Kia Sedona reliability by year
19 recall campaigns and 1,868 owner complaints across 17 model years. Best year to buy: 2020. Year to avoid: 2006.
Worst model years to avoid → — the single year to avoid for every model line we track, ranked side by side.
Years to avoid — and why 4 flagged on the NHTSA record
Cleaner on the data: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and others. Still verify the specific vehicle.
At-a-glance: every year color-coded
Each cell shows the last two digits of the model year and its 0–10 reliability score from NHTSA data. Click any year to see the full record. ★ best year · ✕ year to avoid.
Year-by-year reliability 17 model years · newest first
Per-year recall counts add up to 60, more than the 19 campaigns above, because a single NHTSA campaign often covers several model years and is counted once in each.
Common trouble spots across the Sedona aggregated across 17 model years
Common questions
What's the best year to buy a Kia Sedona?
Based on NHTSA complaint volume and severity weighting, the 2020 Kia Sedona scores 8.4/10 — the strongest in the 2005–2021 range. 20 complaints on file, 1 active recall. Reliability scores reflect the federal complaint record, not subjective owner reviews.
Which Kia Sedona year should I avoid?
The 2006 Kia Sedona scores 5.8/10 — the weakest in the lineup. 385 owner complaints with NHTSA, 7 active recalls. That doesn't mean every 2006 is a problem — it means failure rates run higher than peer model years on the same platform.
Which years of the Kia Sedona should I avoid?
On the NHTSA complaint and recall record, the model years to be most careful with are 2016 (avoid — the electrical system — 6 fire-related complaints on the engine); 2008 (avoid — the electrical system — 6 fire-related complaints and 1 crash-related complaint on the electrical system); 2007 (avoid — the electrical system — 5 fire-related complaints on the electrical system); 2006 (high-risk ownership — electrical system: 59 complaints, classified severe, failures cluster 58,345–144,000 mi). The cleaner years on the data are 2020, 2019, 2014, 2018, 2017, 2015. This is our read of the federal data, not a substitute for a pre-purchase inspection of the specific vehicle.
How many years of the Kia Sedona are tracked?
17 model years (2005 through 2021) with NHTSA records on file. Total across the lineup: 19 distinct recall campaigns and 1,868 owner complaints. Those campaigns land on 60 model-year entries in total, because one campaign often covers several years at once — which is why per-year recall counts add up to more than the campaign count.
What's the most-reported problem on the Kia Sedona?
engine is the most-reported category — 334 complaints across 14 model years. Average shop repair runs about $3,100.