Thinking of getting one.

Up to £3.5k should get an 04-06 plate CRDi in SE or SE+ trim with 50-90k on the clock.

Manual or Auto? Seem to be a lot more autos about. Are they any good? Is the fuel consumption much worse?

Test drove a manual and the gearchange was incredibly sloppy.

Any other thoughts from folk who’ve had them?

Got my 04 SE for £2k with 60k on the clock. Cambelt change at 60k, £500 at a garage as officially the engine needs to come out. Did mine following a guide I found online which doesnt need the engine out just suspended on an A frame, remove a driveshaft and wedge it over with a block of wood and theres just enough room to get in. It’s unlikely you could convince a garage to do it that way.

Bitepoint is really low. Heard of problems with cheap replacement clutches being a little thick and so not fully disengaging. Check for oil leaks off the gearbox as they can crack if it’s had a hard towing life.

Gearchange is sloppy on them all. Getting 35mpg local, low 40’s on a run over 70mph high 40’s under. Autos are 10% worse IIRC. I’m 6ft4 and can sit comfortably in all the seats. Seats are a bit heavy to take out so we leave the back row out only putting it in when we know were going to carry 5 or 6 peeps. Take out one of the middle seats to fit 3 bikes with wheels on. Add a 4 bike towbar rack for 4 people and bikes in comfort. Could even 5at a squeeze for an Alps trip/biking weekend. Add a bike trailer and roofbox and 6 is on the cards.

OEM roofbars arnt strong enough for a box so you need to buy proper bars. Can sleep in the back with a couple of bikes with all seats out. Got an old memoryfoam mattress I’ve cut up to make two singles that fit. Add a driveaway tent for proper camping trips. Seperate rear heater/aircon controls are great. Everything is pretty basic compared to mainstream cars of the same period but it all works well enough. Love the space between the seats for putting bags etc. Means everythings handy on a run and rear passengers can really stretch out if the need to.

The leather is the SE is worth having however a set just went through eBay unsold at £200 so not a dealbreaker.

Thinking of fitting an Eberspacher under the drivers seat.

Check the sliding doors on both side run free.

Got a Kia Sedona SE+ about 18mths ago on a 56 plate with 56k on the clock. Absolutely love it. We had a few issues with leaking rear heater pipes which, if left unchecked, will dump all the water out of the radiator and could seriously damage the engine. It is a very common problem but easily sorted. Changing gear is like stirring porridge but it’s fine as we need how to drive it.

It’s a diesel, reasonably economic and great for the family. We have four kids, all teenagers who need plenty of room and it was the only vehicle we found that could give us the head and leg-room that we need.

Reliable and built like a tank, we love it!

absolutely the biggest piece of shite i have ever, or make that.. its ever been my misfortune.. to own. an 03 plate – sold 4 years ago.

bought from a main dealer, aircon went wrong within 24hours, in and out of their dealership for the next 18 months, constant issues with aircon, brakes, wheel beaings. rust broke out all over the place, and i mean all over. kia said ‘its not our problem’.

hand brake also was ridiculous, despite the dealership (this is hawkins in cornwall btw, i would’nt buy another car from them if they were the only car dealer on the planet) claiming in was normal for a sedona, you had to pull it so hard to get even some brake effect – and we’re talking even then car rolling on a slight slope – i got a strain in my left elbow for as long as i had the car.

cost me hundereds at every MOT, my local garage said its one of the worst corroded cars underneath he’d seen for a car of that age, sold it when he gave me the heads up that the next MOT would cost at least 350quid.

beyond that… the interior finish was very cheap, it drove like a soggy sofa, mpg was shite (2.9diesel) and the lack of turning circle was beyond a joke.

still want a kia? personally i’d rather slide about on my bare bum to get about than own another.

I drove one once and I was shocking. The gears were like stirring coal and the (lack of) power was woeful.

Thanks for the input folks. 🙂

Some positive and negative thoughts there. 😕

Trouble is, few other vehicles can carry what the Sedona can and none are as good value. I wouldn’t touch a Grand Espace DCi with a barge pole and the Grand Voyager seems too pricey to run/fix.

I’ll let you know how I get on.

Nam – that is the dilemma we faced, with 4 kids between us, nothing carries the load that we need for our budget.

I have a ’05 Sedona, 2.9 diesel manual.
I have had it 3 years and the only fault it had was the rear heater pipes that leaked and needed replacing, this is a common problem as they run under the car and are prone to corrosion.

I have driven all over the UK and some of Europe and it has never broken down despite me not looking after it very well and not servicing it on time.

The older models like mine are on a 2,2 3 seat configuration and they are all full sized which is fab for the passengers. The downside is the boot is not very wide, it is tall but slim.
I got a towbar fitted to carry by bikes and also to tow my trailer for camping.

