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Comments
The reason ABS was found not be any safer was because people didn't know how to use them properly. When people began to feel the pulsing of the ABS they found that they would ease up on the brakes thus defeating the purpose of ABS.
There is no doubt ABS is better than non-ABS(excluding off road) because it will keep you from skidding and allows you to steer the vehicle as well.
Of course you have to use them properly but keeping the foot on pedal and don't ease up.
And yes, you can take it to the local dealer to have it fixed under warranty if you buy it from CarsDirect.
-dwh
I find it interesting that now Chrysler is giving 7 yr/100,000 mi powertrain warranty now.
Chrysler's addition of comfort greatly increased public interest that led to GM, Ford, Toyota, Honda, and now Kia building a nice, comfortable, convenient vehicle now referred to as the minivan.
Those early creations by Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi, etc. were dismal failures until they more closely copied the successful adaptation by Chrysler.
Latest update on Kia search if anyone cares: A dealer some 3 1/2 hours from me called and said they had exactly the van I'm looking for color and everything for MSRP. My resolve to not drive may be crumbling.
But you're right, you have to read the fine print on any warranty, including Kia's - plus a good dealer will go a long way towards making things "right".
Now back to the Sedona.
Steve
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I have looked at the Kia website and their 10 year 100,000 mile limited drivetrain warranty looks pretty good--if you're the initial buyer, buy a used one from a close family member as defined in the warranty, or buy one you have been leasing. Anyone else who buys a used Kia loses that, but does get whatever remains of the 5 year, 60,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty, which is still a good deal more than most manufacturers offer.
I will say Kia has done a good job of writing the warranty so it is understandable by the average buyer, and the drivetrain warranty appears to be all inclusive. It is on their website, kia.com, in its entirety for those that are interested. I will warn you that it is rather lengthy, but only because it contains so much other information, such as lemon laws for specific states. The actual warranties are only on about five pages of that. If anyone reads them and finds a loophole in them that I've missed I would be interested in knowing, as a Sedona will probably be our next van, but if the one we have holds out it will be a couple of years yet.
I don't know what Kia's reasoning is for not transferring the limited drivetrain warranty, and I would think that might hurt resale value some, but since I prefer to buy new and drive a vehicle for a long time anyway, resale is typically low on my vehicles when I finish with them, anyway, so it wouldn't really matter to me. What does matter to me is that a vehicle is reliable and doesn't leave my wife and family stranded somewhere.
Does anyone know if the Sedona has a Mitsubishi engine in it? I have heard at least some of the Kia's do.
I was extremely pleased with the deal I got.
The Kia Dealer in my city told me that I'd better grab that Sedona. They've paid for some and have no idea when they will come in. He didn't figure to see any til after Thanksgiving, if then.
My advice is to contact him via e-mail first. I have reasons for saying that but none that I will share.
Some of you may wonder why in the world anyone would pay MSRP. My husband may be wondering that when he gets home! 1. I'm getting alot more bells and whistles for $23,000 in 2002 than I got for about the same price in 1994 with the Voyager. 2. The 10 yr/100,000 warranty that cost me nothing extra with the Kia would add a pretty penny to the other mini-van leaders. Chrysler will have to really prove their reliability before I'll go back to them.
3. It's hard to turn down the exact package your looking for when no one, not even Cars.Direct or Nissan Kia of Union City Georgia has anything to offer. Yes, they called me back and both were barren.
4. All reviews I've heard from professionals sound good to me except some snide remarks like,"Well, if you want to drive the cheapest mini-van in America."
I'm looking forward to seeing how it does for me. Even my dealer here in Springfield told me that I will have no trouble getting my warranty work from them and he even sounded like he was frothing at the bit a little
wecook@ozarks.net Let us hear from you.
It is always a good feeling to get exactly the vehicle that you wanted. The dealers and manufacturers seem to want to force so many compromises on us these days.
We chose a green/beige ex loaded when we purchased last August. The blue only became available a month later. We would have likely chosen it if it was available in August. Very classy-looking vehicle.
Odd that ABS appears to be absent in US vehicles. As far as I know, all the Ex's have it in Canada.
