2008 Kia Sedona
by Jim Prueter -08/2008

As minivans go, Sedona one of the best

Last year, for the first time in a couple of decades, total minivan sales dropped below one million units. Sales were starting a certain decline long before $4 gasoline heralded the doom of gas-guzzling SUVs.

For some reason, women who don’t mind being classified as “soccer moms” all seem to loathe the term “minivan mom” and wouldn’t be caught dead behind the wheel of one.

The folks at Chrysler, of course, started the minivan craze back in 1983 when they introduced the world to the Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager. In 1990, Chrysler introduced the Town & Country, and the Voyager was eventually phased out in 2000.

Today, the small market for minivans is dominated by a few brands, namely the Dodge and Chrysler offerings, plus the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna. Nissan, Mazda, Ford, GM, Hyundai and Kia still offer minivans for now as well, but Chrysler, Ford and GM have essentially pulled the plug and see no future for the product.

For some reason, I’ve always had a soft spot for minivans and actually owned a Chevy Astro Van when we were raising a family. What I liked about the minivan is that it could do just about everything asked of it. Primarily, with three rows, it gave everyone their own seat by a window so the kids weren’t beating on each other for premier riding positions.

They’re great for traveling; whether across town or across the country, there was room for just about everything. Looking back, however, early minivans had horrible crash test results and reliability wasn’t their strongest attribute, regardless of brand.

All that, of course, has been remedied in our tester for this week: the 2008 Kia Sedona. Both Sedona and the very similar Hyundai Entourage get the highest crash-test safety ratings from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (5 stars) and the “Best Safety Pick” accolade from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

As for reliability, Kia covers the Sedona with an industry best 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty, with everything else covered for 5 years/60,000 miles.

First introduced in 2002, Sedona was completely redesigned for 2006, added a short-wheelbase variant in 2007 and remains unchanged for 2008 other than very minor treatment to the lower grille and the addition of an auxiliary MP3 input jack for the stereo and removal of the cassette player. The Kia name was also added to the steering wheel cover.

What stands out about the Sedona — aside from its safety and warranty — is its driving appeal, something we haven’t found in minivans we’ve tested in recent memory. All minivans seem to do a great job of supplying ample cup holders, flexible seating arrangements, cargo space and doors that slide open on both sides of the vehicle.

What impressed us the most is how well the Sedona handles both on the highway and around town, and the solid feel to its ride. To be sure, there’s lean in the corners, enough to know that you’re not behind the wheel of a sports sedan, but it doesn’t feel top-heavy or tippy like others we’ve tested.

The Sedona felt well-built, tight and rattle-free. The Sedona uses MacPherson struts up front and a multi-link system in the rear that kept pace with our spirited driving over twisty two-lane roads. Dips and hills were handled with aplomb, hard and corner braking felt as good as the suspension. Engine noise was only noticeable under full acceleration. The cabin is exceptionally quiet at highway speeds.

For 2008, the Kia Sedona is offered in two wheelbase lengths, a short wheelbase that suffers for cargo space, and two longer wheelbase models: the LX and well-equipped EX. All Sedonas come with seating for seven and are powered by a 3.8-liter V-6 that delivers 250 horsepower. All are mated to a five-speed automatic transmission that includes a manual-shift mode, something few minivans offer.

Standard safety gear includes all the expected airbags and belts, plus side-impact bags for front occupants, head-curtain bags for all three rows, anti-lock brakes with brake-assist and electronic brake-force distribution, anti-skid and traction control and front active headrests.

Some things we really liked about the Sedona include windows that raise and lower in the sliding doors (Toyota has these on Sienna), available power adjustable pedals, third-row seats that fold flat into the floor, classy and stylish looks both inside and out with build quality that seems excellent. We liked the key fob with buttons to open both sliding rear doors, the fold-down tray between the front seats (ditto Honda Odyssey) and standard tri-zone air conditioning.

A few things we didn’t like are the ugly sliding door tracks visible on both sides of the vehicle. Honda and Toyota do it better. Rear visibility is poor with the DVD screen in place; the center stack juts out too far, limiting legroom for the driver; no three-across second-row seating, only bucket seats; and fuel economy that struggles to reach 20 miles per gallon.

If you like minivans and have only considered Toyota or Honda, we think you should add Sedona to your test-drive list. As minivans go, it looks good both inside and out, seems to have borrowed (or stolen) the best ideas from competing manufacturers and drives exceptionally well.

But know that minivan popularity is falling almost as quickly as its resale value. In that case you might be wiser to seek out a low mileage pre-owned model and save a ton of money.