I don’t notice the way it changes gear or anything that other people comment on as I am so used to driving it now 🙂

P.s The boot does fit a pushchair in it if you have young kids.

thought of another negative… they drop value like crazy. i mean silly silly depreciation.

clarkson described them as the most pointless car ever. i can see why.

buy a vw t5 van, line it, floor it, pop in some windows and seats and you’ll actually add value. convert to camper and you’ll make even more.

Restless – same config as ours, one thing in the cab though is loads of room between the seats for jackets boots, bags etc which helps with the limited boot. This is something I think it offers over nearly all the other people movers as they all are limited on boot space.

thought of another negative… they drop value like crazy. i mean silly silly depreciation.

That’s a positive. Means they are dirt cheap SH

Trouble is, few other vehicles can carry what the Sedona can and none are as good value.

Exactly the way I see it. I drive busses for a living so handling and performance can be dire and still be a step up from the day job.

work colleague has one. Had an injector failure. Ended up being cheaper to get a second hand engine fitted ( basically is worthless as a vehicle, but he cant think of anything to swap it) Air con plays up, headlights gone yellow, but other than that, he likes it.

All good stuff.

Doug – useful writeup. I’ll certainly buy one with a recent cambelt. I know it won’t handle.

Bear – pretty much what I’m thinking. I’m gonna need to frequently carry 6 people plus strip out the seats to pickup/deliver bikes plus take dogs etc etc.

Gav = take your point and I’ve read plenty about Sedonas going wrong but then I’ve read plenty about other MPVs going wrong too. I like the T5 idea but I’m already trying to put a new engine into my T25 Westfalia so I need something easy.

Restless/Everyone else – thanks. All useful info.

Can’t see better value really for what you get. Maybe auto is the way to go?

Steer clear of the autos. My uncle had one as a taxi and there were numerous issues with it. As others have said though, mahoosive inside.

We like ours

Namstasebuzz, do you definitely need a 6 seater? The reason I ask is I’m selling my beloved Daewoo Tacuma. Company car forces sale! It’s not quite as big as the Sedona, but it ticks most of your boxes

53 Plate
61,000 miles
1.6 petrol
2 owners since new
PDSH and serviced by me since I bought it 4 years ago
5 seats but the back seats are removable which effectively turns it into a van with windows
MOT until October 2013, taxed until June 2013
Gets 37mpg on regular runs to Glentress with bikes on the roof and a boot full of gear.
Cambelt changed a couple of months ago
Most reliable car I’ve ever owned
It has roof rails and I’ll chuck in some aero roof bars that are only a couple of months old
Bodywork is in good condition. Zero rust, no dents. Paint’s flaked a bit on the door handles.

Looking for £1,000 or the nearest offer and I’m down in Glasgow.

My sister hated hers and was actually quite pleased when some noumpty drove into it in the snow & wrote it off.

Now has an S-Max which she got for a smidge over £4k & thinks it’s a dream in comparison.

Thanks Bob

Sounds like a great deal but I need 6/7 seats at times.

🙂

Looked at them when we were shopping for a large MPV a few years ago. Running costs put me off. Ended up buying a Galaxy. The Seat Alhambra & VW Sharran all rolled off the same production line, just different trim & lights etc. By comparison, they drive & handle better. The 2.9 lump in the Sedona can be shockingly heavy on fuel.
Running costs on the Gal-Sh-Ambra should be lower. They have their faults but parts are cheap, & pretty much any garage can fix a Galaxy, whatever goes wrong. The VW & Seat versions carried on after the Ford, in fact I think the last Seat was on a 59 plate, so should be a healthy supply still out there.
Ours has been loaded to the gills & dragged a 1500kg caravan all over France. I honestly cant fault it. Should be something in your budget out there, just avoid the Auto boxes, thats about the biggest bill they can land you with if it goes wrong.

Ours, with 4 seats still in place. We’ve had six seats in, with 3 fully built bikes inside (ok, two were 24″ wheeled), & another 3 with wheels off & frames on a boot rack.

IMAG0568 by pten2106, on Flickr

We have one of the newer ones, it’s a very good car. Nice inside handles well and pretty nippy. It’s the diesel one. It’s not that economical however, I get about 28mpg about town and 38 on a run as long as I keep it under 70. It’s easy to go much quicker on the m-way.

Space is good, the seats are heavy to take in and out, our next one will go for seats that fold down when not in use.

I think the older one is slightly longer.

It is a heavy car, so will use brakes and tyres and fuel!

Namastebuzz my brother-in-law has an 06 SE for sale
LMK if you’re interested

Thanks Takisawa2

I looked at all the the MPVs and came to the same conclusion. I love that 130bhp TDi with the 6 speed box too.

