2002 Kia Sedona LX from North America - Comments

Rear glass shattered upon first driving home. Dealer said glass was installed too tightly.

Alternator went after 15,000 miles.

Idler pully flew off while vehicle was leaving driveway. This was at about 27,000 miles. At this time, CD player would make weird clicking noise and all power would shut off. Dealer says they ordered new radio. No radio yet!

Air conditioning made loud hissing noise and blew white smoke out, then there was no cold air. Around 30,000 miles at this time. Dealer recharged after two days of denying any responsibility.

Air conditioning blew again within two weeks. This time, dealer claimed that a new unit was put in and that the seal was the cause.

During the last time (above) that the car was in dealer, s shop, other things needed addressed. Passenger sliding door is messed up. Don't know if track needs adjusting or grease or what, but dealer forgot to address this issue.

Also at present time, we are bringing Sedona back to dealer to have new seat belt/airbag sensor installed.

Last time Sedona was in shop it was there for seven days.

Yesterday, July 18, 2004, car died and battery was discharged and needed a jump while we were in motion, leaving Home Depot. Also, air conditioner still continues to let out small amounts of smoke and is slowly getting warmer.

We'd guess that car has been at dealer's for approx. 18-20 days all tolled since we bought it.

Currently, noticed that either gas or brake pedals will pulsate, car hesitates at will and brakes feel as if they are not power brakes.

A note here, that the brakes have given out for short period of time, but car could be stopped on these occasions.

Left middle seat arm rest fell off too. at about 28,000 miles. dealer said it was loose.

We like the ride that the Sedona gives, but unexpected problems that are constantly occurring makes one learyto drive the Sedonaon long trips.

Very unhappy.

I agree with this person's assessment of the Kia Sedona. I have a 2003 Kia Sedona with about 27000 miles on it right now. It has a lot of great features and accessories, but too many problems for a 1-1/2 yr old vehicle.

The airbag light is currently on and the check engine light comes on while driving sometimes. The wiring all seems to be good so it is looking like it's an airbag sensor that went out. The dealer said " those airbag lights come on all the time, you need to bring it in so we can find the problem". I have scheduled to bring it in again.

There have been 4 times when the brakes buzzed at an intersection while stopping and the vehicle went past the stop point, twice into the intersection. Luckily there were no vehicles at the time. The dealer said "if it isn't doing when we bring it in they can't fix it".

The side doors have never opened easily. From the inside, you need to push the back of the door while pulling the handle in order to get it moving and it's also hard to open it from the outside. I'm afraid I'm going to break the handle off one of these days.

There is a loud buzzing all the time from a pump in the floor in the back of the vehicle. The dealer said their answer to that is they "put some sort of insulation in the floor at my cost".

The plastic piece in the center of the top of the dashboard next to the window kept popping out even when the dealer put in a new one. The dealer ended up cutting off the edge of the plastic piece so it would stay in the hole.

The separated molded edge of the cup holder on the 2nd row seat broke off in the 2nd week we had the car and dealer said "you have to buy the entire cup holder assembly since they don't sell it separately" and also it wasn't covered under warranty.

The small piece that is attached to the shoulder wall side seatbelt to keep the seatbelt end from sliding down to the floor has fallen off one of the belts already.

There were also a couple of other problems, a valve and a stabilizer that required service by Kia, but I don't remember the exact part names. those were covered under warranty, but I still had to bring the vehicle in.

Having to deal with these problems is very frustrating.

I have had nothing, but problems with my 2002 Kia Sedona. It only has 38,000 miles on it.

The first problem, within one week of purchase, was the battery constantly going dead. They replaced the battery with a new one, but it kept going dead. They finally said it was the lumbar switch and that other Sedona's previously had the switch go out. Why did it take months for them to finally address the issue?

It's been in the shop numerous times because the A/C won't blow cold air. The first time they said it was the "O" ring which they replaced. Finally, we paid for our "family" mechanic to look at our Kia to see why the A/C kept going out. They said that the hose had a hole and was leaking oil and coolant. Now it is sitting in the Kia shop once again getting fixed. I asked them to find out why the A/C also sounds like it's going to blow up when it's on.

Also, the front of the van makes a horrible cracking/popping sound. It sounds like the entire front window is going to bust open. I'm so worried that some day the window will come crashing in on me while I'm driving. The service shop has yet to explain to me what it is.

The van sounds like it is a VW Bus... the engine makes a loud, fast clicking noice like those old VW vans.

The brakes squeak loudly and the brake pedal vibrates under my foot. The service shop has replaced the brake pads, but the problem still continues.

