Kia Carnival Complaints (2022)

136 consumer complaints on file.

#11687146September 14, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
I went to use my vehicle horn when another driver pulled out in front of me and the sound was way off...it sounded like a clown horn. I subsequently took to the Kia dealer where they diagnosed that one of the horns failed and it was replaced under an extended warranty with a deductible payment. The failure of the horn compromised my safety and the other driver's as the other driver may not have heard my warning that my vehicle was where it was. There was no warning that the horn failed until I went to use it.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11682732August 24, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Left sliding door window (Drivers side) exploded while driving down the highway. Nobody was around us on a sunday afternoon at [XXX]. [XXX] We were on a flat road so no tension. There is no reason for it to have shattered (my daughter was sleeping laid back in the seat) INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11682506August 22, 2025
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN, ENGINE
Dealer says recall sc211 doesn’t apply to this vehicle, however CEL is displaying (once again) with DTC “P0191 Fuel Rail Pressure Sensor Range/Performance”. Kia dealer has does minimal investigation/diagnosis with no resolution.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11682325August 22, 2025
STRUCTURE:BODY
The Kia Carnival was parked a slight decline and when the button to close the passenger sliding door the door closed rapidly like a guillotine. Thankfully no children or body part were in the path of the door because it would have severely damaged them. After it closed rapidly the door was unable to be opened. The dealership is still working on the Carnival and it has been over 3 weeks and they said they have never seen anything like this since it tore off a bolt in the body frame and caused damage to the body frame and they were unable to open it. Still don't have a timeline for repair. Also concerned it may happen to the other side and the safety issues around it.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11680096August 12, 2025
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, POWER TRAIN
When traveling on the highway, the vehicle would not shift into a higher gear limiting the control of the vehicle to accelerate to the flow of traffic. The transmission would not shift for approximately 1/4 of a mile and was stuck at a max speed of ~35 mph and it would not accelerate. This loss of control almost caused an accident and put my family and self at extreme risk. Eventually the vehicle did finally shift gears allowing us to accelerate with the flow of traffic (60mph) This issue with a delay in shifting gears has intermittently happened on prior occasion when accelerating from a full stop, however, this was the first time it happened at an accelerated speed. The vehicle is not safe to operate and was towed to a service center; however, the issue is intermittent and not easily reproducible -- making it even more dangerous as you do not know when it will happen next.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11674792July 19, 2025
ENGINE
While driving my 2022 Kia Carnival Prestige, the engine started knocking and the vehicle started sounding like it was going to turn off. There was no alert or light on until we got to the service center where the check engine light came on. I took to the nearest dealer with service center for Kia for inspection and repair which the dealer's service center indicated it was an engine failure at 62,203 miles. This failure was hundreds of miles away from my home. I had to return to my state on a rental vehicle. The vehicle remained at the service center for 2 months for engine replacement. Prior to this event, I had serviced the vehicle at my home dealer's service center since I bought it. I performed all maintenance and my home dealer never alerted to an engine trouble before this event. Once I retrieved my vehicle, the vehicle was fine for few weeks and at 66,427 miles the vehicle started having issues with a check engine light on again. I took to my home dealer's service center and after inspection they indicated it was a bad fuel injector. The vehicle became unreliable and unsafe for my regular commute. Once I received the vehicle with the new engine the performance and sound was very different than my old engine had been since I bought the car. I believe the original engine has been faulty since I bought the vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11672647July 11, 2025
VISIBILITY/WIPER
My front windshield on my 2022 Kia Carnival has shattered in two places from a small hit. I have owned lots of cars and never had a windshield break in two places all the way across. There must be an issue or problem.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11664391June 2, 2025
STRUCTURE
The contact owns a 2022 Kia Carnival. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the driver's side windshield exterior A-Pillar trim flew off and struck the vehicle behind, almost causing a crash. The contact pulled over to the side of the road temporarily. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, and the vehicle was inspected. The dealer determined that the trim needed to be replaced; however, the repair was not covered under the bumper-to-bumper warranty. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 22,023.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11664108May 31, 2025
POWER TRAIN
My car was jerking between 1-2 rpm while driving on the highway, on other roads as well. It was very hard to accelerate and merge with traffic with this issue. Check engine light came on two days later and it’s says it’s the torque converter.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11663751May 29, 2025
STRUCTURE:BODY
