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Kia Sedona problems
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"I have an EX-2002 Sedona , two tone black and silver. I purchased the mud-flaps and was going to install them myself, but they do not appear to fit. The dealer tells me that they gave me the right part number and checked it twice, but the flaps indicate that they are for the RIO (maybe the same part #). They are part #'s KL000-51-840 and KL000-51-870. On the two tone the front appears to have molded mud-flap as part of the side and there does not appear to be a place for the mud-flap and neither part seems to fit the back.
Anyone else had this problem or have advice regarding this problem?"
Steve, Host
Dealerships have trouble keeping good mechanics. Maybe that is the case here, of one who just plugs in the computer and thinks it will solve it for him. I think I'd ask to talk to the service manager. I've found that if you treat them the way you wish to be treated, they generally reciprocate.
P.S. I live on long island N.Y. and we just had a snow storm. While driving home from work the windshield developed a crack from the bottom center running up and curving towards the drivers side about seven inches. There is no evidence that anything hit the glass! It's starts from below the rubber molding and goes up. Thought I'd tell everyone before I call the dealer.
Good luck.
I have the Kuhmo 798 tires with 22000 miles on them and they preformed very well during this storm. Havent had any probblem with them loosing air. Also I just bought the service manual from Helms. [ printed in Korea ] It has a lot of information in it but also leaves a lot out. I also want to get the electrical manual but it,s out of stock at this time.
2nd- also when using rear heat or air, the temp. selector is usless. either HOT AIR comes out the floor vents when r.heater button is pressed or when r.heater button is not pressed(using the A.C. mode)the only option i have is COLD AIR out of the upper vents. so basically when you get the temp. where you want it you have to turn the rear air off or it will get to hot or to cold. POOR DESIGN
is this common among other owners?
I will try to remember to check and see what type of air our Sedona pumps out of the various vents when the selector is in the 'foot' position. Cold air out of the defrost vents does not sound like a good design choice, but I haven't noticed that yet.
I think your Sedona needs a trip to the dealer. Our '02 EX does not behave as you've described...
Is this normal operation?
I also have trouble with my transmission. Most o the time it is fine, but often it will take a long time to change gears or even switch into another gear. I keep getting told nothing is wrong though it did greatly improve when the dealership replaced the PCM.
Steve, Host
There is no outside inlet air intake in the rear heat exchanger area to modify the rear temperature. The temperature control on the dash controls the damper to mix cold air with hot air coming through.
By the way, there are ventilation ducts under the front seats pointing at the feet of second row passengers. Those are connected to the front system and therefore supply the modified air selected on the temp control knob. I consider the rear heat supplementary. I've noticed that the design of that heat exchanger provides warm air faster from the coolant than the front system.
I spoke with a Kia tech at a dealer about the cracking. His comment was that there was extremely hot air blowing on the windshield as soon as the van started up. In cold climates, the temp. differential would cause the glass to crack. Just like your mother told you never to set your hot coffee on the dashboard when you started your car in the winter. I haven't had a chance to check out the difference on the '01, but my '02 has little deflectors over the vents. Maybe this has been the fix.
P.S. The only problem with the van was a squeaky drivers seat which the dealer fixed immediately. Other than that the van is a great value for the money. I previously owned a Dodge Caravan which had very few options other than air conditioning.
What filter did the store sell to you? I'm curious to know if it actually should have worked (may have been a faulty sample), or if it was a completely wrong size.
So i asked the dealer, ok tell me again why i would go with kia again? Because there is one thing for sure kia's resale value is a joke! My sister had a kia and she couldn't practically give that thing away! anyone who has owned a kia knows what i am talking about. And there is always the Proven reliability issue.... I was just shocked that i could get a Honda, with awd and the options mentioned for $1000 more than a striped down kia with 2 wheel drive.
4-cylinder (180HP!) and the kia is 3.5l? i guess it is a mildly tuned engine. Ho well. I just learned something new.. "peace, love, and recycle"
If you crank your CR-V to 5000+ RPM every time you shift, the speed difference between CR-V and Sorento/Sedona will be much less. But that's not how I drive, and I think most folks don't drive that way. I like Toyota vehicles, but I have no interest in a 1.8L motor that puts out 180 hp. Sure, there's 180 hp. But it's still a dinky 4-cylinder with no torque. And I have no interest in 7000 RPM and the noise level and effort level associated with driving that way.
Sure, I wish Kia's 3.5L motor put out 230hp instead of 195. But the 195 isn't totally out of line with other recent 3.5L outputs - Montero's 3.5L has made 200hp for a while now. Odyssey's original 3.5L made 210hp, and I think that was only if premium fuel was used.
Yes, Sedona's motor is a DOHC design.
Geez, I can't believe I just took 3 minutes to respond to your post.
Glad you took 3 minutes to save my time!!!
