Kia Sedona Gas Mileage

jbradley2

Well, I've got a little over 22,000 miles and they tell me there is nothing wrong with it. I'm taking it in tomorrow and I'm demanding a courtesy car and they can have the van until they figure out what the problem is or put in a new engine.

joe131

10/12 city/highway really stinks!
How many miles are on your van? Do you calculate MPG for every fill-up and keep a running average too?
You need to do 3 or more fill-ups consecutively to get a good average.

jfee77

After about 500 miles our EX gets 24.5 highway, and 16 city. Here is the bad part, my wife drives the van to and from work everyday in rush hour traffic in Philly about 9 miles each way. 12-13 rush hour mileage. Overall not unexpected for 4700lb. vehicle. Great van for the price!

rrowe2047

We bought our very first new auto EVER, and chose the 2007 Kia Sedona. I want to say the buying experience was wonderful. Much less pressure that any place I have ever been to. We got the EX model with all the bells and whistles. I could go on and on and on about what a great van I think this is...except it is WAY overshadowed by the terrible gas mileage we are getting. I can't seem to get more than 13 MPG. I have tried everything....watching my driving patterns......using the 5 speed and shifting all the time (a royal pain if you ask me!) Last week I thought, fine, I will fill up and drive like the safest most perfect driver ever. I was the person who you probably whipped around last week if you were behind me.....drove 5 miles below the speedlimit......basically let the car accelerate itself when the light turned green....never let the track get over 2000.....anything I could think of.......and got 15 mpg. All that work, driving like no one on earth really does....for an extra 2 MPG. We had an appt. and took it in today. Got the bad news....nothing wrong with it. On top of that, the mechanic was very condesending....telling me that yes, it does state 18-25, but that at the bottom of the window sticker it does say 15. I told him I would be doing somersaults down my street if I were getting 15 at this point! He pointed out different driving habits mean different gas milage.....I just wanted to say...yes I am a woman, but that does not mean I am stupid. I explained my experiment that only got me up to 15, and he just said Um hum. I went to this from a Chrysler T&C van, and I was getting 18 with it...driving the same way I do now. So..now my object is to see how many people out there are having this problem. It seems to me if it is widespread, something should be done. So I guess the bottam line is, although I love the van, my most important option would be good gas milage, and I would have rather gotten an Odysey with less options, and better gas milage. Luckily, my husband has a Taurus that seats 6 so we can use it most of the time to save on gas. Kinda sucks though that I have this brand new van that we can't afford to drive!

notanotherkia

I have had the same problem with my kia sedona (2005) I can't get it over 15.5 mpg. I told my wife that if I wanted this kinda of gas milage I should have gotten a ford mustang. :mad: :mad:

rrowe2047

I KNOW! It would have opened the field a bit for me also! We could have looked at some SUV's or something. Not that I want one, but like you said....if I wanted this kind of gas mileage.......
One time I looked at the average I was getting at the moment (on the console) and it said 10! I am seriously considering making up a bumper sticker that says "Kia Sedona.....Fun van....terrible gas mileage" Just to get the word out!

joe131

Your mpg may improve later. How many miles do you have on it? Have you done everything (maintenance-wise) the dealer suggested for improved mileage?
How long a trip have you taken in the van at constant highway speeds?
It's rated close to the same as competitors by EPA now. http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/byclass/Minivan2007.shtml

stevenfjl

Don't count on improved gas mileage over time. Today's engines are finely honed and don't require a standard break-in for mileage. What you get in the beginning is about what you can expect over the long haul. Sometimes the mileage goes up a little and sometimes down. But, it will likely stay about the same as the first tank of gas in mileage. I'm getting 7 MPG City with my 2006 Sedona EX. It's been that way since day one. Highway mileage is fine, at 28 MPG. If I did mostly highway driving then it wouldn't be so bad, but the majority of my driving is city so I only get about 170+/- miles between fill-ups of 15 to 17 Gallons. Overall I get about 11 MPG. I could have bought that army surplus tank I always dreamed of owning if I wanted poor gas mileage. At one time, I had a 1973 Chevy pick-up truck with a 4-barrel big block V8 engine with a dead cylinder that got better mileage than this thing.

joe131

Unless your Sedona is in need of repair, or unless the driving circumstances are very different, I don't believe a '73 big block pickup with or without a dead cylinder would get better fuel economy. Something is screwy.

bluedevils

This was a mix of highway and 'rural' (not as much stopping as city) driving. The 20.5 mpg is MY calculation; the trip computer showed about 0.5 mpg less than that which is pretty decent accuracy. Also, the trip computer shows around 24.0 mpg for my 45-mile commute which is 70-80% highway.

lavrishevo

I agree, those seeing such low MPG in the city, something must be wrong. I live in Puerto Rico as I posed earlier and I have driven the van once without the A/C on and I am averaging 18 mpg and it is really stop and go constantly. I will say one thing is that I pretty much keep the engine shifting at about 2000 to 2500 rpms and put in a K&N air filter which makes a nice difference right off the bat.

