Kia Sedona reviews

2009 Kia Sedona Interior Features

Kia's approach to designing the Sedona, copying and bettering the competition, is reflected in the interior. It's a cohesive improvement of all that's out there.

The Kia Sedona driver feels like the master of her or his domain, looking down on the vast and functional center stack with all its controls, including a big leather-wrapped shift knob. This is a much better location for the shifter than between the seats. The center stack in our fully loaded EX was finished in a soft, dark simulated wood that looks way better than the hard, shiny real wood found in many luxury cars. All the main controls are there, and are mostly easy-to-operate square black buttons with easily-read white lettering. Air vents are black and business-like. The EX has more controls on the steering wheel (audio and cruise control) and driver's door, including the metaphorical power seat adjustment in the shape of a seat, copied from Mercedes-Benz.

With the center stack containing all the controls, plus the first two of a total of 14 cup holders (one for each hand of each passenger), the space between the front seats is used for a sideways flip-up tray/console, containing the third, fourth, fifth and sixth cup holders.

The power seat extends farther back than the standard manual-adjustment seat, offering more legroom. We co-drove an LX with a six-foot-four fellow whose legs were cramped in the manual seat. The cloth interior in the LX was okay, too, but the gray leather in our own test model EX was beautiful and supple, and the front seats provided excellent bolstering.

The three-zone climate control system offers separate temperature settings for driver, passenger, and rear-seat passengers. Climate control is fully automatic in the EX.

The windows along the second row lower and raise at the press of a button, giving your passengers real live fresh air, should they want. The optional power sliding doors and liftgate, triggered on the instrument panel or remote key fob, are a wonderful convenience.

The Sedona comes with captain's chairs in the second row. Second-row legroom in the long-wheelbase models is a generous 40.9 inches. The SWB model maintains the same second-row head and hip room, but legroom shrinks to 37.0 inches.

Third-row bench seating is standard on all models. In LWB versions the third row is split 60/40 and folds into the floor.

The LWB Sedona offers 32.2 cubic feet of cargo space behind the third-row seat. This area is recessed like the trunk of a car, so grocery bags won't slide around as much.

The second-row seats fold, but not flat. Press a button and each seatback folds down and then the seat flips up so it squeezes against the front seatback. For maximum cargo space, the second-row seats can be easily removed, creating a carpeted cargo van with 142 cubic feet of cargo space.

The SWB model comes with an older-style 50/50-split rear seat that must be removed and stored in your garage to maximize cargo space. Third-row passengers in the SWB lose nearly an inch of hip room and nearly two inches of head room when compared with the popular long-wheelbase models. Also, cargo space behind the third row is just 12.9 cubic feet. Remove the second and third rows and the SWB model offers 121 cubic feet of carpeted cargo space.

Cubby storage in the Sedona includes two glove compartments, one in the face of the dash, and a larger one at knee level, containing a bin, a big slot for CDs, and a hole for a cell phone. There is a flip-down compartment at the very bottom of the center stack big enough for CDs. There's a sunglasses holder overhead, wide door pockets, and compartments for the second- and third-row passengers. And there are cup holders for everyone.

Visibility rearward from the driver's seat is especially good, an important contribution to safety, because the rear window is as big as it can be, and the headrests over the five rear seats sink down to the tops of the seats. And if there are kids back there, there's a convex mirror on the headliner so you can keep an eye on them.

Our EX was equipped with the $1,500 Premium Entertainment Package, including a DVD player and 13-speaker Infinity audio system. We expected some sensational Surround Sound, but were disappointed in the richness, depth and volume of the system, whether playing the radio or CDs.