Anyone have / know about the Kia Sedona?

[jandafl]

I had my heart set on the Honda Odyssey till I dug deeper into the crash test scores and saw that the Kia Sedona did better. I especially like the space between the rear captain seats and the doors vs. the Odyssey. We're on the verge of buying the 2009 Kia and just wanted some feedback from anyone who owns a more recent model 2006+. Safety is my major concern.

Let me know what year you own and if you like it, feel it's safe and would buy it again.

I have a 20 month old DD who will be in a Britax Advocate CS and a newborn in October who will be in either the Britax Chaperone or Chicco Key Fit. Both will be in the second row captain seats (unless someone suggests a safer configuration).

Thanks!

[Gypsy]

I have a 2006 Sedona (the first year with the high safety ratings), and I love it, and would absolutely buy it again!

[Mama Jo]

I have a 2007 Sedona. Make sure you get the long wheel base. I love it. I can fit a wide range of seats in there (using up every possible seating location) and it drives really well too! The middle seat in the 3rd row is a bit of a pain for most installs I've done, but with a little practice, it can be done. Also, for 3 across in the back, I've always needed either a radian or a turbobooster in the drivers side position. It's the seating position with the least amount of space and those are the 2 narrowest seats I own.

[Mama!]

I had my heart set on the Honda Odyssey till I dug deeper into the crash test scores and saw that the Kia Sedona did better. I especially like the space between the rear captain seats and the doors vs. the Odyssey. We're on the verge of buying the 2009 Kia and just wanted some feedback from anyone who owns a more recent model 2006+. Safety is my major concern.

Let me know what year you own and if you like it, feel it's safe and would buy it again.

I have a 20 month old DD who will be in a Britax Advocate CS and a newborn in October who will be in either the Britax Chaperone or Chicco Key Fit. Both will be in the second row captain seats (unless someone suggests a safer configuration).

Thanks!

I have 2 threads. One week ago my 07 Sedona was rammed from behind by a woman going pretty fast. She totaled my van,and drove up into the hatch.

There are pictures, and I can tell you that they don't do it justice.

We are fine. The frame literally held her vehicle back. The van more than outperformed. Even the collision team was impressed.

I'll get thread links for you.

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=90432

and

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=90839

[4boysmom]

Mama Joe- I recall there being some talk that in 2006 models it was easy to tell lwb from swb, how can you tell base model in yours? I am looking at a 2008 lx but not sure if lx seals that it is lwb... is it the rear seating 50/50 vs 40/60 in the different models??? That distinsion seems to ring a bell... do you know how to tell? Of course I showed dh Expeditions on CL as wll because they seemed to fit our categories and he is getting his heart set on them being "manly" <eyeroll> Add a manly sticker to the Sedona and call it a day! Safety before vanity LOL. Though I think newer model Expeditions are supposed to be fairly safe... Not to mention gas mileage. He is currently laid off so yeah 14/19/16 for the Exp vs 16/23/18 does kind of make a difference, not that we are big drivers but... uh yeah....

[jandafl]

Mama!- Thank you for your post. I am so sorry to hear you were in an accident but so glad everyone is OK. I was in an accident 2 weeks ago, hence the search for a new car. I was alone in the car thank God but am 6 months pregnant and as I'm sure you can relate, am pretty shook up by the whole ordeal. Safety means more to me than anything to me considering I'm hauling my most precious cargo. This is such a stressful decision but I have made up my mind and am going with the Sedona. Thanks for your post. BTW- I couldn't access your link. Could you maybe copy paste the thread or something. It's telling me I don't have sufficient access (although I'm logged in). It's telling me I'm trying to edit your post.

[Mama Jo]

Mama Joe- I recall there being some talk that in 2006 models it was easy to tell lwb from swb, how can you tell base model in yours? I am looking at a 2008 lx but not sure if lx seals that it is lwb... is it the rear seating 50/50 vs 40/60 in the different models??? That distinsion seems to ring a bell... do you know how to tell? Of course I showed dh Expeditions on CL as wll because they seemed to fit our categories and he is getting his heart set on them being "manly" <eyeroll> Add a manly sticker to the Sedona and call it a day! Safety before vanity LOL. Though I think newer model Expeditions are supposed to be fairly safe... Not to mention gas mileage. He is currently laid off so yeah 14/19/16 for the Exp vs 16/23/18 does kind of make a difference, not that we are big drivers but... uh yeah....

2006 only had the LWB.

2007+ LWB has 60/40 split 3rd row. SWB is 50/50 split.

I don't drive alot of highway, mostly stop and go city traffic, but my gas mileage is not that great. I think I average 14-15 city.

[Susan in MI]

We bought an '08 Sedona about 2 months ago and love it! We just drove from MI to OR and back, over 5,350 miles, and had no problems. We got about 19 mpg on our trip, loaded to the max. I'm still playing with seats to find the best configuration for us. Dh wants our 13 yo in a captain's chair because he thinks she is too big to climb into the back. Our middle two have been prone to fighting recently so I just put the rf baby in the 3rd row. I don't think I'll like that set up but I'm going to give it a week or so, maybe I'll be surprised. I can flip the 13 yo's seat forward for easier access so it might be OK.

Anyway, I highly recommend the Sedona. It is safe, sturdy, and less expensive than the Oddy or Sienna, the other two vehicles I was considering.

[elle7715]

This is purely hypothetical in my case, but how many seats have LATCH/top tethers? Never thought I'd lust after a minivan but that's where I'm at right now. :p

[Susan in MI]

My '08 long base has three sets of full LATCH (both captain's chairs and passenger side 3rd row. There is a top anchor for the center 3rd row, nothing for driver's side. I know it is different in different years however from previous discussions.

