2023 Kia Carnival

The 2023 Carnival is the second model year of the KA4 generation and carries over unchanged. Every US trim uses the 3.5L V6 at 290 hp, the highest output in the minivan class at the time, ahead of the Pacifica (287), Odyssey (280) and Sienna hybrid (245). The 150–550 hp band covers high-output vans as well, so even the class leader scores low on it.

Peak torque is 262 lb-ft, the same as the Odyssey and Pacifica V6s. It peaks high in the rev range, as is usual for a naturally aspirated six.

Car and Driver ran the pre-facelift 290-hp Carnival from 0 to 60 mph in 7.0 s. That ties the Odyssey and beats the Pacifica and the Sienna hybrid. Edmunds's slower 8.3 s comes from a method that doesn't subtract rollout. Kia didn't change the drivetrain for 2023, so the 2022 test applies.

The 3.5L V6 is strong, quiet and linear, with no turbo lag. Reviewers rate it among the better minivan engines, and it is quieter under load than the Sienna's four-cylinder hybrid. It stops short of the top band because of a small delay off the line.

The 8-speed automatic shifts smoothly and kicks down promptly, and it avoids the gear hunting reviewers criticize in the Pacifica's 9-speed. It roughly matches the Odyssey's 10-speed.

The 3,500-lb rating is the minivan norm: tied with the Odyssey and Sienna and just behind the Pacifica. It covers small boats and light utility trailers.

Every 2023 trim is front-wheel drive only, and no AWD option exists. The Sienna (standard AWD available) and the Pacifica (AWD optional) both offer it.

The van is built for pavement. Its ground clearance of about 6.8 in is good for a minivan, but there are no skid plates or terrain modes, no off-road trim, and no AWD.

For 2023 there was a single powertrain: the 3.5L V6 with the 8-speed and FWD. The 1.6L turbo hybrid didn't arrive until the MY2025 facelift, so the 2023 van offers no electrified choice.

At 22 MPG combined, the 2023 V6 matches the gas Odyssey and Pacifica. There was no hybrid option in 2023.

A large naturally aspirated V6 with no electric assist loses the most efficiency in stop-and-go driving, where minivans spend much of their time.

At 26 MPG highway, the Carnival trails the gas Odyssey and Pacifica by about 2 MPG.

The large 19.0-gallon tank makes up for mediocre economy and gives a mid-pack range of about 418 miles.

This is EPA's published annual fuel cost for the 2023 V6, from a live fueleconomy.gov pull at EPA's current regular-fuel price. That price assumption is higher than the one behind some older figures in this dataset. The MPG matches the gas Odyssey and Pacifica.

It runs on regular 87-octane unleaded, with no premium fuel or charging needed.

NHTSA never published 5-Star crash ratings for the 2023 Carnival — every rating field in its database reads 'Not Rated' — so the item falls to the framework's never-rated value.

In the original IIHS tests the 2023 Carnival scored Good in every category, and it holds a Top Safety Pick carried over from the 2022 award. The award only applies to the SX Prestige with projector headlights, and the 2023 van does not appear on IIHS's 2023-criteria award list. In the updated tests it failed badly. It was rated Poor in the updated side test, where a second-row captain's chair broke loose from its anchors, and Marginal in the updated moderate-overlap test, which measures rear-passenger protection.

The 2023 Carnival comes standard on every trim from LX up with Kia's Drive Wise suite. That covers forward collision avoidance with pedestrian and cyclist detection, lane keeping and lane following assist, active blind-spot and rear cross-traffic collision avoidance, Safe Exit Assist, driver attention warning, and Smart Cruise Control with Stop & Go. Upper trims add only navigation-based cruise and camera aids.

IIHS rated both the standard and the optional system Superior in the vehicle-to-vehicle and daytime pedestrian tests, which is top marks. In the nighttime pedestrian test the standard system rated only Basic, which matches the 'weaker night/pedestrian' description.

Both blind-spot and rear cross-traffic collision avoidance are standard on every trim and can brake the van, not just warn. Safe Exit Assist adds protection for the power sliding doors. Upper trims also get the Blind-Spot View Monitor camera feed in the gauge cluster, which beats the alert-only systems on the Odyssey and Sienna.

Lane Following Assist is standard and centers the van smoothly on well-marked highways, without the ping-ponging of weaker systems. Reviewers say Lane Keeping Assist intervenes too eagerly with the default settings and wanders on faded lane markings.

