I've called 5 Kia dealerships in the area. Most aren't clear whether they can order a Carnival. Honestly, most don't know what a Carnival is. When I used the form on Kia's website to get quotes from dealerships I started getting calls saying they have Kia Cadenza's in stock (after very clearly selecting the Carnival). One dealership has said it is open and I can place an order for late March delivery but were only willing to offer MSRP plus tax, title, tags. I guess that's what you get for day 2 pricing.

 

According to KIA

KIA Corp does not accept factory orders for specific models. I got this direct from KIA.com. Dealers don't have a clue!

 

Same experience. Called me asking if I wanted to come in to drive a Cadenza. These dealers. Lol

 

I agree! Most never heard of the Carnival. So I sat with one decent salesman and told him all about the Carnival!!!
He promised to go home and take the salesman's course on his computer. Kia better put some money into their training instead of fireworks and videos

 

My contact at the local dealership said they are expected to receive an LX with the seat package 03/09 and an SX on 03/17. This is Capitol Kia in San Jose, CA. I'm now reaching out to other dealers in the Bay Area to see when they're expecting deliveries.

 

I went to see the model on the lot at Stevens Creek Kia in San Jose. It had already been sold for $6K over MSRP. No test drive for me. I wonder what premium they will attempt for any Prestige models they get.

 

Just received a text from my local dealership that they've received an LX trim today.

 

Courtesy Kia Mesa (AZ) posted on Twitter.

 

Heres their window sticker https://www.kia.com/us/services/en/windowsticker/load/KNDNE5H35N6060914

 

Here are photos my dealer sent me of the LX trim Carnival they received today. SX trim should be arriving in about a week.

 

Thanks for sharing. If you do check it out in person let us know your thoughts!

 

 

New member of the forum... I am hoping the forum grows and we will see people posting their purchased price. Do you think the Carnival will be as popular as the Telluride?

 

Although the Carnival is impressive, I do not believe it will be as popular as the Telluride due to America’s love for the SUV. I DO think sales will improve over the Sedona and take sales from the Sienna and Pacifica. The Odyssey possibly too.

Although Sienna has better MPG and AWD, the new polarizing exterior styling (it really is terrible) and hard plastic interior (cheap rental car feel) will turn many away. The Carnival has a far superior available option list. And a meager four cylinder with CVT transmission allows the engine to literally scream on full loads with depleted battery assist on a hot Texas. No thanks. My mom
had a Prius and that combo is fine for a small car, but not to haul/cool down eight people and their gear. Needs a V6.

The Pacifica fixes most of these Sienna issues with AWD, a V6, a hybrid option, and decent styling. However, if you read some of the owner reviews and owner forum posts, the reliability concern isn’t worth the hassle. Too many lemon law posts and vans literally dying on them requiring tows. No thanks with a small family that depends on their car.

The Carnival has A LOT going for it in the minivan class but I don’t think it will outsell any popular SUV. Thankfully, it will remain the best selling minivan in Australia and very popular in Korea too. Kia likely produces/sells as much as other makes as it’s a true global platform. The Sienna and Odyssey aren’t.

 

Video gives a good perspective on the size of the Carnival. I drove by my local dealer the other night because I was in the area. They had an LX towards the back of the lot. Since it was late I didn't get out of my car, I just stopped for a minute. My initial impression is that it is not as huge as I was expecting it to be. When you see a Sienna on the road it looks big. Bigger than an Odyssey and Pacifica. I was expecting the same for the Carnival, but nope, it hides it minivan proportions well.

Once they get their SX trim on the lot I'll go take a proper look at the Carnival. Should be there in about a week.

 

I drove 200 miles across Sierra Nevada to get mine today because the local dealer won't get their SX for another week. Most dealers are willing to sell at MSRP.

Good Surprise
- Mileage is as advertised, 28 MPG @ 75 MPH. The Volvo with 2.0T engine had 31MPG along the same route. A tank of gas can you get close to 600 miles on highway!

Like
Highway assist features work as advertised
Sound proofing is excellent, except tire noise (see below)
The color Flare Red, very few available in US but it looks brilliant under California sun
Power and transmission are amazing. The whole car moves effortlessly.
Everyone thinks it's an SUV!

Not like
Seats are stiff, comparable to my Volvo. Won't feel it for short distance but not as comfortable after several hours. The Sedona with cloth seats were softer.
Tire and tire noise. Continental Crosscontact RX is basically a starter tire - like the starter toner in some printers. It is also very noisy on rough pavements. I plan on replacing those at 20K.
Instrument cluster and arm rests are designed for low seaters, if you like a higher seating position with head closer to roof, instruments are harder to read and arms don't get rested
Back seat entertainment screens shakes a lot more than expected

Bad Surprise
Blind spot alert is broken - only working intermittently. Already talked to dealer and will have it fixed. Anyone else have this problem?
Seats were the wrong color, they were black not two-tone grey as shown on window sticker. Not that I mind but wow.

