Kia Gets Pinched By New Lawsuit Over Faulty Carnival Sliding Doors

by Carl Malek | October 28, 2024

Kia gets pinched by a new lawsuit from Carnival owners over faulty sliding doors who say original recall didn’t fix the problem and that Kia breached its warranty agreements with owners.

Kia is potentially facing a new class action lawsuit over faulty sliding doors.

Kia’s Carnival minivan was meant to appeal to young family buyers looking for a versatile family hauler that could haul the kids and cargo while still being loaded to the gills with technology. That includes automatic sliding doors that were meant to help occupants easily open them if their hands were full of cargo. This feature has worked well in some of its rivals, but in the case of the Carnival, this ease of use has transformed into a potentially dangerous situation with the doors having faulty pinch sensors.

These faulty sensors have led to several injuries and are now part of a new class-action lawsuit Carnival owners have launched against the company over the defective doors and Kia allegedly not fixing the problem properly in the first place.

Lawsuit stems from prior recall

The lawsuit says that Kia failed to fix the pinch sensors on over 51,000 2022 and 2023 model Carnivals.

The lawsuit in question focuses on Carnivals from the 2022 and 2023 model years which were the subject of a recall that focused on a defective pinch sensor that’s found along a rubber seal placed on the edges of the doors. The sensors are supposed to detect obstacles in the way of the door and prevent the door from sliding fully closed. The lawsuit says that the Carnival’s pinch sensors have a built-in fault and that the only way occupants are able to stop the doors from fully closing is by forcefully pressing on the pinch sensor itself.

This dangerous tendency prompted Kia to issue a recall in April of 2023 which involved over 51,000 Carnivals. However, the class action lawsuit claims that the recall didn’t fix the problem itself and instead put a figurative band-aid on the issue with the fix updating the software to close the door slower while also adding in warning chimes but without fixing the sensor itself. Kia said it received 9 reports of injuries with two of them involving a fractured thumb and a broken arm after the door was closed on it. The lawsuit goes on claiming that many customers would’ve either not purchased a Carnival if they knew about the potentially dangerous safety issue or paid substantially less for one.

Kia remains silent

Kia said 9 injuries were attributed to the problem but its quick fix could implode into a costly court battle.

Kia for its part is remaining silent on the matter but it might have to change its tune in the near future due to other allegations in the lawsuit that were put in writing by the plaintiffs. A prominent one is that Kia not only breached the express warranty and the implied warranty but also committed fraud, unjust enrichment, and violations of the Maryland Consumer Protection Act.

With the class-action lawsuit now potentially entering a jury trial where damages, full coverage of legal fees, and interest are on the line. Kia’s attempt at a quick fix could implode into a costly legal nightmare for the brand if it’s forced to defend itself in a lengthy legal battle in the courtroom.