2001 Kia Sedona Park 2.9 turbo diesel

Summary:

This is a high performance van, the offspring from what is sadly a totally dysfunctional family

Faults:

At time of delivery, most of the dashboard warning lights did not work, a 1/2 hour in the shop found a loose connection, no more problems.

Right front passenger door leaked, it was taken care of fast and easy.

I had much less problems on delivery with this unit than I did with my 2000 Nissan Sentra.

General Comments:

This is my 3rd KIA people mover since 1998. I have owned 2 twelve-passenger vans and my company of which I am president has 12 KIA trucks, mostly K36?s. We have had first-rate service from them all.

I and 9 others survived a speeding truck hitting us in the side and rolling us over one time back onto our wheels. No one was hurt, but the van was destroyed.

You will notice that I gave the dealer only 4 points, actually the dealer is fine, it is the KIA home office that is the problem!! We waited 3 years for parts for one of the vans and never did get them. And KIA, despite what they may say about the warranty, makes every effort to get out of any warranty obligations at every possible opportunity.

Our company buys in bulk, but because I moved my KIA 1500 miles to my office site, from where it was purchased, KIA will not warranty it. Despite my efforts to contact them, KIA will not even correspond with me.

This unit rides 1st class.

The new Sedona body style with leather interior is a head turner.

The turbo diesel pulling max torque of (NM @ rpm) 331 @ 2,000 is very fast, but suffers from turbo-lag off the line, 20 miles per hour and up no problem. 35 miles to the gallon.

Handling: this is not a sports car by any means. This is an over the road long hall cruiser, in which a family can have a quiet conversation at any speed, in comfort and safety.

Fully automatic separate climate control front and rear, excellent!

Double sliding doors are great.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 12th August, 2001

11th Feb 2002, 08:29

Very useful review.