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Kia Sedona Gas Mileage

13

Comments

  • lavrishevolavrishevo Member Posts: 312
    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.
  • fishbreathfishbreath Member Posts: 58
    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.
  • joe131joe131 Member Posts: 998
    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.
  • mrjaybmrjayb Member Posts: 3
    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.
  • mrjaybmrjayb Member Posts: 3
  • mrjaybmrjayb Member Posts: 3
    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
  • lavrishevolavrishevo Member Posts: 312
    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.
  • joe131joe131 Member Posts: 998
    PR? What state is that? Or country? Puerto Rico?
  • lavrishevolavrishevo Member Posts: 312
    Yeah I am down in Puerto Rico, hot sun all the time. I have driven the van once without the A/C pumping.....lol
  • thehothitthehothit Member Posts: 19
    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.
  • mlburgoonmlburgoon Member Posts: 1
    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.
  • fishbreathfishbreath Member Posts: 58
    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.
  • bluedevilsbluedevils Member Posts: 2,554
    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.
  • mickeyrommickeyrom Member Posts: 936
    Sounds like you're describing my wife Hrngffcr, :D
  • cdhermancdherman Member Posts: 5
    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.
  • gcuffgcuff Member Posts: 1
    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??
  • jim314jim314 Member Posts: 491
    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?
  • lavrishevolavrishevo Member Posts: 312
    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.
  • mickeyrommickeyrom Member Posts: 936
    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.
  • rusdorfrusdorf Member Posts: 4
    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?
  • lavrishevolavrishevo Member Posts: 312
    Spark plugs are the most important. Did you use a high end platinum plug?

    You should also do your fuel filter and run a few bottles of Lucas Oil fuel injector and top end cleaner.

    K&N Washable air filter is a great addition.

    About all I can think of, might want to run your tires a little above 35, maybe about 37 or 38 and you could see a little better MPG though a bit harder of a ride.
  • hersbirdhersbird Member Posts: 323
    We bought a used 2006 Kia LX with 18,000 miles. It now has 20,000 miles and is really only driven around town, stop and go, short trips. We usually get 15mpg but that's over a cold icy winter with studded snow tires and long, idle, warm ups. I'm pretty happy so far. Now I got regular tires on and am leaving for a trip to Seattle and back next week. I'll keep the gas receipts and mileage and see how it does. Our well broken in 2000 Dodge 3.8L Grand Caravan with AWD would get 24 mpg on the Seattle trip so I'm hoping to match or beat that.

    I'd say if your getting much less then 15mpg there is something out of whack. DO you calculate the mileage? Does the odometer seem accurate? Maybe the tire size got programmed wrong and you are actually driving more miles then it's reading out. Our 99 Suburban was that way even thought the speedometer read correctly the odometer was about 10-15% lower then what the mile markers indicated. In other words after going about 9 miles only 8 showed up on the odometer. I figured after 100,000 miles that would actually increase resale a few hundred dollars so I lived with it!

