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Comments
Of course, there is no comparison in immediate resale value, with the Odyssey holding it's value much better short term. However, I was not surprised to see that Edmunds rated the "True Cost to Own" over 5 years as slightly lower for both Sedona LX and EX than Ody LX/EX. The actual dollar amount of depreciation (much more meaningful than percentage) evens out very closely over 5 years, and any slight benefits to Ody in fuel cost, etc. are offset by financing costs (or however you want to look at cost of having $6-8k price diff tied up for 5 years).
The new "TCO" tool is at -
http://www.edmunds.com/advice/specialreports/articles/59897/article.html?id=lin9126
The minivan TCO champ right is the Sienna, although the Sedona isn't that far behind, and is a superior vehicle in many ways.
The really interesting thing to me is that Edmunds expects the Odyssey to incur some repair costs in years 4 and 5, but the Sedona is not expected to until year 5.
Still happy to be an Odyssey owner with no intention of defecting to the dark side, but still also happy to read this board.
The thought of removing the middle seats for luggage room, and all three kids in the back seat, feet propt up on the luggage, watching a movie peacefully on the way to Disney is appealing.
http://www.audiovox.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/catalog_mv_floorConsoles.d2w/input?cat=612
It fits in between the seats nicely and has a cup holder for a front pasenger. It came with a sturdy metal plate that bolts to the floor and you attach the unit to this. I took off my folding tray via the four nuts on the passenger seat and I am going to fabricate thick metal braces to attach this steel plate to these bolts. I just don't want to drill holes into the van's floor for the plate. I'll let you know how it comes out. I would have rather had a flip down monitor from the roof and I still may later but I think this would be just too expensive.
On the matter of the head restraints, I took out the 3rd rows and the passenger side of the 2nd row. We have a car seat here for our youngest which doesn't need one. The one behind the driver stays in because it doesn't really block any view and our oldest needs it with his booster seat. No one sits in the 3rd row on a regular basis. If the 2nd row seat behind the front passenger is occupied some of the time, try leaving the head restraint in but reclining the seat back when not in use.
The floor mounted tv/vcr combos are not that appealing to me. We have one but the 3rd row passengers always have to look to the side to view. One child sits in the 3rd row right side because that's where the child seat tether anchor is. I suppose if there was an anchor in the middle then the floor mounted would have been fine. I still like the flip down screen instead of a bulky 9" tv/vcr combo between the seats that had to be propped up in the bottom front to have a decent viewing angle. They are quite a bit cheaper than a custom dvd system installed.
Most Sedona at dealer are EX with ABS, Leather, Sunroof, two-tone, Homelink, Spoiler for sticker price $24,100. ($590 less than Odyssey LX). Leather at only $850 good price for leather. No option on LX at dealer.
Best of all you dont have to use it just in the van.. check it out... its a cheaper alternative...
I tried to post a link to the TV but its "too long" just go to Best Buy or Amazon to see it
Toshiba 9" Stereo TV/DVD Player Model MD9DM1
Here's a link with a photo of the TV Tote.. :>)
http://www.truckstuffusa.com/portvtotfor9.html
This weekend I received an email from Crown's internet sales coordinator, Larry Grabinger. He mentioned that Crown is selling "our Sedonas at $300.00 over invoice and offering $1,000
Customer Cash."
I'm not sure if that means the final price is $700 under invoice (excluding tax, title, & license) or if the final price is $300 over invoice AFTER the customer cash. Either way, I just wanted to point this out.
Others have posted positive experiences about Crown on the Sedona board, too.
Crown's phone number is 614-761-2360 local, or Toll Free 1-800-531-6611.
Hope this helps.
It's just that I want a relatively low priced van that has reliability, reasonable performance, meaning that can haul around a few kids, luggage, and be able to keep up with traffic without getting winded. My wife is also use to cars and she hasn't driven a van because we never needed it before this year. So she wants a van that is easy to maneuver as well.
Are there better buys? What do you recommend? I am in the dark and don't know the first thing about minivans and which is good and which ones are bad. Write back please! Thanks!
Our family is me, wife, 1 year-old girl, and rowdy 75-pound chocolate lab. Plenty of room for us. As vanphan noted, storage space might be tight with 4 kids. If you are going somewhere with 2 weeks' worth of luggage, it might be tight. However, for a weekend trip with bags, you should be fine.
Quality/Reliability
I too was concerned with quality/reliability but Kia and Hyundai's poor reliability record didn't deter us from buying a Sedona because a) this vehicle has nothing in common mechanically with Kia's other vehicles (all cars, plus the Sportage SUV); b) Kia and parent company Hyundai have shown improved quality/reliability of late; and c) the warranty is outstanding.
Fit and Finish
Sedona seems well put-together, to me. The materials seem to be of good quality. The controls are easy to use.
