Who has a Kia Sedona? Should I have one, too?

[kokotg]

We have a 99 Toyota Sienna with 180,000 miles on it. There's actually nothing wrong with it, as far as we can tell, right now...but it has 180,000 miles on it, so I'm thinking ahead. I love my Sienna. The single most important thing to me in a car is reliability, and I've got that--I've been driving it for 7 years and have only made fairly routine, relatively inexpensive repairs to it (the most expensive thing we've had fixed is a $700 oil leak, and that's by far the most expensive). It does not leave me stranded by the side of the road. Therefore I love it.

 

Having had such good luck with the Sienna (and Toyotas in general; my husband drives a 95 Camry), I am reluctant to get anything different. But a used Kia Sedona would be so much cheaper than a comparable Sienna, and I also hear good things about them. We'd be looking for something with 60,000-80,000 miles on it, probably 2004-2006. It looks like I could easily get a Sedona for $8000 or under, whereas I'd be spending at least $10,000 on a Sienna.

 

So....experiences, good and bad? Anyone driven both a Sienna and a Sedona and want to compare the two for me? We have 3 kids, a mess of pets, and tend to take long road trips, so cargo space is something I need to think about, too. From what I've read the gas mileage is pretty comparable, so I guess reliability and roominess are the two main things that I can think of at the moment.

[Lolly]

I've had my Sedona for 3 years. Some minor glitches with it, but nothing serious. The air bag light keeps coming on. It can be reset (for a fee). Now, I just ignore it. No idea why it is doing this. Neither does the dealer. They say it is getting an air bag code or something. I've had something on the air conditioner replaced 3 times. It makes a slight clicky noise, but the air conditioner works fine. It is a known defect. They may have fixed this on newer models. My milage was unbelievable for the first year and a half. Highway about 33, in town 25. Then, it suddenly dropped. I now get about 22/16. Dealership cannot explain the change. The original tires on the van were cr@p. I had to replace them at around 35,000 mi. Brakes were pretty standard. Just replaced them at 75,000. It has unbelievable space in the back. Packs well. Seats pretty comfy. I personally find the reach to the steering wheel a bit odd. Dh disagrees with me. :glare: It goes through headlight bulbs unbelievable fast. (I do run them in the daylight also.) The bulbs are difficult to change. You have to remove a cover under the hood to access. Overall, I am fairly happy with it. I am not happy with my new milage.

 

However, dh also drives a Kia, an Optima. He has horrible problems with his.(It will not start.) Fortunately, it is still under warranty. He has had his gear shift replaced. It seems the problem is in the shifter, and the car doesn't acknowledge it is in park. It may start 10% of the mornings he tries. Of course, he takes it in, and they can't find anything wrong. Right now, it is more like 1% of the time. He is hoping that this time it won't start for them. It is getting old.

 

With the combination of these two experiences, I no longer recommend Kia's.

[Jen+4dc]

We have several good friends with Siennas who LOVE them (as do I when I ride with them). We also have several good friends with Kia Sedonas who do not. We've rented Kia Sedonas a few times (as that was the minivan the rental agency had available). So, take my experience for what it's worth!:tongue_smilie:

 

I would NEVER buy a Kia Sedona! They are way too small and little things are constantly breaking down. The Kia vans we've driven just feel "light" and "cheap."

 

There are 7 seatbelts in the van, but there is no way you could comfortably seat more than 4 kids (without carseats!) in the back. I wouldn't even try to put 4 good-sized adults in the back. There is cargo space, but no real seating space.

 

IMHO, for whatever my opinion is worth. Have you gone to test drive a Sedona? That would probably help you decide, too.

[MindyD]

We bought a used 2006 Sedona about a year and a half ago and haven't had any issues with it. The gas mileage has been good, we haven't had a single problem. It has tons of room in the back, the seats are comfortable and easier to maneuver (for stow and go or just folding down). I highly recommend it. I went with the Sedona because it had such good safety ratings and I only found good reviews. We haven't had all the problems the other person's had, maybe they just got the "lucky" one? My friend has one as well and she also loves hers as well. We've filled up to capacity with kids several times and never had any space issues. I say go for it. It's been very dependable for us and comes with a good warranty.

[rafiki]

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[Lolly]

On leg space for 3rd row. Mine is a 2006 model, and not the base model. We have put 3 in the rear seat for fairly short drives. (My kids and their friends are all adult sized.) It is not comfortable. Two of the girls can ride comfortably in the back. My ds can only sit back their alone and for short rides. He is about 5'10" now.:glare:

[Dobela]

Just wanted to encourage you - our friends Sienna went for nearly 400,000 miles before they had to replace it...

[lailasmum]

I would be inclined to keep hold of the Toyota you have or buy a replacement Toyota if you like newer cars. Mainly because I have friends with old Toyotas (1992-1994ish age range) that are still going strong and need minimal amounts spent on them and friends with new Kia Sedonas that didn't last long/became far too expensive to maintain really quickly.

 

Toyotas seem pretty reliable. I am thinking of buying an old Estima (Like a Previa) and looked into a sedona as an alternative but they just don't seem worth it.