    Maybe and independent shop could do a few checks on the air to fuel ratio to see if it's running to much fuel. Also try a coast down test to see if something is dragging like the transmission or a brake. Get it up to 60 and let off the gas and see how fast it loses speed on a flat road. Then try it from 60mph and shift it to neutral and see if its much better at rolling. If all that seems good then it could also be a really loose/slipping transmission or torque converter. In which case it will surely fail long before the warranty expires if that's any consolidation! LOL!
  • hersbirdhersbird Member Posts: 323
    Just an update, we got an average of 22.5 mpg (by calculation) over a 1000 mile average on the highway to and from Seattle. Conditions were not ideal, we had a pretty full load, and I drove 70-80 mph the whole way. Still that's not as good as what we got with our old 2000 AWD Grand Caravan but it's close and the Kia has way more power. Hopefully with some more miles on the Kia it will loosen up like the Dodge did after it got more mile on it. The Dodge picked up about 2 mpg over it's life especially right around the 40,000-100,000 mile range.
  • ptinkptink Member Posts: 13
    my milage sucks i was driving a pt cur for 5 years great milage i got the 2005 sedona :confuse: in march and it is twice what i was spending in the pt
  • dogwaggindogwaggin Member Posts: 8
    To say that one has to wait 6000 miles to get tolerable gas mileage is unacceptable!!! It would take me nearly a year to get to that point and I refuse to live with such lousy gas mileage for that long for no good reason! I got my '07 Sedona in Oct and the mileage absolutely stinks!! It got as low as 10.2 in town during the cold months and is now only around 12.5. As for highway driving - I recently went on a 250 mile round trip only to avg 16.65 (and yes I am keeping a log for my attorney!!). The Yukon XL that I traded in "so I could get much better gas mileage" got 13-14 in town and 17-18 on the highway...and I kept it loaded down. Now, not only am I spending more on gas, I have to load and unload my gear constantly in the hopes that it will help the mileage a tiny bit. The local dealer's service dept has actually been very good about the whole thing. They have worked on it multiple times trying to figure out what is causing the problem, but they finally gave up (not to mention the fact the the front roters had to be replaced twice and the rear once within the first three months of ownership). The dealership fo purchase, however, refused to even acknowledge the problem and manufact. cust. serv. spewed the bit about the 6000 miles and basically hung up on me after being very condescending! I also had a very peculiar problem in the winter months...every time it rained, the INSIDE of the windows would be covered with condensation! They ran it under water at the body shop for an hour with no success at finding any leaks. I was later told that the inside condensation was due to the humidity in the air..........PLEASE. This is my fourth vehicle for hauling multiple dogs and I have had soaking wet dogs in all of my other vehicles - in their crates, on their beds which absorb water - in both the winter and high heat of the summer with out ever having that problem. One would think if that was going to happen it would do so in the summer when the vehicle is closed up with the wet beds in it and left in the sun (which gets done on a regular basis when we are training for dock dogs). Anyone else out there had this particular problem? Anyone been successful in fighting back over the gas mileage?

    Signed....obviously VERY frustrated!
  • mickeyrommickeyrom Member Posts: 936
    I think that 10. something in town in cold weather is not that unusual. I have a Chrysler Town an Country and that is about what I get too,On the other hand,on the highway i get between 23-25 . If 16 is all you can get it should not be acceptable.The moisture in your car is pretty much like it does in my Optima. Make sure that the AC is set for outdoors,not recirculating

    PS you sound a like a doggie person.Are you into showing>? My doughter has been showing for over 30 years.
  • dogwaggindogwaggin Member Posts: 8
    Yes, actually...I do agility with a 9 yr old pound puppy, a 7 yr old lab mix (he's the dockdog wanna be) and a 5 yr old Swedish Vallund. Competing with All-Americans (as we like to call them) means I have to travel quit a bit, hence my decision to get something that was more "fuel efficient". And being outside requires lots of gear, as I'm sure you know. So much for my attempt at practicality.... man, do I wish I had my Yukon XL back!!
  • rusdorfrusdorf Member Posts: 4
    I'm wondering if Sedona owners should be using premium gasoline? I've been using the cheaper Arco 87 octane and had some problems with the fuel injector. Following the advice given in this forum, I added some high end cleaner to the gas tank and my mileage improved significantly. Perhaps with using higher octane on these so-called "high-performance" engines we can get better mileage? Just a thought..
  • electric1electric1 Member Posts: 1
    All 6 cyl vans get that gas milage. A few thing you have to remember tires, air pressure, filter changes, gas quality, season and so on. Also when was it tuned up last. Also driving habits..... The speed limit on most highways is 55 mph, I almost never see anyone drive below 65mph except when a state trooper has pulled someone over. Then they drive 45 mph. One guy compared the pt cruiser to a sedona. They are not the same. I have had a few mini vans and there about the same mpg. I also have a hybrid that gets about 50 mpg. Now that is a great feeling to fill up every two weeks instead of every few day. It is a small car but I don't need it to carry the kids or large stuff around town. The government has had 30 years to raise the mpg on all vehicles, we are just started on that road. I think they set the new standards for 2020. By then we will be paying $10 a gal and the SUV as we know it will be no more. These gas recomendations are too little and to late. As far as the sedona I bought it for the reliability, safety and price. I am very happy with my van and will keep it for a while until Kia makes a hybrid van. Safety is key with Kia....
  • scott_escott_e Member Posts: 2
    I've been driving my 07 Sedona since August. It's consistently gotten 18 mpg around town. On long distance highway trips it delivers 24mpg.

