The Kia Sedona/Carnival Thread [ARCHIVE]

[diesoline]

i am about to say goodbye to 4x4s in a few weeks' time. my growing family needs a more spacious vehicle and i personally think that the kia sedona would just be perfect. this would have been an easy choice but i tend to get a lot of negative feedback (with and without basis) regarding the reliability of korean vans. personally, i think that reliability has a lot to do with the way the owner takes care of his vehicle.

carnival/sedona owners, can i hear from you? thanks.

[altec]

The local sedona has several changes over the local carnival. Emphasize the word local because there are a lot of imported gray units, mostly called park 1 or 2. The starex before got severely criticized mainly because of the problems with gray units. The local version, though, comes with a 3 year 110,000 km warranty. So for any "korean" reliability problems, it will be addressed by the warranty. The sedona is has improved dash, sliding doors, and has a rear bumper rubber stepboard. Engine, underchassis is the same. Better headlights and brakelights design in my opinion as well. The body roll is still noticeably excessive though it has an american car like ride, and the turning radius is lousy, very wide. Its ground clearance is car-based, while the AUV and the Starex have higher ground clearance.
Engine power is great with 125HP or so, compared with the Starex and the other AUV which is 100 or below HP. In the 2003 units (I don't know if until now), the units come with DVD system, not VCD!! Great for the family.
Problems encountered, loose seat bolts, rough left sliding door, leaking power steering which was identified to be due to a loose clamp, defective front ash tray cover, loose rear seats, all covered by the warranty. Problem encountered with my friend's local carnival was leaking aircon hose, and squeaky sliding doors, which was also under warranty. Goes 7 km/liter in city driving, and 10 km/liter in highway driving (fully loaded)

[sikuya]

kia sedona:
pros:good brakes,increasing realiabilty but not quite up to par with the japs,exceptional warranty,low price,plenty of storage, well equippe,good sound system

cons:bland dash and interior,penalties for handling,ride noise and comfort,tiny wheels and tires,edgy ride and body rolls,weighs too much with so-so powertrain(3.5L in US but way slower than the 3.5L Honda engine---2.9L in Phils.) thus poor mileage.

in the US, the toyota siena, honda oddyssey and nissan quest have pulled way ahead of the competition but the philippine market has very few van choices and lackluster road performers at that. kia sedona and chevy venture......i'll take the sedona by a hair. there's always something against chevy's.

[altec]

sikuya, the 2.9L here is the diesel engine. They recently launced the 2.5L V6 gas engine, though. Just a month ago, toyota (finally) launched the previa, which is the sienna in the U.S. Costs additional 400K pesos or so than the sedona but I don't think it has the same engine displacement as the sienna in the U.S., coz I think they use only a 2.4 liter gas engine 4 cylinder here

[sikuya]

altec, thanks for the infos.the previa has an edgy design it looks better than the sedona i think.isn't it the chrysler town and country is available there too?there are more van choices in the philippines then.
anyway, this is what i know. that the sienna is not the previa. the previa was a failure in the US thus toyota designed a new van only for america and in 1998 came the sienna.it was small compared to the american vans and honda odyssey though, so it didn't do quite as good as toyota wanted it to.the new sienna came out in march and is currently the toprated van in the US and outselling the honda odyssey for the 1st time.i think the sienna is only solf in the US and canada (unless i'm wrong, somebody tell me) and is now powered by a 3.3L v6 with 230horsepower.my best friend drives a new salsa red model and the van is sweet!
between the previa , venture and sedona? if money is not the issue, previa is the choice then.

[Hero]

the sienna is different from the previa...sikuya thats the sienna right? .. check out toyota.com.ph..for the previa..

[diesoline]

thanks for all the replies folks! i have also considered taking the previa before but the price is a bit more than what i expected. besides, i have been driving diesels for the past 15 years and i am not about to quit on them especially now that the new common rail diesel engines are just around the corner. actually i have my eye on the gray market kia carnival park with the crdi engine. it makes around 143bhp. the sedona/carnival grabbed my attention when one of them blasted past my friend's starex when it was going 130 kph on one of those long straights in the highways between pangasinan and tarlac. i will be doing a lot of trips up and down marcos highway so the excessive body roll that altec noted is a point for concern.

altec, have you driven your sedona to baguio yet? or have you other owner's notes regarding driving on winding roads?

again, thanks to all of you folks. you all have a good day ahead.

[mikey177]

hi diesoline. i have an 2003 Sedona RS and I've brought it up to Baguio twice. I also drive it practically every weekend from QC to Tarlac (I probably was not the guy who blasted past your friend's Starex, as I rarely go over 120 kph).