PowerThe Sedona is quite responsive at low throttle levels, so there are no worries about the van keeping up with traffic or even passing people with authority. The 5-speed automatic is smooth and it helps to keep RPMs down at highway speeds. Fuel economy is worse than some minivans, but you'll probably do better than the 15 city / 20 mpg highway ratings from the EPA. We're getting about 18 mpg overall, 21-23 on the highway depending on speed.
Maneuverability
I think the van is quite maneuverable, although the turning radius is quite large. This has been a problem for us only in parking lots.
Value
You're hoping to get something for < $28,000. You must be talking Canadian dollars? A loaded Sedona EX has an MSRP of just over $24,000 in USA, and it wouldn't surprise me if you could get one for $1,000-2,000 less than that.
Other Choices
You can't beat Sedona on value. If you want the features that Sedona offers for $20-22k, you'll have to spend several thousand dollars more to get them on any other minivan.
The Odyssey is a great van and has much more room, but it costs a lot more. It has the foldaway third row seat, which may or may not be of value to you.
The Sienna is probably the only minivan that offers a very high reliability level, but you still have those nagging engine sludge issues that Toyota has finally addressed in recent weeks. Odyssey is not up to the typical Honda reliability standards of the past 15 years or so, although it may be improving of late. Sienna costs a LOT more than Sedona.
The MPV is a good van too, but it also costs more than Sedona. I think it has more room. Has the foldaway third row seat.
Villager and Quest are nice, but fairly small and the engine is really outdated and underpowered.
Personally, I wouldn't consider the other major players-- Ford Windstar, Chrysler/Dodge minivans, etc.
For us, the Sedona was perfect. We don't need a BIG minivan, so the Sedona's medium size was perfect. For just under $23,000, we got a lot of vehicle. So far I have been even more impressed and pleased with our purchase than I expected.
Hope this helps.
Good luck - and not just with the van!
HOWEVER, I rarely have more than 2-3 passengers. It IS on the small side for a 4-kid family, and things will get cramped as the kids grow or with any amount of luggage.
Another issue - while the NHTSA and IIHS crash tests left me confident about the safety of the vehicle in a frontal or side-impact, unfortunately the IIHS rear bumper test left me with doubts about the safety of the rear seat passengers in a rear-end collision. The solid steel underbody of the Sedona may provide more safety than the test would indicate, but there isn't very much room for "error" between the rear seats and the rear bumper compared to larger vans. I would have had more peace of mind about the van's safety design in this regard if it had fared better in the tests (bumper failed and liftgate was badly dented backing into a pole in 5 mph test).
To be honest, while the Sedona is definitely the most minivan on the market for the money IMO, and I would buy one again today for what I use it for, if I was talking a $28k budget and 4 kids - I would buy an Odyssey without hesitation. Nothing else comes close in combination of space/convenience features for a large family, and overall safety features/ratings (pending the new larger Sienna). In some ways you do get what you pay for.
Steve
Host
SUVs, Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
PROBLEM #2 With myself in the driver seat, I tried to start the vehicle, no luck. It would not start!!! The dealer quickly charge the battery and it started. He is not sure why the battery was not holding a charge. Well sure, now I am starting to worry. PROBLEM #3 During the test drive, the entire front end shook, including the steering wheel. It was terrible, and quite noticeable only after 30 mph. After the test drive, I parked the car, went to start it again, of course it did not start. It was only one of two vehicles on the lot. The dealer claimed that the vehicle has not been prepped therefore, they have not corrected any "minor" problems as of yet. Then why offer a test drive? He wanted to negotiate a price, we said "no thank you" and left.
I was also leary about Kia, but am quite satisfied so far.
My "problems" have been quite minor as well. A summary list follows:
1. Check engine light; 3 times: Each time, the light came on in error. A bit disconcerting, however.
2. Front tires have needed to be balanced and re-balanced 3 times. This has caused a considerable "shimmy" at low speeds (I suspect this was part of the momx problem).
3. Needed a new windshield washer fluid pump the first week. Replaced immediately, no problem since.
As for power and convenience, no issues at all. Without going into detail, I have had one instance where I had to push the vehicle to the limit (emergency trip to hospital...from "middle of nowhere TX" to "nowhere TX"). I can tell you that the van handles admirably at speeds over 100 mph.
Only issue I have is storage/luggage space, as others have mentioned. However, with a bit of planning, this can be managed.
Be sure and check out the Sedona....but also the MPV and Odyssey. Maybe the Sienna. These 3 are good vans, imo.
Personally, I would steer clear of the GM, Ford, and DC vans.
I am a satisfied Sedona owner.....who has an extensive history of being dissatisfied with every other vehicle I ever owned...
RGDS and happy van hunting...hope it works out well for you.
Hokum
We have had our Sedona for about 4 months now and I think we made the right choice for our family of five plus two dogs. Our children are older: 19,17 and 12 and I most often drive with two kids and the dogs. I took out the rear seats and installed a crate back there for the rottweiler and the smaller border collie has a pillow beside the crate. With careful placement, I fit all my dog equipment, kids backpacks, my backpack and other stuff and we can still sit in the seats. If the dogs are not with me and I need space, I put stuff in the crate.
