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Comments
Maybe. It has taken up to 4 attempts (avg 2) to get the trunk door light and trunk ajar indicator to go out. Temperature is irrelevant, in my experience anyway. :{ I don't have the other problems mentioned.
P.S. I'm not going to create it, but may I suggest that a Sedona - Prices Paid board is looking like a better idea every day?
Our driver's window has not been making the clunk sound at all, even though it's been quite cold here in Michigan lately. Ours appears not to be weather-related, and hopefully it's a problem that has come and gone.
I paid $21,500 Plus Tax, and License (California Tax is 8.25%) and about $175 DMV Fees. My car insurance went up $91 for 6 months. I had a 8 year old Ford Ranger, so insurance was low on it,and I am considered by my insurance company to be a "good driver". They have never been in the car with me
I hope this helps some. I know everybody, especially Bluedevils, helped me when I was looking at vans.
This does seem like a common problem, though not a serious one. Have all of these reports been from 2002 owners? I hope Kia resolved this for the 2003 MY.
However, if it only occurs when cold, could be a possible misalignment of latch and striker plate due to different shrinkage rates. (Hatch material shrinks, and misaligns the latch slightly. Striker plate is metal on metal and stays in alignment).
Just a thought.
I guess I'd categorize our hatch's closing behavior as 'compression-dependent' -- you gotta push the hatch hard enough to get it to latch fully.
Our rear hatch always takes 2 tries to close properly if another door or window is not open. If they are then it closes very easily and solidly. I have not noticed any relationship to temperature in our -40F to +90F climate. Very tightly sealed vehicle, I expect.
Just got an E-mail from a local Kia dealer for a 2003 Sedona Ex I was looking at 2 months ago. Looks like prices are coming down as I was quoted around $21,800 in early January. Below is the deal he just quoted me (this is with rebates):
MSRP...................$24,370.00
Invoice (Dealer Cost)..$22,663.00
+ 200.00
$22,863.00
Less Rebate...........- $2,000.00
YOU PAY................$20,863.00 + tax and tags
This price is on a Sedona EX with ABS, leather interior and sunroof. Let me know what you think.
Make : KIA Model : SEDONA Year : 2002
NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number : 03V017000 Recall Date : JAN 14, 2003
Component: SEAT BELTS:REAR
Potential Number Of Units Affected : 21248
I bring that up because if you scratch the +$200 line, that is probably the best deal ever, short of a $3K incentive rebate.
hoya did say the marketing charge is reimbursable, but I do not remember anyone establishing that point. In fact, I feel that is one of the great mysteries of the whole invoice thing in the car business. It seems that in some cases, this charge really is NOT reimbursable. But it's hard to really know for sure. Your dealer's quote $22,663 invoice price is the same as what was shown on some Kia paperwork at the Michigan dealer from which my parents bought an '03 EX in late December 2002. It included a '$433 marketing allowance.'
Several folks have gotten prices of $21,200-21,500 after the $1,000 rebate. If your dealer is quoting $20,8xx after a $2,000 rebate, you may still be able to do a bit better. But that's really a lot of vehicle for the money, and I would be happy to have paid that for our 2002 EX. We paid $22,930, but demand back then was somewhat stronger.
Heck, assuming there's a $2,000 rebate in OUR area now, we could buy another Sedona for $19k or less after getting the $2,000 loyalty rebate. Alas, we don't need one, or I'd strongly consider becoming a 2-Sedona family! If Kia offers traction control and/or AWD in the future, with an even more powerful version of the 3.5L engine, we may consider it later on.
YOU PAY................$20,863.00 + tax and tags
That is an outstanding price - I would not hesitate.
StevePlll - Window Clunk - thanks for the thoughts on the clunk. I started that one - it does seem to be a bigger problem with colder weather. and maybe the soft rubber becomes more pliable as time goes by as some seem to have had the problem early and then it is gone.
The rear hatch won't close caused by air pressure issue makes sense. I haven't tried it yet; I'll report back. The solution for it is almost more problematic though. I'll have to try the "almost closed, push firmly" approach. There are just too many times that the windows/doors will not be open.
Anyone know why the number of service notes at the NHTSA on the Sedona is now exactly 1? There were far more before the NHTSA web site redesign several months ago.
My guess would be either they just got "lost" in the re-design and will re-appear or possibly Kia asked for them to be removed. I was surprised to see them there in the first place, though if it was deliberate on Kia's part (that they were published) I find that refreshing.
How, here's what solves the problem: Take it to your dealer, and tell them that you want your hatch latch (Not sure what it is called, but it's inside the vehicle, not ON the hatch itself) replaced. Now, on our Sportage, it needed to be pushed back (Not replaced, but they did it anyway), towards the end of the vehicle, not forward.
Now, it closes just fine, but it's still hard, just not as hard as it used to be. Maybe it's getting out of adustment again, who knows?
There is also a "clink" not a clunk when the driver's side power window goes up. I never let that bother me, since I have heard that same clink or clunk in many another car.
Purchased the '02 EX with everything last October and now have a whopping 2,500 miles on it (wifes' vehicle).
we absolutely love this van - no problems yet at all except the cladding did pop out a bit on the passengers side front door. I did a little investigating and found that the cladding pops in with press fittings and also is held in by some small flange nuts around the perimeter. I went to the dealer and they ordered me the nuts...I installed them myself (3 were missing). A rubber grommet has to be pried out to gain access to each fastener. This may help you, brenice.
