I am leaning towards purchasing a Kia Sedona thanks to the current rebate and sale plus the excellant warranty. My major concern is long term reliabilty. I usually keep a new vehicle for at least 10 years. Even with the 100,000 powertrain warantry, I still wonder about the long term life of the Sedona. Most of today's vehicles easily last 150,000 or more miles if maintained properly. Is the Kia capable of this? Any opinions appreciated since thre is not much information on the internet on Kia long term reliability issues.
As I pointed out in my last response to your queries, there are several reviews out there dating back to 2002, the van's first year. That being said, 3 years is NOT what most people would call "long term" data so for any further info you will have to venture off the shores of North America. Kia has several cars which are not seen here and might be duplicates of the North American vehicles. Perhaps their "foreign" van has been around longer.
As far as rebates go, I would simply contact a couple of dealers as well as the national office. By your email address, I take it you are American so why not give Kia America (or whatever it is called) a phone call?
Having been a two-time Sedona owner, the answer, to me, is an unquestioned 'yes.' There are some things to consider.
**I have NEVER used manufacturers oil change intervals, except possibly for the "severe service" interval recommendations. I have usually let the oil tell me when it needs changed. On both Sedonas, that has been at around
4000 miles. And with the recent report in Consumer Reports on a lot of (especially foreign) engines sludging, I would stick to that closely. As an additional suggestion, you should probably choose (as I have) synthetic oil for your oil changes, especially if you can do them yourself.
**Like most import engines, the Sedona runs on a timing belt, a tedious maintenance item that MUST be replaced by the recommended 60,000 mile interval to keep the 100,000 mile warranty intact. With the wear on this, apparently it is VERY unwise to go more than the 60,000 miles. So if you go
200,000 miles on this van, you will be replacing it three times. At my dealer, it is a flat $450 just to replace the belt, or $800 as a part of the regular 60,000 mile maintenance service.
**In the day of much longer life fluid level maintenance intervals, the Sedona's are still rather short - 30,000 on the transmission (an extremely EASY job), and about the same on the coolant.
But realistically, you can look at these same items hanging over just about all vehicles. If you take care of them, they should take care of you. In the case of the Sedona, it will.
The last item to consider is the fact that the '06 will be a complete re-design coming in the Fall. The new van will be larger, more powerful, with more convenience features. But to begin with, incentives will not even come close to what you can get on an '05, especially if you plan to keep it a long time. The decision between an older but established new van(meaning the bugs have been worked out of it) and with incentives beyond excellent, and a newly redesigned one that has better stuff but costs more and may not have the kinks worked out of it is a decision you will have to make.
I own a ?02 Kia Optima and will keep it a long time even thought I plan on purchasing an Amanti in another year or so. With Kia/Hyundai engines improving greatly over the years, reliability has become less of an issue when the vehicles are maintained according to Kia routine schedules for oil changes, timing belt, etc. I owned several Hyundai vehicles since 1986 including the infamous Excels. My last one was a ?89 Sonata. I sold it with 89,000 miles on it and no problems. My ?86 Excel was sold with 155,000 miles on. Keep in mind those engines weren?t very good to begin with back then. The newer engines are very good and Kia is seeing better reviews now because reliability is going up. I don?t worry about my Optima going 200,000. It should considering how I maintain it. I be very surprised if it doesn?t! 8O
We were raving fans of our 2003 Sedona until last September when the battery blew up. Yes a Hydrogen Bomb under the hood. Check my posts here from last month for the details. Here's the summary:
The car was in Kia garages for over 100 of 292 days (34%) and still is not fixed - or safe to drive. And each time we received the car back, within a day or two, the ORIGINAL problems continue: the car still stalls frequently, sometimes many times an hour and the tachometer still races without notice, lurching the car forward - once within inches of a pertoleum truck!
We are still paying the lease but not driving the car for fear of safety.
Kia has consistently demonstrtaed to us the model of how NOT to treat a customer ... ever - right up to the CEO's office.
Example: the Kia representative from the CEO's office even called us liars because their Kia diagnostics didn't register or confirm any of our unsafe near-accidents. Until we delivered 47 witnessed incidents over less than a month period. Months later they would reluctantly admit their diagnostics COULD NOT pick up on corrossion related issues.
Excuse me ... Corrossion? That started when the battery blew up many months earlier. Why did they only figure that out now?
Latest update:
The Kia Motors (Korean HQ) website invites you to write to them if not receiving statisfaction from your dealer or country. Their response was immediate, professional and helpful. Do write me at snipped-for-privacy@the-coach.com for the contact info for many Kia Motors HQ senior people in Korea.
Except it got the locals angry we 'went over their heads' - even though it was after 10 months of not receiving back a fixed car here. So now they say they will only speak to us if we go to court or arbitration.
That's our sorry experience with Kia. We wish you and all motorists a much safer, more customer-sensitive driving experience.
... Paul Litwack June 2005: Selected one of the 'Top 100 Corporate Coaches in the World'
Yes, things like that are worse than concerning - they are disgusting.
Sadly, my GM experience is much like that.
It seems the ability to try to get things fixed still starts with both the competence and the willingness to do what it takes AT THE DEALERSHIP.
