Where each one leads
Kia Carnival
- Against cars of the same year, the Kia Carnival comes out better in New York safety inspections (fails 2% less often than average) than the Toyota Sienna (fails 83% more often than average).
Toyota Sienna
- On Canada's official test the most frugal 2026 Toyota Sienna uses 6.6 l/100 km, the 2026 Kia Carnival 11.3.
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
| Kia Carnival | Toyota Sienna | |
|---|---|---|
| Model years in the US safety record | 1998–2026 | 1996–2020 |
| New cars registered in Europe | 2,339 (2010–2021) | — |
| 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
| Kia Carnival | Toyota Sienna | |
|---|---|---|
| New York safety inspections failed | 0.5% | 3.1% |
| … against cars of the same year | −2% | +83% |
| US owner complaints | 417 | 8,552 |
| Most complaints about | Electrical system | Structure |
| Model year with most complaints | 2022 (136) | 2004 (2,062) |
| US recall campaigns | 7 | 50 |
| Manufacturer service bulletins | 152 | 5,314 |
| NHTSA defect investigations | 1 | 32 |
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
| Kia Carnival | Toyota Sienna | |
|---|---|---|
| NHTSA overall rating | 5★ (2027) | 5★ (2020) |
NHTSA New Car Assessment Program, most recent rated model year (public domain).
Fuel, emissions and price
| Kia Carnival | Toyota Sienna | |
|---|---|---|
| Official combined fuel use, Canada | 11.3 l/100 km (2026) | 6.6 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).