Hyundai Entourage: Should I Buy One?
Hi- I'm back. While I'm probably going to end up buying the Sedona, I have a general question as applies to the Sedona/Entourage as well: Is it worth the approximate $1,000 to get the power side doors? I'm a bit nervous about the door motor(s) failing over time. Anyone here used power sliding doors on other (older) vans- how well did they (or not) work for you?
With similar packages, the Sedona EX (add power doors) is almost a dead heat with the Entourage price-wise.
With similar packages, the Sedona EX (add power doors) is almost a dead heat with the Entourage price-wise.
Tagged:
0
Comments
Hopefully I've just missed some great features and when I get to see the Entrouage in person I'll find out.
Regardless, I certainly wouldn't suggest making projections concerning the reliability of the Entourage/Sedona from a single, 14-year-old GM unit. In fact, my parents are planning on purchasing an Entourage next week -- even though the manually-operating doors are light and easy to use, they insist on buying one with the power-sliding doors.
Mike
In four years, when I have 80,000 miles on this beast, my only real concern is how to handle a transmission or water pump that failed, and I won't really care about esoteric differences in "paint process". To be honest, since about 1990, not a single vehicle I have owned has ever shown any signs of rust at all.....
However-- I am certainly going to give the Entourage a chance- I have a hard quote for my new Sedona- I'm going to chat with the Hyundai dude today and ask him to make it worthwhile to buy HIS car.. :-)
My main opinion on this overall: Whether it's Sedona or Entourage, both are in my opinion really great vans that are priced aggressively, and come with fantastic warranty support. I'm looking forward to owning one, whichever one it turns out to be.
But, $2K is still $2K..
Out of curiosity, have you driven the Toyota Sienna or Honda Odyssey yet? I would like to hear your impression of these vans compared to the Kia. I started out almost planning to buy a Toyota but me and my wife liked the Odyssey the best out of all the vans we drove. I liked the Kia as well, and there is no denying the value of the Kia. With the latest IIHS safety scores the Kia is even more desirable.
I really like what Hyundai/Kia are doing and time will tell if they are going to really challenge the Japanese.
Has anyone seen the Kia Olive Gray and the Hyundai Green Meadow Gray - are they the same?? I hope so.
Lastly, feature wise the Odyssey really needs the Touring package which puts it over the top price wise. The Sienna XLE Pkg 7 seems the closest fit, and at MSRP it is also quite a bit more - but they are discounting/rebating pretty heavily these days it seems, pushing them down well below the Hyundai's MSRP for sure, and not far from the Kia's. A local quote I got as well as carsdirect confirmed this - and makes my decision even that much more complicated!
Also, it seems like you should be able to get the Hyundai/Kia dealers to deal. The completely loaded Entourage Limited models in my area are going for about $30,500 (including freight) which is about $1K below invoice. The invoice on a loaded 06 Sedona (EX w/luxury/premium entertainment/power pkg)is $28,895, and Kia has incentives too (2K competitive bonus +1K + 3.9% financing through Kia Fianance). I think you should be able to pickup a loaded Sedona for $26-28K easily (including freight, before TT&L and dealer fees). Those fees your dealer added on are a joke, you should not pay them. For $33K you can get a loaded Odyssey or Sienna, and you will be overpaying on the Kia/Hyundai. The minute you drove that loaded 06 Sedona off the lot, it will probably be worth about $23K...
Either way you are right, you should be able to get the Sedona around $28-29k (or less if you qualify for the competitive rebate) and the Entourage $31 or less. My point related to the Sienna was just that at $31,500 with RES it isn't That far out of the Entourage range, to me at least.
That is a good price on the Sienna, I advise you to drive them back to back and decide which van is best for you..
Perhaps the carprices.com price added the tow package or something else to the invoice price.
Glad to hear that you are an informed buyer. I wonder how many people fall for the good ole "protection package" scam.
Could it be the dealer advertising fee?
The Sedona being sold by KIA was actually designed by Hyundai. Ten years ago when KIA wasn't doing well in the market, Hyundai sold its right to this Minivan to KIA. Now that KIA is doing well, Hyundai took back the rights. Hence, they couldn't very well design the same Minivan they did for KIA, hence the entourage was born. They had to make it bigger and better than the sedona. But since they are the ones who designed the KIA sedona, I can see why there are so many similarities. I myself have been waiting for Hyundai to bring the Entourage to the states for years. It has been sold in Germany for some time now. I will be making my purchase of the Entourage, Ltd edition within the next 2 weeks if not sooner.
:confuse: It's the same van, with some trim differences. It certainly isn't any bigger.
The 07 year may be the only one that you can use Hyundai and Kia dealers against each other on price. By telling them the vehicles are the same and for and the price difference you are going to shop around will help. Hyundai didn't want to bring the Entourage out on the market as the twin sister of the Sedona. The poor sales of the big two and the jump in the Sedona sales has forced them into it. In the next year or two the Entourage will probably change a lot from the Sedona.
Always get the salesman to introduce you to the service department and manager, because they are the people you deal with for the next ten years on warranty, not two or three days for the purchase. They are two different departments and one has very little to do with the other.
How? I mean they could add a nav system (which apparently is already in the works for the end of the year) with back up camera, put some chrome around the windows maybe, give it a telescoping steering wheel, and . . . . what else can they do within year or two to substantially differentiate the Entourage from a fully loaded Sedona? An article I read said they didn't do stow and go because their research showed that most who had it didn't use it, so that wouldn't seem probable. I don't know that too many people buying a minivan want a 300 hp engine. More cosmetic changes?