In my area, I have two Kia dealers (actually four, though I only have experience with the two closest ones). The one has provided every nightmare you describe and more - in fact, I haven't met a satisfied Kia customer from them yet. The other has one of the best records anywhere in the country for Kia sales, service and satisfaction. The two are less than 50 miles apart.
What gives? It seems to all start when you walk in. The two are as different as night and day when you walk into them, be it their sales department, service, parts or restroom.
I don't know if you have the luxury of being betwixt and between Kia dealers like I am, and maybe your case has gotten a little too infamous in the Kia system. I also have no guarantees that your next farther away Kia dealer would be any better. But that is where I would start.
And if you lived in a proximity where you could get to this one that has been SO good to its customers (in central Illinois), I am even in a position to pre-call them, tell them about you and make SURE you get treated right.
I'm sorry about your problem, though I did note that there was something about the batteries and the electrical systems in those '02's that were bad. My battery didn't blow up, but it was hopelessly dead in 16 months. NO problem in the '04.
If Kia can't help, maybe the people on this forum can.
Run, do not walk, from your Kia dealer. We bought a Sedona ('03 model) a couple years back and it's been nothing but a headache ever since. We're trading it in this week on a Honda CR-V (decided to go the cute ute route). We likely won't get what we owe on it, but we're so disgusted with the van that we just want it out of our hair.
Within 6K miles of buying it, we lost the A/C compressor, the serpentine belt and a pulley of some sort, and it sat in the shop for nearly two weeks while parts were ordered, repairs made. A few months later, an inner tie rod end wore so badly it chewed up the front tires. It was replaced and (supposedly) aligned. But a few thousand miles into the new tires, the car had worked itself so badly out of alignment it chewed up another set (no, we didn't hit any curbs, potholes, etc.--my wife drives it gently and mostly on highways).
My wife's also experienced a few episodes of sudden acceleration with the car in reverse. After the first time, she was careful to make a mental note of where her foot was the next time it happened. When it did, she's certain her foot was on the brake as the car bolted rearward. Luckily, she didn't hit anything. The Kia dealer, of course, won't believe anything we say unless their mechanic experiences the problem first-hand. Good luck on that.
Now, something under the hood's squeaking again with the A/C running. Probably on the verge of losing another compressor or pulley. This time, it's going to be gone before it strands us on the side of the road again.
Bottom line: You really do get what you pay for. Yeah, we were impressed with all the standard features and long warranty you get for less than 20K. But now we're regretting going the cheap route. The Sedona's convinced us to make reliability the number one consideration in our next purchase, which is why we're going with Honda. Between Honda and Toyota, you can't get a more reliable car, by all accounts we've heard.
Do yourself a favor and stay away from the Sedona.
Hi all - recall my earlier posts about the hydrogen bomb under the hood last September.
Here is the update:
Kia Canada forced us to go to arbitration using CAMVAP (no lemon laws here). At the hearing, Kia admitted negligence in not cleaning the battery acid properly and even then only 27 hours after the explosion. And they couldn't answer the question "If your Kia diagnostic equipment cannot find the source of these electical issues, does that mean they cannot be happening?" Recall we have lots of Affidavits (sworn legal testemonies by dozens of passengers in the car when they DID occur).
The Arbitrator ordered an inspection by an independant, very professional mechanic - when he returned the car after a two day check, he admitted he had found 4 serious 'ghosts' and he himself felt unsafe driving the car. He also noted the air bag light was on, making the air bag system inoperable - a serious safety risk. My wife jokes: KIA = Killed In Action.
Now here's the rub. That same air bag light has been reset multiple times in this car since day 1, and most recently the arbitrator noticed it himself when he test drove the car after the hearing.
He questioned the Kia mechanic (yes the same one who 'discovered' the battery acid 8 months after the explosion) and was told he didn't have the authority to fix it. Excuse me! the other 3 Kia people at the hearing did have the authority. Except back in June when we had the battery shelf repainted these same people PREVENTED the Kia dealer from fixing the air bag problem while it was in their Kia garage.
Next time you think about Kia servicing your car and their interest in passenger safety, remember us ;-)
We are now waiting for the arbitration ruling, hopefully in our favour.
Greetings, I have many things to say about my '02 sedona. I may have dumped it if the warranty was not intact. A lot of peoples "issues" are caused by inadequate auto technicians who are in their position to fill an empty spot and have no knowledge. I originally purchased our van in Maryland and can say, those folks didn't know a screw from a bolt. We had to take our van in continuously for the same problem until they had replaced every piece related to the problem. When we moved to Georgia we got a good dealer. Now, when we take our van to the shop it is fixed right every time. Here is a list of the items we have had go wrong with our van. Subsequently, these items were replaced.
Cruise control (module, switch and the main control buttons on the steering wheel) Alternator Multitude of sensors (Oxygen flow, TP sensor... Among about 5 others) Wiper motor and chain Inside door wire (that opens the door from the inside) One headlight (expensive light mind you.)
I must point out that no major mechanical problems have occurred with the van, most of these items fail on any vehicle around the same time (with the exception of the alternator.) If I had a choice, and the price were equal, I would probably purchase a Toyota or Honda though.
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