Car reviews

Introduction

The Kia Sedona (also known as Kia Carnival) is a large MPV with a comfortable 7-seat cabin. It was developed for people who would have like to own a Ford Windstar, but couldn't afford it. Visually, it is almost an exact copy of the Ford Windstar featuring a down-styled front end designed by Kia. It was marketed as an executive MPV instead of being positioned as a family vehicle.

Exterior & Interior

The Ford Windstar appearance gives the car a stylish look. It is larger and sleeker than the majority of MPVs that are available in Europe. The design is solid and conservative which fails to excite, but the most exciting feature (according to the manufacturer) of the car is its cabin.

It does offer 7 full-size seats and the rear row, unlike in smaller European MPVs, is as comfortable as any other seat in the car. The middle row is normally facing in a forward direction. However, as it's an executive car and the executives might want to hold an urgent meeting, the seats can be rotated by 180 degrees to face the rear row of seats. So the Sedona can even be used as a mobile office. The rear seat can be moved forward and backward on a pair of rails, but that's about where the car's versatility ends. Many consider this to be a big minus as the rear seats cannot be removed. You can partly fold them together with the middle seat forming something like a large sofa. It's also good as makeshift bed and can be used to carry stuff. If you keep putting heavy items on the folded seats, the fabric is likely to wear quicker than usual. Kia's fabric does wear sooner than usual, the front seats can be in a bad state on a used Kia Sedona so this is something the watch out for.

The materials are not great. They're typical 90s Kia quality only at a bigger scale, so expect a bigger rattle. The plastic is hard and it does make noise when driving around.

Drive

The driver's seat is positioned very high and it is an unusual feeling. It does, however, offer a good space for adjustments so everyone should be able to find the best position that suits their style. When you start driving, you feel that the car is quite awkward. It behaves like a river barge, it is difficult to steer in the city traffic and almost impossible to park. On the highway it is better to drive, but still the Sedona doesn't feel like a modern car. The controls aren't nice as the steering is lifeless, the gearbox takes extra fiddling and begging to catch the right gear and when it comes to braking, you'll need to do it earlier than you'd do in most other vehicles.

Faults & Repairs

The Sedona is not a reliable vehicle by any stretch of imagination. During its production, it spent time at the very bottom of the customer satisfaction surveys. The car's mechanical bits are patchy and scrabbled together from various eras and manufacturers. The bodywork is susceptible to rust and the plasticky interior is likely to dismantle itself. Also the engines cannot be called reliable. There are serious issues even with newer vehicles. When buying a used Sedona, you have to pay attention to the transmission, especially the clutch. If you're going to keep a Sedona for a while, you'll probably have to change a couple of clutches. The parts are not expensive, but you're really going to need a good supply of them.