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NHTSA recalls, safety ratings, and consumer complaints for the 2025 Kia Carnival.
| Trim | City | Hwy | Combined | Annual fuel $ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5L 6 cyl Automatic (S8) | 18 | 26 | 21 | $2,850 |
| Overall Rating | Not Rated |
| Frontal Crash | |
| Side Crash | Not Rated |
| Rollover |
Component: FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:HOSES, LINES/PIPING, AND FITTINGS
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2022-2026 Carnival vehicles. Fuel may leak at the pipe connection between the fuel pipe and fuel rail.
Consequence: A fuel leak increases the risk of a fire.
Remedy: Dealers will inspect and tighten, or replace the fuel pipe as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed June 2, 2026. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC368. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov on April 24, 2026.
I was on the on-ramp getting on the highway and whenever I started to increase speed and try to get over into the next lane, I noticed the car all of a sudden jumped a little bit and then it started consistently jumping in the check engine light was flashing, and I couldn’t keep the car over what ended up being 50 mph anytime I tried to go over 50 mph. The car jumped in was shaking pretty pretty aggressively I was able to finally make it to a gas station at the very next highway stop and after I shut the car off and turn it back on it seems like it was OK, but I’m still very scared to drive it. I then took it to the dealership to have them check for any store or pending codes because after we had stopped and turned the car back on it no longer had the check engine light on, and the dealership was not able to locate any stored codes in the system to see what it happened nor were they able to replicate the issue that we had found. Is a rec out on my vehicle, but no remedy is available and notices will not be sent for another month and a half at this point I am extremely uncomfortable driving my vehicle as I have young children and anything with a fire hazard is not safe.
On the motor, when off for more than a certain time prolonged, when is a cold start motor make a noise like it doesn’t have oil in it since new I let the dealer know but they say it’s normal and I don’t believe so. Also, the transmission have a problem since New it shifted weird sometimes, and the dealer says it’s normal
Kia has a recall (Campaign SC 368) on a fuel pipe that may be defective causing a gas leak leading to fire. I called the dealer I bought the vehicle from to request an inspection of the part. I was told Kia will not send letters out until June 2 so dealers are under no obligation to inspect the impacted area before then. Why should a family have to wait six weeks or more on such a critical issue for it even to be visually inspected. Kia's direction is simply to be on the lookout for gas smell and park the vehicle outside. The length of time that they are going to be taking shows a lack of concern for safety, especially since the initial step simply requires inspection of the part. Does the NHTSA have any plans to require car manufacturers to handle all recall matters in a more expedient manner?
The 2025 Kia Carnival has 1 NHTSA recall and 104 consumer complaints on file. It received an overall safety rating of Not Rated out of 5 stars in NHTSA crash testing. The high number of complaints suggests potential reliability concerns — review the complaint details above before purchasing. For the most detailed information about a specific vehicle, decode its VIN using our free decoder above.
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Car Problems Purchased March of 2025 #1 First black out summer 2025-Driving at 10 PM and lost all electric driven items. Headlights turned off as well while driving 70 MPH in the dark Scheduled an appointment to get the car looked over. They said that there was a part that they were waiting on to help with electrical issues. #2 Next black out fall of 2025 Used the update part to see if that would fix the problem #3 February 6th, 2026 Got my oil changed and it blacked out when I left the dealership. Went back to tell them and they documented it. #4 April 14th, 2026
The component of the vehicle that malfunction was the front passenger seat. The driver came to a stop at an intersection and the front passenger seat started auto reclining. The seat was reclining into a life, flat position, almost. The driver was concerned because no one was pressing buttons and put the vehicle in park in the seat did not stop auto reclining so the driver turned off the vehicle, but the seat reclined as far as it could into the middle section of the vehicle and encountered the driver’s child in a car seat. The seat reclined onto the child's legs and pinned them down against the car seat and the seat below them. The driver was unable to remove the child from under the seat nor able to physically lift the seat, but the buttons on the front passenger seat on the lower right side, did work in order to lift the seat back into an upright position and unpinned the childs legs. The driver took it and to a dealership to get it looked at and they failed to reproduce the issue. The local dealership did look at the vehicle, but failed to reproduce the issue. There were no warning lights to indicate this was going to occur. The local dealership suggested this was a user error, and that something must have damaged the components of the seat to activate an auto recline, which is still problematic. The dealership said due to the owner unplugging the power to the seat that the issue could not occur again, but they did not solve the mystery or issue of how it actually occurred. The child was restrained in a car seat, and the seat was pushed back in the middle section of the vehicle as far back as it can go. The front seat was still able to auto recline somehow into the child’s car seat and pin them down.
