Perfect car for our vacation and easy communication. Thank you so much.!

Thank you! We had a great trip.

Excellent experience overall!

Rating my trip is difficult,
because it ended up being somewhat stressful due to the fact that we lost use of the vehicle for one day under unfortunate circumstances.
The pick-up of the vehicle on January 25th went well and communication was clear.
We drove the vehicle for one day without any issues. We didn’t use the car for a few days after that, as we didn’t leave the resort.
On January 30 we had an early snorkel trip planned, leaving at approximately 6:30 am. We arrived at the car, and were unable to unlock the doors using the key FOB. Upon a little investigation, the most likely culprit was a dead battery. (My career is in the automotive supply business, so I am reasonably proficient in automobile operation and function). The key FOB would light up, but none of the exterior lights would function. We searched online for the location of the manual key, to learn that it was not supplied to us by the owner. (It is a separate key, not located inside of the key FOB). At this point I messaged the owner to ask if the manual key was available or if he had any tips to try. Forty five minutes later (after we had called off our morning trip) he replied by asking “Did you make the key FOB wet?”. The answer was no --- as our only trip with the car had been to Target. He proceeded to say he unlocked it remotely, which he did not, because the car battery was dead. I told him it did not work. He said “OK, looks like the car battery.” I agreed, and we ended up having a telephone call.
I asked if the manual key was hidden on the car so we could jump start the car. He said “I have many Kia cars in my fleet, and I don’t even know which one it might be, or if I even have one.” He also stated that he believed that jump starting was a “temporary fix”, and he would rather come out and replace the battery which was about a 45 minute drive to our resort. I told him that was his choice, and he said he would be out within a couple hours. I received a message at approximately 12:00 noon saying the vehicle was fixed, and he had replaced the car battery. I thanked him for his help.

On February 1st, I asked the owner if he would consider a discount for the day we missed due to the car being inoperable. He proceeded to send me pictures of his receipt from Costco for the car battery, and an invoice from the locksmith to open the car. He also sent a picture of the headlight switch which he claims was left in the “park” position. He also claimed that the key FOB was inoperable and he would get a quote from Kia to replace it.
My response to the above:
I consulted with my group. There is no way we walked away from the vehicle in the dark, with exterior lights on. (even if we did the vehicle’s control module would shut the lights off after a preset time.)
I hope that he wasn’t suggesting that I pay these costs, as it was his responsibility to provide a key to open the car, and my original remedy was to jump start the car before replacing the battery.
We had two drivers, and we both used the key FOB normally up until we dropped off the vehicle, and we both agreed that there was no damage to the key FOB.
He said I could Venmo, Zelle, Paypal or send a cheque to replace the key FOB. I asked for photos of the damaged key FOB, which to this point he has not provided.
There are multiple complaints that appear online related to parasitic battery drain on the 2025 Kia Carnival.

This is the exact sequence of events that transpired with this trip. Obviously, I do not know how the owner will rate our trip, or if he will pursue any damages, so it is quite difficult to provide a proper review.

Regards,

Tim Dunkley
Northland Automotive
Fort St. James, BC Canada

Awesome car - very clean