Comments on: 2008 Kia Grand Carnival Review

By: mmmmm

mmmmm — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 07:37:32 +0000

WOW 80 000 kms, they must have been the good ones.
Kia are a dishonest company for selling Australian families cars they knew would blow up.
they maybe better now but why would anyone trust kia

By: Deb

Deb — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 07:15:39 +0000

Sorry in that last sentence I meant bucket seats in the second row! I have since seen a picture with the middle seat folded down like an armrest, but that still doesn’t give the ease of access to the third row which I also like about the bucket seats in the middle row.

By: Deb

Deb — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 01:47:26 +0000

Hi – just wanted to ask about 7 seater vs 8 seater Carnivals. I have four kids and love my 2008 Carnival. I purposely didn’t get a Grande because it didn’t have the 2 bucket seats in the middle. My kids (and every other person who rides in the back of my Carnival) LOVE those bucket seats and all the little things that go with them. It looks like all new Carnivals, Grande or not are now 8 seaters. The website says “3 buckets” in the middle row. Anyone know how that works? If the middle seat were removable, there wouldn’t be any arm rests, would there? My local KIA car salesman said he would look into it, but I haven’t heard anything back. I would buy a Kia Carnival ONLY only for those lovely bucket seats in the third row – am I asking for the impossible?

By: Chris

Chris — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:52:31 +0000

Hi all, just a quick note in regards to the fuel economy of the 2008 Grand Carnival. We bought one in March 2009 and have been running it on normal unleaded for all that time. Took it to the dealer as we were only getting about 420 kms out of a tank which is roughly 18.8l/100km. A long way off the 12.8l/100km they tell you at point of sale. We have just started using premium unleaded as suggseted by the dealer after they found nothing wrong with the car. The fuel consumption has dropped dramatically and we now get about 14l/100km out of a tank. Good improvement even when you do have to pay a little extra for fuel. We are also thinking of travelling around Australia in 2012 with our four children and a camper trailer. Anyone done such a thing in a Grand Carnival? If so how was the ride?

By: Greg

Greg — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:18:30 +0000

We are looking to purchase a Grand Carnival in the near future. It does appear to offer a lot of car for the dollars – it is a pity relatively high fuel consumption is part and parcel of owning a large vehicle I suppose. In regards to the earlier Carnival 2.5 litre’s engine problems, I would avoid that car like the plague. But it’s worth remembering that the Grand Carnival is not actually a related car to the Carnival. It may have similar styling and a related nameplate, but it is in fact an entirely different vehicle that is wholly unrelated to the Carnival. (Thank goodness!) Otherwise I would not even consider owning one…

By: Phil Hutchison

Phil Hutchison — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:43:35 +0000

We have had two Carnivals now…. The first standard 2.5 7 Seater was great but not enough Ummph to pull our 1800Kg boat! Had Grand Carnival for two years now and really enjoy the performance. My wife loves driving the car even though it is bigger than the earlier model. Yes the fuel consumption is relatively high but you are lugging around a lot of body in comfort.

Our only problem has been the Front brakes…. Awful noises coming out of the front wheels when braking and still noisy steady running at freeway speeds. Told by Kia I needed new brake discs after only 41,000 Kms and not covered by warranty as these are a wear out item!! Fitted after market high performance slotted discs in case the towing was the problem….5000 kms later with no towing during the period and the noise is back :-(

…….. Anybody any ideas……..shame it is spoiling an otherwise great car.

By: Heidi

Heidi — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 02:40:50 +0000

He have a 2007 Kia Carnival, the very basic model. we had no choice but to upgrade from our Frontera when we were expecting our 4th child.
I didn’t realise how lucky were were to have such a great car until last week when I had to drive a Tarago for a week (my Kia was getting a total respray courtesy of my 5 year old taking to every panel with a rock) The Targo was dreadful. We have our baby seat in the centre middle row…which meant in the Tarago the kids were unable to access the seatbelt plug ins, and we couldn’t fold the side seat up so we could access the back seats…grr…seats way too narrow in the Tarago.
We just looked at the Imax yesterday, but unimpressed with the lack of cruise control, and the fact you cannot remove any seats…which are both features we love in our Carnival….looks like we’ll be getting ourselves into a Grand Carnival….
Sorry to hear you had such a crummy experience Kate

By: kate

kate — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 08:04:14 +0000

My Kia disaster story
• 2005 kia carnival brought may 2006 with 11 000km on the clock
• 94000 kms just stopped whilst driving it no warning, no noises nothing.
• Cam shaft seized
• Timing belt thrown
• One head damaged by the above
• Opposite side bottom end pistons burnt and overheated
• Little or no oil and water to one side of engine due to carbonization blockages caused by poor quality rings
• Mechanic advised not worth repairing engine is a write off
• Unable to purchase new motor, have to purchase second hand motor and rebuild $8000 plus!
• Financially unviable to repair.
• Was worth $12 000 to $16 000 now worth NIL
• Left owing money and no car
The car dealer we brought it from said too bad out of warranty 3 years!
Kia said if it had done under 90 000 kms they may have covered parts only.
I just got offered a $1.00 for it!