[Mama Jo]

This is purely hypothetical in my case, but how many seats have LATCH/top tethers? Never thought I'd lust after a minivan but that's where I'm at right now. :p

For my 07 LWB, and also applies to the 06 model - Both captains chairs have full LATCH with tether anchors. There are also 2 full sets of LATCH with tether anchors in the 3rd row. One set is on the passenger side, however, the other set is smack in the middle of the center and drivers side seating locations, so it is useless if you need to do 3 across. But if you're installing with seatbelt, you can use the top tether anchors for both outboard seats in the back, leaving the middle seat in the 3rd row as the only seating location without a top tether anchor.

[Heather98012]

To the OP, you may want to look at the Hyundai Entourage. It's the EXACT same van as the Kia, but a little more upscale. It has a few extra bells & whistles, so you may like the creature comforts it provides. If not, get the Kia since it is the same ride & priced a bit less.

I'm another person who SWORE she would never drive a minivan, but am now lusting over them. I soooooo want sliding doors!!!

Edited to add: Mama, what did you get to replace the Sedona? You said you were looking at Honda & Toyota as well. I'm just curious to see what you're gonna replace the Sedona with.

[Mama Jo]

I'm another person who SWORE she would never drive a minivan, but am now lusting over them. I soooooo want sliding doors!!!

I was there too! But after owning one now, if I would have known how convenient it was, I would have gotten one way back when I had DD, even though I was only 21!

[Heather98012]

I'm not gonna lie....I'm still not down with the looks of them. They aren't ugly like the ones in the '80s/early 90s...but they aren't super cool looking either, KWIM? But I don't care at this point. I see the appeal. But alas, a new ride is not in my immediate future.

[Mama Jo]

I'm not gonna lie....I'm still not down with the looks of them. They aren't ugly like the ones in the '80s/early 90s...but they aren't super cool looking either, KWIM? But I don't care at this point. I see the appeal. But alas, a new ride is not in my immediate future.

lol... I would definitely feel much cooler driving down the street in a Porsche, but I've gotten beyond caring how cool my ride looks. I'm a single mom with 2 kids... I'm so past cool anymore it's not even funny. I mean, really, who am I trying to impress? And if I did manage to impress anyone, one look at all the carseats in my backseat would send them running in the other direction anyway! lol

[Mama!]

Edited to add: Mama, what did you get to replace the Sedona? You said you were looking at Honda & Toyota as well. I'm just curious to see what you're gonna replace the Sedona with.

I got an 06 Sienna, to which they added leather seats :D It has LATCH in both captains chairs, and 2 sets of latch in 3rd row, but they're side by side. So it'd have to be 2 radians lol.

My 07 Sedona had 4 full sets of latch anchors. 2 captians chairs, 2 outboard in 3rd row :thumbsup:

[Mama!]

Mama!- Thank you for your post. I am so sorry to hear you were in an accident but so glad everyone is OK. I was in an accident 2 weeks ago, hence the search for a new car. I was alone in the car thank God but am 6 months pregnant and as I'm sure you can relate, am pretty shook up by the whole ordeal. Safety means more to me than anything to me considering I'm hauling my most precious cargo. This is such a stressful decision but I have made up my mind and am going with the Sedona. Thanks for your post. BTW- I couldn't access your link. Could you maybe copy paste the thread or something. It's telling me I don't have sufficient access (although I'm logged in). It's telling me I'm trying to edit your post.

You might need more posts? I'm not sure. I can pm you some photobucket links if you'd like.

[bikemama]

We have the 06 Sedona. Bought it new for all the safety features and because we wanted plenty of room incase we had a third. Love it for the most part. Don't love the gas mileage. I'd say on average it does 17mpg for us. Have gotten as low as 15mpg in the winter and as high of 22mpg in the summer on the freeway. Not too bad now but when gas was $4 a gallon felt the pinch. Now it does have real get up and go I like that.

Also it left we completely stuck at lights once when the ABS light was malfuctioning. Tried to fix it by turning off the ignition and restarting and couldn't get the thing out of park. Ended up blocking traffic for 1/2 an hour with sleeping baby in the van and getting a towed to the dealrship. Was a faulty chip that got replaced and now has a recall on it. Occasionally other random lights come on in the vehicle and usually go off again with a restart.

Love the storage. Me, two boys in their seats and my bike, a bike trailer, and two kids bikes in the back without having to take the wheels off.

Hit a deer going 55mph in it. Came out of it fine. Van had 7K worth of damage.

Would I buy it again? Well I would by a used one if I were in the market. They don't hold there resale very well. Honestly thought since we are not having a third I would like better gas mileage in a vehicle.

[wsh3xx]

Our 06 Sedona is having mechanical issues. It has less than 37,000 miles on it and the engine whines. Our "local" dealership has terrible customer service so we've yet to get it resolved. We live in the hills of TN and our engine really struggles going uphill. The original tires needed replacing by 25,000 miles. The cargo space tends to fill up quickly for us (we're a family of four). It's hard to get much back there. Combined with the terrible gas mileage (we average 15 mpg), we're wishing we would've stayed in a sedan. My parents bought an Odyssey at the same time we bought the Sedona. They've not had any problems at all.

[aracari]

I just got my 2008 which I bought new in February out of the shop for the third time.
1st trip...Oil leak at seal
2nd.....check engine light came on and they replaced some connections to the head lamp(whatever that all means)
3rd.....It would not go into reverse earlier this week. It was just revving like it was in neutral. I was calling to have it towed when it finally went into gear. They could find nothing wrong.

Honestly I am really worried about the reliability of the van. I have never had to take a new car in like this.:mad:

At least it has the safety going for it. Of course if my transmission craps out again...........:eek:

As far a room, comfort, ride etc I have no complaints.