Quest vs Sedona

[shanniesue2]

I have a small 5 year old still in his frontier and am due with twins this spring. So we are minivan shopping.

We have narrowed it down to the 08/09 Nissan quest or the 09/11 Kia Sedona.

Basically our needs are

• the ability to fit 3 car seats
• sliding doors on both sides
• preferably power doors
• captain's chairs in the middle row
• decent mileage for 15K or less

We don't want a dodge or chrysler. We eliminated the sienna b/c neither of us really like Toyota very much (no particular reason... we just don't want one). The Ody's that would be in our price range have seen many transmission complaints. We don't like the body style on the newer generations of the quest.

So here are the reasons we've narrowed it down to these two makes/models: they meet our "needs" criteria, we have read many positive reviews on these options (critics and consumer), DH likes the Quest in those years b/c of the sunroof, I like the Sedona b/c of the split bench in the 3rd row.

I'm not going to buy a car just because it has a sunroof, but I'm not going to turn down a car I like just because it doesn't have a split bench.

What do you think? How do these vehicles compare to each other based on ease of car seat use?

 

[YinzerMama]

Since you will have twins rearfacing for a while I would seriously consider a used Sienna. You would be able to move one captains chair to the center allowing the 5yo to get in the frontier in the back easily. I'm assuming most people find it easiest to have the twin/rearfacers in the center which can make accessing the back tricky. The 5yo can climb under rf seats but in a few years will be 7 or 8 and the twins still rf. You CAN load a rf from the back but if you don't have to, it's nice not to.

Split bench 3rd row wins over sunroof for me.

I don't know enough about quest vs sedona those years but I feel like the sedona has a lot in common with an older sienna, but with a smaller trunk and you can't move the captains chair over

 

[Qarin]

I don't have much to compare, but my parents got a Quest in 2005 (when my kids were 1 and 4), and I just inherited it. If I had two infants and a 5yo, I'd probably stow the passenger side captain's seat, put 1RFer in the other captain's seat, and the older child in the third row with the other RFer. When my kids were little, I loved leaving one captain's seat out (my primary vehicle was a 1998 Oldsmobile Silhouette), so we'd have this big foyer that I could get into with the kids to help them get in their seats and buckled while we all stayed dry or out of the street/parking lot or whatever. The fold-flat seats in the Quest (does the Sedona have that, too?) would make that even better. i rarely use the sunroof.

 

[shanniesue2]

Yinzer, I guess I don't understand. The middle row in both sedona and quest have captain's chairs and DS would be able to walk through them to get to the back???

I really don't want a sienna.

 

[Qarin]

The thing she's talking about about getting to the third row is having to go past rear-facing seats to get there- the rearfacing seats block the aisle from the door to the center aisle.

 

[YinzerMama]

The thing she's talking about about getting to the third row is having to go past rear-facing seats to get there- the rearfacing seats block the aisle from the door to the center aisle.

yes this. The babies will be rearfacing for at least 2 years. I find it easiest to have rearfacers in the middle. There are ways around but that's what I find easiest. If you have a minivan where you need to go down the center aisle to get to the back, you will have to duck under a rearfacing seat in this situation. With the old siennas and odysseys you could move he passenger side outboard seat to the center so you had a side aisle for the kid who rides in the 3rd row. (If you can find a used 8 passenger sienna from 2006-2010 you can put all 3 kids in the middle or remove.fold one outboard seat- this is what we used to to. Now we have a new Ody and the 2nd row is not nearly as versatile. Close but not quite.)

You can have the oldest kid enter from the back, if it has a split row, but if you don't get an automatic trunk lift you will have to get out to let him out for car pool or anything like that.

You can load a rf into the back row over the seat.

You can remove a seat and put the oldest and one rf in the back. (I personally hate removing seats because then you have a seat in your house or garage and you don't have it in your car if you are out and want to offer someone a ride)

There are ways around it - but with 2 rearfacers, it is really nice to be able to have a side aisle in some fashion and leave everything in your car that is supposed to be there. Just something to consider.

The old Siennas also had a HUGE trunk which is really useful with 3 kids, double strollers, etc.

 

[shanniesue2]

Okay! I see what you're saying... hadn't thought of that. In that case, we will probably end up removing one of the captain's chairs and having 1 rf on the bench alongside DS in his frontier. I'm not worried about giving other people spontaneous rides... if it's a kid, our friends know that I'm one of "those" moms who insist that carseat arrangements be made before I'll give a ride.

 

[YinzerMama]

I think I would lean sedona between those choices, just from knowing people who have had problem free sedona relationships and other people who have had Quests that kept having problems. I would just try to check out that two rearfacing seats you like will work one behind the other like that and still allow room for the driver. Or if you can stagger them so one is on the side with the captains chair removed and there is still room for the oldest to squeeze through.

 

[jjordan]

We have an 08 Sedona and I hav eno complaints! I believe it is essentially the same as the 09 and 10 model years. Right now I have a RF Britax Chaperone behind the driver and a RF Britax Boulevard in the third row behind that with no front-back space issues. (Driver's seat gets put all the way back when dh drives.) So there are definitely options for having the two RF on the same side of the car if you want to do that.

I don't have any experience with a Quest so I can't compare the two.