2003 Kia Sedona Problems

What owners report

Owners of this model year most often describe warning lights and electrical trouble: air bag and SRS lamps that come on and stay on, dash lights or fuse-box wiring that fails or burns, and occasional fires traced to the dashboard area. Brake complaints are also common and often appear early, with pedal travel, vibration and ABS-related stopping problems; coolant leaks from corroded pipes and a handful of unintended-acceleration reports round out the picture. Many complaints were filed in the van's first few years and at relatively low mileage, while a second group comes from long-term owners past 100,000 miles.

1. 1
   Air bags

   Air bag / SRS warning light stays on

   • 25 complaints (15%)
   • median 88,000 mi at 5.7 yrs old (18 state mileage)
   • 13 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 2003–2017

   Owners describe the air bag or SRS indicator lighting up intermittently and then staying on while driving. Several say a dealer traced it to the seat belt buckle wiring or a sensor under the seats and replaced buckles, after which the light sometimes returned. Others report no diagnosis or say a shop could not find the cause, and a few describe crashes in which air bags did not deploy or a passenger air bag deployed with no one in the seat. Reported from roughly 20,000 to 165,000 miles, with many complaints coming in after the van was several years old.

   What to check: Turn the key to on and confirm the air bag light goes out after the self-check; if it stays on, ask for the stored SRS codes and whether the seat belt buckle wiring has been repaired.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “I bought a used 2003 Kia Sedona with 136000 miles. The day after purchasing the vehicle, the srs indicator light started staying lit on the dash. My mechanic found that the code was b1513, which indicated a problem with the passenger seat belt buckle (female end). They ordered that part new from Kia and replaced it (for a cost of $238). The indicator light did not display for about three weeks when it went on again. This time, the codes were b1511 and b1513, which indicates problems with both the diver and passenger buckles. …”

   NHTSA complaint #10574514, filed 2014-03, 136,000 miles

   “My airbag lite has been turning off and on at different times..eg. Lite turns on and is on for about 15 to 20 seconds then turns off. Now, 11/17/2014 when I started to drive it, the light went on and has stayed on ever since when the ignition is on. I wanted to take it to the dealership where I purchased the car new but they are out of business. Today on fox news I head where they are having some trouble with seat belts on different cars. Would like to know what I should do. I love the car and want to keep it. I haven't had any problem with it. …”

   NHTSA complaint #10659437, filed 2014-11, 101,934 miles
2. 2
   Brakes

   Brake pedal travel, vibration and ABS braking problems

   • 20 complaints (12%)
   • median 23,156 mi at 2.0 yrs old (14 state mileage)
   • 2 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 2003–2018

   Owners describe the brake pedal going to the floor or seizing partway down at low speed, vibration and shudder through the pedal and steering wheel, and repeated rotor and pad replacement at low mileage. Some complaints say a shop found the ABS module or outlet valve at fault, or that ABS logic reduced braking force at low speed. Dealers, according to the complaints, variously replaced pads and rotors or said the wear was normal driving. Many reports come in under 40,000 miles, with others at 90,000 to 140,000 miles.

   Recall 03V1580001 related service bulletin

   What to check: Test the pedal for a firm, consistent feel from a low rolling speed, check for pulsation or steering-wheel shake when braking, and ask whether the ABS module has ever been replaced or reprogrammed.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “I've had many problems with my 2003 Kia Sedona. The emergency brake has never been right. The brakes were replaced at 13k miles, again at 24k miles (front & back) and I'm sure they need to be replaced again at 40k miles. …”

   NHTSA complaint #10091216, filed 2004-09, 40,295 miles

   “When applying the brakes from low speeds, the pedal intermittently went to the floor. As a result extended stopping distance occurred. Kia replaced the brakes and the consumer had not experienced a brake problem since.”

   NHTSA complaint #10096550, filed 2004-11, 12,000 miles
3. 3
   Electrical system

   Dashboard electrical faults, melted fuse box, dash fires

   • 12 complaints (7%)
   • median 44,000 mi at 2.7 yrs old (10 state mileage)
   • 10 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 2004–2015

   Complaints describe dashboard lights going out, defroster indicators staying lit after the key is off, and fuse-box or junction-block connectors melting or burning near the driver footwell. Several owners report smoke or flames behind the steering wheel while the van was parked and unoccupied, sometimes minutes after shutdown and sometimes hours later. According to the complaints, some vans were towed to a dealer and others were total losses. Reported from around 10,000 to 140,000 miles, in some cases while parked and switched off.

