2000 Kia Carnival GS 2.9 turbo diesel
Summary:
Comfy, but Troublesome
Faults:
Some chain in the engine snapped off at 15K. This resulted in engine block damage and great vibration from the engine (it felt like I was driving a sluggish truck on rocky road). The dealer said that the some generations of the KIA Carnival had faulty units.
After the engine chain and all other damaged parts are replaced, the automatic transmission took turn to fail at the same distance (15K). The car simply did not want to move on any transmission position. Had to be replaced with a brand new transmission unit block under warranty. I wonder how much cost if the transmission failed by the time warranty was over. This replacement took the dealer more than 3 months to do so.
Parking brake has never done its job. It was simply just an interior decoration. The parking brake never break the car from moving even I pulled the lever hard up. The dealer said that there's a bad construction on the parking brake.
Oil leakages were everywhere. I mean everywhere, not only from engine, but also from power steering and brakes.
Power steering gave me a constant headache. I had to replace the power steering seals on every less than 20K. It seemed that the power steering could not handle the heavy KIA Carnival Turbo Diesel.
Once the turbo started to whistle, I could see nothing, but thick black smoke from my mirror.
The brake pads are worn out easily.
General Comments:
Apart from engine and suspension troubles, here are the good points of the car:
The cabin is very roomy and comfy.
The sound proof is really good.
The model of the car itself is good.
Very good car for long distance travel.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 6th November, 2006
21st Jan 2005, 03:02
On your noise in the exhaust pipe: is it a Carnival 2.9 Diesel you're driving? My 2000 Carnival broke down. Reason: oil came into the engine through the turbo. Normally this would burn, but not it it's too much. Closer examination at the mechanic showed that above 3000 rpm indeed oil would start leaking from tubes that would normsally enter the turbo. Could this be the cause of your afterburn? We're still looking for a solution: anyone?