Performance 10/10
Practicality 10/10
Value for money 10/10
Overall rating 5/10
Good Points:
Solid, attractive, Plenty of power, good value, best warranty, drives like a car, my wife and son love it.
Bad Points:
Poor, poor, poor Quality control. Good components, good materials used. Put whoever assembled it did a poor job, and no QC follow up to correct it. I have purchased 6 new Hyundai cars in the last 2 years, plus 1 Kia Sedona EX because Hyundai doesn't have a Van in it's American line up. What can I say about the Hyundai's? All great, normal correctable problems to be expected with a new car. The Kia line uses 2 Hyundai drive trains in there line up. The Optima which is the Hyundai Sonata, and the Sedona which is a similar drive train to the XG 350. This is not issue with Hyundai, I've bought a 2003 Hyundai Tiburon and Sonata LX, since I have had problems with the Sedona. Seat belt problems, Electrical problems, couldn't find out, put in new battery. Change my oil every 2000 miles. Went into another Kia dealer, he said you have a cam seal leaking, check it every day until part comes in. 2 weeks go by. Go to another Kia dealer, puts dye in the engine, I go back 2 days later, it is leaking like a water fall. It ran good, someone probably did not torque it down when installing in the Sedona, poor QC follow up. Since my wife needed a car for a couple of days, asked if the could give me a loaner, a Rio anything, or a rental car. No can do, Kia won't allow it. Rented a car from Hertz for a week, then replaced the Sedona EX with a new Sonata LX for my wife. The kia dealership said they would put a new Engine in the Sedona. That was the first week of October. I checked the dealer yesterday, they are waiting on head bolts. I told them a new long block doesn't need head bolts, the heads are already on it, ready to drop in. There is the start of the problem, I wonder if the same guy that assembles the Sedona, provides the correct parts, and sets up the electrical system. Serious QC problem. Same thing happened to Edsel, good car just improperly put together. It not the faliure of the components, it's the putting them together correctly. I will not let my wife drive this Van again, I don't trust my love ones in it. I'm not bashing the Sedona, it's just a machine that has a very serious Quality Control problem. I guess I should consider myself lucky, I was going to buy a new Sorento in January. Hyundai own's 51% of Kia, I hope that they can get Kia's act straight before it damages their reputation. If one of you Sedona fans are interested, my silver Sedona EX with TV and DVD and game ports and only 11,000 miles on it will be for sale, if I ever get it back from the dealer, I've E-mailed Mr. Chung, CEO of Hyundai and Kia in Korea with my request for a buy back, but as expected haven't heard back yet. The local dealership has been great, and were interested when I gave them the article about the weak alternator
http://www.autofan.com/forum_thread.asp?message=3268
On the other hand, most Sedonas are surely not having the same level of mechanical problems as yours. I wouldn't blame you for not wanting to consider another Sedona or even another Kia - a bad experience with a vehicle can ruin that make and model's chances with that customer forever.
One way of looking at it is this: if you were willing to try another Sedona, it surely would be a better specimen than your first one.
Sold the car when I was moving x-country. Xtended warantee was transferable.
However, IVO quality improvements, would say you got the "built on Monday" lemon.
Failing that, you could escalate it with a letter from a lawyer with an affidavit from you talking about your oil change practices - that should get their attention, especially if you can find some receipts.
Steve, Host
Sounds like you are in for a legal fight. 28k+ miles is enough for Kia to be able to blame the engine failure on the engine oil, if they try to say you never changed it.
You might want to visit the aforementioned forum and catch up on some posts from zueslewis. He has had very bad experience with Kia not stepping up and making things right for its customers. I'm not trying to depress you, but thought the info might be helpful.
The only way to get it to all the way Full for us has been to "top off." Topping off is not good because gas can spill out onto the pavement. Being an employee of an oil company, I can tell you that not only is this a waste of gas, this is not good for the environment. The gas can seep into the ground below.
The lower plastic cladding on our Sedona EX is coming loose in some spots. This results in a small gap between the van's body and the cladding. I really didn't think it was a big deal, but I decided to bring it to the attention of my dealer when I was there for an oil change.
The dealer ordered new cladding and it is currently being installed under warranty.
Any one else with the two-tone paint have a similar problem with their cladding?
One last request: can anyone recommend a good replacement wiper blade?
We haven't swapped out the wiper blades yet. Usually I run winter blades here in Michigan during the snowy season, but so far the OEM blades are working fine. It's the SPEED of the wipers that bugs me.
Steve, Host
Steve, Host
You've got to get off of your topping off jones,
It does amuse me that people see me as some sort of spend-thrift or penny pincher. I am all about *value*, which is not the same as *cheap*. bdaddy, I saw your smiley wink, so I'm not taking great offense to your comments. But it does bother me to see that my perception around here is not quite consistent with my own views of myself re: automotive stuff.