OT-Anyone have a kia sedona?

[MKCP5]

Hey there

I am looking at minivans and the kia sedona is much less expensive than many others. Does anyone know why? Are they rated poorly? Does anyone have any experiences with them? good or bad? TIA for any info!

 

[mc'smommy]

My SIL has one and LOVES it, my husband drove it last weekend becasue she borrowed our truck and he could not belive how well it handled and the leg room. Tons of space as well.... He said if he was in the market for a van he would look at the KIA's... My neighbour's both drive the RIO's and they have never had a problem with them and it's been 3 years...

Good luck !

 

[CheapMom]

They have poor fuel economy compared to most minivans. I thought very seriously about buying one when I got my van but with gas prices as they are I was scared. My SIL has one and loves it.

 

[Disneynutbsv]

I have one and I love it! I agree, it is terrible on gas, but I usually only go around town here anyway.

 

[java]

Um Check out the travel board. If I am remembering it correctly there is a thread there about fires in the cars. On another website I belong to one of the members there had her van ignite while it was parked!! It was totalled. The Sedona just caught fire and melted!! And the company was giving her a very hard time. They didn't want to hear it and were trying to blame her- hello the car wasn't even turned on. Do a google search and I think you will come up with quite a few stories. It was the customer service or lack thereof that was unbelievable.
here is the link
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=845376&highlight=Kia+sedona

 

[KeepSwimming]

My parents have one and love it. I was surprised how much room they have! They don't so a lot of road trips, so gas was not a huge factor.

I would buy one....

 

[disneyfan551]

I have had mine since June '04, and absolutely LOVE it! I have the model with everything in it, cd/sunroof/leather/ABS, etc... And we ended up getting it for less than 19,! As others have said, the fuel economy isn't as good as other vans, but only a few miles less per mile. Nothing terribly bad! In fact, we just returned from a 2 wk. trip to Disney/DCL last Sunday, and we took the van! I think my dh said that avg mpg was around 24, and that was with the van PACKED to the gills, 4 passengers at all times, and "slightly" going over the speed limit! I highly recommend the Kia Sedona! If you need further info, please feel free to pm me!

edited to add... Kia has a GREAT warranty program, something like 10 yrs, 100,000 miles. And, regarding their safety tests, they rank at the top! There are only a few that score a 5 (top score) in both tests (can't remember the names! ), but KIA does! Good luck with your decision!

 

[jendon1997]

I have one. It's ok. I can't wait to trade it in on an SUV. I always wanted a van and after having two children, we thought it would be ideal. I miss 4 wheel drive. We purchased a Kia over other vans because of the warranty. We have had brake problems here and there. We like the bucket seats opposed to the bench. Kids seem to like it and others like it when we have enough room that they can squeeze in and they dont have to drive separate. We also like that the seats easily come out. Seems to take a while to warm up. Hope this helps!!

 

[Shagley]

We had a terrible experience with a Kia Sedona on our way to Florida last May. It was a 2002 Sedona and had about 36,000 miles on it, it had just been serviced since we were going to be taking it on our trip, and in the middle of the Interstate (on our way from Illinois to Florida), the engine literally blew apart. The van was under warranty, but we still had to pay for a rental car for the rest of our trip, lodging in Georgia (where the van blew up), then the engine was on backorder so our van had to stay in Georgia for a month. Then, we had to drive 14 hours one way back to Georgia from Illinois - pay for that rental car and lodging - just to get our van back home. to If you want to read the entire story, here is the link to the thread.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=845376&highlight=kia

The worst part about the entire situation was that Kia was HORRIBLE to deal with - not the local dealers, but the Kia corporation as a whole.

But, let me clarify - I realize that every car company can produce a lemon even when the rest of their cars are great, so I am not in any way saying that most Kia Sedonas aren't great vehicles. Just this situation leaves a bitter taste in my mouth about Kia, but I am really not sure if any other car company would have handled the situation differently. I guess the odds are another Kia Sedona wouldn't have the problems that my Mom's van had - but if you happen to get a lemon, Kia is horrible to deal with. Our local Kia dealer did give my Mom a great deal on a different Sedona (because she didn't want to keep the other one any longer). She has had the new Sedona for a couple of months without any problems and is happy with it so far.

 

[MKCP5]

Wow! Very mixed reviews! Anyone else?

 

[njcarita]

i have an 02 with 32000 miles on it---
have loved it---

reliable== safe(highest safety rating for the year)--- no problems or repairs!!!

i was skeptical because we were a toyota family--- but the price difference between the sedona and sienna were sizeable--
so we went with the sedona and have not regretted our decision

Good luck car shopping!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[carone0318]

I have one. I was one of the first to buy it in my area. We bought in Aug 01, it's the 02 model - it had just come out that month. Never had any major problems, no complaints here. I do give props to my local service dept. I had the car in for something (don't even remember) and at the time my windshield was cracked from a stone kicking up on the highway. Well the service guy replaced the windshield at no charge because he said that it should of never cracked that bad. I was very thankful because the windshield was going to cost me about $500 to replace because it has the defroster in it for the wiper blades. I would definitely consider buying another Kia if it wasn't for the fact that I now work for Subaru (guess what I'll be buying next???) I guess that I should add that I have had the car for over 4 yrs now and it has close to 90k miles on it, so I have definitely put some wear and tear on the car. I have definitely gotten my money's worth and I still plan to drive it for at least another 2 yrs.

 

[Kayancas]

Nooooo. i don`t body...

 

[Our 2 Princesses]

Bumping for more opinions please! Thank you!!

 

[kccmommy]

I've had an "03 for two years. We also got it because we felt we were getting so much for our $. I've been very happy, no mechanical problems what so ever. In town I do only get about 12mpg. On the highway it does much better. Also, there is not a ton of room in the back cargo area. I have to put the very back seat down to load in the groceries. Overall, I would still reccomend it.

 

[DVCJEN]

Kia's generally depreciate at a much faster rate than many of it's competitors.

 

[lynetteSC]

Hi! We just got the 05 model 2 months ago...so far, we LOVE it. I was VERY skeptical b/c we have always purchased Toyotas. We traded in our camry for this ... can't believe the space. The price we got was awesome and the dealership was the best one in the area. We were in and out approx one hour. We mainly were impressed with the safety rating and the warranty! I agree mileage is not that great, but for the size it was worth it to us! We have done several small trips and love it.

 

[granmanh603]

We have one, purchased June 04 after my BIL bought one and we couldn't believe the price. We were visiting him on LI, NY and he had payed 12,000 + and we paid 13,300 total(no sales tax in NH) we bought it down on LI could not touch that price up here, closest I came was 15,000. We love it spacious and the gas milage (we are getting 25MPG)is less than our SUV so we are thrilled. Don't care about depreciation since we will keep and we already got a great price. We also liked the 10yr warenty. Looking into their SUV for the 4 WD option. The van doesn't come with that option.

 

[BkrsLoveDis!]

I have several friends who own several different models of Kia's and the one thing they all tell me is that they are great cars but when something needs to be replaced, it's always a bear because Kia is the only one that can provide the part and they don't keep much in stock. We looked at Sedona and when we heard this we went with another van and have loved the one that we got.

Just what I've been told - good luck with your decision!

Cynthia

 

[Nik's Mom]

Just thought I'd mention that Ford is offering a $6000 rebate on it's 2005 Freestar minivans. I have one and so far love it! Check around because lots of dealers are trying to get rid of their 2005 models. I also recommend checking Consumer Reports with reviews for which ever minivan you decide to buy. Good luck!