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BHPian rrsteer recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
My Kia Carnival is now about 20 months old and has covered about 34.5k kms. I have had some great moments with the car and at the same time a lingering issue has put a dampener on my ownership experience.
In my opinion the killer attribute of this car is space combined with a fast engine and a well tuned auto transmission. If you need a car for highways and travel with family, look no further. This is the exact use case that I have for our Kia Carnival. From my mother, to my wife, to my two daughters, each one is a big fan of the car. The space on offer in all three rows and the interior ambience (much superior to the Toyotas) just elevates your road travel experience to a different level. It is now very hard for us to imagine doing a road journey in another car or perhaps even by any other means.
As a driver, I love the fast 200 bhp engine. It is also mated quite nicely to a competent 8 speed auto transmission. Overtaking or launching the car ahead at any given point of time is a non issue. The engine has proven to be quite frugal too. The average fuel consumption in my 20 month ownership period and over 34k kms is 12.75 kmpl - which is outstanding for a car of this size. Do bear in mind though, that this is for a use case where 90% of the driving is highway based. At the same time, a healthy percentage of these kilometres have been covered on hilly/mountainous roads.
Having said the above, I'm usually the driver, but whenever I switch places with my wife and sit in the middle row, I can't help but wonder how bad the suspension is. Whenever the car goes over a bump at some speed (happens frequently when my wife's driving), it feels like the Carnival doesn't have any shocks/struts. Back end is definitely tuned for a full load and gets a big thumbs down from me.
Apart from the bad suspension, I am also facing a strange issue ever since I bought the car. Early in the ownership (was <1000 kms then), I noticed that the outer 'line' that is part of the tread design of tyres was missing from the rear tyres compared to the front tyres. The dealership assured me there was nothing wrong and its just a case of misalignment. Since then, in a span of less than 30k kms I have had to change both the rear tyres twice - most recently at 29k kms. Once around 24k kms, while returning from Delhi it got dangerous, when one of the tyres lost its tread completely. The issue is still not resolved. The new tyres that I got at 29k kms have again lost that 'outside line'. Kia is in cognizance of the issue and is working with the dealership to resolve it. But overall, I will rate the support provided so far as poor. Interestingly, I have spotted the missing line in many Carnivals, but have found no mention of it anywhere.
Adding an assortment of pictures of the car:

I am a fan of vans, and I think the Carnival is handsome looking from the front.

The seat looks inviting but mind the not so good ride.

So what if its a minivan, it hasn't stopped me from taking it off the road.

Resting at Sonmarg soon after visiting the tamed ZojiLa.

Name another car that can carry two full size bikes inside while seating five passengers.

The outstanding mileage over the 20 month ownership period.

In the most recent tank fill yesterday I noted a fuel mileage of 14.5kmpl. It involved a trip to Delhi but also included atleast 60-70 kms of driving inside Delhi with very dense traffic.

The Achilles' heel - literally - the missing outer tread line in what is a new tyre hardly run 5k kms.

The instance where I lost all tread in the rear tyre while on the highway at night.
Net-Net, I feel its a good to a very good car, but could have been a great one!
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