2005 Kia Sedona EX from North America

Summary:

Love the car, but the dealer service is horrible

Faults:

Lost all dash lights 3 times.

AC quit working 1 time.

Lost all interior lights 3 times.

Lost the radio 3 times.

General Comments:

First time I lost everything, the dealer said it was the battery - My cost.

Second time, 2 weeks after getting the first fix, I lost everything again. The dealer said they found a short in some wires under the fuse box. Lights are back on, but the radio still doesn't work.

Take it back to the dealer the next day and now they claim the radio needs to be replaced. At my cost $975 + labor. Contacted Kia care and they said that the factory rep. would cover half the costs. Still leaves me with a close to $1000 radio bill.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 11th February, 2009

12th Feb 2009, 18:06

Sounds like a total rip-off.

Thanks for the review - I'll never buy a KIA, that's for sure.

11th Feb 2018, 00:34

You won't buy a Kia because of one person's bad experience? Have you read the other reviews on the Sedona? Perhaps not, otherwise you wouldn't judge one bad review against multiple good ones. I know a few people who own the Kia Sedona; one has 185k miles on it and very few issues, unlike the Honda Odyssey they owned before, that needed 3 transmissions in 60000 miles. I'd take a Sedona any day over a Honda minivan.

2005 Kia Sedona LX 3.6 V6 from North America

Summary:

I would highly recommend this Van and will buy another one

Faults:

Wiper motors replaced under warranty at 58,000 miles along with all front and rear wiper arms. Drivers side outside mirror was replaced under warranty at 58,000 miles. No other problems with this Van.

General Comments:

I have installed cross drilled and slotted front discs which make braking much better. I also installed a Hi Flow air filter which make for quicker acceleration. I have installed 16" rims with much wider high performance tires which really made a HUGE difference in handling.

I wish the timing belt replacement interval would be longer. The arm rests for the front seats could be wider. I love the agility, acceleration, MPG and comfort of this van. Everyone that rides in this van cannot believe how well it rides and it takes off like a jet. Removable seats are heavy and require lots of muscle power to remove. Gas tank is too small, I travel allot and could use 5 more gallons to get better range. Currently I get 350 to 400 miles per tank. I Love this van. Brown Daub Kia in Easton Pa has treated me VERY well with service. Best treatment I have had. Wish there were more variety of aftermarket upgrades for this van.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 17th January, 2008

2005 Kia Sedona Base 3.8 V6 from North America

Summary:

Even the new ones are bad

Faults:

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.

General Comments:

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.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 23rd April, 2007

26th May 2007, 22:19

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.