Oh yes 1,218 miles on the engine. Also I would recommend switching to a full synthetic for your oil. They do not make a 5W-20 full synthetic but the Mobile 1 5W-30 is a good choice.

fishbreath

23.9 mpg drove from Ticonderoga N.Y. to home yesterday 300 miles and I took it easy 65-70 no air on, 1 window 1/2 open and following trucks. On the way up with air on not following trucks and some driving around Lake George 21 mpg.
Not really conplaining but could be better.

joe131

If you believe the K&N website claims, you'll come away believing your horsepower has been boosted 10% to 20%. I'm not sure what they claim regarding MPG.
Most people posting on here who have used K&N filter have pretty much decided they don't increase horsepower or MPG, and that they don't really save money either unless you like to remove, wash, oil and reinstall your air filter for some reason at very frequent intervals.
I'm curious what MPG you'd get now if you switched back to the stock paper element filter.
In many parts of the country, if you keep your engine shifting at 2000 to 2500 rpm, you'll get run over by traffic proceeding at the normal rate of acceleration and speed. Good luck.

mrjayb

I bought a 07 Sedona EX with 14 miles on it. Drove to Boston from N. Virgina for a funeral. First tank of gas 20 MPG, Second tank 20.8 MPG, Third tank 22 MPG. Fuel computer was pretty accurate. Along the way home the rain started. The wipers failed after 20 minutes. Couldn't see the road so we got a hotel for the night. Next day back at the dealership they found the master nut was not tighted at the factory. It had backed out and rendered the wipers useless. It was tighted in 20 minutes under warrenty. Mechanic at Kia dealership said he had never seen this before. So far, my wife and I are please with the Kia.
FWIW-A lady backed into our Sedona in Boston (hotel parking lot) and crunched the rear bumper. Our van was TWO DAYS OLD. Her Pathfinder sustained a lot more damage.

mrjayb

mrjayb

I bought a 07 Sedona EX with 14 miles on it. Drove to Boston from N. Virgina for a funeral. First tank of gas 20 MPG, Second tank 20.8 MPG, Third tank 22 MPG. Fuel computer was pretty accurate. Along the way home the rain started. The wipers failed after 20 minutes. Couldn't see the road so we got a hotel for the night. Next day back at the dealership they found the master nut was not tighted at the factory. It had backed out and rendered the wipers useless. It was tighted in 20 minutes under warrenty. Mechanic at Kia dealership said he had never seen this before. So far, my wife and I are please with the Kia.
FWIW-A lady backed into our Sedona in Boston (hotel parking lot) and crunched the rear bumper. Our van was TWO DAYS OLD. Her Pathfinder sustained a lot more damage. Parts and labor for a new Kia rear bumper=$780.00

lavrishevo

First of all I would like to say I am not affiliated with K&N so all information is from my own experience.

I have a lot of experience modifying cars and adding an intake is no joke. Improving airflow is a fantastic way of gaining power and MPG in certain conditions. An example is on my 06 Mustang GT the intake alone was good for 20+ HP with tune it equaled 32 HP. Now on the Kia with just the K&N air filter you may see only 2 - 3 HP which is not much but enough to feel. I felt it right off the bat.

Increased air flow works in both ways. If lets say you are cruising at 65 MPH you you will have a slight increase in MPG because the throttle body does not have to be as open to maintain your desired MPH. If lets say you open the engine up allowing more air flow compared to what the junkie stock filter would allow will allow of course more fuel and hence worse MPG.

I am not sure where you live Joe but here in PR and my van letting the engine shift at 2000 to 2500 RPM's in general keeps me flowing with traffic and ahead of many. Maybe where you are this is not the case but the point is conservative driving = more MPG.

You also save money over the life of your car with the K&N. You only need to clean the filter every 15000 to 30000 miles and this takes all of an 20 min to do, let dry and your on your way.

joe131

PR? What state is that? Or country? Puerto Rico?

lavrishevo

Yeah I am down in Puerto Rico, hot sun all the time. I have driven the van once without the A/C pumping.....lol

thehothit

My '06 Sedona EX has just hit the 12,000 mile mark. I just completed a round trip from Central NJ down to the the Waynesboro, VA area (PA Turnpike and then down I-81) and around the top half of the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline drive and back.

I reset the trip computer before leaving home and before leaving for home (tank was full before leaving) and averaged 26MPG on the way down and on the way back. I also reset it before pottering around the Blue Ridge Parkway and averaged 20MPG up and down the hills.

