Where each one leads
Honda Odyssey
- Against cars of the same year, the Honda Odyssey comes out better in New York safety inspections (fails 11% less often than average) than the Kia Carnival (fails 2% less often than average).
- On Canada's official test the most frugal 2026 Honda Odyssey uses 10.6 l/100 km, the 2026 Kia Carnival 11.3.
Kia Carnival
Ahead on none of the like-for-like measures.
Too close to call: NHTSA overall safety rating.
Only measures that do not depend on how many cars were sold: pass and failure rates against cars of the same age, ratings, fuel use and CO₂. How we compare
At a glance
| Honda Odyssey | Kia Carnival | |
|---|---|---|
| Model years in the US safety record | 1990–2026 | 1998–2026 |
| New cars registered in Europe | — | 2,339 (2010–2021) |
| Licensed in the United Kingdom | 283 | — |
| In traffic in Finland | — | 135 |
EEA new-car registrations (CC BY 4.0) · DVLA licensed vehicles (OGL v3.0) · RDW (CC0) · Traficom (CC BY 4.0) · generations: Wikidata (CC0).
Reliability and problems
| Honda Odyssey | Kia Carnival | |
|---|---|---|
| New York safety inspections failed | 1.6% | 0.5% |
| … against cars of the same year | −11% | −2% |
| US owner complaints | 12,846 | 417 |
| Most complaints about | Power train | Electrical system |
| Model year with most complaints | 2018 (1,007) | 2022 (136) |
| US recall campaigns | 82 | 7 |
| Manufacturer service bulletins | 4,133 | 152 |
| NHTSA defect investigations | 57 | 1 |
Complaint, recall and bulletin counts grow with the number of cars sold and are not adjusted for it. UK MOT: DVSA anonymised MOT results (OGL v3.0); New York: DMV inspections; complaints, recalls, bulletins and investigations: NHTSA (public domain); odometer: RDW (CC0).
Safety
| Honda Odyssey | Kia Carnival | |
|---|---|---|
| NHTSA overall rating | 5★ (2027) | 5★ (2027) |
NHTSA New Car Assessment Program, most recent rated model year (public domain).
Fuel, emissions and price
| Honda Odyssey | Kia Carnival | |
|---|---|---|
| Official combined fuel use, Canada | 10.6 l/100 km (2026) | 11.3 l/100 km (2026) |
| Official CO₂ of new cars in Europe | — | 306 g/km |
| Average power of new cars in Europe | — | 192 kW (257 hp) |
| Average mass in running order | — | 2,194 kg |
| Average odometer in Finland | — | 261,000 km |
Canada: NRCan Fuel Consumption Ratings, most frugal version of the latest year (OGL Canada). Europe: EEA monitoring of new-car CO₂ and on-board fuel meters (OBFCM), CC BY 4.0. Price: RDW catalogue price (CC0). Finland: Traficom (CC BY 4.0).