I live in Pa. and cannot wait until the warm weather breaks - this puppy needs a good bath and polish!
A hearty amen to that. Mine needs to same thing here in Cleveland!
We have used our van extensively for road trips, most time towing a poptop camper. Recently, we decided to move up to a larger trailer and made the decision to trade in our beloved van in order to have more pulling power.
And then we found out about Sedona Resale Value, or the complete lack thereof.
The ABSOLUTE BEST we could get for a trade in at several dealers was $12000. For an 18-month old top of the line EX. About HALF of what we paid for it. And that $12000 was from the same KIA dealer we had bought it from in the first place.
I thought "no way" until I did some on-line research and checked out the Blue Book, NADA, Black Book, E-Bay motors, and several other sources and saw the same grim news.
We decided to hang on to the Kia, got rid of my old (paid for) work beater instead, and went ahead and bought the new trailer puller.
Fellow Kia owners, we did NOT buy Korean junk (as was alluded to by several Bubbas at the local dealerships). We bought very affordable quality.
We still love our Kia and will continue to drive it proudly.
But the bloom is off the rose.
Just my $.02
Also, 33000 miles for an 18-month old van is higher than average. You probably could have gotten $500-$1,000 more if your van had 18k miles instead of 33k.
I assume you are aware that most used vehicles can be sold privately for quite a bit more than dealers will offer you. I see a trade-in to a dealer as a last resort or an easy way out. When you have a vehicle still under factory warranty, that takes much of the hesitation away from a private party purchaser. I bet you could have gotten $14k for your Sedona selling it privately.
You can also do a Customized Appraisal from our Used Car pages and adjust the value for miles and whether it's a trade or private party sale. That's something else you can use as a guide versus what the dealers are offering.
Steve, Host
I remember early honda's were not all that impressive. My dad had an ugly pea green honda civic station wagon. He bought it for value, not to impress the neighbors. It lasted for a long time and ran very well. I'll bet it's resale was nothing. What can we say about Honda's values now? You all get it. It is simply a matter of time. Keep going Kia buyers.
http://tinyurl.com/71f5
Second, cars (and vans) are meant to be driven. 33000 miles may be way high for someone who lives in the city, but there are millions of us "country folk" who routinely commute 100 miles round trip to work or shop. Example: The old "work beater" I traded in was a 2000 Toyota Tundra V6 with over 160,000 miles on it. Immaculate shape, perfect compression, and extremely well maintained (because, after all, we're 70 miles from the nearest dealer and commute over 100 miles a day etc....). But it was not powerful enough for heavy hauling, either.
We paid only 24,000 new for the Toyota and got $13,000 on trade BECAUSE "shoot, that Toyota's just getting broken in!".
I, too, remember the Honda 600's, the Datsun Bluebirds, the Toyota Coronas of years ago. They eventually achieved acceptance in the American market and now set industry benchmarks. I truly believe Kia (and their other Korean stablemates) have the quality to achieve greatness, but it will take time to accept them into the fold.
For now, we'll hang with the Sedona (hey, we've still got that GREAT warranty for another 70000 miles!!).
BTW - our new Heavy Hauler is a Ford. With a 36/36 warranty. Of course, we can always up it to Kia-style coverage for $2grand more. We asked Bubba at the Ford lot what was wrong with this picture and only got the the usual blank redneck stare.....
Would never recommend selling ANY vehicle after 2 yrs...that's why dealers like to sell you 3/36 warantee cars...many folks out there willing to lose big $ in depreciation, rather than to drive what they have.
Enjoy your new tow vehicle, and your Kia...hopefully it's just getting warmed up! You can serve as one of our long term, high miles test cases/reporters.
About 200 postings back, there was discussion of wind noise in some vehicles, but not all. More recently, there was discussion of hatches that raise too rapidly and then require several attempts in order to close securely.
I believe that we get some wind noise on days that really aren't windy. I have so far been unable to pin it down as to its origin - sometimes it sounds like the driver door - sometimes the moonroof.
At the same time, though, the hatch has performed flawlessly. It opens in a very controlled fashion - no surprises, and closes with a normal push - first time, every time.
I am wondering if there is a correlation between the two situations. If one or more of the seals is not making contact properly, it would be equivalent to a cracked window, allowing air pressure to be dissipated while closing the hatch. Voila, first time, every time.
I am just curious if anyone has had similar experiences.
I know Toyotas are well-built and reliable, but I cannot believe you got $13k for a vehicle with 160k miles that you paid $24k for new! That's amazing.
Not worried about resale, either. Reading what others have posted here, I can say that the numbers are about what I experienced with Ford Windstars that I bought new. Learned my lesson!
We'll drive the Sedona until I feel that we've gotten our money's worth out of it. Then it won't matter.
My 1998 Caravan is worth about 1800 in trade in -- with 83,000 miles. It's in very good shape -- clean, mechanically sound, etc..
That the Sedona lost 5 to 9k in the first year to 18 months isn't so bad.
It's no Honda Odysey but the Odysey is not "normal" -- even inflated at this point.