The 2026 Kia Carnival Hybrid has 1 NHTSA recall campaign affecting an estimated 42,677 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 19 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the power train. Last updated July 5, 2026.
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2025 Kia K4, 2025-2026 Sorento, Sorento Hybrid, Sorento Plug-In Hybrid Electric (PHEV), 2026 Sportage, Sportage Hybrid, Sportage PHEV, K5, EV9, Carnival, and Carnival Hybrid vehicles. Due to a software error, the instrument panel display may fail. As such, these vehicles…
Consequence
An instrument panel display that fails to show critical safety information, such as the speedometer, tire pressure, or warning lights, increases the risk of a crash.
Remedy
The instrument panel display software will be updated over-the-air (OTA) or by a dealer, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed March 26, 2026. Owners may contact Kia Customer Service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC361. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved…
Complaints by component
POWER TRAIN
4
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
3
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
3
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
2
ENGINE
2
BACK OVER PREVENTION: REARVIEW SYSTEM BRAKING
1
BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS
1
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
1
SERVICE BRAKES
1
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
1
Total complaints19
What owners report
Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal
information removed.
“I am reporting an intermittent but serious safety issue with my kia carnival involving the backup camera system. Since approximately may 2026, the rear backup camera has failed more than 10 times. When the issue occurs, the display will either: show a completely blank screen, flicker repeatedly,…”
“I am reporting an intermittent but serious safety issue with my kia carnival involving the backup camera system. Since approximately may 2026, the rear backup camera has failed more than 10 times. When the issue occurs, the display will either: show a completely blank screen, flicker repeatedly,…”
“I had pickup my vehicle from the dealership where it had been since the 29th of may due to a previous incident exactly the same as what occurred this time. The vehicle had been returned to me as the service department could find nothing wrong from the may 29th incident. On my way home from the…”
“I had pickup my vehicle from the dealership where it had been since the 29th of may due to a previous incident exactly the same as what occurred this time. The vehicle had been returned to me as the service department could find nothing wrong from the may 29th incident. On my way home from the…”
“While driving a brand new kia carnival hybrid (purchased yesterday), I experienced a severe, life-threatening powertrain acceleration lag from a rolling start. My children were in the car and this was very scary. When attempting to accelerate into oncoming traffic on a wet road surface, the…”
“While driving a brand new kia carnival hybrid (purchased yesterday), I experienced a severe, life-threatening powertrain acceleration lag from a rolling start. My children were in the car and this was very scary. When attempting to accelerate into oncoming traffic on a wet road surface, the…”
“While driving a brand new kia carnival hybrid (purchased yesterday), I experienced a severe, life-threatening powertrain acceleration lag from a rolling start. My children were in the car and this was very scary. When attempting to accelerate into oncoming traffic on a wet road surface, the…”
“We were driving on highway, approximately 2 miles from home, when we suddenly lost power to the drive train. Eventually it started moving again but after a short distance we again lost power to the drive train. It appeared that whenever it transferred from gasoline to hybrid or electric, we would…”
Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL,
FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 2026 Kia Carnival Hybrid as of
July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page
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