Should I buy a Kia Carnival or Hyundai Staria people mover?
QUESTION
Hi John,
I have been enjoying your YouTube videos for some time now and it was you who turned me from a Palisade or similar to a Carnival in our calculations for our next car.
We are a family of 5 (3 boys - 15 and twin 12 year olds), all quite tall, and are growing out of our 2015 Pathfinder (ST-L). We are test driving a Carnival Platinum Diesel tomorrow (Sunday, 3 July) but I can't identify another car that suits our needs - we are in Sydney and have family in country NSW so need something spacious for those long drives.
As such, I think it is a done deal. I am fighting my inner needs to be on the bleeding edge and so am trying to talk myself out of worrying about the "missing" features - digital dash, auto wipers, blind-spot cam (anything else I'm missing?).
But am not sure how far away these will be included in stock rolling off the line in Korea. CarExpert.com.au claims (https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-news/kia-carnival-missing-features-coming-for-2023-no-local-steering-tune) that these will be in stock rolling out soonish.
What are your learned thoughts on the matter - balancing the actual need for these features and possible influence on resale value (if any)? Nonetheless, I am looking to save money on the purchase of a Carnival Platinum - with roof racks and tow kit added, preferably in black but am happy with the grey options Kia has.
I hope you are dry and avoiding the worst of the current rain bomb.
Happy to chat at a time that is convenient.
Cheers,
Andrew
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ANSWER
Hello Andrew,
Mate, I’d say the Kia Carnival (my Love/Hate Report here >>) is more or less a direct competitor of the Hyundai Staria (full review here >>). Although, the Staria is hideous to look at (if that’s something that matters to you - it shouldn’t, but it might).
Staria does have some AWD variants, however (because it’s made on the Santa Fe platform.) Staria is also a marginally bigger vehicle than Carnival, because it’s also the Staria-Load light-commercial van. If your kids are huge - and if you can motivate them - get them to actually walk in and out of both vehicles at the dealership. Carnival review & buyer’s guide here >>
Staria doesn’t get the walk-through ability like Carnival, but it sounds like you need all available seats on your long trips. Carnival can offer a completely flat floor, whereas Staria’s bench seats fold and slide forward with a slightly higher roof line - and a bigger tailgate aperture for getting bulky stuff in/out.
Towing in Carnival and Staria are line-ball, but it’s 2500kg max on Staria (but not recommended) with a 100kg towball download limit (which is a bit weak), versus 2000kg on Carnival (more appropriate) with a 200kg download limit (sensible). Both are strictly light-towing platforms at best.
On the Carnival’s absence of digital dash - who cares? The dash’s function is to convey salient driving information. The dash in the Carnival works just fine. Better than Staria’s.
Blind spots only exist if you adjust the mirrors wrong. (Too far in. Pro tip: if you can see the side of the car, they’re too far in.) As such, blind spot monitoring systems are hilariously redundant.
Auto wipers: Pretty first world problem (having to flick a switch when it rains.) And besides, you’ll always be a better judge of the rain’s ferocity than the car because you have eyes.
Steering tune: It steers quite okay, to me. I’ve driven a Carnival several times. In the context of being a people mover, it seems to me to steer just fine.
This is unlikely to affect resale value in any salient way. If they do a mid-life model upgrade and add features, it’ll be just like every other car on earth, at the middle of its lifecycle.
Hope this helps you make an informed choice - and congratulations on logically and rationally choosing a vehicle to suit your needs, instead of just defaulting to a seven-seat SUV without thinking it through.
Regards,
John Cadogan