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Kia · NHTSA safety record

2026 Kia Carnival

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

Owners have filed 26 safety complaints about the 2026 Kia Carnival with the US government. Of those, 3 describe a crash, 4 people were injured and no death is recorded. 2 recall campaigns are open against it, covering the gasoline fuel system and the electrical system.

The most complained-about system is the electrical system, named in 7 complaints, 27% of the total.

Compiled from NHTSA's complaint, recall and investigation files · Covers August 2025 to September 2026 · How this is counted

What is on file

26 complaints on file

26

Complaints

3

Describe a crash

0

Mention fire

4

People injured

0

Deaths

A complaint is an unverified account by the person who filed it, not a finding of fault. One complaint is one ODI number, which is how NHTSA counts them.

A recall is the manufacturer conceding a defect, and the repair is free. Whether one covers your particular car is a question only its VIN can answer, because a campaign covers a production range rather than a model year.

Which system owners named

Complaints naming each system
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 11 · 42%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 7 · 27%
POWER TRAIN 4 · 15%
STRUCTURE 3 · 12%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 3 · 12%
BACK OVER PREVENTION 2 · 8%
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 2 · 8%
LANE DEPARTURE 2 · 8%
AIR BAGS 1 · 4%
ENGINE 1 · 4%
SEAT BELTS 1 · 4%
SEATS 1 · 4%
0 8 15

Red marks a system with a recall campaign against it. One complaint can name several systems, so these add up to more than 26.

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2026 at 18.

20 15 10 5
25 26

This is the year the complaint was filed, not the year the failure happened. The range runs from 2025 to 2026, the last of them a part year, which is why its column is drawn faint.

Crash test ratings

NHTSA New Car Assessment Program

NHTSA crashes a car into a barrier and a pole and measures what happens to the dummies inside. This is what it awarded the 2026 Kia CARNIVAL, and it is a separate question from what owners report going wrong later.

Test PV N/A FWD
Overall
Frontal crash
Frontal, driver
Frontal, passenger
Side crash
Side barrier
Side pole
Rollover
Chance of rollover 14.0%
Stability control standard Forward collision warning standard Lane departure warning standard

A dash means NHTSA did not rate that test for this vehicle.

Recall campaigns

2 on file

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

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/PANEL

26V046000 · January 27, 2026

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

In owners’ own words

Quoted from the complaint file

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

STEERING

3 injured · crash · towed · 29,272 miles

The contact owns a 2026 Kia Carnival. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, while avoiding another vehicle that almost crashed into the vehicle, the contact attempted to turn the steering wheel, and the vehicle became difficult to maneuver, and the front passenger side of the vehicle crashed into a guard rail and the front bumper detached. No warning lights were illuminated. The air bags had not deployed. A Police report was filed. The contact sustained back, neck, and head pain from the impact in the crash. Medical attention was sought, and the contact was diagnosed with a whiplash. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic; however, the vehicle was not yet

NHTSA complaint 11746424, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STRUCTURE:BODY

1 injured

Subject: Safety Complaint – Power Sliding Door Failure Injuring Child (2026 Kia Carnival) I am submitting a safety complaint regarding a 2026 Kia Carnival. During normal use, the vehicle’s automatic power sliding door closed while my [XXX] child was partially outside the vehicle near the door track area. The door continued to close and did not stop or reverse when it encountered my child, resulting in the child being pinned between the sliding door and the vehicle body. I physically intervened by placing my body in the path of the door to stop it and remove my child. The child sustained bruising to the legs and torso. The concern is a potential failure of the anti-pinch / obstruction

NHTSA complaint 11743596, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

crash · towed · 2,379 miles

The contact owned a 2026 Kia Carnival. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently hit a deer. The check engine warning light illuminated after the collision. The contact's wife was occupying the front passenger's side seat and the contact's daughter was occupying the rear driver's side seat during the collision. The air bags failed to deploy, and the seat belts failed to retract as needed. There was no reported injury. The vehicle was towed to a tow lot. The vehicle was then towed to an autobody, where it was totaled by the insurance company after further investigation. The dealer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed

NHTSA complaint 11740309, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

crash

The alert “consider taking a break” with the coffee cup symbol won’t stop going off. It goes off when I first start driving, it goes off every other minute sometimes, it does off for no reason all the time. It is so distracting. Today it was rainy and I’m sure is one reason it kept going off. It was also garbage day and someone put their garbage can on the road right on the line. The alert had gone off 15 times within my 20 minute drive after school drop off. It was making me angry and was super distracting. I was looking at the screen instead of the road as it started beeping again and didn’t see the garbage can. It smacked my side view mirror into the passenger window and shattered it

NHTSA complaint 11764959, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Battery shuts down overnight. To get the car to start you need to pop the hood the night before use a jump start and keep your manual key handy. All electronics shut down completely

NHTSA complaint 11764623. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STRUCTURE:BODY
Grill on bumper allows large objects to fly through hitting condenser. This is an issue, it happened to my vehicle and the identical loaner car we were given while our car was in the shop for repairs. I was told by the dealership to solve this problem carnival owners should follow other cars at a greater distance. Because I have children I already set my cruise control to follow other vehicles at a 4 car distance…. How much further should a carnival owner allow?

NHTSA complaint 11764627. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STRUCTURE:BODY
I purchased a new 2026 Kia Carnival EX and noticed an unusually intense amount of heat coming from underneath the vehicle on the passenger side, particularly around the rear passenger door/second-row seating area. I first noticed the issue while the vehicle was parked and I was standing outside the open rear passenger door installing car seats and floor mats. The heat radiating from underneath the vehicle was intense enough that my feet and lower legs became extremely hot while standing next to the vehicle I also noticed that the seat/floor rails and other exposed metal components in and around the second-row passenger area became extremely hot to the touch. I could only keep my hand on

NHTSA complaint 11761186, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Distracting feature which is dangerous to the operator: The control for the radio volume is the same knob as the control for the air and heating. As a result when you go to turn down the radio or change the volume you often change the fan and temperature... and likewise when you go to change the temperature you inadvertantly change the volume on the radio which is difficult to change back. The constant switching between the Radio control and the temperature/fan control for the car is a huge distraction for a driver who needs to stay focused on the road Thankfully we have not been in an accident at this time, but the distraction is a concern with this vehicle and we felt should be reported

NHTSA complaint 11754532, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER
We were driving down [XXX] south towards home and out of nowhere, it sounded like something clapped against our passenger driver's side window. the window completely shattered and then proceeded to fall inwards onto my [XXX] old. It was absolutely traumatizing. Nothing hit us. It just exploded. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA complaint 11753576. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Kia Carnival

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2025 124 1 —
2024 74 2 —
2023 51 4 —
2022 136 6 —

Other 2026 Kia models

Sportage 27 EV9 26 Carnival Hybrid 22 K5 13 K4 12 Sportage Hybrid 7 Sorento 5

Complaints on file, same model year.

Every Kia on this site — 181 vehicles.

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. How many repair attempts it takes, and how long you have to file, is set by the state you bought in and by nothing on this page.

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.

Compiled and maintained by
Independent developer and analyst