Trouble is, I’ll need to use all 6/7 seats and carry dogs/kit at the same time and with the rear seats in place you can’t do that in a Sharan. I know the Kia will cost more to run, handle like a blancmange and change gear like stirring porridge but I can’t see any alternatives.

😕

Cheers for all the input people.

Picked up a nice 55 plate CRDi SE+ with leather, climate, Rear DVD and all the toys for £2.4k. It’s done 70k with FSH and recent cambelt/pump.

Went for an Auto as I didn’t fancy stirring porridge continuously.

I try not to even look at them – not a chance I’d own one. Ugly, bland – and more importantly – made before Korea started churning out half decent motors.

Eurghh.

Why not a Grand Espace BTW?

With that budget you’d be better off with a slightly smaller but far easier to live with VW Touran or even go for a Renault Grand Espace which will fall to bits if the kids are rough but they can be great cars if they have an easy life

Why not a Grand Espace BTW?

That’s the funniest thing ever, you obviously don’t seriously want people to answer this.

Never driven one – and as a rule, I steer away from French junk (maybe I’ve just answered your question), but I’d consider a not quite so bland and fugly French piece of junk over a disastrously bland and fugly Korean piece of junk – and this based purely on outward appearance. They will probably both fall to pieces at an equal rate.

Other than that, I can’t really offer much else, as I hate MPV’s with a similar passion to most of the forum hate pick-ups.

I agree the older Sedona is no looker, but they are pretty solid.

One thing for sure parts are not cheap.

I would not touch the espace even with yours. Anything from France bigger than a Megan sized car is to be avoided.

The newer Sedona is significantly better in every way, except perhaps size, as its slightly shorter.

Yeah the Sedona has the space that only the Grand Espace and Grand Voyager do but at significantly less cost.

There’s a good body of knowledge on the Kia forums and, if well maintained, they seem to do big mileages.

I initially wanted a Grand Espace (they’re pretty cool – for an MPV) but once I looked into them the alarm bells started. The 2.2DCi engine has all manner of problems (esp with injectors) which render it a suicidal used buy. I thought of the 3.0DCi instead but fuel pump failure is common and £4k to put right 😮

I ended up looking for Grand Espaces which had had new engines fitted (of which there were many) but gave up in the end.

I liked the Grand Voyager but too expensive to buy and run plus a lot of parts only from dealers which doesn’t help.

I would have had a Sharan/Alhambra but you can’t get anything in the rear with all the seats in use, so too small. Plus they’re good and popular so you don’t get so much for your cash on the used market.

Looked at C8/807/Ulysee but horrendous engine issues there too. (Look out for how many used ones have big mileages – very few, or how many have new engines or being sold for spares – lots).

So:

Standard MPV – Sharan/Alhambra/Galaxy

Huge MPV – Sedona

TBH I think it’s a good deal. Plan is to run it 4-5 years and put a bunch of miles on it so not too worried about re-sale and it’s only two and a half grand I’ve shelled out anyway. 🙂

Just for public info, don’t touch the C8/807 with a barge pole, especially the diesel versions. They have no redeeming qualities.

Cheers for all the input people.

Picked up a nice 55 plate CRDi SE+ with leather, climate, Rear DVD and all the toys for £2.4k. It’s done 70k with FSH and recent cambelt/pump.

Went for an Auto as I didn’t fancy stirring porridge continuously.

Thats a good price I think 🙂

I have an 03 Sedona and its a great old barge.

The only bits that can go wrong are European, it has a Delphi fuel system, as do a lot of other cars!

I had a cambelt snap on me 5000 miles after being changed, so I’d recommend getting it done at a dealers only aboht 450 including a service.

Ive replaced the metal heater pipes with full hoses all the way back, so no more problems with them.

Ive replaced the metal heater pipes with full hoses all the way back, so no more problems with them.

Yeah I’ve read up on that. Gonna replace them all with rubber hose at the first sign of trouble.

Cambelt snapped after 5k? Bit odd. Much damage?

I used an independent garage to do my cambelt, and they fecked it up, trouble was it snapped on my wifes birthday in the middle of August in France! We didnt get it back till October.

It blew 2 injectors at the same time! It cost me a fortune to get it repaired and was almost a write off!

When it comes up for the next one it’ll get done by the kia garage!

! I keep looking around for something different, and i get to drive a lot of different cars with my job and yes its big and wallows round corners, but I cant find anything better! (although I run van tyres all round and they drive far far better with them!)

I also get 30,000 miles off the tyres instead of 15000. The car has the best grip of any front wheel drive car I’ve ever owned it tows 2 tons with ease (just have to be gentle with the clutch though). Ive towed 2 tons round regularly it comes up on the weighbridge when towing fully loaded at nearly 5 tons! its still on its original clutch on 100,000 miles though.

Thanks for the info.

All good stuff to know.

🙂