How do you define excessive body roll? I don't think I've experienced this driving up to Baguio, but then maybe I was going too slow.

I'll second altec's comment about the wide turning radius. minsan kinakapos nga ako pag masikip talaga ang corner, and I have to back up to complete the turn. I always though it was a given disadvantage with most long vehicles.

No major problems with the engine or electrical systems since I got the unit last year. A minor complaint I have is wind noise coming from the driver's side door when I go over 110 kph. I also don't care much for the OEM horn, so I swapped them for a set of Fiamms since I'm on the highway a lot.

Another minor irritant is the rubber of the OEM wiper blades... they seem to leave a thin film when you use them, so the windshield becomes less-than-clear the more you use the wipers. Easily fixed by changing the rubber with another brand.

I'm still on my original set of tires, but as other owners have suggested, I'll change them to a brand that will give me less second thoughts about pushing the speed limit on the NLEX.

I love al the little nooks and crannies for storing things, and my two kids do too. I find myself constantly discovering missing toys, pencils and what-nots whenever I clean the interior.

Another thing you might look into is the airconditioning system: the front vents seem to provide less cooling than the rear passenger vents. Thus, assuming that both front and rear blowers are set to the lowest speed, the rear passengers will already be feeling cold while the driver will feel less cool. I don't know if this is because of the proximity of the front aircon to the engine.

That's all I can think of for now. Feel free to ask about anything that I may have missed.

[altec]

excessive body roll means when curving, it tilts more than what we expect to be normal. You will notice that if you go through potholes or if you go through a hump na di diretso. It has a tendency to sway. What I did is just be conscious about it and not let it be too much sway. Malambot ang shocks and if you drive it through the hump at a fast clip, may tendency mag-bottom out ang front shocks, so drive slow.
Mikey, the front aircon is not really a problem of the aircon but that the vents blows it to the back and the inside cabin is without partition so it is expected the people at the rear will feel colder. 2nd, the front windshield malaki so more hot sun hitting the dashboard. Adjust mo na lang ang front vents to hit you directly.
Regarding the wind noise and the wiper, yes, same observation. Considering the price, ok na ok na ang sedona.
Sikuya, yes, there is the chrysler town and country. But when the carnival was introduced here at 900K or less, the chrysler was already going for 1.6M or more! Now, it should even be more!! Not much really chrylsers sold, sobrang mahal.

[pajerokid]

Sedona thread

questions on sedona

hope this helps

[altec]

diesoline, I also thought about the crdi. What I was afraid of is the notoriety of korean durability (or the lack of). So I decided to get the local unit and go after the warranty. With the warranty, you can insist to have your car fixed like new even up to 2years 11 months and 29 days. So far, the casa has been quite accomodating for the little irritating problems I have encountered with my unit.

[mikey177]

Originally posted by altec
excessive body roll means when curving, it tilts more than what we expect to be normal. You will notice that if you go through potholes or if you go through a hump na di diretso. It has a tendency to sway. What I did is just be conscious about it and not let it be too much sway. Malambot ang shocks and if you drive it through the hump at a fast clip, may tendency mag-bottom out ang front shocks, so drive slow.

oh, so that's body roll. i haven't observed this much with my unit, but maybe that's because i tend to go reeeeaaal slow on corners. hindi ko rin naman napapansin na nag-ti-tilt sya sa mga curve like the one before the NLEX Balintawak exit and along Elliptical Road.

But yes, I agree that the shocks are rather soft and that the front sometimes scrapes the road/hump when I travel too fast... still, it makes for a comfortable ride, especially on long drives through the country. My kids can usually sleep through the entire trip from NLEX to Tarlac

Oh, and the Sedona really responds well to biodiesel mixed with the low-sulfur diesel of SeaOil.

[altec]

mikey, what biodesiel are you using, what dose/ratio, and what did you notice before and after?

[IJD180]

Ive got a 2000 kia carnival A/t with 100,000kms on the clock. I owned it since brand new.

So far i have replaced/fixed the

rack ends 100,000 km
Shocks 95t km
brake pads every 20t km
brake overhaul 80t km
A/C evaporator replacement and A/C seals 70t km
Tires every 40t km
foglight bulbs
Engine belts 65tkm
Engine camcover seal 40tkms (warranty)
Busted alternator cable
Batteries every 18 months
broken rear door handle.

[RonRuth Ventura]

Ive got a 2000 kia carnival A/t with 100,000kms on the clock. I owned it since brand new.

