Kia’s replacement for the Sedona, the new-for-2022 Carnival, is the South Korean brand’s latest and greatest minivan. Well—sorry, Kia says it’s, um, a multi-purpose vehicle, on account of its SUV-like styling. Hey, the schtick gives the Carnival handsome proportions, a strong presence, and might actually tempt some buyers away from the sport-utes that have been dominating sale charts—not to mention the roads—lately. But if buyers want to get into this new most-handsome of MPVs, they’re going to need to fork over at least $33,275 to do it.
That’s how much Kia wants for a base Carnival LX, and there is a $2,000 premium for LX models with the “seating package,” an option that replaces the middle bench with two captain’s chairs.
For those curious, the Carnival’s starting price is $1,700 higher than last year’s bog-standard Sedona, but the new model includes plenty of goodies for the extra cash. There are 12 standard active driver assist features on the Carnival (including blind-spot monitoring), a maximum of 145 cubic feet of cargo room (on LX, EX and SX models with all rows of seats dropped), and room for up to eight passengers (with those seats up).
Kia’s 290-hp, 262-lb-ft 3.5-liter V-6 is standard across all trims. It routes power through an eight-speed automatic to the front wheels alone. That’s right, the SUV-adjacent Carnival won’t have all-wheel-drive, despite the fact that its rivals from Toyota (Sienna) and Chrysler (Pacifica) both offer the option. We don’t often think of minivans as go-anywhere, do-anything ready machines, but there is something to be said about the traction benefits of AWD in locales with temperamental climates—so, anyplace with snow.
Next up the Carnival ladder is the EX trim, which starts at $38,775 and gets standard niceties such as tri-zone automatic climate control, a 12.3-inch infotainment display in place of the LX’s 8.0-inch unit, and a power-operated tailgate.
Carnival SX models are priced from $42,275 and stir everything from the EX in with luxury touches such as heated and ventilated front seats, a dual-screen rear-seat entertainment setup to keep the kiddos occupied on longer trips, a surround-view parking camera, and a parking collision avoidance system.
The cream of the crop Carnival SX Prestige models get all of the good stuff. If there’s an option for the Carnival, this bad boy’s got it as standard. That means a 12-speaker Bose sound system, 12.3-inch digital driver’s display, dual LED headlights, and pure leather seat trim are all standard. All that fancy kit doesn’t come cheap, and SX Prestige Carnivals start at a heft $47,275. That might be a pretty big check to write, but you are getting one handsome and seriously well-equipped people mover that stands out in the minivan segment, regardless of what Kia says you should call it.
2022 Kia Carnival Pricing:
- Carnival LX: $33,275
- Carnival EX: $38,775
- Carnival SX: $42,275
- Carnival SX Prestige: $47,275
