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Any GOOD Kia Sedona Experiences?
I am looking to upgrade from my Dodge Caravan (which has been dependable, but safety ratings aren't that great and it handles horribly in the winter, not to mention it is slow) to a 2006 or 2007 Sedona. I had a '97 Kia Sephia back in the day and it was in and out of the dealership ALL THE TIME. I couldn't file for the Lemon Law because unfortunately no problem occurred more than twice! - Anyways, I hear that Kia has come pretty far over the years and am considering the Sedona mainly because of the fantastic safety ratings and very affordable for the features it has. SO... Any GOOD experiences with a 2006+ Sedona???? Or should I stick to looking at the Sienna and Odysseys?
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George in Wisconsin.
I've been on 3 long distance trips with all different passengers. Everyone has commented on how comfortable, quiet and smooth riding it is. It has plenty of power
for interstate driving, merging and passing. I love the smooth shifting & handling.
The A/C and heat both work well, front & rear. I haven't had any issues or problems with the van.
Gas mileage is a combined 21.5 mpg (city/rural/highway). When driving strictly highway, I have gotten over 25 mpg. The mileage is getting better as I learn the gas pedal & try to keep the rpm's down.
Would I buy it again, yes. Would I recommend it to a friend, yes.
I added some xenon head lamps for a few hundred and a few other things to free up my intake air flow and the van is a lot of fun. 253 torque is the key.
any information would be helpful and thanks in advance.
Wastntime
I pull a 14' fiberglass fishing boat the weight is just over 1000 lbs. Plenty of power and no problem with the brakes. I hope I helped you out.
Now I got another early production 2006 Kia sedona LX (7K miles only, I've never learned) and got some cosmetic(minor) issues with it(couple of sensors causing a noise at startup and other causing a ESC light on permanently, they were easily fixed by my dealership. Now it's riding as a baby, great car, great features, smooth and fun to drive, regarding gas mileage which could be better, not great, not bad, just average. Great performance on a 3.8 V6 and pretty good interior design.
I would definitely buy another one when this one wears out.
Pleased to report that the 1st new car we've owned in 15 years is doing great. I'm truly sorry to read in the other Sedona threads about folks having vehicle issues and piss-poor support from dealers. We've been lucky I guess knocking on wood and the van has been no problem. My wife is the primary driver and I get to use it on the the occasional weekend to do some errand running, so I can make 'newer' observations on it's performance.
Just a hair under 10k total miles (it's primarily used for her daily 18 mile roundtrip commute to work) with 3 oil changes so far. We have yet to take it on an extended trip (farthest was a 425 round trip) but we'll use it for a trip out West later this year. Average MPG has been 16.3 city and 24.6 hwy @ 75-85 mph. I check tire pressure and fluid levels bi-weekly and somehow am responsible for cleaning the interior and exterior of the dang thing! :confuse:
Only issue has been a CEL that came on in November of 2007. Brought to dealer who replaced an O2 sensor under warrenty and picked up at lunch on the same day. Power sliding doors have popped open after closing only twice so far and last time was over six months ago with no repeat yet. Any squeaks or rattles have been covered up by the noisy fighting kids in the back or my blasting of the Big 80's on the Sirrius stereo as I drive. No issues with any wheel vibrations or brake pulsing problems I've read about on other threads.
All in all just satisfied with our purchase of the Sedona. Hope others can chime as well...
That said...we got a new 2004 Sedona LX 4 years ago and had no huge problems. Had a few problems with the door but my husband fixed it himself. Had a few problems with the plastic under the seat breaking...and a few various and assorted other things but all said and done, for the cheapest minivan on the lot and base package, I didn't see that it was too bad. (Even though had we done more homework, we could have gotten a better deal and our trade in wouldn't have been a little upended like it was) Just recently it started having a tire hum. The company isn't super great about getting certain repairs done promptly, and they don't offer temporary replacement vehicles or anything... but they aren't horrible, and they do always honor their warranty.
We regretted not getting a luggage rack though so now with four kids we noticed the 2007's were going for good prices. This time did our homework and walked away with a 2007 EX with luxury package and dvd...demo car with 1500 miles for an amazing price. Only had it for two days, LOL, but surely if the 2004 was okay for four years, the 2007 will be even better. We'll see! Our 2004 never in four years broke down or had us stranded so any problem we did have was petty.
There are alot of great reviews online for the Kia, so I'm not too worried about the bad ones because every make and model probably has some :lemon: , you just have to hope you get one of the good ones no matter what kind you buy! Also we are going to play around with the types of gasoline too, as Kia recommends premium grade gas. We usually get the cheap stuff but we are going to do the math and see how it works out to buy the premium.
