2015 Kia Sedona announced.

2015 Kia Sedona

So check out the front seats...much more like the Rondo than a usual minivan. I might be able to live without the 2015 rondo with one of these! I feel a post-whore bomb coming on...

Oh E36 M3

pinchvalve wrote: I feel a post-whore bomb coming on...

Please don't.

Big deal. GM put a truck nose on a Minivan years ago. Like the Aztec they were far ahead of the trend.

I admit, I want it. It isn't just the truck nose but the SUV-type front seating arrangement.

Pretty good looking.....for a minivan.

I don't know why, but the front end makes me think of this:

The center console is sucking up the large amount of space between the seats and on the floor that is handy on long trips with a ton of family and stuff. Bad idea. Don't cave to the SUV crowd.

Ooooh...me likey. I've had an '06 Sedona since it had 6 miles on the odometer. 7.5 years and 101k miles later it's been a champ. We've put it through 3 kids, lots of towing of landscape trailers and some race cars and all kinds of other crap and it keeps on ticking. I've owned this van longer than any car I've ever had...and I've had at least 60...and put more miles on it. That's how happy I've been with it.

If the new one is as much of a bargain as mine was, we'll definitely be looking.

First impression: Im impressed.

I do agree with the center console being a nasty space-hog. You'd be amazed how useful that space is on a minivan.

Those are some rather sporty looking seats for a van. Call me interested.

Biz ump..

Going to look at one of these tomorrow. Will let you know how it goes. Also driving they Chrsyler, Honda, and Sienna all in the same day. We currently own a Sienna that has 190K miles, been through 8 kids(BIL's 5 and my 3) and has the exterior roached from street parking in Seattle.

Comparo test results coming...

(this is van we are looking at).. https://www.luthernissan.com/certified/Kia/2015-Kia-Sedona-e69983d20a0e0ae7308e83ec3228ec4e.htm

We've owned a '16 Sedona for six months now but I have not driven the current-generation Japanese vans. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: Biz ump.. Going to look at one of these tomorrow. Will let you know how it goes. Also driving they Chrsyler, Honda, and Sienna all in the same day. We currently own a Sienna that has 190K miles, been through 8 kids(BIL's 5 and my 3) and has the exterior roached from street parking in Seattle. Comparo test results coming... (this is van we are looking at).. https://www.luthernissan.com/certified/Kia/2015-Kia-Sedona-e69983d20a0e0ae7308e83ec3228ec4e.htm

That leather color combo is pretty sharp. The Sedona has come a long way..

All I know about the Sedona is that I drove a 2004 once and simply could not take off without lighting up the front tires. I suspect some really crap tires were involved but I didn't check.

Chadeux wrote: All I know about the Sedona is that I drove a 2004 once and simply could not take off without lighting up the front tires. I suspect some really crap tires were involved but I didn't check.

Trying to figure out if that is a good or a bad thing.

I've had current generation Siennas, Caravans, and Sedonas as rentals recently and the Kia was my favorite of those by a wide margin. To be fair, it was just me and the highway and I never really tried to pile the kids in and give it a real good as a family truckster, but just in terms of how they are to drive I already told the wife that when the kids are too big for our three-pedal microminivan, the Kia is at the top of the short list.

In reply to Brian:

I mean I didn't think accidental front tire fire was generally on the list of considerations for a typical mini van consumer. This thing was good at it though.

bluej wrote: I don't know why, but the front end makes me think of this:

My avatar doesn't know whether to be offended or not!

So we drove a 2016 T&C, a 2010 T&C( to see how they age), a 2011 and a 2014 Honda Odyessy, a 2016 Kia... We didn't drive a new Toyota as we have one and the wife would rather not buy one. We tried to drive vehicles with low mileage and ones with high mileage back to back to see how they degraded over time. This is an unorganized

A note on Toyota, Totally competent, boring, reliable, costly. Nearly impossible to find used.

Chrysler: The pacifica 9 speed transmission issues from the botched cherokee integration scares me a bit, so we won't be looking at it new(plus I hate buying new). The stow and Go is awesome, the pentastar is a brawler, everything is competent but nothing is really great. The seats, in the back, are flat and thin(they need to be to enable stow n go). Driving dynamics are OK, the engine is nice, the brakes are good enough. Our test loop included some rough pavement and train tracks and the Chrysler did poorly here. The Chrysler mostly resembled a tin box out of all the vans in the test. The 2010 Chrysler showed very little difference in ride, handling, NVH from the 2016 save the 3.8 being a horrible gutless turd. Some IIHS videos put us off this van. Sorry, but if I'm buying a van for the family, I need it be the safest possible, period. But, these guys know the target audience. Power ports and storage cubies are everywhere, the entertainment system is pretty good and well organized for kid quieting.

Honda: We drove a 2011 and a 2014. The '11 have 120K and the '14 had 32k. The van is competent, quieter than the Chrysler with better dynamics. That said there is nothing really compelling to buy the van beyond its nice sytling and my past exeprerience with Honda's. I have friends a Honda R&D who helped on the J series. I owned hondas, my dad has owned many hondas. My father had an experience where his transmission died out of warranty, way out of warranty, and Honda comp'd him a transmission. They're a good company. The Transmission issues of the 5 speed seem to be behind them and I know they will stand behind their product based upon personal experience. GRM has a ridgeline with 200K with towing experience with the same engine trans combo as this van. Now.. The Honda we can afford comes without Nav and DVD. DVD with the kids is a must and we'd have to install and I'd want an aftermarket head unit with Carplay. Another plus for honda is the 8 seat config for when family comes to visit, not available with stow N go. A drawback is the seats have to be removed to provide a flat floor for hauling 4x8's.

Kia: So.. This van suprised my wife a lot. She loved the center console, the driving position, the good power and overall looks. It feels like driving an SUV and not a van. Let's have a sentence or two here to describe the leather seats in the front and 2nd row. The quality of the leather is superb. The seats so comfortable. They are heated and cooled(front) and just look fantastic. The drawbacks of this van are minor, one the 2nd row seats do not come out. They kinda fold and tuck in near the front seats and you have to put a 4x8 sheet in at an angle. The third row bench is tight with very little headroom compared to the other vans and the room behind the rear seat(when up) is small. We'd have a struggle with costco runs in this guy. Also based upon Fuelly the MPG of this van is near the bottom of the class. only a few MPG off, but the GDI engine is thirsty to make all the power it does.

Overall, The wife and I will check out the KIA again as it's a tough call between the Kia and the Honda. The Kia has a great warranty and more gee-gaws than the Honda. The Honda will need a DVD player installed before it can be used as a road trip hauler. Here's the hang up.. The wife and I buy and hold cars for a while. Kia is an unkown brand to us and their strides in quality are well documented(as well as Honda's recent missteps), but if you're plunking down 30 large for something that will hold your kids, do you go with the unknown or the known.. But She sure loves that Kia, but Why don't the 2nd row seats come out easily.. That'll probably kill it for us.. Seriously.. It's not like pull a few levers, it's like get out a wrench.

And we bought another Toyota.

The Toyota guys wanted my money more than the Honda, though the van is better. So we got a van with more stuff and a DVD player thrown in and the extended warranty for 3.5k less than Honda. Done and done. Off lease minivans aren't a bad deal