I am writing concerning the Driver Attention Warning system and how it seems to be way too sensitive and when it keeps going off, trying to see what is causing this issue. This seems to be creating more distractions than it is designed to solve. From my understanding Kia through a software update removed any sensitivity adjustments which makes this problematic.
Due to soy-insulated wiring used in wiring harnesses, rodents are attracted to the wiring components in the engine bay. Even using deterrents doesn't see to affect them. What started as a simple check engine light for what was assumed to be a faulty sensor turned into a total wiring harness replacement. Without knowing that the wiring provided an added risk to damage from external factors, there was no need to check any of the wiring. If the check engine light didn't come on, it was possible that total power loss to the vehicle could've occurred at any time, due to the various wires damaged by the rodents. We were driving on the freeway at the time when the initial check engine light came on, and a loss of power while going 65 mph could've been devastating to both our family and other drivers on the road at the same time. Insurance confirmed that the cause of the wiring damage was related to the rodents being attracted to the material, and at the dealership there were at least 2 other cars needing full wiring harness replacements due to similar damage from rodents.
The vehicle (2025 Kia Carnival Hybrid) has suffered from a systemic parasitic 12V battery drain since the first month of ownership. The first occurrence was July 20, 2025, requiring a jump-start from Kia Roadside Assistance. On 02/26/2026, the vehicle was presented at Moritz Kia Alliance for the same issue. The dealer diagnosed the 12V battery as defective (Code R04) and replaced it under warranty. However, the defect persisted. On 03/10/2026, only 12 days later, the vehicle suffered another total electrical failure. I had to utilize Kia Roadside Assistance for a jump-start and drive the vehicle directly to the dealer without turning the engine off to ensure it could be serviced. This marked the second official repair attempt for this recurring defect. The vehicle has remained in dealer possession since March 10 (21 consecutive days). On March 11, only one day after drop-off, the Service Director threatened that the vehicle would be "impounded" after 60 days, despite the vehicle being the subject of an active Texas DMV Lemon Law Case (#26-0012638.CAF). On March 26, a critical safety failure occurred: during a start-up attempt, the Integrated Power Brake (IPB) system malfunctioned, causing the brake pedal to pulsate and physically "kick back" with significant force against my foot. I have serious concerns that this braking failure could occur while in motion, posing an unreasonable risk of high-speed collision, serious injury, or death. No root-cause diagnosis has been made. Furthermore, the main fuse box cover was left off during service, exposing critical electrical components. The vehicle is available for inspection.
