28 of the
538 complaints filed about the KIA Carnival
are about the driver-assist systems —
5% of everything owners reported.
The worst model year for it is 2025.
28
Complaints
5%
Share of all complaints
1
Crashes
0
Fires
Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance complaints by model year
On our 2024 KIA Carnival, which my wife is the primary driver, the blind spot warning on the passenger side does not work all the time. Driver side is 100% okay. She drives on I40 and hwy111 to and from work daily, and when passing on the left, she looks for the red triangle to let her know it is clear to get back in the right lane. It only works about 50% of the time and the dealership has worked on it three times unsuccessfully, so we put in a complaint to KIA corporate in June and they have been very unresponsive. We keep the vehicle clean, so it is not that. She just wants it to be reliable for safety reasons and it is not. It probably just takes a different set of engineering eyes to look at it but KIA seems like a dead end so far. Please help us. Thanks. BTW, the people at the dealership have been very good to us, we just believe engineers at a higher level need to solve this problem.
NHTSA complaint #11757456 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I am submitting a safety complaint regarding the driver monitoring/driver assistance system in the 2025 Kia Carnival. The system repeatedly issues “take a break” or inattentive driver warnings during normal, attentive driving conditions. These alerts are overly sensitive, frequent, and intrusive. Rather than improving safety, the warnings are highly distracting. The visual and audible alerts demand attention at critical moments, pulling focus away from the road. This creates a counterproductive and potentially hazardous situation, especially in traffic or complex driving environments. There appears to be no reasonable way to adjust the sensitivity or disable these alerts without impacting other safety features. A driver assistance system should support the driver—not introduce additional distraction or frustration. I request that this issue be investigated, including the calibration, trigger thresholds, and user control options for the system. A redesign or update may be necessary to ensure the feature enhances safety instead of undermining it.
NHTSA complaint #11734940 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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
NHTSA complaint #11724822 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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
NHTSA complaint #11724822 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
This new 2026 Vehicle faced multiple issues within a few weeks of purchase as stated below. 1. The instrument display panel or the main display screen of the car stopped working. The screen was completely blank and would not turn on. (confirmed and reproduced by Kia dealer, service order attached) 2. An electric short caused the radio to fail (confirmed and reproduced by Kia dealer, service order attached) 3. The car battery died, rendering the car completely unresponsive. The car had to be towed to the Kia Dealer. (confirmed and reproduced by Kia dealer, service order attached) All of the above 3 issues happened one after the other. The first issue essentially disabled safety features of the vehicle as the display panel that displays rear view camera, camera monitoring system (CMS), etc was not able to display any information. An eventual electric short and a dead battery rendered the vehicle inoperable. The official Kia dealer attempted to diagnose and repair the vehicle. The vehicle was at the dealer service for 15 days. The dealer initially suggested that a part needs to be replaced and is in backorder till May 2026. However subsequently the dealer then claimed that the vehicle is now operating normally and should be taken by the customer. No root cause of the electric short and battery and screen failure was disclosed. Also contrary to what is stated in the service order, the service manager at the dealer verbally suggested that they did not replace the malfunctioning component.
NHTSA complaint #11720576 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I am submitting a safety complaint regarding unexpected and inappropriate automatic braking behavior at low speeds involving the parking sensors, rear cross-traffic alert, and/or automatic emergency braking system. While performing normal, low-speed maneuvers such as backing out of street parking spaces or parking in tight urban environments, the vehicle abruptly applies the brakes even when no imminent collision exists and when obstacles or traffic are clearly visible to the driver. In one frequent scenario, while exiting a parallel out of a parking spot into traffic, the vehicle suddenly stops itself while partially in the roadway due to a car approaching in the rear. This occurs despite sufficient clearance and approaching vehicles slowing to yield or even happens AFTER the approaching vehicle has passed already! This creates a dangerous situation where my vehicle is immobilized in active traffic, increasing the risk of rear-end or side collisions. The driver behind me sees me stopped in middle thinks that I'm waiting for him, when really my intention was to come out of the spot and then finally it releases the emergency brake and then my vehicle juts out into the roadway. Also, during parking maneuvers, the vehicle applies emergency braking despite having enough space, SLOW speed, & the driver having full visual awareness via the backup camera. This removes the driver’s ability to make precise low-speed adjustments. The override behavior is also unsafe. Regaining control requires a firm brake press, after which releasing the pedal causes the vehicle to move abruptly, eliminating precise control and increasing collision risk. This behavior is unpredictable, inappropriate for dense urban driving, & creates hazardous situations rather than preventing them. I believe this constitutes a safety defect in the vehicle’s braking and driver-assist systems. Concerned this could lead to serious accidents, particularly in urban environments. Friends have same problems!
