Kia has built a great looking minivan in
the ★★ 2015 Kia Sedona SX Limited,
but when it comes minivans, beauty is more than skin deep. Performance counts,
not looks.
That's
right: Minivans are performance vehicles. "Car guys" may obsess over
0-60 mph times and torque curves, but you haven't seen a painstaking product
evaluation until you've seen a mother dissect a new minivan's features and
operation.
No
vehicle owner has higher performance expectations than a minivan mom.
Automakers
underestimate that at their peril.
A
pretty design is nice, but seats that slide, flip and fold to accommodate kids
and gear are the key to a happily-ever-after-ending for minivan and mom.
The new
2015 Sedona adopts Kia's dashing design theme and
signature "tiger nose" grille for a very handsome exterior. Prices
start at $26,100 for a base model. All Sedonas come with front-wheel drive, a
276-hp 3.3L V6 and six-speed automatic transmission. There's a ladder of models
priced all the way up to the SX Limited, which loads on features and starts at
$39,700.
I
tested a Sedona SX Limited
with adaptive cruise control; Infinity audio; two big power sunroofs; leather
upholstery; blind spot, cross traffic, front collision and lane departure
alerts; front and rear parking assist and more. It stickered at $42,400.
Shockingly
for such a costly minivan, my Sedona
did not have a rear-seat entertainment system for videos and computer games.
Such a system is only available as a dealer-installed option. That suggests its
sophistication and performance and won't equal other minivans'
factory-installed video, DVD and game-playing systems.
That's
a significant oversight in a minivan, and it's not the Sedona's only
significant shortfall.
Sedona
prices are comparable to top models of the Chrysler Town & Country, Dodge
Grand Caravan, Honda Odyssey, Nissan Quest and Toyota Sienna, but some of the Kia's features suggest nobody in Kia product development really
understands how American families use minivans.
In
addition to the lack of rear-seat entertainment, the seats are extremely
difficult to adjust and reconfigure. Many parents, and nearly all small
children will be unable to fold the third-row seats into the floor for extra
storage. Moving the second row seats fore and aft is also hard. That's in part
because the seats' poorly fitted footrests scrape the floor when you try to
adjust the seats.
Bottom
line, common tasks that should be easy to accomplish one-handed, carrying an
infant or shopping bag in the other are much harder to do in the Sedona than in any
other minivan.
The fit
and finish of the second row seats' arm rests were poor. One felt like it might
fall off at any minute, and none were level when extended.
The Sedona SX Limited offers some
features not common on minivans. Its radar-based adaptive cruise control is
smooth and seamless, as good as any I've tested. The front collision and lane
departure alerts are effective and unobtrusive.
The
Sedona SX Limited also has two big power sunroofs, both of which can be opened
to let sunlight and fresh air pour in. They're very appealing, but I suspect
most parents would trade them for a video player of Xbox 50 miles into a trip
with a vanload of tweens.
The
Sedona SX Limited has so many features, in fact, that its fuel economy is worse
than the rest of the Sedona family, and worse than all the minivans it competes
with.
The EPA
rated the SX Limited at 17 mpg in the city, 22 on the highway and 19 combined.
Kia would be well advised to
form a focus group of minivan driving mothers and listen to them before it
tries to build its next minivan.
Behind the Wheel
Kia Sedona SX
Limited
Front-wheel-drive
seven-passenger minivan
Price as tested: $44,400 (excluding
destination charge)
Rating: ★★ (Out of four stars)
Reasons to buy: Looks, interior
room, features
Shortcomings: Fuel economy;
difficult to move and fold seats; no factory installed video player
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