The Kia Sedona/Carnival Thread [ARCHIVE]

**diesoline** · June 20th, 2007 10:44 PM

salonika, what are your geolandars? is it the H/T-S G051? (pics below)

**RonRuth Ventura** · June 21st, 2007 04:34 PM

Originally Posted by IJD180

Ive got a 2000 kia carnival A/t with 100,000kms on the clock. I owned it since brand new.

So far i have replaced/fixed the

rack ends 100,000 km
Shocks 95t km
brake pads every 20t km
brake overhaul 80t km
A/C evaporator replacement and A/C seals 70t km
Tires every 40t km
foglight bulbs
Engine belts 65tkm
Engine camcover seal 40tkms (warranty)
Busted alternator cable
Batteries every 18 months
broken rear door handle.

We've had our Carnival since 2000 also. We've encountered a lot of these problems, if not more, from the time our van hit it's 5th year. The problem with the door handles breaking, started even earlier--- I think sometime in it's 2nd or 3rd year, we've had to repeatedly fix this-- . Our Carnival is CASA maintained since day1.

The Kia Carnival has been quite a disappointment for us. Because of this, when we decided a few months ago to look for a new van... Korean vans were not even considered. We were "traumatized" with the amount of breakdowns and the costs incurred. We decided on a Toyota Super Grandia. Toyota parts are cheaper, and so far, we have been lucky with our 5 year old Altis (looks new pa), and our Fortuner. So far, no breakdowns yet--- so we're hoping for the same experience with the new van.

**diesoline** · June 23rd, 2007 05:13 PM

i think that the abovementioned repairs by IJD180 are just par for the course considering the mileage. i've had two toyota sedans before, and if you were to ask me, original pms parts for kia are cheaper than toyota's.

**diesoline** · June 23rd, 2007 05:18 PM

saw this on today's inquirer btw...

KIA SERVICE CLINIC
POWER & PERFORMANCE CHECK
Expert Diagnosis by Korean Engineer
Discounts on Parts, Labor, Engine Oil
June 25-26 * KIA Pasay
June 27-30 * KIA Pasig
June 02-07 * Kia Cebu

**RonRuth Ventura** · June 23rd, 2007 05:36 PM

Originally Posted by diesoline

i think that the abovementioned repairs by IJD180 are just par for the course considering the mileage. i've had two toyota sedans before, and if you were to ask me, original pms parts for kia are cheaper than toyota's.

Sorry--- our Altis is not 5 years old, it's 6--- we bought it a year after we bought the Carnival. I beg to disagree regarding Carnival parts being cheaper, but even if it is, withthe amount of parts being serviced--- mas mahal ang upkeep. With regards to mileage--- believe you me... mileage on both vehicles are not far, but repairs on the Kia far exceeds repairs on the Altis. i guess that is why resale value on the Carnival is horrible. The best offer I've had for the van (no nicks, or gasgas--- casa maintained vehicle) is P220,000. May nag tawad pa ng P175,000.

**ecport** · June 24th, 2007 12:15 AM

Originally Posted by RonRuth Ventura

Sorry--- our Altis is not 5 years old, it's 6--- we bought it a year after we bought the Carnival. I beg to disagree regarding Carnival parts being cheaper, but even if it is, withthe amount of parts being serviced--- mas mahal ang upkeep. With regards to mileage--- believe you me... mileage on both vehicles are not far, but repairs on the Kia far exceeds repairs on the Altis. i guess that is why resale value on the Carnival is horrible. The best offer I've had for the van (no nicks, or gasgas--- casa maintained vehicle) is P220,000. May nag tawad pa ng P175,000.

This sounds sooo familiar. I have the same story. I bought my carnival in 2001 and it has not been a pleasant experience. I finally replaced it this year with a Grandis. No more Korean cars or vans for me. The Carnival would be my first and last. Too many parts breaking down, too many repairs, too much trouble. Even the Speedometer/Odometer broke down at 20K Kms

! I bought a Cefiro in 2002 and it's been a great ride, with no major repairs. Just regular maintenance with the oil/filter/breakpads. Even the spark plugs are 5 years old. Original pa! False economy talaga yang Korean cars. With my experience Korean cars are cheap but require a fortune in maintenance . At the end you even get low resale value.

I hope the new Carnival will be much better. For me, I am staying away from Kia, even if Nadal beats Federer.

**dmopn** · June 26th, 2007 12:56 AM

Hi guys,
I finally finished reading all 89 pages of this thread and I have learned a lot from it. I hope this will continue.
My wife had her eyes on a carnival for a time now, and we found a 2001 LS TDIC M/T, local version. The asking price is 300T. Any comments on this?