I'm really happy with the mileage, I'd be even happier if Kia could fix the passenger Power Sliding Door (which didn't work properly for approx 90% of the time). I'll write some more about that in another post.

mlburgoon

well, we bought out kia sedona last friday, a 2006 LX with about 25000 miles on it. filled it up then and went 275.4 miles before the gas light came on. filled it up with 17.252 gallons of gas.

that gives us 15.96 MPG. that does not sound bad, but the first 100 miles (roughly) on this tank was ALL highway driving. that used up less than a 1/4 of a tank (on the guage). so the city milage sucks, but highway is good.

now we are still getting used to it, so I hope it will increase as we adjust to driving this instead of the 1999 suburban we traded in on it. but right now, the suburban got way better milage in the city than this van does.

fishbreath

I don't do all stop and go city driving so I can't tell you what mileage I would get, butI get approx. 200 miles on the first half tank of gas then it drops pretty fast. unlike my truck that drops fast for the first 1/4 tank and then it goes slow after that.

bluedevils

Recently did a trip in our 2006 Sedona EX. Broad mix of vehicle speeeds - some 75mph highway cruising, mostly 60-65 mph backroad country cruising (with infrequent stoplights), and some in-town driving. 2 adults + 500-700 lbs gear. A/C running most of the time. Flat terrain.

My calculations showed around 22.7 mpg. I was hoping to do a little bit better, but I think the approx. 50 miles of city driving dragged it down a little.

mickeyrom

Sounds like you're describing my wife Hrngffcr,

cdherman

I write down all gas and miles.

2006 LX, driven gently, but mostly city and short trips with the occassional 500 mile RT to my parents. The long trips probably account for 50% of the miles.

4208 miles since we bought in (Febuary, during those great deals, got it for 16k) 230 gallons of gas. Thats 18.3 mpg

City is worse, sometimes as low as 14-15, road is better at 21-24. I think the Sedona doesn't like frequent short trips. It takes a while for the computer to switch over to more efficient settings (when the engine is warm) and I wonder if that is what kills some users mileage.

I wish it were better, but all it all, its probably acceptable.

gcuff

just bought an 07 Sedona and have put just over 700 miles on it. All city driving. I first got 12 mpg, then 10, and now 9.5 mpg on my last fill-up. My previous call to the salesperson and visit to the service manager concluded with nothing wrong with the car. What do I do now??

jim314

Very disappointing, and will cause you some trouble to get to the bottom of the matter, but I think you can.

If you are sure it is not your driving based upon your experience with other vehicles driven the same way on the same routes, then you could go to the dealer and insist that they put it on their diagnostic computer. But remember that this is an approximately 4400-lb (?) vehicle with a 240 hp gasoline engine. It is a little silly to call these vehicles minivans. Short trips in winter, in stop and go traffic, heavily loaded, are each and together going to be mpg killers. If you have the heater in the windshield defrost mode the a/c compressor will be on (to defog the inside of the windows), unless the ambient outside temperature is extremely low. But this comment is not a suggestion that you drive with a fogged up windshield to keep the a/c compressor off!

But you may have to do some experimentation and record keeping to persuade the dealer that there really is a problem. If it has a trip computer which shows instantaneous, and average mpg, then your job will be a little easier.

First check the tire pressures and see that they are at the specificed pressure on the vehicle sticker (not the max inflation pressure on the side walls of the tires). What is the outside temperature where the van is being used? Is the engine warming up properly as evidenced by good heat inside the vehicle and the engine temp gauge?

You want to establish that the poor mpg is not your driving habits. I believe that one could possibly get such poor mpg in a properly functioning van if one drove short trips, drove the van "agressively" , i.e. with high acceleration and heavy braking in city streets. Take the van out on the highway and drive with minimal braking and not exceeding 60 (or at most 65 mph) and see what the mpg is. If you don't have a trip computer, you'll have to fill-up, drive 100 miles, fill-up, and calculate the mpg.

If you have a trip computer, then get the vehicle up to 60 mph in a fairly level area where you can keep the speed constant without braking, reset the average mpg function mpg and drive for a mile or a few miles for the average mpg to stabilize. Record the value. Repeat at 65 mph, 70 mph, 55 mph and record all the values. How do these values compare to the EPA highway estimate for this vehicle?

lavrishevo

Don't worry everyone is pretty much in that same boat when the van is new. You will get the advertised city mileage when the motor has about 6,000 miles and you drive pretty conservative. Try to keep the rpm's under 2400 for good MPG. The mileage will get better with some miles on the van.

mickeyrom

NOBODY will get EPA milage in the city,not on short trips.You probably will match the highway mileage as long as you drive the speed limits.Heck on really short trips,less than 2 miles,even my 4 cyl Optima gets less than 15 MPG.

rusdorf

I live in the hills north of San Francisco and have found these gas mileage messages very interesting. My 2002 Sedona used to get about 15 mpg city driving, but recently dropped to 13.6 on average. I have almost 51,000 miles. I removed the rear seats long ago and use the car for my handyman work. The tools and supplies I carry weigh less than the four seats.

I recently had the spark plugs and the timing belt replaced. New tires (2nd set). The car has been thoroughly checked by qualified mechanics who report nothing wrong with it.Now that the average price of gas here is nearing $3.75 a gallon, can anyone direct me to the top 10 recommendations on improving the gas mileage?