Compare the2022 Buick EnclaveVS 2022 Kia Carnival

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Environmental Friendliness
Transmission
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the Buick Enclave’s middle seat shoulder belts have child comfort guides to move the belt to properly fit children. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages children to buckle up. The Kia Carnival doesn’t offer comfort guides on its middle seat belts.

The Enclave has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Carnival doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

The Enclave offers all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Carnival doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.

The Enclave has standard OnStar®, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to get turn-by-turn driving directions, remotely unlock your doors if you lock your keys in, help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Carnival doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.

Both the Enclave and the Carnival have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and available around view monitors.

Warranty

The Enclave’s corrosion warranty is 1 year longer than the Carnival’s (6/100,000 vs. 5/100,000).

There are almost 3 times as many Buick dealers as there are Kia dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Enclave’s warranty.

Reliability

To reliably start during all conditions and help handle large electrical loads, the Enclave has a 730-amp battery. The Carnival only offers a standard 660-amp battery.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2021 Auto Issue reports that Buick vehicles are more reliable than Kia vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Buick fourth in overall reliability. Kia is ranked 15th.

Engine

The Enclave’s 3.6 DOHC V6 produces 20 more horsepower (310 vs. 290) and 4 lbs.-ft. more torque (266 vs. 262) than the Carnival’s 3.5 DOHC V6.

As tested in Consumer Reports the Buick Enclave is faster than the Kia Carnival:

	Enclave	Carnival
Zero to 30 MPH	3.1 sec	3.4 sec
Zero to 60 MPH	7.4 sec	8.4 sec
Quarter Mile	15.8 sec	16.5 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	92 MPH	90 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

In heavy traffic or at stop lights the Enclave’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. The engine is automatically restarted when the driver gets ready to move again. If the conditions warrant or the driver wishes, the system can be manually disabled at any time for the duration of a trip. The Carnival doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

The Enclave AWD’s standard fuel tank has 2.7 gallons more fuel capacity than the Carnival (21.7 vs. 19 gallons).

The Enclave has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Carnival doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

Environmental Friendliness

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Buick Enclave higher (6 out of 10) than the Kia Carnival (5). This means the Enclave produces up to 6.9 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Carnival every 15,000 miles.

Transmission

A nine-speed automatic is standard on the Buick Enclave, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only an eight-speed automatic is available for the Carnival.

Brakes and Stopping

The Enclave’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs on the Carnival are solid, not vented.

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Enclave has larger tires than the Carnival (255/65R18 vs. 235/65R17).

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Enclave has standard 18-inch wheels. Smaller 17-inch wheels are standard on the Carnival LX. The Enclave’s optional 20-inch wheels are larger than the 19-inch wheels on the Carnival EX/SX/Prestige.

The Buick Enclave’s wheels have 6 lugs for longer wheel bearing life, less chance of rotor warping and greater strength. The Kia Carnival only has 5 wheel lugs per wheel.

The Enclave has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The Carnival doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

Suspension and Handling

The Enclave offers an available driver-adjustable suspension system. It allows the driver to choose between an extra-supple ride, reducing fatigue on long trips, or a sport setting, which allows maximum control for tricky roads or off-road. The Carnival’s suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

Chassis

For excellent aerodynamics, the Enclave has standard flush composite headlights. The Carnival has recessed headlights that spoil its aerodynamic shape and create extra drag.

The front grille of the Enclave uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Carnival doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Enclave uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Carnival doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

Passenger Space

The Enclave has 1.7 inches more front headroom, .1 inches more front legroom and .4 inches more rear headroom than the Carnival.

Cargo Capacity

Pressing a button automatically lowers or raises the Enclave Premium/Avenir’s third row seats, to make changing between cargo and passengers easier. The Carnival doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

Towing

Maximum trailer towing in the Kia Carnival is limited to 3500 pounds. The Enclave offers up to a 5000 lbs. towing capacity.

Servicing Ease

The Enclave uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Carnival uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

J.D. Power and Associates surveys of service recipients show that Buick service is better than Kia. J.D. Power ranks Buick fifth in service department satisfaction. With a 38% lower rating, Kia is ranked 26th.

Ergonomics

The Enclave has a standard remote vehicle starting system, so the vehicle can be started from inside the driver's house. This allows the driver to comfortably warm up the engine before going out to the vehicle. The climate system will also automatically heat or cool the interior. The Carnival doesn’t offer a remote starting system.

The Enclave Premium/Avenir has a standard heads-up display that projects speed and tachometer readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Carnival doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Enclave’s front and rear power windows all lower with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside of the car. The Carnival’s standard power windows’ passenger windows don’t open automatically.

If the windows are left open on the Enclave the driver can close them all from a distance using the remote. On a hot day the driver can also lower the windows the same way. The driver of the Carnival can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Enclave’s available exterior PIN entry system. The Carnival doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system.

The Enclave Avenir’s standard wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically according to the amount of rainfall on the windshield. The Carnival’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

Consumer Reports rated the Enclave’s headlight performance “Very Good,” a higher rating than the Carnival’s headlights, which were rated “Fair.”

The Enclave’s standard rear and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Carnival offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

The Enclave has a standard heated steering wheel to take the chill out of steering on extremely cold winter days before the vehicle heater warms up. A heated steering wheel is only available on the Carnival Prestige.

The Enclave Premium/Avenir has standard massaging front seats in order to maximize comfort and eliminate fatigue on long trips. Massaging seats aren’t available in the Carnival.

The Enclave has a standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. Dual zone air conditioning is only available on the Carnival EX/SX/Prestige.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Buick Enclave has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. Only the Carnival EX/SX/Prestige offers wireless charging.

Recommendations

The Buick Enclave outsold the Kia Carnival/Sedona by almost two to one during the 2021 model year.