Ours will go back to the dealer next week for the FIRST time since purchase for a few adjustments. One rear door is binding a bit and the hood is not as tight against the stops as it should be.
We are also trying to figure out the rear heater switch controls before it gets about minus a million degrees here soon. The push-button switch on the dash for the rear heater redirects the airflow from the rear roof outlets to an outlet on the floor near the 3rd seat. Good so far. However, said airflow does not appear to be controlled by the dash temperature selector. It seems to blow full hot whenever the button is pushed. This may not be a bad thing here in about a month, but is a pain currently. I'll be discussing it with the Kia service department.
mcperr, I've never talked to anyone from Canada before. Hi. Thanks for all of your information. I read your prior posts and saw what you gave for yours. gggrrrr But I'm still thrilled. Tell me how things continue to go with your van in the future.
When I compare everything about the Kia to a Town and Country Limited and see that I've saved $13,000, that makes me really, really smile.
The big rush for getting the hitch was a trip my wife had planned to begin tomorrow. Now she is thinking of going at a later date. Arrgggg!
-dwh
I guess that's one of my pet peeves about tradeins. Dealers want to make money on both the new vehicle and your tradein, or at least get your vehicle for no more than they feel it will bring at a wholesale auction if that is necessary. The result is a new vehicle price will have profit built in, and the tradein price will be low enough to allow them to add profit to it and sell it, or wholesale it and not lose anything.
I had a brother-in-law who owned a used car lot. He usually bought his inventory at wholesale auctions, and sold each vehicle for $1,000.00-$1,500.00 more than he paid for it. Some he had a lot more markup on. The thing is, dealers will be trying to do the same thing.
The usual ones require drilling several holes in the back bumper to mount the sensors. Apparently this is quite tricky as they have to be carefully positioned. Hence the installation cost is high.
There is a system made in Italy( http://www.parkingsensor.it/) that uses a flexible strip antenna mounted inside of the rear bumper. No holes and no obvious sensors. Does anyone know of anybody on this side of the pond that has tried one?
I'm in the USAF and was stationed in Korea a few years ago. I made many Korean friends and rode in their vehicles whcih are now available in the states. Believe me, the quality of the Korean cars is good (as well as many of their other products). I'm more concerned about the junk the US puts out and calls "quality". Unfortunately, I purchased a 2001 Dodge Quad Cab in January of this year. Had I know then that the Sedona was going to come out in August, I'd have waited. The "Five Star" dealer where I bought my truck is a joke and refuses to fix things under warranty. My mother has a Kia Rio and on the few times she had to take it back, they immediately fixed the problem, washed the car for her, and one time thru in a free oil change.
Any car, regardless of price, is only going to last as long as you take care of it.
Forget about worrying about the quality, enjoy the van and life. Quit worrying about resale value--drive it till it dies. If you can predict resale value, I've got some good stocks to sell you.
BTW, the Koreans are FAR ahead of the US in many regards. When I came back to the states, I couldn't believe how backwards we truly are. The people of this country need to lose that old stereotype of the Asians.
Although my truck suits my needs, I'm trading it in next spring for a Sedona. I'll never buy another American made car again--unless I like hanging around the delaer trying to get it fixed.
Drive on!
Sterling Distributing Co.
23500 Mercantile Rd.
Beachwood, Ohio 44122
It is simply labeled as "Early warning Back-up Alert"
Steve
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SUVs, Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
Good luck with your Sedona,
gus
Steve
Host
SUVs, Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
Does the Kmart backup alarm use several sensors drilled into the rear bumper? Or do they have the long, flexible antenna that mounts inside of the bumper with some sort of adhesive?
Steve
Host
SUVs, Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
I visited relatives in GA this past week and called no less than 7 Atlanta area Kia Dealers. Not one equipped the way we want, 2-tone White w/tan, all options. Here comes the fun part. Of the 7 Atlanta dealers we called only two returned our calls to tell us they did not have the vans. 3 dealers told us they do not give this info. over the phone and we must come down to the dealership. I've heard this one before.
We even tried the Union City, GA Dealership which has been mentioned here twice. They are also dry. We visited Mall of GA Kia, the self proclaimed volume leader in the U.S., who also has only been in business for 4 months, they don't have it.
