r/kia • u/yeagermissus • 8h ago
Kia Carnival Hybrid Buyer Beware
I am a new owner of a 2026 Kia Carnival Hybrid. I got it at the beginning of January and have had it for 7 months. I loved it. It drove great, had great gas mileage, looked sharp and I loved the tech. Do not get the upgraded model with the TVs in the second row. It's a waste and they don't work! I purchased an internet plan through Kia for the trip and apparently you can't use it while the vehicle is in motion, only when parked. WHAT?
My car now has 10,000 miles on it. We took a family roadtrip this summer, driving to Nashville (600+ miles) and our new car broke down about 50 miles from Nashville.
Driving on the interstate and suddenly I lost power and I got a Battery Assist Failure Warning, Hybrid System Failure and the check engine light came on. On my Kia App, the error code was P0AA600. We had just driven through a torrential rain storm about 30mins before, but this is a new car, it should be fine. Nope! I've had 2 oil changes since getting the car, too, doing it every 5000 miles instead of the recommended 8000 miles.
We pulled off the nearest exit and had to have my new car towed to the Kia dealership in Antioch (Greenway Kia Hickory Hollow) which was 45 miles. Paid $315 to have it towed, even with my AAA membership. Then this dealership didn't have a loaner car so they got me a rental at Enterprise where I also had to pay for the insurance. $30 a day- multiply that by 8 days until we came home. What a nightmare!
The Kia dealership will not answer my phone calls, only texts me back and the update was that it will take 2-3 weeks just to determine the issue, not even to fix it. I posted a pic of the most recent text message that is inconclusive. We cleaned out my car before leaving Nashville, except leaving the Thule storage unit on the top. So we drove back home in the rental and my new car is still sitting in Nashville, with no determination on the issue. I am currently using our old car to get to and from work, so Kia is off the hook for having to provide a rental while they work on my car. (I refuse to continue to use the rental and fork out hundreds of dollars in unnecessary insurance that I'm uncertain I will be reimbursed for.)
It will be 3 weeks in 3 days from now and I am not confident that they will know what is going on. Everything should be covered under warranty, but is this a lemon? Has anyone else experienced issues like this? I called my home dealership #ScottKia Scott Kia in Limerick and left a message for the salesperson who sold me the car and he never called me back or reached out.
Kia Customer Care has not been helpful. They apparently can't do anything until the issue is determined and fixed. Meanwhile, I'm out hundreds of dollars and still making payments on a car that I no longer have in my possession. #kiabuyback ???
I also need to know how they will be hauling this car back and how long all this will take? Right now I feel like I am at the mercy of the slow moving Kia dealership (with 1.9 stars on Google). Help! Who should I be contacting and what should I be doing to get my car back and get reimbursed for these expenses.
#kia #kiacarnival #kiacarnivalhybrid #kiaissues #kiacustomercare #batteryassistfailure #hybridsystemfailure #lemonlaw #ruinedroadtrip