With four small children and all the gear they require the Sedona might be to small for you. You might want to wait for the bigger, Sienna to arrive or check out the Honda Odyssey. Regarding price, I don't think you can beat the Sedona.
I can tell you that the Sedona is very peppy on the interstate. I often find myself doing 80 mph without realizing it. The interior cabin is quiet and the instrument panel is well laid out. We have had no problems of any kind and I hope this bodes well for the future as we keep our cars for a long time. It's also got a great warranty, not a "pledge" and that makes me feel more secure should something go wrong.
You owe it to yourself to check all the vans out when you make such a large purchase so you can make sure it meets your needs and still fits into your budget. I wish you well.
some unsolicited advice. I had difficulty putting the Tote in the van. straps were not long enough to go all the way around the seats. Did manage to get it around the headrests. however, didn't like it once it was installed. could not recline passenger seat or move the drivers seat any distance because of tv.
I ended up flipping one of center captain's chairs down and using the straps on tote to strap tv on the folded down seat. This actually worked out well. at first, I had all three kids in backseat so they could see, but when fighting got too bad, moved one to other middle seat. Surprise, he could still see the tv with his seat pushed all the way back, because with other seat flipped down it goes all the way forward.
hope this helps, however if wife would have let me spend the money i would probably have went with the Backseaat Theatre system.
Total cost should be around 800.00. Pretty good price considering I was quoted 1,600.00 for a flip down system with a VCR!!! Just my .02.
Oh, I have 2 other questions. I drove a black sedona with all the goodies and I saw that it had hankook tires? Are these some kind of Korean brand? I would much rather have michelin or goodyears on there. Is it something to complain about? They seemed okay, but not excellent. We also plan to take trips up to the mountains and such and I noticed that this doesn't have traction control, just basic front wheel drive with abs. And believe me traction control makes a difference in the snow and ice. Do you recommend snow tires or will the all-seasons prove adequate. I probably shouldn't buy the snow tires because we don't live in wintery weather all the time.
Thanks again for the input. Your messages have really helped! Thanks!
The specs on the Hankook RA07 in 215/70/15 size (as on Sedona) are actually pretty good: they are speed-rated to 122 mph, which I think is "H" on the scale; 440 treadwear rating, which is better than many tires; A traction; and B temperature. Also, the tires are rated at 44 psi maximum, if I remember correctly, which is more air than many tires are rated to hold.
I would prefer Michelins or some other high-rated model from a more mainstream manufacturer (BF Goodrich, Dunlop, Yokohama, etc.), but I am not going to just throw these tires away and replace them. We'll use them until they are done, then replace with something else.
I live in Orange county and looking into installing flip down monitor, VCP.... (My Sedona has sunroof.)
Could you tell me where you installed DVD, monitor?
It's funny how much better the computer thinks your fuel economy will be on the highway vs. city. When we got on the highway today, the trip odo was 14 miles and the DTE said 334, for a total estimated mileage from the tank of 348. The DTE climbed for many miles as we drove on the highway at 75mph, and the total peaked at 470. We drove a few city miles afterwards, and the total is already down to about 400.
Why EPA estimate so low with Sedona with 5 speed AT? Suspect EPA test not accurate.
Also noticed the DTE(Distance To Empty) using recent driving data, maybe less than 5 minutes, makes the DTE figure going up and down a lot. I believe DTE figure should be based on at least 1 hour driving data, not 5 minutes. Or this function should be replaced with MPG(Mile per Gallon) which GM mini-van has.
Kia Sedona nice van, low price, big V6 standard engine. Sedona trip computer not real trip computer like GM with 6 or 7 function GM vehicle have.
Impossible to include all feature for $10,000 less purchase price in Sedona.
I wish the DTE was more realistic throughout the tank, but at least on our Sedona it isn't.
A/C was not used
Windows were up (I've read that windows down can be a fairly significant hit on fuel economy)
420 total miles
70% highway miles, at a pretty constant 75 mph
Non-highway miles included lots of 60 mph cruising and not much stop-and-go
15 engine starts
Tires inflated to 35-36 psi each
Air temp ranged from 50 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit
2 adults
Approximately 400 pounds of gear
I was very happy to get 22.3 MPG from this trip (it was spread over 2 tanks). This experience agrees with others who have noted that the EPA estimates of 15 city, 20 highway are pretty pessimistic.
Overall, our Sedona is at 19.1 MPG for the first 3,970 miles, which I'm pretty happy with. That is with very little A/C usage and approximately 55% city miles, 45% highway miles (@ 75mph on average). The first 4,000 miles includes a high percentage of break-in miles (probably the first 1,000-2,000 miles), so I fully expect things to improve.
On the trip, I noticed plenty of road noise at concrete pavements, compare to other cars. (I currently driving Hyundai XG 300, with Michelin tires, produce less than average road noise.) Road noise at asphalt paved road is low and pleasant, though.
I checked tire pressure, is around 35 psi, recommended.
Is it because of Hankook tire?