Disclaimer: We will, despite the impending birth of our first child, never own a minivan. This review is strictly for informational purposes, and should not be considered as our approval of minivans. Unless you have like 5 kids, and then they’re a better choice then giant SUV’s.
So on our last trip up north, we found ourselves in a situation of sudden awesomeness in terms of stuff for Ted. We also found ourselves with more stuff then would safely fit in the overhead bin, so we decided to drive it on home. Knowing that all the stuff would not fit in our last rental car, we rented a mini van. It was a 2007 Kia Sedona (or as they call it in other countries, the Kia Carnival.)
I wish I had reviewed the minivan we rented (Dodge Grand Caravan) when we started moving things to NC more then a year ago, but I was a little distracted then.
As far as ride quality goes, it was ok. More comfortable then the Focus and way more comfortable then the Malibu Classic. At first the ride was comfortable, but after 14 hours the seats started to feel a little stiff.
The radio situation was disappointing. No MP3 CD compatibility, and no axillary input to plug in iPods. You can just never tell with rentals as to what you’ll get. The interior had the requisite dozen or cup holders that every minivan has, and lots of “blank” buttons on the dash and steering wheel that implied that there are many options available for the Sedona that you don’t have. This van cries for steering wheel volume controls.
The cruise control was borderline useless. As we were driving through Pennsylvania, every time we’d go up a hill (while the cruise was on) the van would lose speed and then not adjust back up to speed once we got over the top of the hill. Lame.
The van part of the minivan was good… the back seats fold totally flat into the floor making plenty of room for the boxes of stuff we had packed in. The center row seats folded forward, but not completely flat. I think you can take them out of the van, but we couldn’t do that because our trip was one-way.
If for some odd reason you’re reading this review and thinking I’m some authority about minivans, then I’d say I’m not sure if I could recommend the Sedona. It wasn’t as nice as the Grand Caravan, and I didn’t get the vibe of of wellputtogetherness. I suppose if you had four kids and money was tight and you really needed a new van, then the Sedona might be the way to go. But really if money is tight, wouldn’t you want a used minivan? Or maybe a sweet wooden-sided Buick Roadmaster.