I should admit I am deeply puzzled because I have been a Japanese-car driver for 25 years and would naturally jump eyes closed on a Toyota or Honda model without asking questions but the Entourage seemed so more superior to all others during my test drives that I developed the Mini-wheat complex: should I listen to my senses and not hesitate to buy Korean (no previous data on this model...) or follow the beaten paths of the Japanese? Any thoughts on this?
(as for the Sedona/Entourage choice, I favor the latter as buying a 2007 model makes more resale sense plus the small bonuses like best anti-rust protection - with all the calcium they spread on the Canadian roads it's certainly an important factor to consider when buying)
- Reliability. Having been a Honda/Toyota fan you obviously know this, but these two are consistently at the top of the pack with regards to overall reliability. Hyundai has made progress, but the Entourage is a completely new model and nobody knows the reliability yet. The 5/60 basic and 10/100 powertrain warranty on the Entourage definitely helps, but I would prefer a more reliable vehicle to a vehicle with a better warranty anyday. Overall, I would say the Sienna would be the most reliable followed very closely by the Odyssey. The verdict is obviously out on the Entourage and time will tell.
- Resale. In my case, I tend to only keep my vehicles 4-6 years (sometimes as little as 3), so it is important that a vehicle I buy has good resale value. If you plan on keeping the vehicle 8-10 years then this is not as big an issue, but if not you should consider this factor. The Odyssey retains its value the best of any minivan, and historically speaking, Hyundai vehicles depreciate pretty fast. Perhaps the Entourage will help to reverse this trend, but it was a pretty big factor for me.
Obviously the Entourage represents a great value for the money and you already like its performance/handling/ride. Honestly, I do not think you can go wrong with any of the above minivans, but when you are dropping close to $30K (when you consider the cost of the vehicle, dealer fees, and TT&L) you need to consider everything.
Good luck!
Looks like a pretty good value for the $$ - especially when compared to the Ody and Sienna.
Might wait this out to see about resale - if I can get a used one for a lot less, might be worth it.
So far my Entourage has been 100%. You can say this is a new completely designed vehicle; tell me why my serial number is over 16,000 and mine was in the dealership's first batch of Entourages they got (they are in Southern CA). So if you buy one, they have already made over 10,000.
Hyundai wins hands down in the appearance category - somehow seemed bigger too.
BUT you paid a few thousand less for the Hyundai to begin with (if not more). So it all averages out. Paying more up front so you get more back down the line sounds a lot like the people who get back a ton of money at tax time - yet they could have had that all along during the year. Just a matter of perspective.
In addition, the majority of Americans do not keep their vehicles for 130K miles and nine years. In my area a 2-3 year old low mileage Honda Odyssey is only about 3-4K less than a brand new one. A 2-3 year old Kia Sedona is significantly cheaper than a new one. In short, folks could get burned on resale/trade-in if they decide to get rid of their Kia in 2-3 years.
I think you have to factor in that with the tremendous increase in quality, with the continuing attention to value, and with Kia/Hyundai committed to being the number five car manufacturer in the world by about 2009 or 2010, that word is going to get out about the quality, maybe slowly, and that in five years or so, when you get ready to trade that 2006 Sedona in, the resale value of Kias and Hyundais will have increased substantially over what it has been in the past.
In other words, with the current progress of Kias and Hyundais, quit living in the past and look to the future.
I really liked the 06 Sedona that I drove, and quite possibly may like the Hyundai even more. I think that resale value and long term reliability will improve over time, but time will tell.
My next minivan could easily be a Kia/Hyundai model, and I think anyone who can pickup a loaded Kia/Hyundai for $24-25K is getting a tremendous deal. If I would have qualified for either of the $2K rebates on the Kia back in April, I would have had an even harder decision...
It is certainly true that Toyota and Honda have been quality benchmarks for a long, long time. But it's also true that they were not always perceived that way. They earned that distinction (just as American manufacturers lost their reputations for quality through their bungling in the 70's and 80's). Hyundai does not connote quality in the same way that Toyota does, but it's interesting to see how Hyundai has been shooting up the JD Power survey rankings in recent years. They are clearly serious about becoming a quality leader, and the recent JDP initial quality survey (IQS) suggests they are succeeding: "Hyundai ranks among the top three nameplates in the study for the first time in the history of IQS. Highlights
include a top ranking for the Hyundai Tucson in the compact multi-activity vehicle (MAV) segment, and topthree
segment performances for the redesigned Sonata and all-new Azera, as well as the Elantra and Tiburon." Now, I do not work in the auto industry, but as an outside observer, it seems that Hyundai is following the same script that Honda and Toyota pursued to their current positions. I suspect that buying a Hyundai now is a pretty good proposition from a quality standpoint, and you are able to do so at a much lower cost than buying from comparable Japanese manufacturers.
I would feel better buying a 2007 Sedona (the second model year) but am I getting just as good car with the 2007 Entourage?
I've ridden in my friend's 3 yr old Sienna and before it had 20,000 miles on it, the thing developed all kinds of squeaks and squacks, not to mention the recalls for the fuel tank exploding and then seat belts not tensioning, plus the rear tires wore strangely due to poor alignment and the CD player went kapootz. Contrast that $30,000 plus car w/ our fleet vehicle - cheapest Dodge Caravan they make and it's amazing! I'm not fond of Dodge due to comfort but this car has over 77,000 miles on it and zero trouble. My friends Sienna, same yr but 30,000 miles less, isn't going to hold up as well at the same mileage.
Another friend has a newer top of the line Odyssey and the MPG has been most disappointing -- only 16 in town, where most minivan families do their driving -- might as well get a crew cab truck and use diesel! Seems that Honda & Toyota's quality has been hyped and that really, nowadays, unless you get a lemon, any brand should easily take you 100,000 miles.