    Those long trips were lightly loaded, with one or two people.

    Not miserly in its gas usage, but roughly equivalent to the 98 Caravan it replaced.
  • marriedmanwmarriedmanw Member Posts: 11
    I haven't posted on this board for a very long time, but I wanted to see if others are getting bad fuel mileage?
    I have a 2002 Kia Sedona LX which currently has 70K miles, and was tuned up at 36K with new plugs, air filter, fuel filter, etc. My last fill up I averaged 12.8 miles per gallon. :mad:
    My wife is the primary driver and drives to pre-school 3 days a week for grand total of 5 miles round trip. With the weather now warm, I don't see why we're getting bad fuel mileage. I maintain good tire pressure (36lbs) and run 10w-30 syn fluid.
    I have a Ford F150 with V8 that averages 18 mpg.... :confuse:

    -Michael
  • dogwaggindogwaggin Member Posts: 8
    I'm driving my 07 Sedona just like I did the Yukon XL that I traded in and wish I had the Yukon back!! Just filled it and it's down to 9.6 miles to the gallon!! Got 10.5 in the cold months and was up to 12.5 - the only difference is that I am now using the AC - that shouldn't have changed anything. Believe me, I will be on the phone tomorrow with the dealer. I am ready to call a local news reporter - maybe that will get something done for me! :mad: :mad: :mad:
  • rusdorfrusdorf Member Posts: 4
    Yes, my 2002 LX is only getting 12.5 to 13; 55,000 miles; lots of hills driving where I live, about 10 miles north of the Golden Gate bridge; I've tried putting in the best air filter, adding fuel injector cleaner, new drive belt, new plugs, etc....nothing seems to work to get the mileage higher. I'm thinking of asking a KIA dealer again if they can make any recommendations. :mad: :mad:
  • jim314jim314 Member Posts: 491
    The engine will not warm up in a 5 mile trip. This is extremely short trip travel which gives the worst mpg. What kind of trips are done otherwise? Short trips to the grocery store? You have accounted for only 15 miles per week. At 12.8 mpg this is only 1.17 gal per week. The Sedona does get poor mpg on short trips, but if you don't go far then it doesn't matter if the mpg is lower than you'd like; the amount fuel is small.

    The Sedona excells in transporting multiple people and lots of gear around the city and on highway trips. It's not the best vehicle to haul two or three people on short distances.
  • lavrishevolavrishevo Member Posts: 312
    There may be a few Sedona's out there getting very poor MPG for what reasons I do not know but what it boils down too is usually driving habits. Try an experiment. Reset your mpg computer and with engine warm go out for a bit of city and then some highway driving never letting the rpm's go over 2,500. A 3.8L engine is pretty decent size and especially if it is capable of producing 253 lbs of torque. If you are easy on the gas and brake and for the most part keep the engine under 3000 rpms then you will get the advertised MPG. If not then you have a problem with YOUR particular van. You can't have strong power and good MPG. More power means more fuel. Drive conservatively then you will get the MPG's you want otherwise you will not. Also the 25 highway is rated at 55 mph just FYI. They all do this. Flat road, no A/C and 55 mph. Does anyone drive 55 no, but by being conservative and keeping the rpm's low you should be able to still get 22 - 24 at 70 - 75 mph.
  • jim314jim314 Member Posts: 491
    My wife's Volvo XC90 FWD 3.2L 235-hp 6-cyl engine gets 15 mpg or less on short city trips, 23 mpg on standard highway trips and 24 to 25 mpg on interstate highways driven carefully (but not "hypermiled") at 65 mph. At 4400 lb it is about the same weight as a Sedona and gets about the same mpg under the same conditions.
  • mknightmknight Member Posts: 57
    > I maintain good tire pressure (36lbs) and run 10w-30 syn fluid.

    I think the recommended oil is a lighter weight. 5w-20 comes to mind.
  • thehothitthehothit Member Posts: 19
    I just completed a 2000 mile round trip from Central NJ to SW Ontario via Niagara Falls. I also did a few day trips, including one to the northern outskirts of Toronto. My 2006 Sedona EX (now with 30,000 miles on the odometer) averaged 25 MPG. On a couple of the earlier legs of the trip up - on long flat stretches of pavement (validated using GPS altimeter) at approx. 55MPH - the trip computer stayed at 30MPG for 25 to 30 mins at a time (I reset it a few times). I reset it again about 200 miles into the trip and it read 25MPG when I got to the destination.

