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Minivan vs 3 row SUV - why are minivans looked down upon?


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2 hours ago, rperez817 said:

 

Kia Carnival? It acts like a minivan and does so very well, despite Kia Motors America's attempts to confuse U.S. customers with the term "MPV".

 

You were the one saying it was terrible because how they marketed it.

 

Nobody is fooled or "confused" by it being called "MPV" - it's a minivan and everyone knows it.

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48 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

You were the one saying it was terrible because how they marketed it.

 

I said "Kia Carnival has a lot of substance", which the Cars.com and Motor Trend reviews confirmed. The product itself is very good, other than some ugly SUV like exterior styling elements. And Motor Trend doesn't seem to mind those elements, as they think Carnival's interior styling and quality is the best among all minivans.

 

What's terrible is "Kia’s smoke-and-mirrors attempt to call it anything other than a minivan" as Jennifer Geiger said. Kia Carnival customers who get past that nonsense should be very satisfied with the vehicle.

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  • 1 month later...
10 hours ago, LookingToBuyAFord said:

The Kia Carnival is about 10 inches wider than a Sienna/Odyssey, while this is good for interior/cargo room, it's bad for tight parking spaces.

 

What? The Sienna is 78.5 wide  and the Carnival is 79 inches wide. 

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7 minutes ago, silvrsvt said:

 

What? The Sienna is 78.5 wide  and the Carnival is 79 inches wide. 

 

Thank you silvrsvt sir. Here are the width measurements for current U.S. minivans.

  • Chrysler Pacifica/Voyager, 79.6 inches
  • Honda Odyssey, 78.5 inches
  • Kia Carnival, 78.5 inches
  • Toyota Sienna, 78.5 inches
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11 hours ago, LookingToBuyAFord said:

The Kia Carnival is about 10 inches wider than a Sienna/Odyssey, while this is good for interior/cargo room, it's bad for tight parking spaces.

 

Hi LookingToBuyAFord sir, I see where the discrepancy may have come from. Kia does mention a measurement of 89.2 inches for width of Carnival minivan. I double checked this on the Kia media site and found that the 89.2" number is for width with side mirrors extended. Not including the side mirrors, the width measurement is listed as 78.5". 2022 Kia Carnival Specifications (kiamedia.com)

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On 6/12/2021 at 1:47 PM, rperez817 said:

 

I said "Kia Carnival has a lot of substance", which the Cars.com and Motor Trend reviews confirmed. The product itself is very good, other than some ugly SUV like exterior styling elements. And Motor Trend doesn't seem to mind those elements, as they think Carnival's interior styling and quality is the best among all minivans.

 

What's terrible is "Kia’s smoke-and-mirrors attempt to call it anything other than a minivan" as Jennifer Geiger said. Kia Carnival customers who get past that nonsense should be very satisfied with the vehicle.

 

The big problem up North with Carnival is lack of AWD option. That covers lots of states with competition offering AWD.

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  • 2 weeks later...
9 hours ago, LookingToBuyAFord said:

FWD and a good set of snow tires are better than AWD without snows. AWD gives people a false sense of security.

 

You are correct LookingToBuyAFord sir. Same goes for RWD + good set of snow tires. Proper tires for the conditions make all the difference.

 

What's interesting is that AWD and 4WD was a common feature on minivans 30 years ago. All U.S. market minivans for 1991 model year except for the GM U-Body vans offered it (Chrysler T-115 vans, Ford Aerostar, Chevy Astro/GMC Safari, Toyota Previa, Mazda MPV, Volkswagen Vanagon T3)

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