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Kia · NHTSA safety record

2025 Kia Carnival

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

121

Complaints

0

Crashes

0

Fires

5

Injuries

0

Deaths

Owners of the 2025 Kia Carnival have filed 121 safety complaints with NHTSA between July 2024 and August 2026. The most complained-about system is the electrical system, named in 82 of them (68%). The typical failure was reported at 20,000 miles, the median across the 5 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

NHTSA has issued 1 recall covering this vehicle.

Recalls (1)

FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:HOSES, LINES/PIPING, AND FITTINGS

26V232000 · April 10, 2026

The 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.
The risk
A fuel leak increases the risk of a fire.
The remedy
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.

Kia America, Inc. · up to 141,032 vehicles across all model years covered

What owners report

Complaints naming each system. One complaint can name several, so these add up to more than 121.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 82 68%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 19 16%
ENGINE 15 12%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 8 7%
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 5 4%
POWER TRAIN 5 4%
SEATS 4 3%
STRUCTURE 4 3%
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 3 2%
LANE DEPARTURE 3 2%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 3 2%
AIR BAGS 2 2%

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2024 at 55.

2024 2026
2024 to 2026, the last of them a part year

In owners' own words

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

SEAT BELTS

1 injured

On [XXX], while folding the second-row seatback to access the third row, as the seatback folded forward, it did so with excessive and unexpected speed, causing the seatbelt housing to swing forward and strike my wife, [XXX] , in the head with great force, [XXX] 's face. The impact caused her to momentarily lose consciousness and rendered her unable to move for nearly 30 minutes, during which she remained slumped and dazed in the seat. Fortunately, I was present to support her, preventing further harm. Although we were forced to board a scheduled flight shortly afterward, she continued to experience facial pain, disorientation, and weakness for several hours. We are deeply alarmed that such

NHTSA complaint 11657777, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STRUCTURE:BODY

1 injured

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.

NHTSA complaint 11674907. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

1 injured

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.

NHTSA complaint 11723970. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

1 injured

Passenger sliding door failed to detect my son and closed completely on his arm. The doors will push the kids and don’t detect even adults at times. He now has a buckle fracture that they are concerned is a full fracture in both bone on his forearm. He is [XXX] old. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA complaint 11737299. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

34,967 miles

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 contact had taken the vehicle to the dealer on several occasions; however, the dealer was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 34,967.

NHTSA complaint 11756278. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

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 adults dizzy and nauseous within five minutes. Nausea lasted multiple hours. Parked and had it towed to dealer. After multiple days, still waiting to hear back, service apartment claims they're waiting for research from Kia. Vehicle has been too dangerous to drive so sitting at dealership for nearly 30 days now, total. No warning lights or

NHTSA complaint 11755249, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

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 do with recall SC368. The problem continues at time of this writing (07/14/2026). The strong fuel odor is causing headaches to family and young children. The problem could not be reproduced but matches the SC368 recall. KIA Customer Service was contacted today, and they advised the only thing they can do is trust their authorized service department

NHTSA complaint 11750451, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

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. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA complaint 11749274. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

1 injured · 46,000 miles

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, requiring the contact's husband to cut the seat belt. The contact mentioned that it was discovered that all seat belts located in the rear row seats failed. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights were flickering on and off back in April. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, where it was diagnosed that all the third-row rear seat

NHTSA complaint 11748893, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

CHILD SEAT:CRITICAL FASTENERS
The contact owns a Chico Car Seat, Model Type: Fit 360, Model Number: 08087216240070, Manufactured Date: December 2025, and used in a 2025 Kia Carnival. The contact stated that the magnetic chest clip failed to remain closed as needed. The manufacturer was contacted and provided a replacement chest clip. The manufacturer stated that the chest clip operated as designed and was designed to come apart. The contact was concerned that the replacement chest clip was defective, and in the event of crash the car seat would not perform as intended. The contact requested a nonmagnetic chest clip from the manufacturer.

NHTSA complaint 11747760. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Kia Carnival

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2026 22 2 —
2024 68 2 —
2023 50 4 —
2022 133 6 —

Other 2025 Kia models

Telluride 93 Sorento 69 Carnival Hybrid 57 EV6 53 K5 49 Sportage 49 K4 44 Sorento Hybrid 39

Every Kia on this site — 176 vehicles, 208 recall campaigns and 1 open investigation .

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. What each state asks for , read from the statutes.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

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