2004 Kia Sedona problems
Owners have filed 227 complaints with NHTSA about the 2004 Kia Sedona. Brakes is the most reported problem area, at 15% of complaints. Next are wheels (14%) and engine (12%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 227 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Brakes 15% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 12 and 14
- Injuries and deaths
- 27 and 2
- Typical mileage
- 42,000 miles 161 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 56 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 22 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 11 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 26 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 18 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 11 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 6 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 5 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 5 |
What the data shows
Of the 161 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 42,000 miles. For brakes specifically, the median reported mileage is about 15,000 miles (27 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 12 complaints mention a crash; 14 complaints mention a fire; 27 injuries reported; 2 deaths reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2004 ranks 4th most-complained-about out of 18 model years of the Kia Sedona with enough data (164 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 2 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
I was just notified by state farm insurance that the air bags on the kia sorento are not working properly. This has caused them to remove the safety discount from the vehicle. If the air bags are not working in accidents then I feel that they need to be fixed or replaced so people will not die due to the failure of air bags.
Dt: the contact stated while driving at 3 to 5 MPH the contact's vehicle was hit on n the side by another vehicle pulling from a driveway. The driver and passenger seat belts failed to lock when the impact occurred. The contact sustained injuries to the nose, requiring surgery. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer. Today, the dealer placed the vehicle in an accident simulator in order to test the seat belts.
We were going east on a county road(219th), at about 40 MPH. The passengers front tire crossed the white line and slipped into the ditch. Van continued east into a telephone pole, breaking it in 3 pieces. The van then slide sideways and came to rest southbound after hitting a tree. After van came to rest and the driver checked family's safety, it was then discovered that the air bags on both sides had not deployed and that the auto lock feature of the seat belts had not engaged either.
While driving at 10 MPH ,my daughter and I heard a clunk in the rear of our 2004 kia sedona LX. I was heading for a repair shop as a result and heard a second clunk and pulled off on a side street and drove 200 feet when the wheel bearing assembly came apart and the whole wheel flew off the van.
Multiple instances where vehicle has been unable to start. Will subsequently turn over for a period of about 5 seconds and finally "catches" and will run rough. Upon driving the vehicle will run rough, hesitate and stall, mostly at times during a full stop attempting to accelerate to normal driving speed in traffic and through turning. Upon inspection at dealership, no faulty parts found and condition "disappears". Upon receipt of vehicle from dealership, problem has continued to plague vehicle.