Last night I approached our long-term Kia Sedona EX with about 10 plastic bags of fruits and vegetables from a trip to the farmers' market. I yanked on the passenger-side sliding door handle, expecting it to power open just as our long-term Odyssey's would have. It did not...
With the Sedona, as with the current-generation Chrysler minivans, the power-sliding feature can only be activated with the keyless remote or the buttons inside the van. Why is this a bad design? Because it puts all the burden on the person holding the remote. The other parent, presumably holding a baby, has to wait until the door opens or else muscle it open manually (defeating the point of having power doors). And kids can't get in or out of the back as easily.
In spite of this flaw, my early impressions of the van are good. I like the driving position and I like the Sedona's easygoing demeanor when puttering around town. Although I won't be in the market for a minivan anytime soon given that I'm single with no kids, there's one minivan feature I'd love to have in a sedan or hatchback: a folding center tray. I like that you can set anything on this tray and feel confident it will stay there. Usually, I just put parking cards, cell phones and directions here, but last night I set a carton of milk here because I didn't want it rolling around on the floor.
Erin Riches, Senior Content Editor, 3,009 miles
riposte says:
03:00 PM, 07/14/06
OMG. If my life ever gets so pathethic as to have to worry about stuff like THIS, I sure hope someone will just put a bullet through my head.
eriches says:
06:33 PM, 07/14/06
Riposte, you're too kind. Thanks so much for commenting.
rsholland says:
05:52 AM, 07/15/06
I'm one who firmly believes that the devil is indeed in the details. So I very much value this type of reporting—and I do it myself. If you're looking for the typical (and expected) 0–60 type of reporting, go to R&T or any other sort of traditional mainstream type of auto rag.
The kind of info that's being reported here hopefully will give insight to the lesser known aspects of vehicle ownership—and information that could hopefully lead others to making intelligent buying decisions, thus hopefully minimizing the chances of buyer's remorse down the road. Keep up the good work Erin. :)
kentuckyranger says:
09:11 AM, 07/16/06
If your had is free enugh to grab the door handle then why not go the extra effort and pull it open?
And what if you where to yank the handle but not want to open the door all the way, would you have to wait for the door to cycle before closing it?
Kia and Chrysler have it right, in My Humble opinion.
You could take it one step farther, Vioce recognition, Minivan, open passenger door... ;O)
kentuckyranger says:
09:12 AM, 07/16/06
Oops, That's hand, not had...
briancam says:
08:45 AM, 07/17/06
Of course pathetic is in the eye of the beholder but frankly I'm thankful that writers like Erin notice the little things in life. I had the same issue with the Sedona's doors.
Besides, noticing and commenting on design quirks like the Sedona's sliding doors is part of our job - we get paid for it. Oh, and it's super fun too. Is driving different cars for a living pathetic? I don't think so.
eriches says:
10:52 AM, 07/17/06
Also, kentuckyranger, it's not that I'm unwilling to use a little extra muscle to open the doors. It's that if I've paid extra to get power sliding doors, then I want full power. Now that I know this about the Sedona, I would save my money and get an LX model with manual doors instead.
Additionally, with the Odyssey's setup, the power doors work fast enough so that you're never standing there waiting for a door to open or close. (Waiting time was an issue on the previous-generation Odyssey, '99-'04, however.)
tsgeisel says:
05:25 PM, 07/17/06
riposte - I would note that eriches is being *paid* to notice and worry about stuff like this. It's part of the job of being a long-term tester.
What you call "pathetic" others call "the kind of attention to detail you like to find in an auto review".
briancam says:
06:12 PM, 07/17/06
tsgeisel - Amen Brother! As it turns out, Erin was right. Our Kia's doors were not working as designed.
jerrywimer says:
11:53 AM, 07/19/06
This sort of thing is exactly what the rest of us that live in the real world want to hear about. We could generally care less about 0 to 60 times and slalom speeds, so long as the vehicle is reasonably capable of handling daily driving demands without endangering out lives. It's the rest of the little daily quirks that can be annoying, and which you usually wouldn't find out about until it's far too late (*AFTER* spending a lot of money on a vehicle).
Good job Erin (even if this instance did turn out to be a defect that required correction).
baz63 says:
08:13 PM, 08/22/06
The power doors ARE capable of opening by lightly tugging the handles!!! (We found this out by accident on our '06 Sedona EX.)
There is a push on / push off switch overhead labeled "pwr" that keeps our 5 year old from seeing how many times the door opens and closes before the vehicle's battery gives up. If the switch is "pushed in" the side and rear door handle exterior switches are disabled!!! Not a bad feature as long as you know what it does...
tturedraider says:
10:51 PM, 10/16/06
Reading the owner's manual is an excellent way of finding out what your vehicle does.
A little critique here - as professional automobile writers I would expect you to check your sources of information before you write incorrect information for others to read and possibly base their decisions on.
bluedevils says:
11:50 AM, 02/ 1/07
ttureraider makes a very valid point.
On the plus side, I appreciate all the little details you guys are providing regarding the 2006 Sedona. In fact, I cannot think of any other web resource that goes to this level of detail. Thank you for that.