Towing with a Kia Sedona

[Sedo]

Hi

Just taken our Sportage in for a service and had an auto Sedona as a courtesy car.

Must admit I was really impressed, especially with the room, could fit our bike, awning etc in without a roof rack, our daughter and grandsons could also 'hitch a holiday' with no problem.

Has anybody experience of the Sedonas, especially the auto, with towing, m.p.g etc.? Checked on Parkers and my tax wouldn't be much different.

Many thanks in advance

Tomo

 

[Mike_5100596]

Hi TOMO,

I tow with a Kia Sedona - and I find it very good tow car. When towing back from the Lake District last Bank Holiday I found it stable and smooth in the high winds when a lot of other outfits were bouncing around a lot - even the twina axles. It is a lot of car for the money but obviously doesn't have the refinement of the other big mpv's. One thing I would say about the auto though is that I was led to believe that they wear out brake pads very quickly and I thought they were a higher CO2 rating than the manual.

In terms of mpg one thing I have noticed is that I get slightly more miles from a tank whilst towing than normal driving. I would think that this is because the majority of my towing is on motorways where I am doing a steady 55/60 unlike the more usual urban driving I would do whilst not towing.

All in all I would recommend the Sedona to anyone looking for a large mpv and frequently have other people on sites expressing an interest.

Mike

 

[MikeJE]

We have a 2.9 manual Sedona and I agree with Mike it is a good tow car with bags of room though lacking the sophistication of some. Fuel consumption varies, as said, with how you drive but I get 33 m.p.g. on a day to day basis running family around town, more if it is just my wife and self trundling around the countryside. Front tyres wear quickly - just over 18.000 but more, so far, with the second set - my local tyre dealer will fit top brand tyres if you insist but does make the point that they will wear just as fast. Bear in mind they need a new timing belt at 60.000.

 

[Sedo]

Thanks Mike and Mike E

Must admit I was really taken, tax by the way for a TS auto diesel isn't much different to my Sportage believe or not, even with the future rises.

My local dealer has LS and TS models in the TS is 56 with only 4,800 on the clock, ex demo I believe, fancied the auto as my left leg isn't at it's best over distances.

The tyres on my Sportage will probably only make around your 18,000 but luckily I get tyre free, a major make.

Again Many thanks

Tomo

 

[Dave E]

We tow with an 08 Sedona LS diesel and love it, I can echo the earlier comments about stability which is a huge improvement on our old Toyota Previa.

Be aware that the 56 reg is the breakpoint between the older and newer models. It's easy to tell the difference because the older model has a huge bonnet air intake and the newer one doesn't. I haven't driven the older model but there was a substantial power increase and they fixed reported problems such as a wide turning circle. The only thing to watch out for on the newer model is that some have a bad steering vibration above 60mph which can be hard to fix. If this one has a problem you would definitely know about it.

Otherwise it's a big car in every sense, from a positive space perspective and bad (too wide for some car parks) perspective. We love it.

 

[Dave E]

We tow with an 08 Sedona LS diesel and love it, I can echo the earlier comments about stability which is a huge improvement on our old Toyota Previa.

Be aware that the 56 reg is the breakpoint between the older and newer models. It's easy to tell the difference because the older model has a huge bonnet air intake and the newer one doesn't. I haven't driven the older model but there was a substantial power increase and they fixed reported problems such as a wide turning circle. The only thing to watch out for on the newer model is that some have a bad steering vibration above 60mph which can be hard to fix. If this one has a problem you would definitely know about it.

Otherwise it's a big car in every sense, from a positive space perspective and bad (too wide for some car parks) perspective. We love it.

Forgot to mention that ours is an auto which works well when towing.

 

[MikeJE]

Ah yes - as DaveE mentions - the turning circle. As one review mentioned 'the turning circle of a cross channel ferry'. An exaggeration ! ! and you do get used to it. Don't be put off by it.

 

[Sedo]

DaveE

Thanks for the info.

Was also surprised about the tax difference between Sedona registered between March- 10 Nov 06 and 10 Nov 06 on,

 

[Gavel_5041435]

We have had 2 Sedonas. They are thirsty creatures compared to our Citroen C$ Grand Picasso which gets over 50 mpg solo. But the worst thing is that if the fuel pump goes as ours did, it will cost you over