[kokotg]

Just wanted to encourage you - our friends Sienna went for nearly 400,000 miles before they had to replace it...

 

That is encouraging--thanks!

 

I would be inclined to keep hold of the Toyota you have or buy a replacement Toyota if you like newer cars. Mainly because I have friends with old Toyotas (1992-1994ish age range) that are still going strong and need minimal amounts spent on them and friends with new Kia Sedonas that didn't last long/became far too expensive to maintain really quickly.

 

 

 

Yeah--maybe this is a separate thread, but that's the main thing I guess we need to figure out--how long to hold on to the Sienna and how much money are we willing to put into it if it gets to the point where it needs something very expensive replaced. The guys on Car Talk do say it's always cheaper to fix your old car than to get a new one. I'd love it if the Sienna would keep running for another couple of years at least.

 

Thanks for all the Kia feedback, everyone, and I'd love to hear more from anyone else!

[Murmer]

I don't have a Sedona but I do have a KIA and my engine blew at 50000 and they refused to honor the warranty because I had work done outside of a KIA dealership. So I don't really trust them to honor their warranties and would never buy one again.

[3littlekeets]

I have a Toyota Camry with 286,000 miles and have done nothing but routine maintenance. I will never buy anything else.

[Heather in AL]

No help with regards to the Kia, but my criteria for replacing a minivan is the transmission.

 

My Honda Odyssey's tranny started going at 107,000 miles, so we traded it in. We didn't want to shell out $7,000 for a rebuilt tranny---- too many horror stories about those, so we got rid of it and got another van (another Odyssey, but the Sienna was our second choice--- the dealer just didn't have any on the lot because of a big remodel). If the tranny on your Toyota is still going strong, I would just deal with any other hiccups that occur. It will take a LONG time to shell out enough repair money that will equal the cost of a new van.

 

It's hard to kill a Honda or a Toyota, but those vans are so heavy that they put a lot of stress on the tranny.

 

JMO.

[fairfarmhand]

We have several good friends with Siennas who LOVE them (as do I when I ride with them). We also have several good friends with Kia Sedonas who do not. We've rented Kia Sedonas a few times (as that was the minivan the rental agency had available). So, take my experience for what it's worth!:tongue_smilie:

 

I would NEVER buy a Kia Sedona! They are way too small and little things are constantly breaking down. The Kia vans we've driven just feel "light" and "cheap."

 

There are 7 seatbelts in the van, but there is no way you could comfortably seat more than 4 kids (without carseats!) in the back. I wouldn't even try to put 4 good-sized adults in the back. There is cargo space, but no real seating space.

 

IMHO, for whatever my opinion is worth. Have you gone to test drive a Sedona? That would probably help you decide, too.

 

:iagree:

We have 3 vehicles. Our Kia Sedona has 80,000 miles, my 1997 Taurus has 204,000 and my dh's Ford truck has 296,000 miles. Care to guess which one has spent more time in the shop in the last 2 years?

 

Yep. our Kia Van. Many of the component parts are PLASTIC. And the replacements we bought from Kia....also plastic. Replacement parts are extremely expensive too.

 

The sliding back door fell off the van a couple weeks back. Fortunately it has two doors, but the pieces that hold it on are plastic. The other door is beginning to give us trouble too.

 

I hate this van. I've never driven any other kind of van since this is our first, but save yourself the headache and pick up something else.

[Lolly]

:iagree:

We have 3 vehicles. Our Kia Sedona has 80,000 miles, my 1997 Taurus has 204,000 and my dh's Ford truck has 296,000 miles. Care to guess which one has spent more time in the shop in the last 2 years?

 

Yep. our Kia Van. Many of the component parts are PLASTIC. And the replacements we bought from Kia....also plastic. Replacement parts are extremely expensive too.

 

The sliding back door fell off the van a couple weeks back. Fortunately it has two doors, but the pieces that hold it on are plastic. The other door is beginning to give us trouble too.

 

I hate this van. I've never driven any other kind of van since this is our first, but save yourself the headache and pick up something else.

 

Ah, that reminded me. One other thing gone wrong with ours. Had to replace the motor on a sliding door at about 50,000. I had forgotten about that one!

[Sharon H in IL]

We bought a 2006 Kia Sedona new and it's been great. Our kids are young yet, so the room in the 3rd row hasn't been a problem, but if they were as large as adults, they would have had trouble fitting their friends in. Let's see:

 

- difficult to change the one headlight that went out in 2010 (I keep them on in the daytime as running light for safety's sake).

 

- middle row removable seats (not bench) are heavy and hard to lift. We got one accidentally installed improperly and it locked down, we had to have the dealer remove it and reinstall it correctly. One mechanic had just the right tool for that, he said it happens sometimes to this model.

 

- sliding side door sometimes doesn't want to stay open, it sort of bumps into a hidden obstruction. But it's almost the whole way open, just doesn't *click* and stay open. Not all the time, just once in a while.

 

And that's all the negatives.

 

Positives:

- everything else. :001_smile: