Kia recalls Carnival over faulty power sliding door

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When reviewing family-friendly vehicles, it’s hard not to be nit-picky when it comes to, well, family-friendly features, especially when it comes to one of the best selling points on a minivan — sliding doors. As such, it’s disappointing to hear that Kia is recalling all of its 2022 and some 2023 Carnival minivans due to potentially faulty power sliding doors that don’t always retract when there’s an obstruction.

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The sliding door should reverse directions if it comes into contact with something blocking it from closing, but according to some complaints, the Kia Carnival doesn’t always do that. In one instance, it lead to a broken arm. Kia claims the mechanics of the sliding door are all legal and within “minivan-segment” requirements, seemingly suggesting the problem is how owners are using it. As early as 2021, Kia began getting complaints about the door and went as far as testing, via a third-party firm, with a prosthetic child’s arm to review the issue. Testing showed nothing out of the ordinary when compared to sliding doors of its competitors.

Regardless, in the U.S., 51,568 units are being recalled and a new software for the door’s control module will be implemented at the dealership.

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Update: According to Transport Canada, there are 5,823 units affected in Canada. It can be found under the TC recall no. 2023-182.

Kia is also dealing with another recall in the U.S., and while it doesn’t affect quite as many vehicles, this time it’s a potentially fire-starting green problem. Earlier models of the Kia Soul EV are being recalled due to a potential electric short circuit in the battery pack. The affected U.S. vehicles include 2,689 Kia Soul EVs from model years 2015-2019 with the E400 high-voltage battery pack.

Update: In Canada, the recall affects 2,176 vehicles and can be found under the TC recall no. 2023-181.

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While Kia says the exact reason is still unknown, it thinks it has something to do with “abnormally excessive precipitate within the battery cells.” Some early indicators of this potential problem include not charging completely, as well as a sudden loss of range or range fluctuation. Owners experiencing these issues are asked to take their vehicle to the dealership to be assessed, where batteries will be replaced, if required, free of charge.

Kia’s recall number for the Carnival is SC266, the campaign number on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration‘s (NHTSA) website is 23V236000. Kia’s recall number for the Soul EV is SC267, the campaign number on the NHTSA’s website is 23V218000.