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Comments
First let me say that Strategic Vision considered the Sedona the best Minivan "Value" not the best Minivan. That being said I still love ours and recommend them. Here's the Main article:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2004-10-03-car-value_x.htm
Craig
'04 Sedona EX
Another misconception is many people think they need a 4x4 so they can go in slippery conditions. What they fail to realize is a 4x4 helps them go, but doesn't help them stop or turn. Winter tires help in all three areas.
All that being said, I went on a search for the perfect winter tire for my Kia Sedona that meets all of the manufacturer's requirements. This was easier said than done. I only found one!
As has been previously discussed here the factory tires are H rated and have a load rating of 98 which comes out to 1,653lbs per tire. I did some math, which scared me. The van itself weighs 4,800lbs. Throw in 1,000lbs of people and gear, which isn't hard to do, and you are at 5,800lbs. Divide that by the four tires and you are putting 1,450lbs down on each tire. There isn't any margin for error. I didn't want to deviate from the manufacturer's specifications for this reason alone. I am confident now that the reason Kia went with H rated tires was because there was so little room between the tires load ratings and reality.
Now, if you have looked at snow tires you may have discovered that they are almost all universally Q rated, which is substantially lower than the factory tires. They also do not tend to offer the full '98' load rating required, nor do they generally last very long. I did find one tire that is not only fantastic on winter roads, but also meets all of the original tire's specifications. They are H rated, have a load rating of 98, and believe it or not are rated for 50,000 miles. They are not cheap however, but since I live in Minnesota where it snows 6 months of the year, and for the safety reasons mentioned above, I feel the expense is well worth it.
They are Nokian WRs, and are made in Finland where they obviously know winter. Nokian is an offshoot of the cell phone company Nokia, and is a manufacturer of very high quality tires. The reason you won't find these on Tirerack or other mainstream American tires stores is they do not offer a 'cheap' line, which usually are the best sellers. Most people generally shop for tires based on price. What a mistake for such an important safety feature.
In any case. I found Nokian WRs in the Sedona 215/70/15 size for $114.95 each.
http://www.nokiantires.com/newsite/tires_popup.cfm?id=6
I will mount these on separate rims for an easy switch each spring and fall. I will report back later how they do, but can already tell you that they are excellent in snow and ice since I've used the same model of tires on my Saab 9000 for a couple of years. These may be the only winter tires for the Sedona that meet all of the original specifications. I couldn't find any others. And for full disclosure, I have no affiliation with Nokian. I just love their products and enjoy the peace of mind that I made the right decision for winter.
One more note: These tires can be used year around. Nokian calls them all-season tires, however they are heads and tails above traditoinal all season tires in snow. I'm only going to use them half the year and run the Hankook RA07s the rest of the time so the Nokians last a long, long time.
- Chad
Snow/Ice winter tires has some info too.
Steve, Host
I'm in the process of ordering Nokian WR's from a local dealer here in the Twin Cities. I'm getting mounting, balancing, and road hazard for $500/4.
BTW, I talked to Connor at Tire rack. They located steel wheels for the Sedona for winter use. I ordered 4 which were $36 each plus $32 shipping. They should arrive today or tomorrow, as I got shipping data on Fri.
(See post 340 on "Ask Connor at Tire Rack" forum if you are interested.
I decided to put on steel wheels for winter, because I had a devil of a time polishing out the salt marks on Sedona wheels from last winter's light use in snow in VA...and know I'm in for more here in Minnesota. Concur with all you said RE the Noikians and ratings.
BTW, I'm getting two sets of WR's...one for my commuter car, and one for the wife's Sedona. I intend to run the WR's year round on the commuter and only in winter on the Sedona. Very pleased with the Hankook RA 007's original equipment. (Now, if I could only keep bozos from rubbing/creasing its fenders and bumpers in parking lots and not stopping to admit it!)
John
In a nutshell, we're still happy with our 2003 Sedona!
Sounds like your dealer is on the job for sure!
I'd like to hear if anyone has high mileage on their Sedona(say over 90,000 miles). Our '02 only had about 30,000 and our new '04 only has about 3000.