 

I drove 200 miles across Sierra Nevada to get mine today because the local dealer won't get their SX for another week. Most dealers are willing to sell at MSRP.


Good Surprise
- Mileage is as advertised, 28 MPG @ 75 MPH. The Volvo with 2.0T engine had 31MPG along the same route. A tank of gas can you get close to 600 miles on highway!

Like
Highway assist features work as advertised
Sound proofing is excellent, except tire noise (see below)
The color Flare Red, very few available in US but it looks brilliant under California sun
Power and transmission are amazing. The whole car moves effortlessly.
Everyone thinks it's an SUV!

Not like
Seats are stiff, comparable to my Volvo. Won't feel it for short distance but not as comfortable after several hours. The Sedona with cloth seats were softer.
Tire and tire noise. Continental Crosscontact RX is basically a starter tire - like the starter toner in some printers. It is also very noisy on rough pavements. I plan on replacing those at 20K.
Instrument cluster and arm rests are designed for low seaters, if you like a higher seating position with head closer to roof, instruments are harder to read and arms don't get rested
Back seat entertainment screens shakes a lot more than expected

Bad Surprise
Blind spot alert is broken - only working intermittently. Already talked to dealer and will have it fixed. Anyone else have this problem?
Seats were the wrong color, they were black not two-tone grey as shown on window sticker. Not that I mind but wow.

Thanks so much for sharing!
After reading your review and reading opinions and reviews from others, here’s the painful verdict

The Carnival is an amazing idea poorly executed

Compare it to its Japanese rivals, while I might not love the idea of the Sienna or Odyssey and they’re not as trendy as the Carnival they are both executed perfectly and as intended.
After waiting months for the Carnival, an Odyssey is on order for our family (V6 is #1 on must haves list)

 

Wow! I think this is the first report of an actual owner here on the forums. Congrats!
Just to confirm, is the dash indeed not a 12.3 display? And what does the blind spot alert do? Just the mirrors?

Hope you enjoy your ride!

 

Instrument cluster is not full digital. Console screen is definitely 12.3. The blind spot alert is the warning lights on mirrors and the sound it makes.

I looked online again, looks like you can even configure a red with black interior. Here is another dealer with a red one in stock. Also black interior.

View All New Inventory

View All New Inventory

www.lawleykia.com

 

Instrument cluster is not full digital. Console screen is definitely 12.3. The blind spot alert is the warning lights on mirrors and the sound it makes.

I looked online again, looks like you can even configure a red with black interior. Here is another dealer with a red one in stock. Also black interior.

View All New Inventory

View All New Inventory

www.lawleykia.com

Thanks for sharing. I still think it’s so strange they moved the power sliding door buttons from the center console to where the gas refuel button typically is. Makes no sense to me.

 

The trims and associated options are a debacle of epic proportions. Kia Media relations have gone silent. SX Prestige was to only have 12.3" all digital dash screen, second row captains chairs, along with the dual panoramic sunroof.

TL;DR - The only options sheet you can trust is what's listed on the window sticker.

 

The trims and associated options are a debacle of epic proportions. Kia Media relations have gone silent. SX Prestige was to only have 12.3" all digital dash screen, second row captains chairs, along with the dual panoramic sunroof.

TL;DR - The only options sheet you can trust is what's listed on the window sticker.

I just received a call back from Kia Consumer Relations and have no more of an explanation than before. They are guessing that the above standard features could be introduced at a later date. Their suggestion was to call the local dealerships as they would have the most up-to-date information. This is not boding well for a first Kia purchase.

 

I have an SX model ordered in Canada in Storm Blue, not sure when it will arrive, but hoping it will come soon.

Has anyone seen any pictures of the off black leather on the SX prestige? I originally wanted to the Brown leather in the SX model (Canadian Model), but it is only limited to 3 of the exterior colours. Trying to see one in the wild with the actual leather and colour. On the virtual site the leather looks light grey.

 

I have an SX model ordered in Canada in Storm Blue, not sure when it will arrive, but hoping it will come soon.

Has anyone seen any pictures of the off black leather on the SX prestige? I originally wanted to the Brown leather in the SX model (Canadian Model), but it is only limited to 3 of the exterior colours. Trying to see one in the wild with the actual leather and colour. On the virtual site the leather looks light grey.

