10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
7 / 0
Average Mileage:
0 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.

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problem #20

Aug 232023

Carnival

  • miles
The air conditioning system is leaking water in the trunk of the car. It has caused mold to grow on the trunk cloth lining and the air filter in the rear panel was completely covered in mold. There was a visible stream of water pouring out from this filter housing when I removed the wall panel where the tire jack is. I had always noticed puddles of water under the vehicle during the summer, but the leak is coming from inside the vehicle, not off an exhaust pipe like I expected.

- Newaygo, MI, USA

problem #19

Sep 032023

Carnival

  • miles
The right passenger sliding door failed to sense my daughter-??s hand and it crushed her ring finger causing a cut, bleeding, and bruising. She is in a lot of pain from the injury and now terrified the door will malfunction again causing another injury. We don-??t think this vehicle is safe to drive with our family anymore. Yes it-??s available for inspection. Since it-??s a holiday weekend I-??ll have to wait until the nearest dealership is open to have it inspected. We were able to reproduce this failure ourselves. There was no warning.

- Colorado Springs, CO, USA

problem #18

Jul 302023

Carnival

  • miles
Rear sliding doors DO NOT STOP when something is in the way. All my body weight could not stop the door. Yes I had the recall fixed which only slowed it down and added a beeping sound. The sensitivity of the doors NEEDS TO BE FIXED NOW BEFORE A CHILD IS SERIOUSLY HURT.

- Saint Louis, MO, USA

problem #17

Jun 062023

Carnival

  • miles
Got in car and drove less than a mile and exited car. Got back in and my windshield had a huge crack running from the lower drivers side up the window then across. Nothing hit the window though a nut or something could have fallen on it or a small rock when driving another day? Very concerning when I look online and others that own the 22 kia carnival have had this happen

- Beaufort , SC, USA

problem #16

May 122023

Carnival

  • miles
Kia issued a safety recall recognizing the power sliding doors on the Kia Carnival do not properly reverse when they encounter an object while closing. Their solution to the identified problem is to simply sound two beeps when the door closer and reduce the speed of closure. This is entirely unacceptable resolution to the problem. Adding two beeps will do nothing to protect my two year old son from having his hand mangled in the door. Now that Kia has accepted this is a safety issue, I full expect a remedy no short of fixing the problem and find the current "fix" entirely unacceptable.

- Peoria, IL, USA

problem #15

Apr 092023

Carnival

  • miles
Sliding door closed on 21 month old daughters arm breaking it.

- Plainfield, IN, USA

problem #14

Oct 212022

Carnival

  • miles
1. When accelerating (while driving on ECO Mode) the vehicle starts to shudder at times. When using Normal Mode, the vehicle will shudder while the brake pedal is being used at a red light. Front windshield cracks easily and paint easily chips with no sign of rocks hitting the vehicle. Called Kia Service to get the car looked at and they said they haven-€™t heard of such issues. 2. Doors are supposed to retract when closing if motion is occurring. A family member almost got her leg pinned by the door and our child almost got hurt on the shoulder because the door kept moving in closing mode when she was trying to get inside the car. Whatever sensor it has, it doesn-€™t work. 3. Roof Mold on driver-€™s side came off the roof while driving the speed limit on the highway never to be seen again. The passenger side almost went flying too. 4. iPhone XR does not work properly when synced to the car. It connects and disconnects out of nowhere. It becomes dangerous when using GPS. Vehicle system kept saying it needed a new software to be downloaded. Went to the site and downloaded multiple rimes, called the Customer Service about 3-4 times and last person I spoken to told me to ho straight to the Service Dept at the Kia dealership to get the software downloaded. No one at Kia knew how to download the software. After multiple attempts and Kia not -€œfinding anything-€, decided to spend extra money and get a new phone to resolve this issue. I have to have a software downloaded to the vehicle.

- Fort Meade, MD, USA

problem #13

Oct 272022

Carnival

  • miles
Around 17,000 -18,000 miles, the engine started to shutter like it wanted to die or wasn't getting enough fuel. While driving, it feels like it's trying to accelerate by itself even when cruise control is set. Even when it is just in nurtural it does it.. Still waiting to get the car into dealership to figure out the cause.

- Vinton, OH, USA

problem #12

Oct 172022

Carnival

  • miles
There needs to be sensors on the sliding doors if an object is in the way of closing. These doors do not stop with even full adult resistance and child-€™s had was closed in the sliding doors. This is a common complaint for this vehicle.