Speaking of gas mileage...I found a "best and worse gas mileage minivans" thing online and the span between the best and the worst was a whole two miles! So basically every minivan has stinky gas mileage...which is, I suppose, to be expected!
Kia is definitely making the competition have a run for their money. Its a GREAT option for those on a budget, and the vehicle is pretty much just as good as any other minivan...subject to problems just like the other minivans, but on the other hand just as good.
The only thing I've had the dealer do was change the oil before a recent 600 mile road trip.
The mileage is consistently 18mpg around town and can deliver 24mpg on a lightly loaded highway trip. Sure, I'd like better, but it's a Van, not an economy sedan.
Flexible seating allows toting around a double string bass, or emptying out a college apartment without removing any seats from the van. That's something the 98 Caravan that got replaced couldn't do. You had to decide what seats you wanted/needed on a trip, and you were stuck with that decision once you left home.
The cruise control is reliable on hilly terrain. The split climate control keeps my wife and I both comfortable. The sport shift is convenient for long downhill grades.
I like the night visibility. Those grill mounted searchlights outperform the murky headlights I endured for 10 years with the Caravan.
Things I do not like about the vehicle:
Gas mileage is pretty bad in the city. I get around 12-14 mpg in city driving. This is with numerous 1 or 2 mile trips so I believe it can be better if you make longer trips. On the highway, the mileage is around 20-22 traveling at speeds of 85-90 mph.
Transmission is very reluctant to kick down for highway merging and passing Sometimes, the shifts can also be rough.
Lots of wind noise from the windshield area at highway speeds. I mean lots. It is very difficult to have a conversation with a passenger in the 3rd row from the driver's seat.
Driver's seat height adjuster moves the seat cushion forward when you adjust it up and vice versa when down. I recommend that you set the height first and then adjust if fore/aft to get the best driving position. Also the position of the height adjuster on the side of the seat where it meets the cushion causes it to pinch the side cushion every time I get out. After a short while the cushion has indentations from the height adjuster. I believe the EX has a power seat and will not have this problem.
Armrests break easily. They are not actually broken per se, but the ones in the rear buckets do not hold their place anymore and rarely do I have passengers riding in the rear.
Brake pads wore faster than anticipated. I developed a squeaking sound on them at around 22,000 miles.
Tires on the LX trim are cheap (Hankook brand) and do not last very long.
Problem areas:
A/C intake actuator makes knocking sound when shutting the car off after turning the A/C off. They replaced the intake actuator free of charge.
Other than that, the vehicle has performed fine and is a great value if you don't factor in depreciation. I also think it looks better than all minivans besides the Odyssey.
We bought a 2004 Kia Sedona brand new. It now has about 75k miles on it as my wife does not drive too much. We have had the oil changed about every 5k miles and had the regular maintenance done at 30k and 60k.
The only problems were a seatbelt on the 2nd row breaking (wouldn't roll out anymore) and the cruise control stopped working. Both were fixed under warranty though the seat belt took a couple of trips because they forgot to look at it on the first trip (was having other service done as well) though that is dealers fault and not Kia's directly.
Overall I would say an good vehicle for the money as long as it hold up another couple of years for me I will be very pleased (knock on wood).
Only other issue has been a battery discharge that necessitated a new battery and TSB re-program of the computer to resolve the glitch that was draining the battery. Replaced the OEM 245/60/17 Michelens at the 25k mile mark as they wore even yet very quickly with rotations every 5k miles. Gas mileage is still around the same (14-16 city / 24-26 hwy) with a tank of premium every other month when filling up.
Check the tire pressure and fluid levels weekly, all electronics in the cabin are holding up well, H/AC systems & components have no issues and other than tightening the captains chairs arm rests, all has been a satisfactory experience with our 07 Sedona EX.
Let's hear some more experiences folks...
car leasing
The 2006 EX has 106,000 miles and has been nearly trouble-free. Very few warranty repairs, and nothing other than regular maintenance items beyond that. We decided to put ours up for sale, but it is bittersweet selling a vehicle that has performed so well for us. We've really enjoyed our Sedona and it's too bad we won't be driving it another 100,000 miles but we decided to get out of minivan ownership and 'upgrade' to an SUV.
Gas mileage is over 20 on average, with 25+ mpg on several vacations.
We had one major repair for a fan control module, but everything else has been maintenance. We did add an aftermarket bluetooth radio so she could stream music and talk on the phone hands free.