The passenger side sliding door would not respond to any button pushed to open the door. Once I get it manually opened, it will not latch upon closure resulting in a beeping and warning in my dash. I can turn off power doors and manually force it to shut and most of the time that works but this specific incident it was not working. I ensured that there was nothing blocking the door from shutting and finally got it to shut and latch. I drove out of the location I was at and the sliding door flew open at about 20mph.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11663748May 29, 2025
STRUCTURE:BODY
On [XXX], my kids were getting into the vehicle to go to a playdate. My [XXX] got in the car and into his seat. I was on the driver's side buckling my [XXX] in her car seat and my [XXX] was climbing into the door/her seat on the passenger side. The passenger side sliding door shut on my [XXX] 's hand. I immediately tried to open the door with the button next to the steering column and it would not respond. I then ran around to the other side of the car and used the button on the handle, but the door did not respond to open. I had to manually pull on the handle to force it open off of her hand. No fingers were broken, but the door was shut on her hand completely and she had bruising. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11663660May 29, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, STRUCTURE:BODY
Driver side sliding door closed COMPLETELY on daughter's finger causing significant damage and laceration down to the bone. Required extensive laceration repair.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11656630April 24, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The sensor on the sliding doors failed to detect that my daughter’s hand was in the way. She hit the button to close the door, carefully was getting herself down, and did not get her tiny hand out of the way in time. The door slid closed and latched on my daughter’s thumb. It was stuck in between the drivers door and the sliding door. Attached you will find a photo of her hand and the instant bruising that it caused. It was not just a finger tip. It was her entire thumb that was stuck. I took her to the emergency dept at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, to where she received X-rays. Thankfully her hand was as not fractured or broken. I posted this in my KIA carnival Facebook group and multiple families said that this is happening to their children as well.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11650731March 26, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I was driving down the highway, and I heard what sounded like a seal breaking. I thought that someone had put one of the windows down on accident. After pulling up on all the buttons, I determined no window was open. When I got out of the car, the plastic molding on the driver side A pillar had flown off. I don’t know if this would have caused damage to another vehicle. I didn’t know until I was several miles down the road what had caused that sound. It does affect my car in that the wind catches in those holes and will push my car around.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11648679March 17, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The back tailgate door, when opened, will go up to desired height set in car settings, then slam back down 1/4 to 1/2 of the total height. Turning off auto open and close it continues to do so. When manually pushing the door to the open position, it will continue the problem. We have had numerous incidents of heads being hit by the door, arms and hands have also been hit. We took the car to the dealership and they said the door actuator would be over $2000 to fix. It seems like this is a similar issue to the side door actuators that had to be replaced via recall.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
3
Deaths:
0
#11644274February 22, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
En lo que vade compra me ha dañado 2 baterías las que he tenido que comprar. También daño la bomba de la gasolina. Tuve que pagar la limpieza de las líneas. Casi alrededor de $ 1,000.00 dólares he tenido que pagar de mi bolsillo para un vehículo que lo tengo desde nuevo y que aún pago. También quemó los fusibles y ahora tampoco le funciona la bocina. Es obvio que el problema es eléctrico . Tampoco me han llamado para revisión de las puertas corredizas que no retroceden en muchos de estos vehículos.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11644271February 22, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
While driving spare tired became detached causing vehicle to have major damage to undercarriage. If speed was higher it would have caused a major accident with injury to passengers in vehicle and other vehicles.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11638495January 25, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
air condition system was putting refrigerant into cab over the summer making us sick. We could not tell ,because there was no smell. I was in car with a/c on and got a blast of refrigerant in my face were in I almost pasted out. I turned of a/c and opened windows. My being a retired mechanic helped me to control the situation, but average person probably would have passed out and recked the car. I was treated for exposer to a chemical and my wife was too. I can not tell if a/c is fixed, as there is no smell or visibale way to tell.08
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
2
Deaths:
0
#11619545October 13, 2024
POWER TRAIN
We have been having an acceleration issue for over a year now. The vehicle will be running fine and the randomly not go over 30 MPH. You could have your foot the floor and the vehicle will not shift or go above 3 rpm’s. This has caused us to be in many dangerous scenarios getting onto an interstate. This has almost caused us to be rear ended multiple times. Problem has be reproduced at the dealer and “repaired” though the problem continues to happen. Sometimes the engine warning light is on when it happens, others times it is not and happens with zero warning.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11611930August 31, 2024
STRUCTURE:BODY
The sliding doors do not reverse like they should. The sensors are not good. Yes Kia added the warning sounds but it isn’t good enough. My LO’s entire hand was shut in the door.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0

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