2025 Kia Carnival problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Electrical System (60) · Fuel/Propulsion System (7) · Engine (7)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Kia Carnival model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
Safety recalls (1)
Fuel System, Gasoline:delivery:hoses, Lines/Piping, And Fittings 2026-04-10 · campaign 26V232000 · 141,032 vehicles
Defect: 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.
Risk: A fuel leak increases the risk of a fire.
Fix: Dealers will inspect and tighten, or replace the fuel pipe as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were 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.
Service bulletins (48)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Structure:body 2026-06-19 · PSD_REMINDER2_105 · Other
important reminder: owner notification: carnival power sliding door feature (ka4psd2 flight#105) - this document is the owner notification advising kia's ongoing commitment to providing vehicle owners with a superior ownership experience. we would like to remind vehicle owners about the proper use o
Electrical System 2026-06-18 · OTA_ELE413_NOTES_R2 · Over The Air
release notes: over-the-air: software update for data connectivity (ele413 revision 2) - this over-the-air (ota) software update is designed to update the data connectivity unit (dcu) logic of certain 2025 - 2026my carnival, ev9, k5 and sorento vehicles. this update is designed to improve the vehicl
Seats 2026-06-16 · PI2602_TSB · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
technical service bulletin: product improvement campaign: 2nd row seat (lh & rh) folding tension spring replacement (pi2602) - this bulletin provides information to enhance the second-row seatback recliner mechanism to dampen the motion of the manual seatback angle adjustment during the operation on
Seats 2026-06-12 · PI2602_OWNR · Other
product improvement campaign: owner notification (pi2602) - this document is the owner notification advising that kia is conducting a product improvement campaign on certain 2022-2026 my carnival and certain 2025-2026 my carnival hybrid (hev) vehicles, equipped with manual (folding) second-row seats
Seats 2026-06-10 · PI2602_QA · Other
product improvement campaign: question and answer (pi2602) - this document is the question and answer guide containing the most frequently asked questions regarding the product improvement campaign pi2602.
Seats 2026-06-09 · PI2602_DPSM · Other
product improvement campaign: dealer parts and service manager memo (pi2602) - this document is the announcement to the dealer parts and service managers advising that kia is conducting a product improvement campaign to enhance the second-row seatback recliner mechanism to dampen the motion of the m
Showing the 6 most recent of 48 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-10-01 · Vehicle Speed Control“the battery is draining due to external things but it’s not attached to anything and now all screens in the car flash on and off and go black including speedometer …”
2026-10-01 · Unknown Or Other“"update to existing complaint nhtsa id 11747231 lcd center display / backup camera failure update to nhtsa complaint id 11747231 i am submitting an update regarding the same unresolved safety defect reported in nhtsa complaint id 11747231 involving my 2025 kia carnival sx. mileage when the problem start approximately 8k miles. the vehicle has no…”
2026-09-11 · Fuel System, Gasoline · 6,000 mi“the contact owns a 2025 kia carnival. the contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was a strong fuel odor inside the vehicle. the contact's minor children were unable to ride in the vehicle due to the odor. several dealers were contacted and made aware of the failure. the vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the cause o…”
2026-09-11 · Tires:tread/Belt“on august 31, 2026, while traveling eastbound on i-14/us-190 in killeen, texas toward temple, an original factory-installed continental crosscontact rx 235/55 r19 101h tire on a 2025 kia carnival hybrid suffered a major failure at approximately 28,975 vehicle miles. a toddler was a passenger in the vehicle. prior to the failure, there was an unusu…”
2026-08-25 · Equipment“the contact owns a 2025 kia carnival with an external harmar swing away lift, model number: al100, with a mobility scooter attached. the contact stated that while driving approximately 65-70 mph, after driving for two hours on [xxx] approaching grand rapids, michigan, there was an abnormal sound coming from the vehicle, and the driver became aware …”
2026-08-11 · Electrical System · 34,967 mi“the contact owns a 2025 kia carnival. the contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and coming to a complete stop, the vehicle shut off. there was no warning light illuminated. the vehicle was restarted and driven back to the residence. the following day, the vehicle shut off again and was restarted after several attempts. the conta…”
2026-08-06 · Fuel/Propulsion System“fuel evap canister leak was suspected due to very strong gas smell inside vehicle. dealership had to change out entire fuel tank to deal with whatever was leaking. got the car back, and the next day, the smell was back. dealership told us not to worry about the smell, that it was normal. drove one more time and smell was so strong that it made two …”
2026-07-14 · Fuel/Propulsion System“the vehicle's passenger cabin continually has a strong odor smell after longer drives or after the vehicle idles for a longer duration in time. the vehicle was brought to horne, kia in gilbert, az twice in june for same. both times the service department stated they could not duplicate the problem and could not ascertain that it has anything to d…”
2026-07-09 · Unknown Or Other“the rear sliding door on the driver's side was not locking. i took it to the dealership and they have replaced the actuator, the wiring harness, and the ipm power module. none of this has fixed it. we now have a kia special mechanic coming to [xxx] to take a look at it. i was told there are 19 other vehicles in [xxx] with the same issue. informati…”
2026-07-07 · Seat Belts · 46,000 mi“the contact owns a 2025 kia carnival. the contact stated that while parked in a bank drive-thru, the contact's son mentioned that his seat belt was stuck. the contact parked the vehicle in a parking spot and attempted to remove the seat belt; however, the seat belt retracted tightly around his abdomen as the lower half of his body was turning blue,…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.