There are 3 owner-reported body & structure complaints for the 2025 Kia Carnivalin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
Side passenger doors do not stop when something is in the way when the automatic door close feature is used. We tried holding a hot dog and large piece of celery in the way of the door as it closed. The sensor did not detect either item and broke them both in two. If this was a human limb, finger, neck or other body part, great bodily harm would occur.
The passenger sliding door pinch sensor did activate; but not before child’s hand was pinched in door and it almost drew blood. Door closes forcefully I have noticed compared to other minivan experiences I have with automatic doors. Quite a bit of force is needed to activate the sensor and cause the door to open back up. It needs to be more sensitive to avoid injury.
The floor behind the passenger side gets very hot and you cannot touch where the tracks for the seat are with your hand for risk of pain. This occurs for the middle passenger behind the front passenger and also the third row floor on the passenger side. Also the temperature in the cabin is substantially warmer due to this heat
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 26, 2026