NHTSA complaint #11706687 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I am submitting a safety complaint regarding unexpected and inappropriate automatic braking behavior at low speeds involving the parking sensors, rear cross-traffic alert, and/or automatic emergency braking system. While performing normal, low-speed maneuvers such as backing out of street parking spaces or parking in tight urban environments, the vehicle abruptly applies the brakes even when no imminent collision exists and when obstacles or traffic are clearly visible to the driver. In one frequent scenario, while exiting a parallel out of a parking spot into traffic, the vehicle suddenly stops itself while partially in the roadway due to a car approaching in the rear. This occurs despite sufficient clearance and approaching vehicles slowing to yield or even happens AFTER the approaching vehicle has passed already! This creates a dangerous situation where my vehicle is immobilized in active traffic, increasing the risk of rear-end or side collisions. The driver behind me sees me stopped in middle thinks that I'm waiting for him, when really my intention was to come out of the spot and then finally it releases the emergency brake and then my vehicle juts out into the roadway. Also, during parking maneuvers, the vehicle applies emergency braking despite having enough space, SLOW speed, & the driver having full visual awareness via the backup camera. This removes the driver’s ability to make precise low-speed adjustments. The override behavior is also unsafe. Regaining control requires a firm brake press, after which releasing the pedal causes the vehicle to move abruptly, eliminating precise control and increasing collision risk. This behavior is unpredictable, inappropriate for dense urban driving, & creates hazardous situations rather than preventing them. I believe this constitutes a safety defect in the vehicle’s braking and driver-assist systems. Concerned this could lead to serious accidents, particularly in urban environments. Friends have same problems!
NHTSA complaint #11706687 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I am submitting a safety complaint regarding unexpected and inappropriate automatic braking behavior at low speeds involving the parking sensors, rear cross-traffic alert, and/or automatic emergency braking system. While performing normal, low-speed maneuvers such as backing out of street parking spaces or parking in tight urban environments, the vehicle abruptly applies the brakes even when no imminent collision exists and when obstacles or traffic are clearly visible to the driver. In one frequent scenario, while exiting a parallel out of a parking spot into traffic, the vehicle suddenly stops itself while partially in the roadway due to a car approaching in the rear. This occurs despite sufficient clearance and approaching vehicles slowing to yield or even happens AFTER the approaching vehicle has passed already! This creates a dangerous situation where my vehicle is immobilized in active traffic, increasing the risk of rear-end or side collisions. The driver behind me sees me stopped in middle thinks that I'm waiting for him, when really my intention was to come out of the spot and then finally it releases the emergency brake and then my vehicle juts out into the roadway. Also, during parking maneuvers, the vehicle applies emergency braking despite having enough space, SLOW speed, & the driver having full visual awareness via the backup camera. This removes the driver’s ability to make precise low-speed adjustments. The override behavior is also unsafe. Regaining control requires a firm brake press, after which releasing the pedal causes the vehicle to move abruptly, eliminating precise control and increasing collision risk. This behavior is unpredictable, inappropriate for dense urban driving, & creates hazardous situations rather than preventing them. I believe this constitutes a safety defect in the vehicle’s braking and driver-assist systems. Concerned this could lead to serious accidents, particularly in urban environments. Friends have same problems!
