21 complaints reported

2022 Kia Carnival Structure

Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.

Reports
21
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Injuries
8

Complaint Timeline

Chronological view of owner reports

Aug 2025

The Kia Carnival was parked a slight decline and when the button to close the passenger sliding door the door closed rapidly like a guillotine. Thankfully no children or body part were in the path of the door because it would have severely damaged them. After it closed rapidly the door was unable to be opened. The dealership is still working on the Carnival and it has been over 3 weeks and they said they have never seen anything like this since it tore off a bolt in the body frame and caused damage to the body frame and they were unable to open it. Still don't have a timeline for repair. Also concerned it may happen to the other side and the safety issues around it.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2022 KIA CARNIVAL, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Jul 2025
May 2025 Injury

On [XXX], my kids were getting into the vehicle to go to a playdate. My [XXX] got in the car and into his seat. I was on the driver's side buckling my [XXX] in her car seat and my [XXX] was climbing into the door/her seat on the passenger side. The passenger side sliding door shut on my [XXX] 's hand. I immediately tried to open the door with the button next to the steering column and it would not respond. I then ran around to the other side of the car and used the button on the handle, but the door did not respond to open. I had to manually pull on the handle to force it open off of her hand. No fingers were broken, but the door was shut on her hand completely and she had bruising. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2022 KIA CARNIVAL, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Aug 2024
May 2025

The passenger side sliding door would not respond to any button pushed to open the door. Once I get it manually opened, it will not latch upon closure resulting in a beeping and warning in my dash. I can turn off power doors and manually force it to shut and most of the time that works but this specific incident it was not working. I ensured that there was nothing blocking the door from shutting and finally got it to shut and latch. I drove out of the location I was at and the sliding door flew open at about 20mph.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2022 KIA CARNIVAL, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Mar 2025
Feb 2025

The contact owns a 2022 Kia Carnival. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the driver's side windshield exterior A-Pillar trim flew off and struck the vehicle behind, almost causing a crash. The contact pulled over to the side of the road temporarily. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, and the vehicle was inspected. The dealer determined that the trim needed to be replaced; however, the repair was not covered under the bumper-to-bumper warranty. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 22,023.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2022 KIA CARNIVAL, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: May 2025
Aug 2024 Injury

The sliding doors do not reverse like they should. The sensors are not good. Yes Kia added the warning sounds but it isn’t good enough. My LO’s entire hand was shut in the door.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2022 KIA CARNIVAL, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Aug 2024
Nov 2023

The contact owns a 2022 Kia Carnival. The contact stated that the passenger’s side rear power sliding door auto-reverse failed to engage. Additionally, the contact stated that while her husband was buckling a child in the car seat located in the rear driver’s side seat, her daughter who was also inside the vehicle pressed the door switch button, and the driver’s side rear power sliding door engaged. The door closed in on her husband instead of stopping and engaging the auto-reverse function. The contact's husband was able to release himself and advised the children that were inside the vehicle to not move for their safety. There was no warning light illuminated. The dealer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact referenced NHTSA Action Number: PE22004 (Structure). The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 500.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2022 KIA CARNIVAL, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Nov 2021
Aug 2023

Door took waaaaayyy too much pressure to stop it from closing The recall before literally added beeping noises but it NEEDS more sensitive sensors this is ridiculous

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2022 KIA CARNIVAL, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Aug 2023
Jul 2023 Injury

These doors need a sensor to reverse the sliding doors upon resistance. It has smashed me and my young children multiple times. The update did not solve this issue and it’s a major safety issue. My 4 year old and 1 year old both had their hand smashed in the automatic sliding doors.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2022 KIA CARNIVAL, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Jan 2023
Mar 2023

The powered sliding door sensor is inadequate. My son pressed the door closed button and I had to push the door off of my body as it started to crush me.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2022 KIA CARNIVAL, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Mar 2023
Oct 2022 Injury

