I needed a vehicle with lots of carry space but also people carrying capacity. I researched and came to the conclusion that the Kia Carnival was the vehicle I needed to test drive, in a diesel for oomph. I was not disappointed - everything folds down to provide lots of space and I can also carry up to 8 people with the seats up - still plenty of leg room in the very back seats. Big boot when the seats are up. Plenty of grunt with the diesel. Comfortable to sit in and drive and a great easy to use dash. Required a bit of adjusting to the sheer ...Read more

We purchased our Grand Carnival new in July 2011. I can't fault it. it has just had its 190,000 ( yes one hundred and ninety thousand k service) and has never missed a beat carting firstly six and for the last 3 years 7 of us around. Never used oil, no squeaks and considering we lived in outback NSW for four and a half years of its life it has no rattles. It's not too bad on fuel given it's weight, we get about 500/700 Ks out of a tank of petrol. We have been so impressed with it we decided to keep it for a lot longer than we normally would (ke...Read more

I have had this car for two years now. This is the perfect car for my family and provides everything that I needed. Spacious, good seats arrangement, good on petrol and etc. We purchased the top range which comes with reversing camera and sensor. The reason why I give the car 3 stars is that we are still having continuous problem wi the accessories that came with the car when purchased.
1. Sliding door gets jammed for no reason, Kia changed the belt and no problem after that
2. Reversing camera, camera works occasionally when we put the car ...Read more

Kia designers really appear to have done their homework designing this car as the attention to detail is great - I.e. The visor mirror has an inbuilt LED, the centre storage bin also has an interior light and usb channel so you can charge your phone with excess cable going everywhere, and as you approach the car in the dark a little light comes on near the door handle and mirrors flip out. The inside is very classy with just the right amount of buttons - definitely a current gen car without seeming like you are piloting the space shuttle. Heate...Read more

Awesome car, LOTS of space and really comfortable. The interior in the SLI boasts premium and the V6 engine is frugal and torquey enough to lug the 2.1 tonnes weight of the car quite comfortably. Although our family is only 4 people, the extra real estate is worth every cent. We have also test driven the 2016 Odyssey VTI-L which was good in its own rights but no match for the Carnival SLI in almost every aspect. I firmly believe the new 3.3 petrol and 2.2 TDCI are highly reliable as they are Hyundai engines which has gone through a few generati...Read more

A CHEAPER ALTERNATIVE FOR A REASON!
We purchased our 2010 Kia Grand Carnival brand new and within months of purchase the CHECK ENGINE light came on and despite repeated inspections at multiple KIA service centres and an independent mechanic between 2010 and 2015, on approx TWELVE occasions, all providing varied diagnoses, the issue could never be resolved and the CHECK ENGINE light would quickly reappear.
For the most part of the 5.5 YEARS we owned the vehicle the CHECK ENGINE light was lit up. The meant we had no way of determining whether ...Read more

I've just past 30700 Kms and just got back from Darwin to Adelaide previous was Adelaide to W.A. return. Fuel economy OUTSTANDING on average 7.2 LITRES PER 100. Don't worry about overtaking the road trains because this engine is quick and really smooth acceleration. Brakes are EXCEPTIONAL. Steering is precise and feels great. Headlights are very bright and high beam has a long throw really good for highway use, on occasion i would have oncoming traffic flash me thinking my high beams were on but they weren't, i think all late model cars have th...Read more

There's a reason for the bad ratings on Kia Carnivals .. when they were released to market (as a cheap people mover) in Australia, the company knew the product had deficiencies and were worst-in-market in terms of reliability and performance....
... but they released anyway.
Luckily for them, the catastrophic engine failure typically occurred after the (5 year I think) warranty period. (In my case 3 months after). Luckily for them, they were able to avoid the vast majority of the repair costs when releasing this known-to-be-defective vehicl...Read more

I got my Kia brand new during a factory special deal - $29,999 on the road. It was a bog standard 4 sp auto, dual zone climate control, and with a DVD player! I asked the dealer regarding the poor reputation of the motor.. he assured me, that this issue was remedied with this model onwards, (manufactured March 2005, and compliance July 2005). True, I've driven 125,000 km without any problems apart from new MAF (mass air flow sensor a year ago), and two new CV joints last week. The battery lasted over 7 years! I'm so happy with this car, that I ...Read more

We purchased our 2007 Kia Carnival in 2009 with 37000kms on the clock. It now has 143000km and hasn't missed a beat in almost 7 years of ownership.

We get it serviced every 15000km as per the schedule by an independent mechanic.

It runs the 2.7L Hyundai V6 engine. We only bought this car because we'd previously owned a Santa Fe for 5 years with the same motor and had no troubles at all.

Everything in the car works the same as the day we bought it. Nothing has broken and never had any electrical issues.

There's only a few nitpicks that could be improved on our model.
...Read more

We purchased a 2015 Carnival Si (diesel) to replace a 2012 Honda Odyssey Luxury.
The Carnival has proved itself to be a great choice to date. We have passed 8000 kms so far.
The diesel motor provides effortless driving and is returning 8.2L/100km on highway cycle.
I really love the space inside the Carnival. There is heaps of room for passengers and luggage! We had a tow hitch fitted and now can carry our bicycles.

Pros:
- diesel motor mated to a smooth automatic transmission
- fuel economy
- space
...Read more