Smart Cruise Control with Stop & Go works across the full speed range and is well tuned for following distance and restarting in traffic. Paired with lane centering it makes a capable hands-on highway mode, and navigation-based speed adjustment comes on upper trims. It lacks HDA2's assisted lane changes.

No 2023 Carnival trim offers hands-free driving. Highway Driving Assist requires the driver's hands on the wheel.

IIHS rated the LED reflector headlights on the volume LX, EX and SX trims Poor. Only the SX Prestige's LED projector lights rated Good, so most Carnivals sold have poor lighting.

An upright driving position, large windshield and low cowl give typical minivan forward visibility. The SUV-style body has a thick D-pillar and a high rear beltline, which cost some over-the-shoulder view. Upper trims make up for it with a surround-view camera and the blind-spot camera.

The 2023 Carnival has full LATCH hardware in five rear seating positions, more than most vehicles, and its wide power sliding doors make loading child seats easy. IIHS still rated LATCH ease of use only Acceptable rather than Good, and the second-row seats cannot be removed.

Eight-passenger seating on the volume trims; for 2023 even the SX Prestige switched to standard 8-passenger Slide-Flex with VIP Lounge seats optional.

Generous front headroom, mid-pack for minivans.

Front legroom is adequate but short of the Odyssey/Sienna figures.

Second-row headroom is near the top of the minivan band.

Long-legged second row with fore-aft sliding seats.

Third row with 35.6 in legroom and 38.6 in headroom fits adults; access through wide power sliding doors, though the narrower 3rd-row hip room (50.4 in) limits three-across adult seating.

Class-leading space behind the third row and a deep well; behind-2nd-row figure is competitive.

Large maximum volume, but it requires physically removing the heavy 2nd-row seats.

Deep cargo well behind the 3rd row, Slide-Flex center seat that slides forward toward the front row, big center console; but the 2nd row does not stow into the floor (unlike Pacifica Stow 'n Go) and 115V outlets are SX-and-up only.

Supportive front seats and roomy 2nd row; the much-praised heated/ventilated reclining VIP Lounge chairs are an SX Prestige option for 2023, so the volume trim gets the ordinary Slide-Flex bench.

Comfort-tuned suspension that stays level and stable; firmer over sharp impacts on 19-in wheels; no adaptive damping.

Quiet at cruise with a hushed V6; some road and wind noise noted, and the pre-facelift model lacks the acoustic upgrades the 2025 refresh added.

Tri-zone automatic climate from EX up and rear sunshades on EX; heated/ventilated front seats on SX and a heated wheel only on SX Prestige, with heated/ventilated 2nd-row chairs only via the VIP option.

The 2023 LX was the cheapest way into a new mainstream minivan apart from the Chrysler Voyager, undercutting the Sienna LE and Odyssey LX by several thousand dollars. 2023 is the second year of the KA4 generation and is gas-V6 only.

The EX is the trim most buyers choose because it adds the equipment family buyers want. It lands well under a comparable Odyssey EX-L or Sienna XLE.

Scheduled maintenance on the 3.5L V6 sits around the minivan average. Kia's long warranty keeps out-of-pocket repair cost very low inside the five-year window.

Retention is about average for the segment. It is well behind the Sienna but roughly level with or ahead of the Pacifica, so the low purchase price is partly given back at trade-in.

Kia's 5-yr/60k basic warranty is the longest in the minivan segment. Toyota, Honda and Chrysler all stop at 3 yr/36k.

This powertrain warranty is twice as long as any rival's. It is the Carnival's strongest ownership-cost advantage.

Kia offered no complimentary scheduled maintenance in the US for 2023, which caps this item below 50. The extras are 5-yr/60k roadside assistance and a Kia Connect trial. That beats Honda's 3-yr roadside but trails the Sienna's ToyotaCare.

$39,435 volume-trim price minus its estimated resale value after 5 years (50% retained, or about $19,718) leaves about $19,718 in depreciation. Add the projected $5,855 in 5-year maintenance and repairs, and owning this vehicle for 5 years costs about $25,573 in total.

The sources disagree, and both are only middling. J.D. Power rates the 2023 Carnival 80/100 for Quality & Reliability, which it calls 'Average'. Consumer Reports rates the 2023 model as less reliable than the average car of that model year. 2023 is only the second US year of the KA4 generation, so it doesn't get the mature-design credit the Odyssey (75) and Sienna (83) earn. It sits in the lower part of the average band, above the Pacifica (49) and Voyager (53).

