Any minivan gutsy enough to challenge industry stalwarts like the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna deserves your respect. That’s the case with the 2017 Kia Sedona. Most of the minivan news for 2017 has been captured by the all-new Chrysler Pacifica — especially since the Sienna is aging (it’ll be all-new next year) and the 2017 Honda Odyssey is playing it low-key (it’ll be all-new next year too). So it’s a good time for a strong minivan contender with legitimate value to stand up and babysit the family.
Starting at just over $27,500, the 7-passenger 2017 Kia Sedona L is among the least expensive minivans on the market, but it isn’t barebones by any means. The L gives your family plenty, including a 5-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Bluetooth and satellite radio, stain-resistant cloth upholstery, a backup camera, second-row air conditioning controls, and keyless entry (but not push-button start). Three rows of good room, a willing 276-horsepower V6 with a 6-speed automatic transmission, and Kia’s 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty come standard on every Sedona.
Roominess, quiet and comfort
Like your children, the 2017 Kia Sedona is extremely well behaved. Other minivan owners would be impressed by the quiet and comfort inside, and the way it behaves both in the city and on the open road. Its 3.3-liter V6 isn’t an mpg champ, but getting smoothly up to freeway speeds never posed a challenge, even on shorter on-ramps. It’s no sports car, but if that’s your primary goal in a minivan, you’re probably in the wrong marriage.
While ultimately not as roomy as a Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna, the Sedona is quite good at making room when it’s needed. The second row can accommodate both child seats and adults, and Kia’s smart Slide-N-Stow feature will vertically stash the second-row seats against the first-row seatbacks to give you full use of the cargo area and open up access to the third row. Behind that third row, there’s a large storage area sunk below the floor that will secure and swallow armfuls of groceries or junk you don’t want rattling around, and it’ll swallow the third-row seats when you fold them down to create a flat floor.
The long-term value of everyday utility
As the wrap-up story for our long-term Kia Sedona SX put it, "Being a minivan, the Sedona found itself ushered into service whenever a road-trip was involved, whenever there were many passengers to carry, or if someone moved." The Sedona slam-dunked each of these tasks with grace, even going so far as to deliver a newborn baby home with our video guru, Micah Muzio. And on moving day, Associate Editor Allyson Harwood found the Kia’s low liftover height and usable rear cargo area aided her in loading boxes, a portable air conditioner, and a sizable piece of furniture.
The best Sedona you can buy for your family
The bargain Sedona has to be the 8-passenger LX model, one step up from the base model. This one still starts under $30,000, but includes power-sliding side doors, an 8-way power-adjustable driver’s seat with lumbar adjustment, a 6-speaker audio upgrade, and rear privacy glass.
All that’s seductive enough, but the real value for good living and safety comes when you add just two option packages to the Sedona LX: the LX Essentials Premium Package and the LX Advanced Technology Package. This dreams-come-true combination ups the price of your Sedona LX to $34,045, which isn’t cheap, but it’s a lot less than you’d have to pay for the same feature set (if it’s even available) on other minivans. The full list of features is longer than your arm, but here are some of the highest highlights: leather seat trim, heated front seats, push-button start, the UVO3 infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, forward collision warning and Autonomous Emergency Braking, smart cruise control, front/rear parking alert sensors and rear cross-traffic alerts, and, of course, blind-spot and lane-departure warning systems. Yours, all yours.
More 2017 Kia Sedona
To learn more about the 2017 Kia Sedona, you can read our full review. If you’re ready to take the next step, build and price your own Sedona to unlock its Fair Purchase Price, 5-Year Cost to Own and more. And if you want to keep looking around, head over to our Minivan Buyer’s Guide.
