Sorry about your experience, both with the van and the dealer.
I am noticing that Kia dealers tend to be either among the very best or
very
worst. I have one of each in my area.
But if you get a good one (I do have one), I have never met a more
conscientious dealer of any make.
As for the van, one of the things I have REALLY appreciated about Kia is
their ability to find potential wide-spread problems and get them fixed.
It
is something the Detroit 3 have never been able to do, for whatever
reason.
2006 was the first year of a complete re-design for the Sedona. And while
you would hope they would get it right the first time, if you would go
back
and check out the 2008, you would find a lot of things have been improved
on, even though it is basically the same van. There are no re****ts of
that
acceleration lag anymore (try a bottle of good fuel system cleaner on
yours). And a lot of little things (like the mirrors) have been improved.
There is still that Kia door lock thing, which all Sedonas since 2002 have
(and many other Kias and Hyundais as well) which seems to be what some
people in South Korea believe is security. But there are re-programs
available, and one may be just what you are looking for. If you have a
good
dealer (sorry about that), they may even do it for free.
I am an apologist for the Sedona simply because they have built such a
fine
vehicle for thousands less than anybody else, especially Chrysler. These
days, you would have to spend in the vicinity of $35-40,000 to even begin
to
equip a Chrysler van in a similar fa****on to a Sedona, which is around
$31,000 and down. That isn't chump change.
And since I still have not seen Chrysler produce a truly trouble-free
tranny
for their minivans (the new six-speed FINALLY has some promise), I have
never had any confidence to get a Chrysler. Engine and transmission
problems just don't hardly exist in the Kias, even in the rather
troublesome
2002 model.
Again, sorry for your experience. Somehow I'd like to think that, if only
you had a better dealer, you would have had a better experience. Take
care!
<sbb3@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:WBqrj.69149$vt2.60810@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> As the saying goes, you asked for it:
> We bought a 2006 LX Sedona in Miami Florida. The dealer****p was very
> inept. Could not do any information or business over the phone if they
> even bothered to return my calls. Pickings are slim for dealers here so
we
> bought any way after I had researched the hell out of it on the net. We
> bought the extended "bumper to bumper" which bumped it from standard 60k
> to 100k. In almost two years and 22k miles, the best mileage I get
driving
> the 5 miles to work with the A/C on is 15 mpg. On the road at 90 mph, we
> get 21. Burned out an A/C compressor at 15k. As far as drivability,
pretty
> good... the systems work well for safety but the computer takeover in
> "safety envelope" pu****ng takes some getting used to. Powerful thirsty
> engine hauls ass after it decides to let you, kinda like old fa****on
turbo
> lag. Very roomy, comfortable, lots of room for stuff and options for
> seating. We owned a 1995 Dodge Grand Caravan and sold it at 162k miles
> after 2 trannies and a nagging electrical bug in the rear panel windows
> and the info icon lights, but we stilled loved it. As a reference
between
> the two; Dodge had better mileage and more responsive, no computer
> takeover, less noises and overall nit picky problems (Sedona has makeup
> mirrors with no lights, doors relock after 30 seconds of no door open,
but
> require manual locking after that.. ie: you can open the door and fall
out
> (Dodge locked automatically at 15 mph.) It's little stuff, but you get
> spoiled to it. If I had it do all over again, I'd have put another grand
> in my Dodge, had I known the butts would bring out Lifetime drivetrain
> coverage. Hindsight right?!?
>
>
> "bruce" <baxterb@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
> news:1168914773.569189.62730@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> I'm not looking to buy another vehicle for another couple of years, but
>> I'm wondering how people are finding the 2006 Kia Sedona vans. We just
>> had one for a week as a rental and it seems like a really nice
>> vechicle, especially for the money. We had an LX, which is not the top
>> of the line model and were impressed with the roominess i the interior,
>> and particularly the trunk space. Having had a couple of Chrysler SWB
>> minivans, the trunk space is a major plus in the Sedona, but I have
>> quesitons about the reliability of the vehicles.I'm thinking along
>> these lines:
>>
>> - who makes the motor? Has it been used in other vechicles? How has
>> it held up? Any problems typical to this motor (e.g. Mitsu 3.0 valve
>> seals, Ford 3.8 head gaskets, etc.) Does it really get 25 MPG?
>> - Who makes the transmission? The thought of a 5 speed automatic is
>> kind of appealing as it seems to be able to match engine speed to give
>> rather snappy performance. However, the 'auto-stick' ****fter is a
>> waste of time because it doesn't ****ft briskly enough (IMHO). After my
>> experiences with Chrysler transmissions, both 3 and 4 speed, I'm
>> gun-shy here! Who makes the transission? Is it prone to failure?
>> - How are the dealers?
>> - Given Ford's major investment in Kia industries, I wonder if any of
>> the toolings or systems are based on Ford designs.
>> - Anyone got one with high miles on it already? With any car, I'd be
>> more interested in a test drive in a 5 year old vehicle with 100K to
>> see how it behaves. I live 30 miles from my job, and from most of the
>> shopping that we do, so we tend to keep cars until they have at least
>> 150 to 200K miles on them. 100K miles is a relatively new vehicle in
>> my mind...
>>
>
>
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