Other than the gas mileage We're really happy with ours and each time we climb in we marvel at how much vehicle we got for the low price.
Craig
'04 Sedona EX
This might be overkill, as my Hankook RA007's original equipment handled very well in the snow, but I didn't like the salt marks on the alloy wheels, so decided to go with a separate wheel/tire for winter. Will also make the OEM tires last longer. Just went over 32k, and they still look pretty good. One tire seems to like air a little more often than others, but I have a compressor, so not a big deal to air it every 2-3 wks.
Connor at the Tire Rack came through with steel wheels. View my previoius post if you want to order yours. Very reasonable price for new wheels.
Local tire shops all charging about $25 to mount/balance and put in valve stems. A bit steep, but then everything in the Twin Cities is. Could have gone to Walmart and bought tires on line, but in the end, I would have saved about $100 total and had no extended warantee. Now I have a local tire shop, and a reasonable warantee on the tire.
I'm very pleased with my Sedona and other "new families" I know that are growing are now looking at buying them after our so far so good experience.
Roger
So far it's a great van. As good as a Sienna or Odyssey that costs $10K more. Since I've got my van I've talked to other Sedona owners. All are happy with their vans.
I did check the gas cap. I know less than 3 clicks can cause the light to go on. If that was the cause, will it reset on its own, or do I need to have the dealer reset it?
or go to auto zone... the check engine light came on in my sister in law's van the other day over a single cylinder misfire LOL
We've put about 120 miles on it in 3 days and we just can't believe all we got for the price!!
Congrats on the Sedona Purchase. I was waiting all weekend for your post as I knew you were getting it saturday.
If you guys are interested in detailing I suggest you go out and get a detailing clay bar as well as some good paint sealer such as Liquid Glass.
First wash the Sedona with Dawn dish soap(you want to do this only now in order to strip all dealer applied wax off the Sedona. You wont use this again after the Liquid glass is applied)
Second, use the detailing clay bar to remove all surface contaminants(you wont believe how slick it makes the finish)
Third apply two coats of Liquid glass(wait 24 hours for the first coat to cure before applying the second layer).
Your Sedona will be so slick and reflective you wont believe it!
Craig
'04 Sedona EX
Bluedevil, MSRP $25,735 Price paid $19,988 before *&$%# Connecticut sales tax of 6% and tags. this included $3,500 in rebates and incentives.
Ody is also heavy compare to Sienna, and Quest, still it is 300 lb less than Sedona!
The Sedona is built solid to achieve a 5 star crash rating. The additional weight from steel is what makes it so heavy however the Van still drives awesome and you really dont feel the weight when tooling around. Gas Mileage suffers a bit because of it but really the difference of a couple of MPG isnt significant to me. I can buy alot of gas even at $2/gal when you consider I saved over $5000 buying the Sedona over the Ody.
Craig
'04 Sedona EX
The lower fuel economy is the only real drawback I see.
the difference is 3mpg
Assume that you travel 12000mile per year
Each year you consume
Sedona 12000/16 = 750.0 gal of gas
Ody 12000/19 = 631.5 gal of gas
The gas you save from Ody
750 - 631.5 = 118.5 gal per year
Sedona are about ~$5000 cheaper than Ody
Assume the gas price is around $2.5 for the next couple years,
5000/2.5 = 2000 gal of gas
2000 gal /118.5 gal per yr= 16.87 yrs
If you are traveling about 12000miles per year and if you want to keep the car for 16.87 yr+, Anytime after 16.87 yr, Ody has a better value (gas consume + base price) over Sedona
But you travel 20000 miles per year, about 10 yrs after, the Ody will have better value over Sedona!
Does it make any sense to everyone?
True Cost to Own
If you can drive a car ten years or more, you're so far ahead dollar-wise, it may not matter much what you initially buy.
Steve, Host
One of these years I'm hoping the data folks will let you enter your own figures into the TCO tool.
Steve, Host
I don't know if owners of other minivans tend to do better than the EPA ratings, but that seems to be the case with Sedona.