If anyone insists on buying a Kia make sure that you put in the contract that you will get a free loaner vehicle while you car/van is in the shop! I'm without transportation while they try and fix this problem yet again. No transportation and 5 children is not fun!!

You guys have lots of breakdowns, but I have a question to ask.

My Kia Sedona (Carnival in the Philippines) has NOT experienced any major problems lately. Just minor ones like tire wear, and others. My car is still in good shape even though it traveled for more than 40,000 miles...

Any answers.

Hi I don't understand you people I have a 2002 sedona and have 70,000 miles on it and no major problems, am I just lucky? it does eat gas I will say that, but its not bad I only paid 11000 for it a year ago and it had 58000 on it.

I have had some of these problems with mine as well as a few others. It has the sticky sliding doors, the AC compressor is very noisy, and the alternator went at about60K miles. Mine also has the check engine light on most of the time, it is a leak in the EVAP system that the KIA dealer was not able to fix after three trips, I just ignore it now. My front seats are also problematic, the drivers seat is constantly loosening up to the point that the back of the seat falls all the way back, then you have to balance yourself on the botom of the seat until you can get home and fix it again, Kia refused to repair this, they said it was because I am overweight (I am, but 205 pounds isn't so much that the seat should fail in less than two years), plus the passenger seat does the same thing only less frequently, and she weighs less than 110 pounds.

The engine and transmission both seem to be very solid, but the rest of the car is pretty much junk. My father has been driving Chrysler Minivans since the mid eighties, putting about 200K miles on each one, with no major problems. That is not bad covering four vehicles over 22 years. I should have learned from him.

I just purchased a 2002 Kia Sedona for $8,000. These comments sure do leave me feeling a little uneasy about my purchase. However, it's good to know that not all these messages aren't negative.

Have a 2002 Sedona that has been quite good, ride, performance--any minor problems were taken care of by the dealer with quality service and on time. Recently I have

a humming sound from rear of van--service person says is from air conditioning valve in rear. I accept that--air conditioning still works fine. There is a low growling noise from rear area as well. Service agent called Kia and this sound from the differential is "normal" With 81,000 miles on the power train, wonder if anyone else has had similar problems.

Thanks.

"There is a low growling noise from rear area as well. Service agent called Kia and this sound from the differential is "normal" With 81,000 miles on the power train, wonder if anyone else has had similar problems."

If this is a front wheel drive, there IS no differential in the rear. :>)

I agree with all of the issues that have been said about the Sedona above. I have replaced ALL of the door handles at least one time. I have replaced the rear coolant tubes (that travel around the back of the van) One year later there is "seepage" which is the word the dealership used. I replaced the front hub unit on each 5 times. My air conditioner is now giving me fits. Within 1 year the van started to rust. I have 120,000 miles on my Sedona. The customer service rep at KIA central refused to take a complaint the last time my wife called. He said, "your problems are related to the area of the country you are in". My wife replied, "I paid $23,000 for this vehicle in this area, shouldn't it last for this area?" Granted this vehicle is the best handling front-wheel drive that I have driven in the snow, but given all of the problems I will NEVER buy another.

They are are bad, the Sedonas. I've had so much trouble with mine I don't know where to start. It's like a nightmare and I just sold this car in non working order for just $2500. Considering I paid $22,000 less than 6 years ago this deprecation is massive and I think few models out there are anywhere near this deprecation.

There were cooling problems from day one and head gaskets and finally head was replaced. Head gaskets was replaced three times. In the end the whole engine died, probably because it had been running with coolant in the oil. This was outside of warranty and affected us financially. We have had to cut vacation and dental costs for our kids to keep this junk running. I sold it after the tranny started to act up and buyer said he would fix this himself. Besides this there were a dozen other things that went wrong most covered by warranty. Should I say the 'usual' Sedona problems like the AC never worked properly?

We are now on a 1999 Ram wagon that so far seem much better even mileage is higher and the car is older. After the our Sedona adventure we don't have the money for a new car right now.

I have to warn people not to buy these second hand and to not trust the Kia USA organisation.

I ALSO just purchased a 2002 Kia Sedona for $6,000. These comments sure do leave me feeling a little uneasy about my purchase. However, it's good to know that not all these messages aren't negative.

I made a big mistake buying my 2002 Sedona. I have had nothing but problems with it.

Fuel Gauge, AC, Window Switch, Side Doors.

Kia vehicles are cheap, but they get you in parts and labor. I will never buy another Kia.