Kia Carnival buyer’s guide

The Kia Carnival has been a major success for the brand for several years, ranking as its second-best seller so far this year only behind the medium SUV Sportage. 

It is consistently the segment leader, posting results well ahead of all of its competitors – the next best-seller is the Hyundai Staria, trailing by 93 sales in 2025 so far compared to the Carnival’s 464.

Like what you see? Here's everything you need to know to buy the Kia Carnival that is right for you!

There are 11 variants in total of the Kia Carnival – five of which are petrol and five that are diesel, plus one hybrid.

The range starts at $50,150 for the 3.5-litre S Petrol Carnival, running through to the 2.2-litre GT-Line Diesel priced at $72,910, both of which come with front-wheel drive. At the top of the line-up now is the GT-Line Hybrid, which costs $76,210. All prices exclude on-road costs.

All variants were eligible for this category's price cap.

The entry-level Kia Carnival comes with features such as eight seats, a 12.3-inch infotainment screen with both wired and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, the Kia Connect app, an eight-speaker sound system, four USB ports and nine cupholders.

The Kia Carnival is supported by Kia's seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.

There are seven colours available for the leading people-mover, five of which are available from the entry-level grade.

For the S Petrol and Sport Petrol models, as well as the S Diesel and Sport Diesel, you can choose between Ceramic Grey, Astra Blue, Flare Red, Panthera Metal (dark grey), and Snow White Pearl. The Sport + and GT-Line variants in petrol, diesel or hybrid add Deep Chroma Blue and Aurora Black Pearl. Only Ceramic Grey is free of charge, with the others costing an extra $700.

There is just one interior design choice, which is a combination of Black and Taupe.

The Drive judges recommend the Kia Carnival GT-Line Hybrid, which starts at $76,210 plus on-roads. This model combines a 1.6-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder with an electric motor and six-speed automatic transmission making 180kW and 366Nm.

To give the school run a bit of flair, we recommend adding the Chroma Blue paint for $700.

That brings the total to $76,910 before on-roads.

There are currently 140 Kia dealers across Australia.

If you can be flexible on colours, then stock levels are healthy across the country for the Kia Carnival GT-Line Hybrid. Kia has told Drive that new orders can be fulfilled within three to four months.

You can find plenty of new and used Kia vehicles available now from dealers around Australia on Drive Marketplace.

Stay up to date with the latest Kia Carnival news here.

A born-and-bred newshound, Kathryn has worked her way up through the ranks reporting for, and later editing, two renowned UK regional newspapers and websites, before moving on to join the digital newsdesk of one of the world’s most popular newspapers – The Sun. More recently, she’s done a short stint in PR in the not-for-profit sector, and led the news team at Wheels Media.

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