NHTSA complaint #11706687 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
System failure the warning lights on dash went crazy all of them flashing Speedometer wouldn’t work, lights won’t work, camera system won’t work, abs won’t work, tailgate won’t open, side doors won’t open, heat/ac controls stop working , windshield wipers stop working. They had 20 error codes the first time this happened Yes vehicle has been in shop 2 different times This happened the first time on November 24 shop had my car until November 28. Drove car for 9 days took car back in on dec 8 shop has had it still do not have as of 12-18-25 They have said the first time they had no idea what was wrong with it but got it to stop doing it. On dec 8 it started doing the same thing. I brought it back and they at first couldn’t get it to stop. From my understanding it has stopped and tests are coming back good but that is what I was told the first time. They are trying to get it to do it again by driving it before Kia motors will allow them to release it to me. I am getting no where with Kia motors, they are not calling me to let me know what they are going to do for me. I feel this vehicle is unsafe there is no garintee this won’t happen again while I am driving. All I want is out of this lease. 9 days and brought it back in for same issue. I was driving when all of this took place
NHTSA complaint #11706008 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
System failure the warning lights on dash went crazy all of them flashing Speedometer wouldn’t work, lights won’t work, camera system won’t work, abs won’t work, tailgate won’t open, side doors won’t open, heat/ac controls stop working , windshield wipers stop working. They had 20 error codes the first time this happened Yes vehicle has been in shop 2 different times This happened the first time on November 24 shop had my car until November 28. Drove car for 9 days took car back in on dec 8 shop has had it still do not have as of 12-18-25 They have said the first time they had no idea what was wrong with it but got it to stop doing it. On dec 8 it started doing the same thing. I brought it back and they at first couldn’t get it to stop. From my understanding it has stopped and tests are coming back good but that is what I was told the first time. They are trying to get it to do it again by driving it before Kia motors will allow them to release it to me. I am getting no where with Kia motors, they are not calling me to let me know what they are going to do for me. I feel this vehicle is unsafe there is no garintee this won’t happen again while I am driving. All I want is out of this lease. 9 days and brought it back in for same issue. I was driving when all of this took place
NHTSA complaint #11706008 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
The 2025 Kia Carnivals have a safety systems that prompts the driver to, "Take and coffee break". The system cannot be turned off and is extremely distracting. The system prompts the driver even if the adaptive cruise control is turned off. I called Kia and they told me to take the vehicle to the dealer. The dealer was not able to turn the computer nag off either. The car makes a noise and the prompt flashes at the driver every few miles. This happens when traveling at highway speeds and in traffic. The driver has to look down from the road to see what the noise is and is greeted with the infuriating "Take a coffee break" message. It is extremely distracting and annoying to the point it induces road rage. The NTSB needs to investigate this system and require manufacturers to either allow owners to turn it off or do not include this feature in their vehicles. The next question is irrelevant because this happens on almost every highway drive. It is not a one time occurrence.
NHTSA complaint #11685204 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The 2025 Kia Carnivals have a safety systems that prompts the driver to, "Take and coffee break". The system cannot be turned off and is extremely distracting. The system prompts the driver even if the adaptive cruise control is turned off. I called Kia and they told me to take the vehicle to the dealer. The dealer was not able to turn the computer nag off either. The car makes a noise and the prompt flashes at the driver every few miles. This happens when traveling at highway speeds and in traffic. The driver has to look down from the road to see what the noise is and is greeted with the infuriating "Take a coffee break" message. It is extremely distracting and annoying to the point it induces road rage. The NTSB needs to investigate this system and require manufacturers to either allow owners to turn it off or do not include this feature in their vehicles. The next question is irrelevant because this happens on almost every highway drive. It is not a one time occurrence.
NHTSA complaint #11685204 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The "consider taking a break" feature pops up every 5 minutes when I am driving and it is beyond distracting and leads me to believe I have something wrong with my vehicle. There is no way to turn it off. Please demand that Hyundai/Kia issue a software update so I can turn this off. Thnaks!