So far i have replaced/fixed the

rack ends 100,000 km
Shocks 95t km
brake pads every 20t km
brake overhaul 80t km
A/C evaporator replacement and A/C seals 70t km
Tires every 40t km
foglight bulbs
Engine belts 65tkm
Engine camcover seal 40tkms (warranty)
Busted alternator cable
Batteries every 18 months
broken rear door handle.

We've had our Carnival since 2000 also. We've encountered a lot of these problems, if not more, from the time our van hit it's 5th year. The problem with the door handles breaking, started even earlier--- I think sometime in it's 2nd or 3rd year, we've had to repeatedly fix this-- . Our Carnival is CASA maintained since day1.

The Kia Carnival has been quite a disappointment for us. Because of this, when we decided a few months ago to look for a new van... Korean vans were not even considered. We were "traumatized" with the amount of breakdowns and the costs incurred. We decided on a Toyota Super Grandia. Toyota parts are cheaper, and so far, we have been lucky with our 5 year old Altis (looks new pa), and our Fortuner. So far, no breakdowns yet--- so we're hoping for the same experience with the new van.

[diesoline]

i think that the abovementioned repairs by IJD180 are just par for the course considering the mileage. i've had two toyota sedans before, and if you were to ask me, original pms parts for kia are cheaper than toyota's.

[diesoline]

saw this on today's inquirer btw...

KIA SERVICE CLINIC
POWER & PERFORMANCE CHECK
Expert Diagnosis by Korean Engineer
Discounts on Parts, Labor, Engine Oil
June 25-26 * KIA Pasay
June 27-30 * KIA Pasig
June 02-07 * Kia Cebu

[RonRuth Ventura]

i think that the abovementioned repairs by IJD180 are just par for the course considering the mileage. i've had two toyota sedans before, and if you were to ask me, original pms parts for kia are cheaper than toyota's.

Sorry--- our Altis is not 5 years old, it's 6--- we bought it a year after we bought the Carnival. I beg to disagree regarding Carnival parts being cheaper, but even if it is, withthe amount of parts being serviced--- mas mahal ang upkeep. With regards to mileage--- believe you me... mileage on both vehicles are not far, but repairs on the Kia far exceeds repairs on the Altis. i guess that is why resale value on the Carnival is horrible. The best offer I've had for the van (no nicks, or gasgas--- casa maintained vehicle) is P220,000. May nag tawad pa ng P175,000.

[ecport]

Sorry--- our Altis is not 5 years old, it's 6--- we bought it a year after we bought the Carnival. I beg to disagree regarding Carnival parts being cheaper, but even if it is, withthe amount of parts being serviced--- mas mahal ang upkeep. With regards to mileage--- believe you me... mileage on both vehicles are not far, but repairs on the Kia far exceeds repairs on the Altis. i guess that is why resale value on the Carnival is horrible. The best offer I've had for the van (no nicks, or gasgas--- casa maintained vehicle) is P220,000. May nag tawad pa ng P175,000.

This sounds sooo familiar. I have the same story. I bought my carnival in 2001 and it has not been a pleasant experience. I finally replaced it this year with a Grandis. No more Korean cars or vans for me. The Carnival would be my first and last. Too many parts breaking down, too many repairs, too much trouble. Even the Speedometer/Odometer broke down at 20K Kms! I bought a Cefiro in 2002 and it's been a great ride, with no major repairs. Just regular maintenance with the oil/filter/breakpads. Even the spark plugs are 5 years old. Original pa! False economy talaga yang Korean cars. With my experience Korean cars are cheap but require a fortune in maintenance . At the end you even get low resale value. I hope the new Carnival will be much better. For me, I am staying away from Kia, even if Nadal beats Federer.

[mikey177]

Originally posted by altec
mikey, what biodesiel are you using, what dose/ratio, and what did you notice before and after?

I use Senbel biodiesel at a 5% blend. The thing I've noticed most is that this stuff really makes my wallet grow thin quickly Other than that, I think its still too early for me to comment on its effectiveness, as I've only used up one carabouy of the stuff since two months ago. I can't say that the acceleration is more peppy, since mabilis naman talaga yung acceleration ng Sedona for a diesel. Perhaps all I can say is that the little amount of white smoke that my ride produced before during cold starts has been virtually removed. Perhaps I'll have more info when I bring the unit in for its 25,000-km PMS next month.

BTW, correction on my earlier post... I have a 2002 model, not 2003, and it has nearly 24,000-km on its odometer.