Kia Sedona Fans, Your Hour Has Come At Last

Jack Baruth
by Jack Baruth

The old Sedona amazed customers with its near-perfect imitation of the unloved Ford “Freestar” catastrophe-van. The new one is, it is to be hoped, considerably better. Industry gossip calls for a 3.3L V6.

Jack Baruth
Jack Baruth

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  • Ajla Ajla on Apr 03, 2014

    No love on here for the Hyundai Entourage? I thought the grille looked better than the Kia's and "Entourage" was the greatest minivan name ever.

    • Vt8919 Vt8919 on Apr 04, 2014

      My cousin and his family (wife and two kids) got an Entourage back when they first came out and they still own it. Driven it cross country I don't know how many times due to his job taking them everywhere, but it's still ticking.

  • PrincipalDan PrincipalDan on Apr 03, 2014

    It's like Christopher Walken strode into the design studio and exclaimed: ""I got a fever, and the only prescription is more Sorento styling cues!"

  • DougD DougD on Apr 04, 2014

    Jack's Freestar comparison rings true for me. I rented a Sedona for a week, and it totally reminded me of our old Windstar, and the Freestar we test drove to replace it. (Didn't buy the Freestar, hated the interior) At any rate we quite liked the Sedona, although it reminded us of the Freestar we liked it more and might have bought one except my FIL sells Fords and that would have caused a politial issue. And yeah, yeah minivan haters gonna hate, but it's a job that has to get done and minivans do the job.

  • Wolfinator Wolfinator on Apr 04, 2014

    I'm in the target market for this vehicle. I think. Just recently had my first child. I'm likely a few years away from my next car purchase, but when it comes it will need to be a vehicle with more space and utility. I'm not entirely sure I agree with the comments that there's no more room in the minivan space. Maybe. But looking around VERY casually, I don't see a lot of choices for me. I want something that seats 6+ people, and is value-priced. My first choice is the Mazda5, but it's rather small and the drivetrain is long in the tooth. Word on future updates is not good. Dodge has attractive starting pricing, but those reliability stats scare me. Honda and Toyota seem to act as if their minivans are made of solid gold. I can't get past the sticker shock. If this Sedona is priced well, I could potentially buy it. That 10-year warranty helps ameliorate a lot of reliability concerns. But if it creeps up much in price over the current model, forget it.

    • NN NN on Apr 04, 2014

      I'm in the same position. We're looking at minivans now. We have two kids, a big dog, and I'm 6'4". Having to put someone in a child seat directly behind me for long trips means the Mazda 5 is too small and ruled out, and likewise the Ford Transit Connect (which I otherwise like, but my wife thinks is only for pet cremation services). High end Japanese brands are really expensive, so we won't consider a new one. Who wants to spend $40k+ on a vehicle that will be filled with detritus from children/dogs immediately? Chrysler vans are 100% black dot throwaway cars, IMO, with boring styling. Last year I rented a Toyota Sienna on vacation, my friends rented a Caravan (with the 3.6) and the engine already sounded raspy. The Toyota was a sewing machine in comparison. Maybe the next generation could spice it up a bit and I'd overlook the black dots as long as there was a good warranty. But I don't think I have that long to wait. The solution for me I believe is a 2-3 year old Quest. It's at least a bit peculiar in it's design, which I like. The interior on the higher end models is like an Infiniti, so when you're driving it, you don't feel like you bought something you hate (unless you hate the CVT, which I might upon driving). But a good looking Sedona could get us thinking about new again. We'll see.

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