   2 related service bulletins

   What to check: Look for scorched or discolored plastic around the fuse box by the driver's left knee, check that all dashboard and cluster bulbs work, and ask whether any wiring or fuse-box repairs have been done.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “2003 Kia Sedona with approx 48,000 miles, parked and unoccupied in the parking area of my townhouse community. Went to open the door remotely using the key ring and there was no response. Eventually had to manually open the car and noticed the entire left hand side of the instrument panel and dashboard area had literally melted into the floorboard. Appears as if there was some kind of electrical short. Vehicle was towed to bonneville Kia and due to my extended service contract immediately set up a rental. …”

   NHTSA complaint #10126073, filed 2005-08, 48,000 miles

   “We have a 2003 Kia Sedona ex that is one year old. It had 20,000 miles on the car and had no problems at all. On 09/03/04, after dropping our daughters off at school 5 minutes away, we pulled in the driveway, turned the car off and smoke poured out of vents. After that, car started on its own with no keys in it, panic started sounding constantly and then the car started on fire behind the steering wheel and was in full flames within one minute. The chief of the goshen fire dept. Stated it was an electrical fire that started in the dashboard. …”

   NHTSA complaint #10091146, filed 2004-09, 20,000 miles
4. 4
   Engine cooling

   Coolant leaks from corroded heater and coolant pipes

   • 14 complaints (9%)
   • median 50,000 mi at 4.3 yrs old (11 state mileage)
   • 1 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 2003–2016

   Complaints describe coolant disappearing with no obvious puddle, or leaking onto the garage floor and overheating, traced by mechanics to corroded heater or coolant pipes. Some owners say the van had to be towed, and several note the leak appeared well before the van was old. One complaint also mentions corrosion on rear brake lines found at the same time. Mostly reported between about 34,000 and 100,000 miles.

   3 related service bulletins

   What to check: Check the coolant level and look for crusty residue or staining on the metal pipes at the back of the engine bay and near the firewall, and ask whether the heater pipes have been replaced.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “In my Kia Sedona minivan I had purchased brand new only because of the warranty I took kids to school oil light came on and when I tried to crank back no. They towed to the local Kia dealership and the said it was not warrantable.”

   NHTSA complaint #10181374, filed 2007-02, 83,650 miles

   “Car has been huge headache bought new in 2003 has been towed twice for leaking coolant lines that rusted out. Last time was on vacation Kia has not returned on phone call or e-mail as it cost me 300 dollars and car is under bumper to bumper warranty has 34k miles . Drivers door handle broke and airbag light was on fixed by dealer. One brake pad lining fell off at 25k miles replaced myself. Most important we had a rear tire blow out at 60 MPH in three lanes of traffic. …”

   NHTSA complaint #10167006, filed 2006-08, 34,000 miles
5. 5
   Vehicle speed control

   Unintended acceleration and cruise control faults

   • 8 complaints (5%)
   • median 25,500 mi at 2.0 yrs old (8 state mileage, few)
   • 2 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 2003–2008

   Owners report the engine revving or the van surging forward at a stop or at cruising speed without the accelerator being pressed, and cruise control that engages inconsistently or does not work. One owner noted the surge happened with cruise control on but not set, and mechanics were unable to reproduce the problem. In some cases the cruise switch was replaced without solving it. Reported from about 12,000 to 50,000 miles, including in warm-weather states.

   Recall 05V329000Recall 05V0130001 related service bulletin

   What to check: Ask whether the throttle cable recall work was completed for this van, and inspect the cable routing and free movement at the throttle body.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “2003 Kia Sedona accelerates without warning when the speed (cruise) control is enabled, but not activated (set button has not been pushed). This is not the known cable freezing problem, since we live in florida. This is a safety problem if in traffic and can't react fast enough to hit the brakes before impacting a car in front. Dealer could not duplicate problem after a short drive and nothing was done.”

   NHTSA complaint #10177573, filed 2007-01, 50,000 miles

   “The cruise control will not work at certain times and this has been going on for at least 6 or 7 months and is still happening. Dealer replaced cruise switch but that did not work, it still is doing the same thing. Went back to dealer and they said they could not doing anything about it until they see it happening. This is a problem because it does it when it feels like doing it and I cannot get it to the dealer when it is happening.”

   NHTSA complaint #10143474, filed 2005-11, 20,000 miles

Buying note. A pre-purchase inspection should focus on the air bag system codes, the fuse box and dash wiring, the brake and ABS behavior on a test drive, and coolant pipe condition, since those are the areas owners of this model year describe most. Service records showing the throttle cable recall and any heater pipe replacement are worth asking for.

Summary written with AI from a sample of 60 NHTSA complaints for this model year (picked at random, with complaints that state a mileage and recent ones taken first), then checked automatically against the source records. Where a problem shows a complaint count, every complaint for this model year was matched with fixed keyword rules (written with AI and tested against the sample), and the mileage, age and repair figures are calculated from those complaints; owners' figures are as stated, not verified. Other counts refer to the sample. The excerpts come from NHTSA's public complaint records and are unverified; capitalisation is normalised, NHTSA staff notes are removed, and shortened text ends with “…”. Something wrong? Request a correction.