NHTSA complaint #11660327 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
On July 19, 2024, my 2025 Kia Carnival SXP experienced a significant battery drainage issue, rendering the vehicle inoperable. The cause is currently unknown, but it seems to involve a parasitic electrical draw that drained the battery while the car was parked and turned off. This issue occurred despite no prior warning or indication of battery problems. Compounding the situation, the door locks, including the mechanical lock, were disabled, preventing access to the vehicle. Kia roadside assistance sent a locksmith, who had to jump-start the vehicle to restore operation. After the jump-start, I received warnings that multiple systems were inoperable, including critical safety and driver assistance features such as the integrated braking system, motor-driven power steering, and tire pressure monitoring system. These failures raise serious concerns about the vehicle's reliability and safety, as it became inoperable and inaccessible without warning, potentially leaving drivers and passengers stranded in dangerous situations.
NHTSA complaint #11607738 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
On July 19, 2024, my 2025 Kia Carnival SXP experienced a significant battery drainage issue, rendering the vehicle inoperable. The cause is currently unknown, but it seems to involve a parasitic electrical draw that drained the battery while the car was parked and turned off. This issue occurred despite no prior warning or indication of battery problems. Compounding the situation, the door locks, including the mechanical lock, were disabled, preventing access to the vehicle. Kia roadside assistance sent a locksmith, who had to jump-start the vehicle to restore operation. After the jump-start, I received warnings that multiple systems were inoperable, including critical safety and driver assistance features such as the integrated braking system, motor-driven power steering, and tire pressure monitoring system. These failures raise serious concerns about the vehicle's reliability and safety, as it became inoperable and inaccessible without warning, potentially leaving drivers and passengers stranded in dangerous situations.
NHTSA complaint #11607738 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
1 - Electrical systems, All Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, Blinker, Analog Speedometer, Digital Speedometer, RPM gauge, Climate Control Systems, were all showing as failed or malfunctioning while driving. Driver's unsure if other systems were affected. Driver distractibility was drastically increased and driver and passenger safety was at risk. Unknown component at fault, still in service at dealership. 2 - Very distracted driving, all dashboard lights blinking erratically and beeping noises constantly filling the cabin. Blinker would not work and other gauges were not functioning so driver could not tell speed of vehicle. Driver unsure if other systems affected such as airbags, lighting, braking systems, etc. Family did not want to drive the vehicle. 3 - Problem was not reproduced at dealership but vehicle produced 33 different fault codes. Dealer states another 2024 Kia Carnival is in for the same reasons. 4 - The vehicle has only been inspected by Bob Sight Kia employees. 5 - Nothing else happened prior. Vehicle had less than 200 miles on odometer when first incident occurred on [XXX], 2024. As stated previously, every warning indicator was flashing on and off sporadically. Some warnings weren't on the dashboard screen long enough to read. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11590755 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
1 - Electrical systems, All Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, Blinker, Analog Speedometer, Digital Speedometer, RPM gauge, Climate Control Systems, were all showing as failed or malfunctioning while driving. Driver's unsure if other systems were affected. Driver distractibility was drastically increased and driver and passenger safety was at risk. Unknown component at fault, still in service at dealership. 2 - Very distracted driving, all dashboard lights blinking erratically and beeping noises constantly filling the cabin. Blinker would not work and other gauges were not functioning so driver could not tell speed of vehicle. Driver unsure if other systems affected such as airbags, lighting, braking systems, etc. Family did not want to drive the vehicle. 3 - Problem was not reproduced at dealership but vehicle produced 33 different fault codes. Dealer states another 2024 Kia Carnival is in for the same reasons. 4 - The vehicle has only been inspected by Bob Sight Kia employees. 5 - Nothing else happened prior. Vehicle had less than 200 miles on odometer when first incident occurred on [XXX], 2024. As stated previously, every warning indicator was flashing on and off sporadically. Some warnings weren't on the dashboard screen long enough to read. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11590755 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.