- Keaau, HI, USA

problem #11

Aug 012022

Carnival

  • miles
My 2022 Kia carnival-€™ s windshield cracked for no reason. No visible sign of damage from external forces. Attempted to rectify with Kia, but sadly given the run around. It's a brand new car ( 8000 miles).

- Fort Worth, TX, USA

problem #10

Jul 242022

Carnival

  • miles
I left the car while it was still running to check that my trailer lights were working. I had the key FOB in my pocket, but when I got to the car the doors were locked. I tried unlocking it with the key FOB but nothing would happen. My 2 year old son and 3 year old daughter were locked in the car! Luckily, my daughter was able to get to the door and open it from the inside. This should never be something that can happen. The door locking from the inside and the key not working, especially while it is running!

- Newaygo, MI, USA

problem #9

Jul 032022

Carnival

  • miles
Side sliding doors fail to automatically retract open when they encounter something in the way. Both doors present the same problem. Door failed to retract when child was in way, resulting in an injury.

- Baltimore , MD, USA

problem #8

Jun 272022

Carnival

  • miles
There is either no sensor, or one that is too weak/defective, in the sliding doors to stop it if a person-€™s (particularly a child-€™s) fingers, hands, arms, or other body parts were in the way. Anything in the way would just get crushed by the door! This is not just my vehicle. All Carnivals seem to have a very weak or defective sensor and it-€™s a serious safety hazard, particularly considering it-€™s supposed to be a family vehicle! I have prevented injuries so far (thankfully) but have tested the door and it in fact will not stop if something is in the way.

- South Bend, IN, USA

problem #7

May 292022

Carnival

  • miles
My daughter was closing the left sliding door with her right hand using the button and her left hand was in the doorway. There is no worthwhile sensor in the car to detect her hand and thus the door crushed her hand. She now has a fractured left thumb due to the Kia Carnival. I have tried to see if the sensor would detect my entire hand and it didn-€™t! I am appalled that a car could be sold that has ZERO sensor

- Ardmore, PA, USA

problem #6

Feb 082022

Carnival

  • miles
My passenger doors do not appear to have a sensor and do not stop when someone or something is in the way. Could be very dangerous. My arm almost got stuck in it. Had it been a child, they may not have had the reflexes to get out in time. Also. If the door is accidentally opened when pumping gas, will it stop? Likely not.

- Mannford , OK, USA

problem #5

Jan 202022

Carnival

  • miles
The automatic doors are supposed to stop when they sense an interference but they don-€™t stop. My daughter got her hand smashed in ours. I thought maybe it was just where her hand ones but I used my own arm to test the door and it smashed by arm before re-opening. Left an awful bruise. I have heard many other carnival owners have had little hands smashed in their doors

- Queen Creek, AZ, USA

problem #4

Dec 212021

Carnival

  • miles
The back window on the hatch spontaneously exploded.

- Shippenville, PA, USA

problem #3

Oct 272021

Carnival

  • miles
The sliding doors on the MPV do not have a sensor to stop the door from opening when it hits resistance. My 4 year olds leg was sucked down into the door as it was opening and it pinned his leg. The door met resistance on his leg and did not stop opening. The door also doesn't stop closing unless you push it open, but not if it meets resistance. The vehicle is brand new. It has not been inspected but I called Kia and they haven't called back. I was able to recreate the problem.

- Thornton, CO, USA

problem #2

Aug 272021

Carnival

  • miles
Auto hold engaged on car and failed to hold car. Resulted in a crash to my front gate and damage to the car as well as gate. Would not brake when pumping on brake upon collision to front gate. Sensor is now malfunctioning and Kia is not taking responsibility. Most recently the front windshield has a crack that was not caused by anything. Car is parked and covered in my driveway.

- Eastvale, CA, USA

problem #1

Aug 192021

Carnival

  • miles
A small rock barely hit my windshield and cracked it completely across. It started as a small crack from a small pebble that progressed significantly overnight. What-€™s worse is that the windshield is on back order so I been waiting over a month for it to get fixed. This seems like a common occurrence as multiple Kia carnival owners had the same thing occurred. Kia needs to acknowledge the windshield is defective and cover it I should not have to go through my insurance for a defective windshield.

- Tampa , FL, USA