**mikey177** · June 26th, 2007 09:39 AM

Welcome to the forum, dmopn.

I have no idea of the resale value of the 2001 Carnival, but you can compare prices with those that are listed in classified ads to see if you are getting a fair market price.

Of course, a reasonable price would also depend on the mileage and condition of the vehicle, among other things. I would personally prefer to look for a Gen 2 Carnival (2002 or up na model) as some of the problems encountered in the Gen 1 Carnival (e.g. oil pump chain breakage) have been addressed in the Gen 2, AFAIK.

**RonRuth Ventura** · June 26th, 2007 11:48 AM

Wow--- P300,000.00, pwede mo pang tawaran yan, I'd offer our van for a lesser price, but i want to spare you the headache we've had with his van-- I would advice you, though, to seek other alternatives to the Kia Carnival... why don't you try looking at the Sedona or other later models. Based on our experience with the 1st generation Carnival--- most of the problems popped up on it's 5th year. I read ecports post, and he reminded me also that out odometer has been broken for the past 3 years. It's forever stuck at 90---- oh well...

**altec** · June 26th, 2007 04:16 PM

gen 2 is much better than gen 1. Though gen 2 is also far from perfect. From my experience, the gen2 is durable, though still not at par with the japanese equivalent. However, its ride and diesel power leaves everybody in its class behind, significantly. Starex is still a much harder ride than the sedona, though in terms of engine power, it has caught up with its CRDi engine. But when it was still the old engine, yuck! Other minivans offer only gas variant, and unless you have deep pockets, ouch! That's why the diesel carnival/sedona also has its followings. Mind you, there are also horror stories I've heard with the adventure, crosswinds, Rav 4, Civic, and especially the CRDi Trooper.

Here is my latest findings, which is extensively discussed with diesoline over the phone just today. Since late last year, I was having problems with my battery, and have claimed it under warranty several times. This was when I replaced the oem rocket battery with a 3smf maintenance free battery with 15 months warranty. This was purchased April last year. By December 2006, I already had it replaced under warranty. However, the problem of early morning weak start persisted, and sometimes at night, pumupuyok ang bosch horns ko. By February, I had the alternator overhauled, sira daw ang IC, plus other parts. It came with 1 month warranty. In two weeks time, I sent it back. I sent it back another 2 times. By early June, I sent it back again. This time, they said sira ulit ang alternator. So they recommended changing it from 85amps to 110amps surplus. Ok. In 3 days time, discharged na naman. Sent it back. Sabi ng battery supplier, sira ang battery. So they lent me their service battery for the weekend. By Tuesday next week, I sent it back and they installed the old battery kasi di daw nagdiskarga over the weekend. After two days, kaput na naman. Maski yung battery supplier was confused. They agreed padala ko na lang sa casa, anyways I had to send the car to the CASA kasi umiilaw ang ABS ko, which I suspect was due to brake pad need to be replaced. Casa then told me that BOTH the battery and alternator were sira!! Casa told me that the existing battery of 3smf was undersized, as it is only 70-80 amps, while the oem battery is 100 amps. I called up Diesoline, who said that he is back to Rocket, coming from Motolite Excel (color green) as it was only 1,000 pesos premium. I asked him if he can check if the rocket is 3smf or 6smf. It doesn't say on the battery. So I went to Kia with my battery master list from the office. True, it doesn't say if its 3smf or 6 smf, and the casa advisor doesn't know also. When I measured the case, the rocket batter came out to be 330mm. From my master list, 3smf batteries are around 300mm, while 6smf is 400mm. 6smf is also called N100, and comes with 100amps, while 3smf is also called N70, but from the master list, it is generally around 70amps, with some high end battery at 80 amps. The highest N70 I saw was Outlast super premium, at 90 amps.

According to the casa, if your battery is undersized, the load that is sent from the alternator, pagpuno na daw yung battery kasi 70 amps capacity lang, it sends back the excess power back to the alternator, eventually causing the IC to break. Could it be true? Could it mean then that when I shifted to 110 amp alternator, in 3 days time, nasira rin siya?

When I called up diesoline about it, he then commented that when he was with Excel, he also damaged his alternator, also the IC!! And he said that may also be the case with Mikey!! I remember reading here somewhere someone who replaced the alternator to 110amps. Question, what's your battery???

The oem alternator is 19K less 20% at the casa. I am still looking for a replacement surplus alternator.