When Amanda Gutierrez went car shopping for her family of six, she decided on a brand-new vehicle. The 2024 Kia Carnival had literally zero miles on it before she adopted it and brought it home. Fast-forward to this week, though, and the Carnival hasn’t been all they’d hoped. In fact, the family hauler has already malfunctioned so severely that Gutierrez just shared her “horror story.”
2024 Kia Carnival sliding door problems
Gutierrez explains that they’ve brought the Kia Carnival back to the dealership four times over malfunctioning sliding doors. “The sensors don’t work, they’re finicky…sometimes they open, sometimes they don’t…sometimes they won’t close,” she claims. After four visits, “It has never been fixed.”
So they filed a Lemon Law claim…and it got approved
While the Lemon Law claim processes, they still have the Kia Carnival. Gutierrez recounts a recent – and terrifying – incident at a youth baseball game.
Gutierrez parked the van next to the baseball field. Since it was raining, she let two of her kids hang out in it during the game. At one point, though, someone inside hollered. The van door had somehow opened (she assumes one of the kids hit the button), and then it must have closed automatically…without sensing that one of the kids had gotten their leg stuck in the sliding door track.
A whole crew of parents worked to pry open the Kia Carnival door. It wouldn’t budge. “I was panicking every worst-case scenario…” Gutierrez said it took a torturous three minutes to get the door open.
Gutierrez says that she doesn’t understand how the Carnival didn’t recognize the presence of something on the door track. “Let this be your PSA…don’t buy it,” she asserts.
Now, the comments section is a mix of support and criticism, there’s no denying the presence of both. But Gutierrez says that her Toyota Sienna “would have never” closed on something along the door track.
Here’s what I’m thinking…
I worked at a shop for a long time, and we saw both Honda Odysseys and Toyota Siennas in for quirky door problems. Keeping in mind that minivan doors can malfunction, there should be a way to convert automatic sliding doors to manual ones.
And indeed, a quick Google showed me how to do it (if equipped), according to Kia:
- When the power sliding door OFF button (LED indicator off) is off, the power sliding door will operate.
- When the power sliding door OFF button (LED indicator on) is on, the power sliding door will not operate. Open or close the sliding door manually by pulling the door handle.
- The power sliding door OFF button turns off 10 minutes after the engine is turned off or 5 seconds after the vehicle theft alarm system is activated.
And, I’ll point out that the automaker posted a warning message in the Kia Carnival manual:
WARNING: When a child is in the rear seat, deactivate the power sliding door by turning on the power sliding door OFF button. Children may operate the power sliding door that could injure them.
Look, I’m not trying to judge. But cars are just so advanced these days…I could go on for days here, but, for instance, take Teslas. They literally have the highest accident fatality rate despite their safety features. However “right” or “wrong,” it seems consumers really need to stay vigilant in understanding what they’re buying and driving.
And automakers need to do better, too…there’s absolutely no sense in a family vehicle not sensing its precious cargo, either. We’re better off going back to exclusively manual doors if this is what we’re getting.
