2006 Kia Sedona: My Take

My family has a 2004 Kia Sedona, and we’ve been really happy with it, so I was excited earlier this week to catch a ride in the 2006 Sedona. It was impressive.

The center console was much better designed, with the controls more intuitive. I liked the more upscale look of them as well, with a nice faux-wood look that didn’t look like it would fade horribly within a couple of years. My kids would have killed to get the second row windows that roll down that the ’06 sports; too often, they are desperately asking us to roll our windows down to get some airflow through the back. It does make me wonder about how safe those windows are with *very* young kids — I’m told that it comes with a parent lock — but with older kids it shouldn’t be an issue.

The power rear doors were nice, but I was actually happier when I got the 2004 without them, figuring that mechanical doors (powered by me) would be cheaper to fix than automatic doors. The power front seat controls were a big improvement as well. Positioned on the forward portion of the front doors, no longer do you have to wonder if you’re touching the fore-aft switch, or the incline switch. Additionally, they also fixed the fuse-box cover problem. In my Sedona, it rests off to the left of the parking brake. This leads to the door constantly being opened by drivers depressing the parking brake, and then being annoyed by the plastic door under your feet while you’re trying to accelerate or brake.

The seats remain as comfortable as they were in the ’04. The pickup I thought was adequate, but more seasoned reviewers thought it was a little gutless. Of course, we had six adults in the van at the time. I like the styling overall, and I think it looks comparable to other minivans that can cost as much as $10,000 more. I hope to hang onto my Sedona for as long as my last minivan (9 years, 140,000 miles), but I might buy the 2006 if I were in the market, given its features, comfort level, ride and — of course — price.