We also have dealers telling us that Kia is not shipping vans with ABS or the Homelink. This is false, I found several (all the wrong color of course). They are also telling us that there will be a price increase in December and we MUST buy now to avoid paying more. One dealer told us that the plant is shutting down so we should just choose one now before they're all gone.
Finally we have a dealer in VA who will find us the van at $1,000 over MSRP (Honda Oddy all over again). I argued with him that I couldn't see spending more that $1,000 over dealer invoice to which he said "there's only $500 profit in a Sedona." I told him I beg to differ that both Edmunds and KBB show dealer invoice at $21,400 fully loaded with destination. He claims that Edmunds and KBB are both misinformed.
Needless to say I am not very eager to work with dealers that:
1) Have been in business for 4 months
2) Lie about availability of vans or options
3) Lie about invoice price
4) Don't return phone calls of perspective customers
"The dealers will ruin these fine vehicles!"
If you overlook all the outdated stereotypes, you'll find a pretty nice van at a great price. We drove a loaded up leather-and-moonroof model that stickered for just $23.7k. That's $6-10 grand less than most competitors with similar equipment.
Any how, off on the test drive. The engine is torquey and gets the job done nicely, though it's a little coarse when revved up. The tranny seemed to do its job well, I hardly noticed it.
It felt big because I'm used to small cars, but the ride was nice and smooth. It leaned a bit much for my tastes, but a tall vehicle will do that.
My biggest complaint was the driver's seat. The leather and power controls were good, but the lumbar support felt lumpy, right in the lower back section, and even fully retracted felt like they protruded too much. I just could not get comfortable, though my wife liked it fine. I even tried a cloth seat to see if it was any better, no luck. It's a shame but I wouldn't buy it if I can't get comfortable.
I didn't like the plastic arm rests that pair up with the leather seats. The cloth ones were actually nicer.
The dash has good ergonomics and plenty of gizmos for people that like that stuff. Good storage abounds, lots of nice touches. Room is also good, except the 3rd seat can be a little tight. It would be nice if it folded, like the MPV and Odyssey, but I guess you can't have it all. Cargo space behind the 3rd seat is only OK.
So, overall a positive impression, but that seat is a deal killer, at least for my shape.
We visited a Honda dealer just minutes later, and they had only one demo in stock. 3 month wait at full list price for an Odyssey. Ouch. They are a bit roomier and have some really nice features, but certainly cost a lot more. Leather would put it at $30 grand and still no moonroof.
I would also compare the MPV, which is smaller but also has some nice touches, such as rear windows that open, the folding 3rd seat, and the sliding 2nd row seat. But that'll have to wait until the 3.0l engine arrives.
-juice
Dittos to the person above who noted difficulty in finding knowledgeable, trustworthy salespersons. There were a lot of incompetents out there--even one service manager that was promising a $2000 rebate. I seriously doubt his integrity--pretty sure he just wanted me to drive an hour east to his dealership hoping he could close a deal 'in person' without the rebate. I called immediately before departing and demanded he 'verify' the rebate. Sure enough, it was "Oh, sorry. I got it mixed up with a rebate on an Optima." Right! For what it's worth, his quote without rebate was good: an EX with twotone paint, leather and sunroof (no ABS) for several hundred under MSRP.
Then there was another that assured me the that an EX "just off the truck" had ABS. He eventually reversed himself when I forced him to pull up the actual invoice. He also wouldn't come off the MSRP more than two or three hundred.
Luckily, an internet manager at a dealership four hours west of me called back during the discussions with the two clowns above to say he had an EX with ABS suddenly available because a deal had fallen through. Using the quote from "Mr Rebate" as a tool, I finally worked the internet manager down to a price well under MSRP. Considering all the talk about non-availability, Edmunds TMV of full MSRP, and the quotes of "MSRP plus" that I've read about in this forum, I think I got a great bargain! Had to drive four hours one-way to get it, but absolutely no regrets.
Keep looking--they are out there, but it is up to you to find them. Out of 7 internet requests I placed for on-line quotes, I didn't receive a single quote via email. Only two of the 7 contacted me (by phone) to say they would help search for what I wanted. Only one of those two stuck with it -- that was the dealership I evetually bought from.