2005 Kia Sedona Base from North America - Comments

I knew what I was going to since I had the previous generation Sedona, but I thought Kia finally had got their cars right. In chronological order:

- Central locking.

- Climate control, electronic problem.

- Door mechanism many times.

- Central locking again.

- Defective temp sensor made the fan go all the time.

- Fuel leak. This one made me visit the dealer many times until they found out what was wrong. Had a strong smell of gas in city driving. The mpg on these cars are bad, but when you get less than 12 mpg you know something is bad. Turned out to be a tiny leak near the tank and car leaked gas when the system was pressurized.

- Even more problems with the central locking and door mechanism. This car does not cope very well with the winter.

- Brakes and tires all worn out. Front tires wears out quickly. Brake pads wear out even faster. The rotors are uneven and must be changed now and will be done when I get my next paycheck.

- Out of alignment and other smaller issues.

I bought these cars because they are cheap, roomy and quite comfortable. But beware they are quite bad and expect to spend a lot of time in the shop. My previous generation Sedona was also bad, but I kept it running under the Kia warranty program. The reason I bought a new one is Kia is the only ones taking trade-in in used Sedonas, even if the trade-in value in almost nothing. Even on my 2005 the trade-in is less than $10,000 now.

I definitely think this is my last Kia. Even the low new car price doesn't attract me anymore. All the repairs and heavy deprecation have convinced me not to buy a new Kia again. I know trade-in will be difficult when brand swapping, but I'll bite the bitter pill.

I initially though the dealer was doing a great job, but I'm getting more and more frustrated since warranty coverage is not as good as you may think. I have to pay for a many of the repairs myself. Like the all the problems that I've had with the central lockings in the winter. This car wasn't made for use in the winter, and every time it acts up I have to pay for it myself.

The car is heavy, and even with a powerful v6 this car is slow, but when at cruising speed it's the most comfortable van on the market. Cornering ability is not good either. Brakes are good, but wears out real fast and are not covered by warranty.

I don't own a Kia, but thought I'd comment anyway. My sister bought one of these things last week, against my advice. Having not seen it yet, I asked her how she liked it, and she said that the motor was a little noisy, and it has 40,000 miles on it. I told her to bring it over to my place so I could hear it run. First thing I did was check the oil, and it didn't even register on the dipstick. There was fried motor oil, in the form of black sludge on the dipstick, and covering the underside of the oil cap. The Kia dealer, in Greensburg, PA, claimed to have fully serviced and inspected it for her, yet, no one apparently even checked the motor oil, which I'm guessing was never changed in the first 40,000 miles of it's life.

Of course, the next day, she drove it back to the dealership, walked in with the oil cap in her hand, and asked to see whoever was in charge, as well as the salesman that sold it to her. She of course told them that she wasn't going to pay for the van, and wasn't going to keep something that was this badly abused. They tried to tell her that she was stuck with it. Well, her husband is in the recruiting division of the military, and she assured them that if they didn't correct their mistake, that the next day there would be 30 army recruiters in front of the dealership, in full military dress, picketing out front, which would of course make the news that night.

They decided that they didn't want this to happen, and ended up giving her an '06 with 20,000 miles for almost the same price as the '05. Now, I don't know if Kia runs all of their dealerships this way, but the moral of the story is that you need to be careful if you're going to buy one of these things.

Sedona 2006 XL

I purchased my Sedona, in September 2006,at our local Kia Dealership, Took it to Florida in March 2007 for a Month, came back and since then started to have problems. Crackling noice when I turned the steering,left or right, then I had a very bad odour in the car, that seem to come from the air system. Took it to the dealer, they changed the Link Ass. and put some type of Liquid in the air system.Pick-up the car and found that nothing had changed. Took it back, they said they would change the (2) top plates, and take the dash apart.Pick-up the car later, and found nothing changed again. Took it to a new dealer, they say they will change the rods in front. waiting for parts. Kind of discouraging, because I only have 11,000 miles on it. You get the impression that these guys don`t know what they are doing. It is my first Kia, and probably my last.

I purchased my 2005 Sedona because the 1997 Ford Ranger I had with only 72K on it was about to die on me. I now have 69K on my beloved Sedona and have not had any problems with her.

The things that went under warranty were; wiper motor, all blade arms, and the drivers side mirror.

I upgraded the front rotors to cross drilled and slotted for better braking power.

We have taken her to Florida several times, and even with hauling a trailer, I managed to get 23MPG on her.

She is very reliable and comfortable.

All of my friends and even my mechanic cannot believe the get up and go this van has. My roommate could not believe that his Audi A6 2.6 was slower than my Sedona. He traded and got the Audi A4 3.0 to make up LOL.

I strongly recommend this Mini Van to anyone on a budget. I plan on keeping mine for many years to come. I only use mobil 1 on all my cars which I know helps in mechanical wear.

OH one more thing. The dealership I deal with are VERY customer oriented and always takes care of the major mileage maintenance.

The only thing I do not like about this van is the frequent 60K timing belt change. Other than that, I LOVE MY SEDONA.