How did you order without seeing the full spec sheet. Unlike in the US, there's no information anywhere in Kia Canada aboutt the full spec, and features list for each trim. I wanted to see the actual differences between the EX+ and SX trims before I decide.

 

I have SX, afaik there is no SXP in US yet. The difference should be exactly what's on Kia's build web page.

My SX spec sheet says Gray interior, but it's in fact off black.

 

I have SX, afaik there is no SXP in US yet.

I just did a search for Carnival's within 300 miles and found a listing for an SXP in Palmdale, CA. No photos so we can't rule out that the dealer listing is inaccurate, but looking at the car features the main giveaway is seating at 7.

New 2022 Kia Carnival For Sale at Rally Kia | VIN: KNDNE5H37N6060882

 

In fact, when I broadened my Autotrader search to Unlimited distance from me there are currently a total of 11 SXP's showing up across the country. Again, no photos yet, but the specs match.

 

It's a data entry mistake likely made from Kia headquarter early on.

Nearly all SX are listed as SXP and shown on the order form. Dealers are unable to fix (or it takes inordinate manual effort) because everything is electronically connected. You will not find any SXP in US as of now, even the ones priced as such were surely mistakes. If you ask dealers why SXP don't have the features you wanted they would be very confused because they have not studied spec sheet as well as potential buyers.

 

1) Why did you jump on your purchase so soon?
Several factors 1. timing, need a car for upcoming road trips and would prefer to get the right car right now 2. based on my observation, I believe most dealers order 1-3 units and a quarter are SX. That means there are only ~5 ish SX per major metropolitan areas and ~100 in US. 3. the next shipment is going to take a while (3-6 mo) based on what the dealers tell me. This leads to the conclusion if you want a color / trim combination, grab it now or wait til Christmas.

There is also the risk factor of price going down, safety tests, and reliability report. Given Kia's recent track records I think those risks are acceptable.

2) Any reason you went for the SX over the EX?
EX is for tech and SX is for appearance. The reason to choose Carnival in the first place is because of the un-minivan appearance.

3) Did you do any negotiating/haggling on price, and if so, how did that go?
No haggle. One dealer wanted to mark it up by 2500. All others are offering at MSRP. I think this one depends strongly on where you live and how the market react over next few weeks.

4) Where any financing deals available?
1.9% APR as advertise on Kia website. I went with zero down.

5) What made you choose the Carnival over the Odyssey, Sienna and Pacifica?
Pacifica - reliability issues and a huge rental fleet of garbage
Odyssey - very boring / spartan interior, also reliability issues
Sienna - strongly considered XSE, love the Cypress color, but can't combine the two. And... still a minivan, so the WAF isn't there. Weak power but the hybrid system will save 5000-10000 depends on where you live over 100K miles. I actually consider Sienna very good value, it seems there is an oversupply and you can get 1500 off MSRP here.

 

Thanks for the detailed answers!

Good to know about the limited availability, especially here in the Bay Area. I might just now jump on it rather than wait.

I'm now thinking of getting the EX over the SX because there isn't much difference. Regarding the rear entertainment screens, do you happen to know if there removable in any way? I know it has USB ports, so I'm guessing not, but just curious.

 

Looks like the Canadian EX+ trim is missing some items (memory settings for ext mirrors/driver seats, Bose audio, cooled front seats, blind spot viewing on 12.3" instrument gauge, and parking collision avoidance assist - reverse) on my must-have list. I'll have to go for the SX trim (even with my much disliked VIP seats).

 

thats exactly why I ended up with the SX and the sun roofs. Hopefully the VIP seats won’t be bad. Really for the price difference between the two SX isn’t bad for all of that additional stuff.

 

It would require cutting by all means.

 

Thank you for that. Disappointing to hear but better to know now rather than later.

 

The "other" Red SX is gone in Roseville too, one day after it was posted on autotrader.

I have been talking to Capitol Kia before I bought mine. They have a Ceramic Silver SX coming in on the 20th, at MSRP.

 

love the look of the ceramic silver for SX. I was about to put a deposit here in Texas for a White SX P but it was about to end up 57K ... no thanks. We may just wait to see how sales go, maybe look at an sx & not sx prestige, or just stay with our odyssey

 

Based on my conversations with dealers, MSRP is what you can expect to pay plus any dealer 'fees' which vary wildly.

 

text from KIA of Hollywood (FL) today after test drive "want to sell the car for sticker plus tax and tag no extra fees "

 

Is anyone confused by the online configurator? I really want everything in the SX Premium but I want 8 seats!

 

There is no confusion as top trim comes with 7 seats only, which is fair for many markets. I'll have to wait for the second wave or smth when kia admits the bloop.