Date/time of incident 03-16-2026 18:09-18:17 * Faulting component: Infotainment screen (screen to the right of gauge cluster) * Incident: While backing out of a parking spot and utilizing the cameras to watch my surroundings, the infotainment screen became unresponsive and began flashing between visual noise similar to 'snow' on old broadcast television, primary colored jagged/blocky artifacts, and a black screen. The screen would occasionally revert back to normal imagery but with severely lagging touch response and stuttering screen transitions. This persisted until I pulled over, parked the car, & restarted the vehicle. After restarting the vehicle the infotainment screen flashed: Solid Black - Solid White - Solid Red - Solid Green - Briefly solid black - Briefly Solid Green - Then the infotainment functionality returned to normal operation after a brief stutter. --I have a video of the last portion of this incident that I can share upon request * All camera related safety functionality became unresponsive/unusable during this incident * I've requested an appointment with the local Kia dealership * As this incident just occurred, I have not yet reached out to other parties * No warning lamps or diagnostic warning appeared during or after the incident
Today, my young daughter pressed the button on the inside of the door to close the sliding door. Her hand was still in the way and the door did not stop. Part of her hand was completely closed in the door and she screamed and cried in excruciating pain. Right away I noticed bruising and took her to the ER for an X-ray. Since she is so young, her bones are very pliable and thank goodness the X-ray showed no fracture, just bruising and swelling. The sliding door has previously not stopped for my older daughters as well. This is a major safety issue.
12v Battery died 2 times first on 12/26 then on 1/25. We had to call in roadside assistance for jump start. This was reported to Kia Dublin and Kia Manteca in California. Kia Dublin ran the diagnostics and couldnt find anything. Kia Manteca later found the battery logs showing issues. But said it could have been related to the HVAC recall which is now fixed. But the problem re-occured. This is a brand new vehicle less than 1 year old, still unders warranty. Have reported this to Kia customer care as well. Kia Customer Care Case#XXX So far, we have had the following issues: 1. The front passenger seat recliner stopped working. Kia Manteca replaced the seat frame under warranty. 2. Both rear entertainment screens stopped working. Kia Dublin has ordered them under warranty. Replacement planned for 1/26. 3. Battery died 2 times, luckily car was in the garage we were not stranded anywhere outside. But its frustrating how the new car is not working as expected and stalls so frequently. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Was driving to work this morning and the first time I tried to get accelerate, I was unable to get above 31 MPH no matter how hard I pushed the pedal. Had to stop and restart. Not sure if it is due to the -1 degree weather this morning?
TL;DR : Vehicle engages limp home mode without any notification to the driver that it is in limp home mode and doesn’t generate any codes for technicians to identify why the vehicle went into limp home mode. During oil changes, a significant amount of residual oil remains in the engine. When the lube tech fills the oil using the recommended amount, engine is actually over full of oil as indicated on the dip stick. The vehile will start and run fine for a while. Later however, an oil pressure sensor will detect the over full status and put the car into limp home mode. No check engine light, no oil light, no indicator saying it’s in limp home mode, and when the service tech investigates, no code thrown for the issue. A manual checking of the dip stick will reveal the oil is over full. The fix is to drain oil to normal levels as shown on the dipstick. It isn’t a defect considering that it’s reasonable to expect a vehicle to be operated with the correct amount of oil. A future software update for the oil sensor to throw a code for the tech would be appropriate.
My 2025 Kia Carnival Hybrid produces externally audible audio while the vehicle is locked, with all doors and windows fully closed. Private phone calls, navigation instructions, and other in-vehicle audio can be clearly heard from outside the vehicle indefinitely, even after locking the car. This behavior occurs without warning to the driver and cannot be disabled or controlled through any user setting. The dealership and manufacturer have confirmed this behavior is “by design” and have declined to correct it. This presents a safety and security concern, as it exposes private communications, signals whether a vehicle is occupied, and may attract unwanted attention or increase the risk of harassment, stalking, or theft—especially in parking garages, residential areas, or public locations. The vehicle appears secure to the driver (locked, windows closed), yet continues to broadcast audio externally, which is unexpected and undocumented behavior. I believe this constitutes an unintended external output of vehicle systems while secured, creating a potential safety vulnerability.
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? While driving all of the lights in the car went off. Everything internal, and atleast the head lights externally. This lasted for a second or 2 before everything came back on. The screen said something about loss of something, but I don't remember what exactly. This has only happened once. Yes it can be inspected How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? Atleast the head lights went off while driving at night. Possibly my break lights as well. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? no Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? no Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? Just the message on the screen
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