26th Apr 2007, 20:38
I bought my 2002 Kia Sedona in Nov. 2002 from a great little dealership. The service Dept. bent over backwards to take care of me and the car. I did all the maintenance on time. Troubles began with rusting, though I had had some irritating problems with the lid of the ash tray breaking, the cigarette lighter failing, and the sliding door locking open. Those were mostly taken care of except the door, which continues to jam is often impossible to shut from inside the car. Anyway, what is dismaying is the tail gate light cover started to rust early on. They sent it out to be repaired and gave me a loaner. The repair however was done poorly, covering the gate latch mechanism, so they had to re-do it to fix the latch problems. I think this damaged the patch, which another body shop told me was a cheap repair anyway, they told me they would have replaced the whole gate. That was infuriating because when the rust reappeared, I was still under warranty, and they refused to cover it. The dealership had been taken over by a new owner who was not into honoring the warranty. Anyway, I gave up fighting about it. Now the car is rusting prematurely in many other spots, along the edge of the hood, a huge section of rocker panel. Oh and the AC tubes underneath the car totally rusted out. The original dealer had to fight with Kia to cover it partially. My second windshield has cracked again for no reason, I think my insurance company is going to drop me if I put another claim in for glass!
Yet, after reading the preceding complaints, I think I've gotten off easy! The mechanics of the car have functioned pretty satisfactorily for me. I have put a lot of miles on the car, 125,000 miles on in four years, so maybe my expectations for its longevity are lower. I feel like I got my money's worth more so than many of the other commenters, but now it needs a steering rack, a seat belt buckle, and a rear wiper motor to get a sticker; about $1200 worth of work, for now! It burns me that I have a car that runs and is not too old, but is not worth fixing! I will probably just junk it since I can't in good conscience sell it to some unsuspecting schmuck. I will never buy another Kia again.
3rd Jun 2007, 16:44
I purchased our 2004 Sedona EX about two months ago, no major problems to this point, CV boot needed replacing, checked with my regular mechanic ($130) and called the dealership ($135), I went with the dealership, not only did they replace the axle (no charge, warranty, even though I am NOT the original owner and I did NOT buy thru dealership) but gave me a free rental car for the day. Moral of the story, not all dealerships are created equal. Kia parts are relatively cheap, and they are easy enough to order, and from my dealings with the dealership I am 100% pleased, they also programmed my remote free, car did not come with one and I got one off eBay ($10). The van itself I feel is a good value for what it is, if you do your research you know that it is not great on gas mileage, I looked at Honda's and Toyota's and I would have paid twice what I paid for my KIA, and after driving a lot of minivans I felt the best bang for my buck came from the Sedona, it drives very well, and gives me everything I could ask for. One other thing, when reading forums where people talk about their cars, more often than not you are going to see the horror stories, remember the sqeaky wheel gets the grease? I personally know at least 5 people who own KIA's, all happy.
13th Jun 2007, 18:11
To 16:44 Kia parts are relatively cheap! Ha! You have no idea what you're talking about.
The dealer in Barrie Ontario Canada wants $42.00 for and air filter element that I can buy for less than half that at my local parts supplier. The dealer also wants $18.00 a piece for a spark plug that I can buy at my local Canadian Tire store for $6.00. The serpentine belt costs over $250.00 from Kia and an alternator is $900.00. I could go on, but I think anyone reading this will get the point.
You say you know of five owners who are happy with their Sedonas. I really find that hard to believe, but it is possible. Personally, I'll never step foot onto this dealer's lot or any other Kia dealers lot again. My 2002 Sedona was a piece of junk and was the worst vehicle I've ever owned period. I'll never buy another Kia!
Check out my posting " Hopeless" in the 2002 year entries.
7th Aug 2007, 14:46
We purchased our '02 Sedona in January of '06. Since then, with the exception of one issue, everything else has been normal wear and tear; no rust. (I live in Kansas-a LOT of inclement weather-ice, snow, rain, sun, you name it, we've got it and still no rust issue) While the gas mileage is not great, I do get the performance out of the engine I'd expect from a small eight cylinder engine. Just recently at 80K, I had to replace the alternator, water pump, timing belt, serpentine belt, battery and air filter. Yes, that's a lot of things, however, I chose to replace many of them for the sake of convenience; while the mechanic had the engine apart, it made perfect sense to take care of the other things at the same time.
My problem with the vehicle is this: it has this quirky electrical thing that I still have as yet to find anything about on the internet. Static electricity flowing from my right hand to the ignition "plate" where the key goes in sparks and turns off the interior dash lights, the interior cabin lights, the parking lights, the power locks and power windows, and - get this - ONLY the rear "intermittent" wiper mode; the regular rear mode called "on" works. In addition, turning the lights on to the first position-nothing happens. Second position, the headlights come on, but not the parking lights nor the dash. Third position-as long as it's dark enough, the dash lights will come on and the headlights, but still no parking lights. What fixes the problem? A well-aimed shock of static electricity at the same spot on the ignition!!! So, I've been racking my brain to figure out how, during the summer, to recreate a static electricity charge to "reset" it when it goes out.
Overall, besides that, I like my van. It serves us well.
7th Mar 2007, 16:24
About 11 months ago, my wife and I purchased a 2002 Sedona from the dealer. After about 3 months with no issues, we decided to go to the local county fair. Everything was fine until we were on our way home. We were stopped at a red light. When it changed over to green, I hit the gas and it had major issues getting past 1st gear. We were close enough to home that I figured we could make it. Guess again. We got to within 2 miles of the house when at another light, it failed to get into any gear. I got out and there was transmission fluid everywhere. The tow truck came, took it away and we didn't see it again for about a week.
A few weeks later, the passenger side sliding door started having problems opening all the way when it is above freezing. When the weather is below freezing it opens just fine.
A few months later, it wouldn't start. I checked the starter and sure enough when I pulled it off, the screw coming out of the starter which connects to the wire coming from the battery, was loose. I bought another one and installed in sub-zero weather. It has been fine since.
A few weeks later, the check engine light came on. We took it back to the dealer to see what the issue was. The invoice stated that what was causing the check engine light to turn on was a shorted transmission switch, which they changed out at no charge since I am still under the 60,000 mile marker. Along with this, they recommended a "power steering flush ($109.95), tire rotation ($26.95), clean & adjust rear brakes and repack wheel bearings ($99.95) ", and that it badly needed a timing belt ($725). That is almost another $1000 and I haven't even had it for a year.
Moral of the story is, steer clear of the 2002 KIA Sedona. Don't know how the newer models are behaving so I can't say anything there.