My toddler, 3 years old climbed into my 2022 Kia carnival to get into his car seat. I was standing outside the door waiting to buckle him when the sliding door started to close on its own and my toddlers leg got trapped under the track of the door and he started screaming. I then had to put my whole body between the door with force to prevent it from closing all the way. I was then able to pull his leg out. There has been no inspection to the vehicle yet as it happened last night. There were no warning or messages about the problem prior and we have had no issues like this before.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2022 KIA CARNIVAL, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Oct 2022
Jun 2022 Injury

Child got hand smashed in rear sliding door. There is no pressure sensor to avoid the door closing on hands or fingers.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2022 KIA CARNIVAL, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Jan 2022
Jun 2022

The power sliding doors fail to stop closing unless excessive force is used. If an arm or hand is in the way it gets hurt and the door will try to close on it. The dealership inspected it and said it's a known issue that extra force is needed. There's nothing they can do. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? My child's was being closed in the door and when I tried to stop it to save my daughter my arm was bruised. Yes, the dealer knows of the issue but plays it off as just a door that requires more force to stop. Yes, Kia inspected it, found you need to apply more force then normal but has no solution but to make sure to keep far away when it's closing. They However said nothing can be done, it's just how the van comes.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2022 KIA CARNIVAL, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Jan 2022
Jun 2022 Injury

The doors sensors do not work. I am 200+ lbs and have to push with force to get it to stop closing. My 2 year old last minute stuck her hand into the car while the door was closing to get a blanket and it CRUSHED her fingers. These doors are extremely unsafe. Then we took it to Kia and they said “just keep the kids away from the doors” which is INSANE when you’re talking about little kids.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2022 KIA CARNIVAL, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: May 2022
May 2022

The automatic doors will close even if a child or something is in the way. Kia has acknowledged that the sensor may not work, but this is a huge safety issue when dealing with small children. I was loading the car and pressed the button to close the door. Then, I realized I forgot something and placed my hand in front of the sensor to stop the doors from closing, but the sensor failed.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2022 KIA CARNIVAL, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: May 2022
Apr 2022 Injury

'Auto reopen' feature of power sliding side door FAILS TO REOPEN by not 'sensing' a SOFT item obstruction (i.e. arm, leg, hand, pet) when closing. Daughter had severe bruising to arm (i.e. sliding door significantly squeezed arm). Sensor replaced by KIA dealership, safety problem still persists. Continued talks with KIA eventually resulted in KIA stating (in written letter) that "the auto-reverse feature is supplemental feature and should never be relied upon as a primary safety feature".

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2022 KIA CARNIVAL, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Oct 2021
Mar 2022 Injury

Sliding door closed on a child's arm and bruised it. We have had multiple situations where the door does not stop if it hits something, it just continues to close.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2022 KIA CARNIVAL, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Sep 2022
Mar 2022

Sliding doors do not stop closing if something is in the way. Have closed myself and children in the door and it doesn’t stop.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2022 KIA CARNIVAL, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Jul 2022
Jan 2022

Power sliding doors are way to powerful. They take a lot of force to be stopped.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2022 KIA CARNIVAL, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Jan 2022
Nov 2021

The contact owns a 2022 Kia Carnival. The contact stated while driving approximately 10 MPH, the sliding door inadvertently opened without warning. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed with needing the latching mechanism replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and was awaiting a response. The failure mileage was approximately 820. The VIN was not available.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2022 KIA CARNIVAL, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Nov 2021
Jan 2021

Rear passenger sliding door shows that it is still open, even when closed. Rear passenger sliding door will open while driving even if the automatic doors are turned off.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2022 KIA CARNIVAL, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Nov 2021
Jan 2021

Sliding doors seem unsafe. They take a tremendous amount of force to stop the automatic door from closing. There is no safety mechanism to prevent a child from getting stuck and/or extremely hurt due if caught in sliding doors while closing. Seems like there should be a lesser resistance necessary to cause doors to open back up if encountering an object to prevent injury.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2022 KIA CARNIVAL, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Jan 2021

Trend Over Time

Complaints by year

Quick Summary

The 2022 Kia Carnival has 21 Structure complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.