By: Repeat Carnival owner

Repeat Carnival owner — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:06:11 +0000

Hey Salesman,

What 5 year warranty? We only got 3 years…..

By: Repeat Carnival owner

Repeat Carnival owner — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:55:29 +0000

Hi.

After much consideration, we purchased another kia carnival 2 years ago. We previously had a 2005 kia (no major probs) and moved on to the 2007 kia grand carnival premium. While the warranty guy and i are on a first name basis, we have not had major mechanical issues and they are more than happy to accomadate my whining! Seems we have an issue with the plastics…..

It is cheap to run. It does have a large fuel tank but that is great for road trips. It tows better than our dual cab and overtakes like a fine tuned machine!

The lack of safe seat belts is very dissapointing and definately something we are looking at when replacing it…hopefully kia bring out a 2010 model with adequete seat belts.

Bottom line is that this car is great bang for your buck, the most spacious 8 seater out there, and handles really well. The safety features are great, i would not buy the standard model however due to its lack of. This car has done a fair amount of driving, both long distances and heaps of winding roads. The power of it is suprising and i feel safe driving it.

By: Carnival Lover

Carnival Lover — Tue, 19 May 2009 11:05:28 +0000

I purchased a tennis open car (Dec 2006) model in May The power of this car and the simple luxury of it is fantastic. If ever anyone asks me about it, I rave about it. Absolutely love it. I cant really think of anything that I dont like about it. Even down to not allowing the sliding door to completely open when you have the fuel lid open. Safety!!!

By: Safety Dad

Safety Dad — Tue, 12 May 2009 04:46:29 +0000

I purchased a Kia Grand Carnival Premium in January this year (2009). I was apprehensive at first with the carnival due to its bad reliabilty reputation between 2000 and 2006. However, the EX model is a completely different beast to any previous models KIA made. I can not believe how much room is in this People Mover and the trimings are first class. The 3.8 Ltr engine is thirsty around town but certainy powerful enough to drive like a sports car. The ABS and STD traction control are brilliant inclusions which has already paid for itself after a “P” driver ran a red light infront of me recently. Under full brakes, the Carnival steered around two other cars and never lost any traction at all. The eight air bags also give confidence should the worst scenario ever happen. I take my hat off to KIA for this design..its the best people mover I have ever driven and well worth the $40,000.00 plus price tag.

Having said this, I do feel alot of sympathy for those people who purchased a pre 2006 Kia Carnival. Those vehicles were badly designed and made. It will take some time before KIA regains market confidence from those previous owners. It would be great if KIA compensated these owners with substantially discounted EX models which I’m, positive they would all be happy with…! :)

By: sam

sam — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:21:43 +0000

hi its me again (sam)sorry i didnt clarify that was a returne trip back to melbourne $480 in fuel….got an average of 620km per tank and thats using v power fuel from shell, i just traded in my 2000 model carnival for 09 grand premium carnival, i got 5 and a half grand for trading and paid 32k on top…. i love it…

By: The Salesman

The Salesman — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 04:09:21 +0000

Richard,
Kia Carnival is Australia’s number ONE selling people mover. All the effected Kia’s had the engines replaced or repaired even the cars that were out of warranty. The engine that had trouble was the Rover sourced 2.5 V6 quad cam engine (not Kia’s design)
Why pick on Kia? Ford just recalled Territory and Falcon for Brakes, as did Mitsubishi with the Lancer. Toyota re called 1.4 million Yaris. Re calls happen all the time, should we not buy any of those cars as well?

By: sam

sam — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 03:24:30 +0000

i had a 2000 model carnival….i drove it from melbourne to queensland gold coast,in that 2 weeks of driving and air con on all the way it only cost me $480 in petrol,i loved the feel of the car and the driving experience i just purchesed 09 crand carnival premium….im just a lucky one who had a trouble free kia i suppose and ohh yes the kia did have 156,000km on it….thank you kia….

By: sam

sam — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 03:23:38 +0000

By: Richard

Richard — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 08:16:21 +0000

DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES BY THIS CAR!!!
Just do a google on Kia Carnival engine failure & find out for yourselves what a disaster these cars are. And if you already are unfortunate enough to own one – check out the class actions that must soon hit the courts and see justice done to the criminals at Kia for producing what must rate as one of the worst cars ever made

By: zoe Hellar

zoe Hellar — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 10:46:23 +0000

I have been able to negotiate a price of $41,000 drive away for a Carnival Premium

By: Nobby

Nobby — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:43:14 +0000

Got 22.5% off the on road price of my last purchase at Kia(Brand new 2005 LS Carnival).

Just about to start negotiating a price for a brand new Grand Carnival Premium. (RRP $44890+on roads with some dealers offering $42990 Driveaway)

Any ideas what the cheapest price one could expect on this?

By: agusachmadi

agusachmadi — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:44:22 +0000

I look forward to hearing that KIA Carnival Factory.