2002 Kia Sedona Loaded review from North America

Don't bet on it.. That 10/100K warranty is a real joke. Our

Sedona, which was the first ones sold as a 2002 has got into all kind of problems when it was new. Since it is used as a Commercial, come on a nursing home shuttle is not commercial, anyway the Dealer claimed that the warranty was not the same on “Commercially sold units” so we had to fight them on it. It should not matter who buys the Van. As long as you have it serviced and drive it right it should be covered. They didn’t think so. This is on the A/C problem and a broken seat rail.

Anyway since we put so many miles on the van the regular 5/60K warranty was up in no time. All easy old people miles to the Funeral Homes to see a friend or to the health park or anywhere else those old devils want to go. (My job is transportation services, I make $13.00 an hour to drive around)

Anyway the van broke down all the time, but it never actually left us on the side of the road. It always broke down in parking lots or at Gas stations. All the breakdowns were electrical problems. – usually.

Now the van has 72,000-miles on it and the transmission is started to make a grinding sound when the van came to a stop. We knew that it had the 10/100K power train warranty on it, that is a bonus to why they bought it, so we took it in and they said yes it is covered.

Upon them sending the van off to be fixed, they found that the transmission was not covered because it is not a power train issue. Get this the transmission had engine coolant in it and it was found to be a bad radiator that caused the failure. The power train warranty has a provision that will not cover defects that arise from misuse or contamination.

They said the radiator tested fine and did not replace it. I don’t understand. If that is why the fluid got water in it, then why didn’t they fix it. I talked to several of the guys and even called other dealers. One guy laughed at me and told me the cooling system is totally independent of the transmission. I don’t understand.

Since the cause of the failure was not a covered component they said they will not be able to submit the claim to Kia for payment.

The total bill was $2422.68. We paid it and got the van back.

On the 3d day of use the transmission would not shift properly and got hung in a high gear. (7:00pm) We had it towed to a national chain transmission place that was right up the road. We thought they could fix the problem because it had to be something small. We called Kia the first thing in the morning before we even called the national chain and kia immediately sent a tow truck to retrieve the van.

Kia put a whole new transmission in it because it was “now covered all the sudden” and refunded us back all of the money except $500.00 for actual parts.

It is all so odd… Just keep fighting them. They will surprise you and pay off.

We bid on new vans and the purchasing dept at the home office buys the vans that are the cheapest. To shock me I found out that we have just ordered 3-new Kia Sedona’s from them. O-well, I will keep on driving them as long as they go, it is their money and not mine. I like making the extra overtime pay from all the break downs, but some of these seniors don’t need to be in the cold or heat and some have severe health problems that need to be addressed before they are to ride in a KIA. We did have Full size Dodge Ram vans, but now they buy the smaller vans. We had a few Windstars, but they were not very healthy from a baby as well.

Drives good once it gets going. Feels too heavy.

Uses more gas than a big V-8 van.

Odd sounds from exhaust.

Brakes kind of scarry sometimes.

Engine races to get upto speed.

A/C heater poor performance.

Paint clear coat is glazing off already on top of fenders and roof right by windshield.

Looks good and smells good inside. Neat looking dash.

Good feel and drivers seat is seated just right for me- wasy to get into and out of.

Dim head lights at night.

Hard to get doors shut sometimes.

Body feels like it would break in half if ever hit in side.