2002 Kia Sedona LX from North America - Comments

Head-gasket blew at 9,000-miles-Major overheating fried engine-Hear we go again, the reason we traded off the Ford Windstar..

Rear A/C never worked right, dealer finally "fixed it at 9,000-miles when they put a new engine in it. Broken plate in divider line.

9,026 miles the Engine overheated and blew again, Dealer"Contract" shop forgot to plug up cooling fans. Just warped heads, but they put a whole new engine in, "Cheaper faster they said"

Drivers door power door lock went out when we got it back 9,000-miles-then it started to work again on own.

9,036-miles the transmission started to slip-drove right back to dealer and van could not pull up off ramp. had to walk and get tow. =Cracked Transmission housing cracked leak from stripped bolt to engine. "NOT covered under warranty" Kia/contract Shop has to pay, but won't we had to fight then. they finally did.

9,040-A/C lost all the Freon.. Line split at connection to condenser. Fixed under warranty.

10,000-miles check engine light comes on-checked out to be faulty O2 sensors.

11,000-miles the drivers door will not shut and latch.. had to have towed to shop--"they said it was bent from someone who slammed door with seat belt caught in it" I had to pay.$170.00.

13,000-miles the "New" Transmission goes out-Jerks real hard 30-40mph-they said it was only the torque converter that had bad fluid in it.. New converter and trans flush and it worked..

15,000-miles the dash lights go out-they found a bad relay.. no charge.

17,000-miles the Dealer is acting like they hate us when we take it back for the van cutting out and hard to start.

Turns out to be a weak fuel pump.. they said caused by a clogged fuel filter-come on only 17,000-miles.Our fault!!-they told us.

20,000-miles the left head lamp fills up with fog.. dealer said it was normal and will go away on own.

22,000-miles the transmission is slipping when it is cold and will not go into overdrive."we are very angry and the young shop kid told us that the vans are just too heavy and the transmissions can't hold up. he said lots of people are having transmission problems."

We had a new transmission put in it by the shop and we are not driving it.. we are filing our taxes early to get our refund and trading it off before something else goes wrong.. We don't know what to buy... we need a van, but we had the same problems with our 97-windstar..We are looking at a car this time.. Like a Toyota..

A pile of junk, 100,000-mile warranty joke.

Too heavy and transmissions burn out.

Engine head-gaskets blow out.

Lemon-city.

Wow, just like most other people that I know who has bought into the junk Kia car line... I bought a Kia and will never have one again... The transmission went out at 2,000-miles and I just traded it back in at the Kia lot for a used Pontiac Grand Am.. Kia only gave me 2/3 of what I paid for the car just 3-months ago.. Rip off Kia... From day one the car has felt cheap and like it was falling apart... The engine knocks as well and you can feel every bump in the road...

Sounds just like my Dad's Flower Van that he uses to work Funerals with. That thing breaks down all the time. The funeral home is going to trade it in as soon as they can on the taxes. Until then they are stuck with it. My dad drives the old 1991 Ford Aerostar instead of the Kia when he can. That is really bad that a cheap American made van with 122,000-miles on it is more reliable than a 2002 Kia Sedona with only 14,000-miles.

Good luck.

All states have some sort of Lemon Laws. If things were really as bad as you've stated, you should have looked into your options.

We looked into the lemon law. we talked to Kia and they said that most of the problems were caused by our use of the van and not a manufacturing defect...SURE...Not again..

I've been doing a lot of research. It seems like all minivans have transmission problems. What my friend said who is a mechanic is that most of them are built on a car platform. What happens is people drive them like they are sports cars or load them up like trucks because they have the capacity. What results is the transmission going out.

He said if you want to drive a minivan and if you want the transmission to last you have to kind've baby them. He also said that the only ones he's seen that don't go out are the really old Ford Aerostars, but they are built off their truck chassis. The problem with them is they get awful gas mileage. So I guess it's a tradeoff.

I think that perhaps the first engine was maybe a Kia problem, BUT the second, I blame the owner for not noticing the gauge or idiot light or for that matter the lack of fan noise after a mile or two. Also the seatbelt buckle in the door gives a picture of the owner's care for the vehicle. My Aunt has a Sedona. Has had it for a while. They have a farm, drive if with a 'full load' of people and supplies sometimes. It's not had any issues. My 1992 Mazda Protege has a dead engine at 272k miles, but that's not Mazda's fault. I let it overheat by being in a hurry and not watching the temp gauge. The belt broke to the pump, AGAIN not Mazda's fault, mine, the belt was questionable when I checked it the last time I inspected the car. Bottom line, cars are not idiot proof devices.