Some questions:
1. Has anybody changed spark plugs on your Sedona?
2. Who did the job - dealer, other shop, yourself?
3. Which plugs did you use?
4. How much did it cost?
Our 2002 EX has 44k miles and it sounds a little more gruff and noisy at idle and during acceleration -- kinda like it needs a 'tune-up.' I'm thinking new spark plugs may be a wise move at this point.
Not trying to discourage you by no means but dont most auto makers now use Platinum type plugs that are supposed to last nearly 100,000 miles? I havent checked our Sedona owners manual yet but I will tomorrow.
Craig
'04 Sedona EX
Nearly $300 for changing the spark plugs is absolutely nuts. $81 for parts?! $213 for labor?! Crazy. I guess I need to start shopping around.
With regards to replacing a fuel filter, is it hard to do? Can i buy the filter from a local auto parts dealer? Thanks.
BTW, our sedona is almost 53,000 miles already.
$300 for a timing belt replacement sounds reasonable.
Now, if I step down from the H speed rating my choices are many.
I sure would like some advise on which way to go.
John
Tire rack(www.tirerack.com) has the Hankook RA07's for $58 each.
Hankook is in cahoots with Michelin so be assured they are excellent tires.
Craig
'04 Sedona EX
After a little bit of consideration, I concluded that an "H" speed rating was NOT an absolute requirement for the new tires on our Sedona. I have heard some shops will simply refuse to install a tire with lower speed rating than the OEM tire, though. Probably a liability issue.
Higher speed ratings such as H are generally indicative of higher safety margins with regard to temperature and load rating etc., but you can get these good specs in tires with lower speed ratings.
See the Tires, Tires, Tires topic in Town Hall and search for Sedona. I posed this very question over there in September, around post #4218?
We replaced our Hankook RA07, which worked fine and still had some useful tread, around 38k miles. We went with Bridgestone Turanza LS-T, which I believe is a very good tire after doing moderate amounts of research. My other choice was Michelin HydroEdge, also a good tire but slightly more expensive. Neither tire is H speed rated in the P215/70/15 stock Sedona size. Got a great deal on these tires at Costco. $320 for 4, including tax and the typical mount/balance/pro-rated road hazard coverage.
The Turanza had excellent specs, including a load rating and traction/ temperature ratings on par with the Hankook RA07 it replaced. To me, this made the speed rating irrelevant. I feel I put excellent tires, and SAFE tires, on our Sedona.
My parents just replaced the Kumho tires on their 2003 Sedona. They were wearing quickly at 22k miles. Part of that is because my parents never had the tires rotated. They went with Michelin Symmetry, which I would not have recommended due to several bad writeups from minivan owners, particularly Odyssey owners, at Tire Rack. They paid about $400 for the set of 4.
John
If you run your tires 4-5 lbs low and load it up (gee, that never happens with our wives, right?) you will have a significantly lower safety margin.
Around town and short trips, prob wouldn't mind a downgrade, but with Tire Rack prices, you shouldn't have to.
I'm running Nokian WR's for the winter on steel wheels and will switch back to my Hankook's during summer driving. WR's were somewhat expensive ($100 each) but are great in snow, important in the Twin Cities, and although I like the Hankooks in snow, didn't want to mess up the alloys with all the salt.
Best compromise was to have summer/winter wheels and run both sets longer. BTW, I'm running the Nokians on my commuter sedan now, and they are much quieter than the Michelin Energy tires they replaced.
I'm no tire expert; at best, an educated consumer. Question for you: other factors being equal, does a tire with an "H" stamped on the side provide you with a wider safety margin than the same tire with an "S" stamped on the side? What exactly is different about a higher speed-rated tire? Are there certain characteristics of higher-speed rated tires that are inherent and not necessarily published or quantified?
I have been thinking that my S or T rated tires, with similar load rating and traction/temperature ratings, were providing the same safety margin while we drove them about town and at highway speeds up to 80mph, usually inflated to Kia's specifications but occasionally a few pounds too low.