    On the way home, I reset the trip computer when leaving and then approx. 750 miles later (made a few indirect stops on the way home), the average MPG was about 25MPG.

    My conclusion (an obvious one) is that the Sedona loves long straight stretches of highway! Mileage dipped to about 19MPG up the steepest hills on the PA turnpike and I81 (@55 MPH).

    At home, the van is driven in suburban traffic (with a mix of highway, stop and go and short trips). It averages about 18MPG.

    Overall, I was very happy with the fuel economy on this trip.
  • autowriteautowrite Member Posts: 226
    I don't understand some of you have mpg soooo low. If you are a Canadian remember to tell everyone because of the larger imperial gallon (evern though Canadians fill up in litres) 1.2X your milaage will be higher. I have a 2002 Honda Odyssey {214,000 current kms). which averages 20 (17 USA) in short city trups, 26 (22 USA) combined hwy & city and 30-32 (25-27 USA) mpg on long trips. I do NOT exeed 119 kms/hour on the hgihway (120 & over can get you big find and demerit points). And the Odyssey uses regular 87 octane (recommeded). If I was looking to buy a KIA Sodena way in the future I would want the same results as my current Odyssey
    Ontario, Canada
  • fishbreathfishbreath Member Posts: 58
    Absoulatly mine loves the open road, anything above 60mph
  • minivanmom4minivanmom4 Member Posts: 1
    I have owned my 2008 Sedona for 5 weeks, it has 5000 miles on it, has been on one highway trip. I am getting miserable gas mileage 11-12 mpg in the city, 17 on the highway. No where near what my Mazda MPv got. I love the minivan but this is unacceptable. Would love any input
  • rusdorfrusdorf Member Posts: 4
    The only reason I still drive my 2002 Sedona is that I don't use it that often and I can't really afford to buy a new car right now. I try not to drive it. It's not the power of the vehicle that's the problem, it's the awful weight. My van weighs more 5900 lbs. The transmission is not the best either. It brakes the car a lot when coasting downhill which is frequent in the SF Bay area. Good luck!
  • lavrishevolavrishevo Member Posts: 312
    What kind of driving conditions, temperature, tire inflation, driving habits is a big one, and miles on the engine all play a role in the Sedona's MPG. Make Sure your inflated to at least 33 psi, though I personally get better mpg at 36. Cold weather and especially short trips you will never achieve sticker mpg. If you on hills and such your going to get less mpg as well. I suspect your driving habits are the culprit. I am not saying your a bad driver I have no idea but with the big 3.8 L in the Sedona to get good mpg you really need to let the engine shift at or around 2,000 - 2,500 rpms and no fast starts or stops. This is not easy with such a powerful engine that can wind up pretty fast. I noticed, and so did Edmund's, as the mileage increased on the van my mpg improved slightly as well. Edmund's long term of the 06 with the 3.8 achieved as much as 29 mpg with 25,000 miles on it.

    So check your tire pressure, invest in a k&n air filter and drive like a "grandma" and you will get 18 - 19 / 24 - 25. If you want to zip around and use that power forget about good mpg... power and fuel go hand in hand. Unless something is mechanically wrong with the vehicle it is most likely you why the mpg is not what you hope it to be.