Kia has become one of the decade's real dependability turnarounds. It is usually a top mass-market brand in J.D. Power's Initial Quality Study and mid-to-upper pack in the Vehicle Dependability Study and Consumer Reports brand rankings. It isn't consistently top-5, and the Hyundai Motor Group recalls a lot of vehicles. The score matches the brand-level score on Kia's other Carnival scorecards.

Recall activity on the 2023 model is heavier than typical and includes an injury-linked safety campaign. NHTSA lists four recalls for the 2023 Carnival. The most serious is 23V-236: the power sliding doors may fail to auto-reverse, with nine confirmed injuries including a broken thumb and a broken arm. Other recalls cover roof molding that can detach and fuel-pipe and trailer-hitch issues. The sliding-door problem also led to a class action. None of these is a powertrain or fire defect, which keeps this out of the bottom band.

The 2023 Carnival has only one powertrain: the naturally aspirated 3.5L Lambda II V6 GDI with Kia's in-house 8-speed automatic, front-wheel drive. The hybrid did not arrive until the 2025 refresh. Hyundai/Kia use this V6/8AT pairing across their three-row vehicles (Telluride, Palisade, Sorento V6). It has avoided the rod-bearing and fire failures of the Theta II four-cylinder era, and none of the 2023 recalls involve the engine or transmission.

The cabin is the pre-facelift KA4 design with dual 12.3-inch screens on upper trims. Even so, reviewers routinely call it the most upscale-feeling minivan interior for the money, especially the SX Prestige with its second-row VIP lounge seats. The volume LX and LXS trims use noticeably plainer materials, which keeps it out of the upper 80s.

Assembly at Kia's Gwangmyeong plant is generally consistent, and J.D. Power owner data rates it average. However, the 2023 model has a roof-molding detachment recall, and the power sliding doors drew enough complaints to bring an NHTSA investigation and a class action. That puts it mid-band rather than at the top.

Kia has about 775 US dealers, so nationwide coverage isn't a concern, and its service satisfaction is around the industry average. The network is still thinner than Honda's or Toyota's, so it trails the Odyssey and Sienna.

Parts pricing and availability are normal. The V6 and 8-speed automatic are shared across Hyundai/Kia's high-volume three-row SUVs, and the 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty covers early owners. Minivan-specific hardware such as sliding-door motors and tracks, body glass and trim is lower-volume and mostly dealer-sourced, and the aftermarket is thinner than for domestic or Japanese rivals.

The volume EX trim gets the 12.3-in navigation head unit; base LX has an 8-in screen.

Kia's AVN 5.0 system is logically laid out with physical shortcut keys, but it is a generation older than the ccNC unit of the 2025 facelift and slower to boot and redraw.

Wireless projection only on the base LX's 8-in unit; the volume EX and higher trims with the 12.3-in navigation screen are wired-only.

Native navigation and Bluetooth voice recognition standard from EX up via UVO; functional but most owners default to phone projection.

Six speakers on LX, eight on EX/SX; Bose 12-speaker premium system only on SX Prestige.

LX has analog gauges with a 4.2-in TFT; the integrated 12.3-in panoramic digital cluster is on upper trims (newly standard on SX for 2023), with Blind-Spot View Monitor in-cluster on SX.

AVN 5.0 receives map/software updates mainly via dealer or USB (Kia Navigation Updater); no whole-vehicle OTA on the pre-facelift Carnival.

Kia Access/UVO link with remote start, climate, lock/unlock and locate on modem-equipped EX and above; no digital key on the 2023 Carnival.

USB ports in all three rows; 15W wireless charging and two 115V inverters (cabin and cargo) on SX and SX Prestige.

Smart key with push-button start, power sliding doors and Smart Power Liftgate on EX and up; app remote start; no phone-as-key.

Rear camera and rear parking sensors standard; Surround View Monitor and Blind-Spot View Monitor on SX and SX Prestige only.

No head-up display is listed on any 2023 US Carnival trim.

Dual power sliding doors, 8-passenger Slide-Flex 2nd row whose center seat slides forward within reach of the front row, and 40.2 cu ft behind the 3rd row for strollers; IIHS LATCH only Acceptable.

