2026 Kia Carnival Hybrid

The defect

Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2025 Kia K4, 2025-2026 Sorento, Sorento Hybrid, Sorento Plug-In Hybrid Electric (PHEV), 2026 Sportage, Sportage Hybrid, Sportage PHEV, K5, EV9, Carnival, and Carnival Hybrid vehicles. Due to a software error, the instrument panel display may fail. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) numbers 101, "Controls and Displays" and 138, "Tire Pressure Monitoring System."

The risk

An instrument panel display that fails to show critical safety information, such as the speedometer, tire pressure, or warning lights, increases the risk of a crash.

The remedy

The instrument panel display software will be updated over-the-air (OTA) or by a dealer, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed March 26, 2026. Owners may contact Kia Customer Service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC361. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will become searchable on NHTSA.gov on February 9, 2026.

Kia America, Inc. · up to 42,677 vehicles across all model years covered

Car will not start after being parked in my garage for 24 to 48 hours. The battery is drained and needs to be jumped. This has happened three times. I am sure that no fob is left in the car, no interior lights are on, no door is ajar, and nothing is plugged into any USB ports.

NHTSA complaint 11756899. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Detailed information is in the attached pdf file, but in a nutshell, Kia is covering a safety defect in their vehicles by claiming the process is “proprietary”. On several occasions we have lost propulsion, which means we had no control over our vehicle, and Kia’s explanation is simply, “the vehicle is performing as intended “! These incidents always happened at low speeds, just accelerating from a stop, but left us in a precarious situation as we were left in the middle of a busy intersection with no control over our vehicle! Propulsion would eventually return. After surviving several of these failures, I learned the proper thing was to let both pedals return to their idle position and …

NHTSA complaint 11755434, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

I am writing to formally express my serious concern and disappointment regarding my Kia Carnival Hybrid. Shortly after purchasing the vehicle, with only approximately 6,000 miles on the odometer, the vehicle suddenly stopped operating while I was driving on the freeway. This created a dangerous situation for my family and other motorists. The vehicle had to be towed to an authorized Kia dealership for diagnosis and repair. No warning or message had appeared before the issue. The dealership retained the vehicle for approximately one week and informed us that a PCB (Printed Circuit Board) component had failed and needed to be replaced. After the repair was completed, we were assured that the …

NHTSA complaint 11755491, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

The floor railings above the battery, that allow the second row seats to slide, get hot. Extremely hot to the touch. Burning my children’s feet. Not sure if it’s related but the a/c does not stay cold when driving long distance and the HV battery just died last month for no reason. Brand new car.

NHTSA complaint 11754290. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

While driving on an interstate during a heavy summer thunderstorm, the vehicle suddenly displayed a warning stating, "There may be a problem with the Battery Management System," along with a "Check Hybrid System" message. At the same time, the check engine light illuminated and the hybrid system stopped functioning without any prior warning. Approximately 10–15 minutes before the incident, I had driven through approximately 4 inches of standing water on a surface street at a speed of about 25 mph. After entering the interstate and traveling at approximately 65 mph in heavy rain, the hybrid system suddenly disabled itself. Cruise control was not engaged at any point during the trip. …

NHTSA complaint 11753681, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Hello there - I am a fairly new owner of a KIA carnival hybrid 2026. I leased the vehicle in March'26. I have about 2200 miles put on the vehicle. On XXX at around 11am I was driving the vehicle on the left lane of freeway at ~65 mph and there was a sudden flash of Engine Maintenance service light and the vehicle cut out power to the accelerator pedal and started to bring the vehicle to a stop. This is in the fastest lane of the freeway while there was cars behind me. Luckily there was space to stop on the left side of the lane and I parked my car with the EMS light still on. Mind you that cars were going past me at 65+ mph. This is a major safety concern. I switched off the vehicle and …

NHTSA complaint 11751239, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.