    As an example my wife gets consistently 19 / 26 but I get 14 / 24. This is because of the weight difference in our right feet if you get my drift. :shades:
  • mndriver_321mndriver_321 Member Posts: 1
    We've had our 2008 for two months now and no question the mileage is less than the 2001 Caravan it replaced, but the engine is very powerful and the van has the get up and go that the Caravan never had. This may not be a popular statement, but it all boils down to who's driving - imho. My wife races around and gets about 16-18 on short trips and some highway driving. I drive the same van up to our cabin and took some intown trips and we got 24mpg. I have her old van, which she could never get above 20 and I consistently get over 20. She drives like an indy car driver.
  • adriver4adriver4 Member Posts: 4
    For me your "speed" of 120kmh is to much for me. Although I live in Georgia, I prefer metric and have no problem posting measurements is metric. With driving no closer then 8kmh from posted limit. My top speed is 80kmh. Even in a zone with a top speed of 105kmh. Right now the van gets in town 9.6km/l. I hope my math is right.
  • rb01rb01 Member Posts: 2
    :( We bought a brand new 2009 Sedona in September last year. Use it mostly for stop and go driving around town. It has about 2500 miles on it now. I get about 12mpg in the city. Once or twice it has gone up to about 13.5 with about 30% freeway driving. Just for comparison, I used to own a 2006 crewcab Tacoma which did about 17mpg with the same driving. I have tried to drive it as lightly as possible with no sudden stops or power take-off. Extremely disappointing.
  • lavrishevolavrishevo Member Posts: 312
    Greetings rb01,

    I also drive my van in constant stop and go here in Puerto Rico with the dual climate a/c on 99% of the time.

    Couple things that will help.

    1: Tire pressure, try to keep it up around 35 / 36 PSI

    2: K&N air filter

    3: Synthetic oil

    4: Of course driving habits. Try to keep the rpms around 2,000 - 2,500 at all times. Can be kind of hard...

    5: Time... With our 06 it is now getting the best MPG we have seen as it does take a little while for these 3.8's to be broken in. We just hit the 30,000 mark and I can get as much as 20 in the city with the above mentioned techniques. With more miles the gas mileage will also improve. Even the Edmunds long term test Sedona got the best MPG at 25,000 + miles. They got as high as 29 on the highway. I have seen as high as 32 in prefect conditions but not sustainable for very long, So give it some time and drive like a grandma and you should be able to get that back up to at least 15 - 16 in the city.

    Most of all keep the rpm's low and you will really see an improvement. Especially starting and stopping.

    And not to be rude, but unless there is something wrong with your van it really is the driver who determines the MPG. Try what I mentioned and your will see a good deal of improvement. Don't forget to reset your MPG computer and see how it goes. Also, cold weather and driving while the van is cold yields poor mileage within itself.

    Good luck.
  • bobh001bobh001 Member Posts: 2
    I have been reading these messages and I just want to know why a block of 2006 Sedonas have fair to great mileage while others suck.
    I bought mine from CarMax 4 months ago. I since have been to the dealer 5 times.
    The main computer had a problem with air bags and seat belt warnings. They reprogrammed the computer. Then the transmission slipped out of gear - or wouldn't engage. During this time I got ~ 11 mpg. Kia reprogrammed the transmission control unit - reset fuzzy logic to degault values and I got 19.5 mpg in city and highway. Over a couple of tanks mileage dropped to 11 --> 12 mpg.
    Their programming or sensors have a problem in some vehicles causing lousy mileage.

    I think their fuzzy logic or their sensor test programs stink. The Kia dealers say no codes - no problem - just low mpg.

    :sick: Any suggestions - Kia customer service accepted my Excel spread sheet detailing the history/driving conditions/mileage. Been two weeks with no response.

    You won't convince me the driver makes the difference even though the service manager told me I was using truck tires and that is why my mileage stinks. Those tires also got 19+ mpg. I get about 19 mpg on highway.
  • lavrishevolavrishevo Member Posts: 312
    edited March 2010
    Greetings bobh001,

    It sounds like your van has some kind of mechanical or programming issue. Driving habits most definitely play a role in fuel mileage, as well as air temperature, road conditions, tire pressure, etc.

    If you are not seeing any kind of improvement I would try to get Kia to test the vehicle themselves.

    Good luck.
  • hadapickuphadapickup Member Posts: 1
    edited July 2010
    I clocked my mileage and found out that I had a combined mileage of 12.77mpg!!
    On its worst day my 97 Chev half ton 4 wheel drive got over 13, usually 14 with a 5.7 liter V8- with old plugs.
    Symptoms-comments:
    Does the transmission down shift too much?
    Apparently, if you don't run the air, mileage improves???
    It was 110 in the shade yesterday in Las Vegas.
    The dealer said that is all the mileage I can expect!
    Then there is the smell of raw gas.
    This is the venting system in action according to the dealer!
    The dealer claims 17 in town and 23 on the highway?(got about 20)
    Why do they publish such nonsense?
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