Broad standard ADAS (FCA, BCA, RCCA, Safe Exit Assist, SCC Stop & Go, Rear Occupant Alert) offsets weak crash credentials: no NHTSA rating for 2023 and IIHS updated side test Poor, updated moderate overlap Marginal.

Roomy rows and big luggage space with all seats up; tri-zone climate and rear sunshades from EX, but rear-seat entertainment, 115V power and VIP chairs are SX-and-up.

Smooth V6 and 8-speed, comfortable ride and standard SCC with Stop & Go make it relaxed in traffic; the size and light, numb steering are the annoyances.

V6-only for 2023 at 22 MPG combined, with no hybrid (that arrived for 2025) — costlier per mile than the hybrid Sienna or Pacifica PHEV.

A 37.7-ft turning circle is good for the class and rear sensors are standard, but surround-view is limited to SX/SX Prestige and the body is long.

3,500-lb tow rating and up to 145.1 cu ft of cargo handle light hauling; FWD only.

Proven Lambda-family V6 and 8-speed, but a family-oriented interior and several sliding-door/power-feature recalls make it untested for hard work use.

Cargo-area 115V inverter on SX and up, flat 3rd-row fold and a cargo well; no dedicated work packages or upfit ecosystem.

Comfortable, quiet highway cruiser with standard adaptive cruise and Highway Driving Assist on EX and up; ~420-mile range from a 19-gal tank at 22 MPG.

FWD only with ~6.8 in clearance; fine on graded gravel and with a bike rack or small trailer, with 115V power on upper trims for camping.

40.2 cu ft behind the 3rd row, a fold-into-floor 3rd row and 145.1 cu ft max; the 2nd row has to be removed rather than stowed.

Composed, level and predictable, like a big SUV, but not as eager as the Odyssey.

Light, accurate-enough but numb steering is a recurring note in reviews of this generation.

Adequate, consistent stopping for a ~4,500-lb van with a reasonably firm pedal; no notable fade complaints.

The 290-hp V6 and 8-speed automatic are smooth and quick for the class (7.0 s to 60 in Car and Driver's test).

The naturally aspirated V6 stays muted at cruise and sounds smooth under load; no turbo-four or CVT drone.

Tight for a full-size minivan.

Commanding, SUV-like seating with a good forward view and physical climate/audio controls; thick rear pillars limit the over-shoulder view, and the shift dial and wide dash take some acclimation.

Strong V6 and SUV-like style give it some character, but it is a comfort-tuned FWD van; the Odyssey remains the driver's pick.

The $33.9K LX comes with a 290-hp V6, an 8-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and Drive Wise driver aids, all at the segment's lowest mainstream entry price. Power sliding doors and the 12.3-inch twin displays only arrive on higher trims, so the base van is good value rather than fully loaded.

It offers strong content and capability for the price: the most powerful standard engine in the class, 3,500-lb towing, large cargo space and a 10-yr/100k powertrain warranty, all starting at a low price. The offsets are average resale, no hybrid or AWD for 2023, and fuel economy behind the hybrid Sienna.

The lineup has five trims spanning about $34K–$47K, with 7- or 8-seat layouts and optional VIP lounge seats on the SX Prestige. But 2023 had only one powertrain (the V6) and FWD only, so buyers who need AWD or a hybrid have to shop the Sienna or Pacifica.

In absolute volume it was a mid-pack seller behind the Pacifica and Sienna, but it was the segment's fastest riser as supply recovered after launch-year chip shortages.

Kia's image was rising quickly by 2023, helped by its design, J.D. Power initial-quality results and the industry-leading warranty. It still trailed Toyota and Honda on resale and on reliability reputation with family buyers.

During the 2022–2023 inventory shortage, Carnivals often sold at or above MSRP with dealer markups, and incentives were thin. Modest APR offers came back late in the model year as supply recovered.

MY2023 was the second year of the fourth-generation KA4 Carnival, which replaced the Sedona for MY2022, so it was among the newest designs in the class. The MY2025 refresh that added the hybrid was still two years away, which is little risk to a buyer.

Reviewers praised its SUV-like styling, roomy cabin, strong V6 and value, and it regularly ranked near the top of minivan lists. Comparison tests usually went to the Sienna (efficiency, AWD) or Odyssey (driving dynamics), so it was more often the runner-up than the winner.