driven 9,000 miles on it so far. it's been great and i prefer this over a Corolla or a Camry. on the highway i sometimes get fuel economy in the low 50's mpg and on average i get around 37 mpg combined. not bad at all. i bought this for $21K after taxes and registration. the value can't be beat imo.

I am a long time owner of a Kia Forte 2019 bought it in 2018. I have almost had it for 5 years now. It has around 80,000 miles of trouble-free driving. I do the necessary maintenance that's it. The pros of this car it's easy on the eyes and easy to pay for. It didn't take me long to double my payments and pay this wonderful machine off. I also like the fact I don't have to go to the gas pumps much. I can go 435 miles on a simple tank of gas. I get about 43.5 miles a gallon highway and average around 34.5 City and mix driving. I love all of the safety features I have lane keep assist frontal crash anti-lock braking and traction control. I even have done some pretty good snow driving with all season radials Continental. It also has a neat feature where it will drive by itself for about a minute. I have the XLS model. So yes I have the Ivt transmission it has worked very well. I don't understand why everybody was so insecure about this Ivt drivetrain it is ran on a chain not a belt. I have nothing but great things to say about Kia engineering. I don't know why but for some reason the 2019 Kia Forte does not have many of the problems associated in the news. I also have the new anti-theft that Kia Motors placed at no charge to me. I think the days are gone when you can complain about Kia recalls. I think we've seen in the news even Honda, Toyota and Nissan have all had recalls also. I feel like Kia turned a big corner in 2013 on making great automobiles. I like them because they're easy on the budget and very reliable and good on gas. I also like the fact there is a lot of room that comes with these vehicles. I also have a Kia Sorento V6 2019 that is also been a good vehicle. Like they say Kia has the power to surprise. Forget keeping up with the Jones get a car that will save you money.

Just bought a 2025 crosstrek Steve was our salesman We were so impressed with him and everyone at suburu .. Love our new car

I bought this vehicle in February of 2023. I have approximately 9,000 miles on it and it has performed flawlessly. It is very easy to drive and gets great gas mileage. Mine is Red (currant red) with black interior.

I recently bought a BMW 3 series from this dealership and the experience exceeded my expectations. I felt that they were very transparent with the price and took the time to explain the whole buying process to me. Overall they had great service and I would definitely recommend them if you're looking to buy a car.

Just picked up a 2022 KIA Forte GT Line for my wife. Car has outstanding pick up for a 147hp engine. I don't find any difference in performance in changing the various driving modes available though. The fuel economy isn't bad either. We're seeing an average of 34mpg and that is mostly highway driving. Rear leg room in the back seats is perfectly adequate for adults. We have a child's booster seat in the rear passenger side and I have plenty of leg room up front at my 5'11 height. Trunk is very spacious. I can fit two large and one smal suitcase inside it. Interior is pretty high end for a $26k car. Leather seats are well made. Layout of the dash is nice. My only complaint is something lacking on all cars made now. I miss my in-dash CD player. Sorry, I like my tunes and CD case. Overall I would recommend this car to anyone seeking something fun to drive that is both sporty and also economical at the same time. We've only had the car a couple of weeks and have gotten a number of passing positive compliments from strangers.

Billy is wonderful. Always gets us in and makes sure everything is taken care of. We have an adapted van for our girls who are in wheelchairs so he's very conscientious of getting the work done quickly.

This vehicle has really good fuel efficiency (why I bought it), over 40 mpg on interstates or other uninterrupted highways, and in the 30s on drives including a reasonable amount of urban freeway and/or minimal-stoplight roads. The dashboard if set right tells you what mpg you're averaging on any one drive. I bought the car used at about 16,000 miles, am up to about 36,000, and have not yet had any major repair problems. The only exasperating issue consists of the controls on the dashboard, steering wheel column, vents, and sound system, and their explanation in the manual. Just as one example, the manual of 200 or so pages has nothing in the index about "Air Conditioning" or "Heating," and under "Climate Control..." only deals with a maintenance matter rather than with with how to get the A/C or heat to work (usually, although I occasionally forget this, by making sure the air that's seemingly not coming out, even though the fan is blowing, is directed at body level, not one's feet or elsewhere, so that it does come out at body level, the default after ignition usually being something other than body level). The jiffy get-started manual is insufficient on the same air conditioning/heating topic. More generally, control buttons in many case depend on sometimes undecipherable, guesswork, markings or icons. I'd be happier if the Koreans would make the car and Americans would make user-friendly controls and write user-friendly manuals.

I like everything about this service, and it is clear that the team puts a lot of effort into providing a really positive experience. They are pleasant, prompt, and organized. Their prices are fair and reasonable, too. I will continue to use Team Mazda of El Cajon and to highly recommend them to anyone.

Had my 2022 Kia Forte for about a year now and think it is one of my best car purchases. The price, around $20K, makes it one of the least expensive new cars. The five year/100,000 mile warranty is outstanding. I had concerns about the CVT transmission, but all is good. The transmission is a little lazy compared to the best out there, but it helps me get 35 mpg in the city and 40+ on the highway. With cruise on flat ground at 65 I can hit almost 50 mpg. For only 147-hp it accelerates well. It is nimble, although with the beam rear axle it won't motocross with the Hondas. The cabin is roomy, especially in the front. The trunk is very large for a compact. Interior appointments look good, but I always prefer more soft touch materials, but I can't complain at this price point. Surprisingly, the car is as quiet as my previous midsize car. You can make long trips without being fatigued. So far the car has been nothing but reliable. I genuinely like the styling, it has a Euro BMW vibe.

It was really good experience finalizing deal with MO it was east process and quick

I love my kia forte. I got the top tier kia Forte with leather seats which heat and cool and also a sunroof. This car is very comfortable! It is a little on the pricey side for my top tier one, but in the long run it is worth it.

I just got a car here last week and it was really great experience and got a preemptive great deal. Thankyou bro MO for your assistance

The 2022 Kia Forte LXS offers very nice styling and design, a good set of convenient features and technology, excellent fuel economy, and decent power, handling and performance. All of this for a very affordable price and more attractive options available, if interested.

Outstanding service and followup! They kept me updated through out the process. Recommended. Thank you.

Excelente servicio, muy buena atención de Juan Curiel, Encontré el carro que buscaba y mejoraron el precio, muy rápido el trámite Trato amigable y confiable, vendedor recomendado

I own a very nice car, I like it very much, the handling is great I would recommend it to everyone good price performance good

got the car I wanted at a good price good selection of cars, good test drive

Love my new car and if you want a great experience go to Kia of Jamestown DO NOT go to West Herr they are shady

I have purchased my last two used cars from this dealership and I’m happy with how everything went. I was in and out in just a couple of hours both times. They provide a hassle-free, easy experience and get right down to business. Bottom line, I got a great deal on my trade-in, they gave me a lower interest rate than my trusted bank did, and they were not pushy in the least. Another huge plus is that the dealership seemed really scrupulous about safety protocols and keeping things clean among this Covid crisis. They wiped down the keys every time they handed them to me, they wore masks, and the Finance Manager had a glass screen in front of his desk. I felt safe there.

Mo was a really good sales guy, would definitely recommend to all my friends and famiky