Mini Price but Max Value
The minivan is the Muzak of the car world--unexciting, even bland, but seemingly everywhere.
That’s because, like elevator music, minivans get the job done without offending many people.
They carry kids, car-pool the co-workers, cart copious amounts of cargo home from the local GargantuaMart and, outfitted properly, can make family vacation road trips a joy instead of a nightmare.
Most of them even handle fairly well and have the horsepower to get out of their own way if only the person behind the wheel knew how to apply it.
The only problem--other than image--is that as auto makers chase upscale buyers, many minis have become so pricey that ordinary folks need two jobs and a second mortgage to get close to one.
Well, there’s a new tune in town.
The Kia Sedona.
It is the eighth model Kia Motors Corp. has introduced since it entered the U.S. market in 1994, and it gives the South Korean auto maker a competitor in every major segment but pickup trucks and luxury sedans.
Company executives say they expect to sell about 24,000 a year, but that the factory can make more if demand is there.
The Sedona, the first minivan from South Korea to hit these shores, does just about all you could want a minivan to do, looks good and costs thousands less than the competition. And like other Kias, it comes with a five-year, 60,000-mile basic warranty and a 10-year, 100,000-mile limited warranty on the powertrain.
The warranty programs--first introduced by Hyundai Motor Co., Kia’s corporate parent--have helped the two brands overcome American buyers’ worries about quality and reliability. Coupled with generally positive product reviews in recent years, the warranties have helped Hyundai and Kia boost sales in a year in which overall new-vehicle sales are down. Kia sales are up 39% through July, compared with the same period last year.
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Kia first showed its minivan as a concept at the Chicago Auto Show in 1998, but wisely held back exporting it here until it turned the Asian-market model into one suitable for North American tastes and demands.
That first model, product planning director Randy Maurstad admits, “was missing everything that was needed to make it competitive” in a market then ruled by Chrysler and Dodge minis and defined today by the Honda Odyssey.
The 2002 Sedona production model comes standard with a 195-horsepower V-6 engine and, until others start hitting the dealerships with them next year, the segment’s only five-speed automatic transmission.
Kia plans to market its mini on price and value--so it comes stuffed with stuff that is optional on a lot of other vans. Pricing starts at $18,995 for the LX model, about $400 less than a stripped four-cylinder Dodge Caravan with a three-speed automatic. Base price for the upscale EX model is $20,995; it tops out at $24,100 with every option available. Those prices don’t include Kia’s $595 delivery charge.
In either trim level, the Sedona and its three rows of seats accommodate seven in a fairly flexible interior; offers dual sliding doors and separate air-conditioning controls for front- and middle-row seating areas; packs a decent stereo into the dash; has more cup holders than seats; and comes with power front windows, power side mirrors, cruise control, floor mats and reading lights for all three rows of seats.
The list of standard equipment includes a tilting steering column and four power points so you can plug in your cell phone, radar detector, bottle warmer and portable CD player or video game all at once. One of the points can even be used as a cigarette lighter.
There are two--count ‘em, two--glove boxes in the dash and a lockable tray that slides in and out from under the front passenger’s seat and contains a small first-aid kit--at least until the kids get to it and use it to bandage the cat and the scratches they get from bandaging the cat.
The second- and third-row seats slide, recline, fold, flip or remove to make lots of room for big packages. They weigh in at 62 pounds each, but that’s not much more than a healthy 8-year-old--and they have wheels, so they are a lot easier than a recalcitrant kid to move once you get them out of the van.
In the base LX model, the second-row seat is a bench; the scaled-up EX model (hey, the grille is chrome) offers a pair of captain’s chairs. The third-row seats are bench in both models, and the seating configuration is two up front, two in the middle and three in the rear.
Most of that stuff can be had in the competition--but usually in the luxury trim packages unless ordered as expensive options. Kia puts it on the base model too.
One negative: Kia doesn’t offer side air bags even as an option, which could be off-putting to safety-conscious shoppers.
The EX offers extras such as that chrome grille, key-less entry, alloy wheels, power rear quarter windows, a CD player to go with the standard AM-FM/cassette stereo system, a folding table between the front seats, a trip computer and a leather-wrapped steering wheel.
That makes the options list pretty tiny: A power moon roof, leather seat covers, Homelink programmable garage door opener, anti-lock brakes, two-tone body cladding and rear spoiler and roof rack (which is standard on the EX) just about fills it up.
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Behind the wheel, the seating position gives a great view of the road. The seat provided plenty of support during a four-hour test drive through the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains. Driver’s seats in both models adjust eight ways and come with firm lumbar support (the EX seat is power, the LX manual).
Despite its relatively big engine, the Sedona won’t win any races, but it is plenty powerful for most occasions and readily climbed steep hills during the test drive. It maneuvered easily in parking lots and other tight, low-speed situations. And though it carries 58% of its weight in the front half, the Sedona moved through the twisting foothill roads with dispatch, if not the ease of a certified slalom runner.
The Kia’s 114.6-inch wheelbase makes it slightly longer than the Dodge Caravan but shorter than the Grand Caravan. With all the seats in and up, there are 21.8 cubic feet of space in the cargo compartment between the third row and the manual tailgate (a power rear gate would have blown Kia’s pricing strategy). With the rear seats removed, the cargo area expands to 70.6 cubic feet; with the middle-row seats out too, you can cram 127.5 cubic feet of stuff inside.
The Sedona weighs a hefty 4,709 pounds, and that makes itself felt in the fuel-consumption department--estimated at 15 miles per gallon in the city and 20 on the highway. But at least this mini drinks regular unleaded instead of the premium grades demanded by some other models with V-6 power.
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Final Words: Kia’s minivan doesn’t have the panache of a Honda Odyssey (the critics’ choice) or a Chrysler Town & Country (the top-of-the-line model from the company that has long dominated the segment).
But if you aspire to a minivan and are more concerned about utility than status--or just can’t stomach the monthly tariff for a well-equipped model from the competition--the Sedona just could be your number.
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Times staff writer John O’Dell covers autos for Highway 1 and the Business section. He can be reached at john.odell@latimes.com.
