2006 Kia Sedona: doors won't lock, open or latch

Filed Sep 10, 2013 · Brakes, Electrical · 58,345 miles · OK

The turn signals work intermittently and probably only work 15% of the time, however beginning about 2 years ago the bulbs have never both worked at the same time (meaning when you turn the switch to the left the left signal will turn on but when you then turn the switch to the right it does not work). The bulbs have been changed several times yet this never fixes the problem. The turn signal bulbs have actually only been burned out one time, proving there is some form of a short. All of the other lamps, whether it be head lamps (low or high beam), fog lights,tail lights, running lights, reverse light or tag lights, keep burning out bulbs. Every 6 weeks I'm having to replace a bulb. This is so dangerous not to mention expensive! With as many complaints as there has been posted due to this very same issue, I do not understand why kia has not found/created a solution for these issues. This really makes me not want to purchase another kia vehicle. Also, I've had intermittent problems with one of the electric sliding side doors. One door will not close on it's own. If you pull gently to get it started closing, it will then close the rest of the way by itself. There's nothing internally blocking the release pin from disengaging. This problem just started about 2 months ago.

Filed Jun 18, 2011 · Body, Locks · 79,000 miles · IA

Rear sliding door wont latch or will come unlatched while driving. This is a serious safety issue. Kia has it on a service note but if car is not under warranty they will not repair.

Filed Mar 23, 2011 · Body, Locks · IL

We own a 2006 kia sedona, bought used. The power sliding doors have malfunctioned numerous times. Once on the driver side, and now we are on the third repair for the passenger power sliding door in less than a year. The occurrences are random. The door will not close or latch whether we do it manually or use the power buttons. There is no warning; it just stops working. There are numerous complaints from other consumers about the exact same issue. This is very much a safety related issue, not just an inconvenience. At what point does a complaint stop being a service bulletin and become a product recall? The last repairs we had were covered under warranty, however, warranty does not last forever and it does not seem like the repairs are working for us or other consumers. This is clearly a product defect and not an issue of normal wear and tear. Consumers that are experiencing this same problem should not be obligated to have any out-of-pocket expenses related to what is an obvious product defect. Thankfully, there have not been any reported injuries or deaths that I was able to find. My hope is that kia is not waiting for that to occur to issue a product recall.

Filed Aug 10, 2010 · Body, Locks · MI

We have a 2006 kia sedona, with powered sliding side doors. We had our three grand kids with us, all under 6 and the side door would not close. It would go shut, and then open without locking. We were told by the dealer that there was a bad electronic switch. The problem: there was no manual overide to this problem. I had to drive it in the shop by jamming the door manually, and even then it came open several times on my trip to the dealer. If we had been in a severe thunderstorm, or a blizzard, we could have been in real trouble. There must be an overide for this. I pulled the fuses, but that did not help. The dealer is don sealye ford, kalamazoo, michigan.

Filed Mar 13, 2010 · Locks · 71,000 miles · OH

The following is copy of a complaint I filed on 3/13 with kia regarding my 2006 kia sedona minivan, which I bought brand new on jan. 11, 2007. "this past week I was having trouble with my van sliding doors closing all the way. On 3/9 the passenger sliding door flew open when I made a sharp turn while my sons were sitting in the middle seats. I thought it was just a fluke but on 3/12 as I was driving during rush hour on the high way and hit a bump, the driver side door flew open while my son was sitting in the middle seat. I freaked out completely at the horror of it and then pulled over, shut the door, and held it as I drove straight to my kia dealer. I was relieved the nightmare was over and that we made it safely until I was told that my warranty expired at 60,000 miles (I am at 71,000) and that it would cost me 423.67$ to have my van safe for my children again. I expressed my anger to the service manager who explained that his hands were tied by the warranty. I tried to call kia customer service but it was closed. I am absolutely outraged that instead of being grateful that we made it safely and that I am not suing kia if the unthinkable had happened, that kia has taken this opportunity to charge me to fix their mistake. It is obvious that the latch is faulty because latches don't just wear after 3 years, and the mileage on the vehicle has nothing to do with the wear and tear of the latch. It is a cheap and faulty latch, and kia made me pay for their incompetence. Furthermore, I just co-signed for my son to buy his 1st new vehicle from this same kia dealership and I am now hoping against hope that I didn't sign him into a death trap! It is absolutely absurd that a customer with a barely over 3-year-old vehicle should have this issue. I have had other minivans with 100,000 miles and never did a door fly open while I was driving.

Filed Sep 8, 2008 · Locks · 38,944 miles · IN

On august 12, 2008 I picked my to young children up 8 and 4 from the babysitters. Both the driver and passenger side sliding doors would not close, it kept opening and shutting on its own. They finally latched after 5 minutes of trying. When I left and the first right I came to, the drivers side sliding door flew open while I was driving!!!! I instantly pulled over and stopped traffic for this. It took me to turn the power button off and shut it manually, however that still didn't work. The door continued to come open until I got it home. I called kia the next morning my car was towed to kia, later that day I picked my car up with them replacing the passenger side sliding door, the other part was on back order. Then on september 3, I took my car in to have the driver side sliding door replaced along with the upkeep of misc. Items to my car. Here it is on september 8th and the driver side sliding door would not close again. I video recorded and called kia again. My car can not bee seen until wed. It is monday. I believe kia needs to review there policy and procedures for recalls on safety issues. I work in the automotive industry and can honestly say that just one notification of doors opening is 1 to many. I hope the kia is not waiting for a death to take place before they correct this serious safety issue. I am disgusted with this happening again even after this part was replaced on 9/3/08 and it is 9/8/08. Not only am I filing this complaint on the web site but I will be contacting the manufacturer as well as contacting my local tv station so that this serious safety issue is addressed.

Filed Aug 14, 2008 · Body, Locks · 100 miles · NJ

I have owned my 2006 kia sedona since august 2006. During that time, the power sliding doors have proved to be extremely unreliable and potentially unsafe. Most of the time, the passenger side sliding door will not close properly. It will power to the closed position, continue trying to close (making a grinding noise) and then either pop open a couple of inches or power open again completely. It will then beep three times. This happens on flat surfaces and even slight inclines. The door has opened whilst driving on the highway. I have been to two dealers (many times) who are unable to replicate the problem or have tried making "adjustments" to them. I keep on being told that the door is operating as per design. We avoid using the passenger side power sliding door when we can. This problem has recently started happening on the driver's side door as well. Judging by the number of complaints about this problem on both the 2006 (and later) kia sedona and hyundai entourage (exactly the same vehicle) on the odi website, and numerous internet newsgroups, this is affecting a lot of people. I love the van, but am completely fed up with the power sliding doors and want them fixed.

Filed Jul 24, 2008 · Body, Locks · 60,000 miles · NY

I have a 2006 kia sedona. It was bought used in 2007. Approximately one year later both sliding door latches broke. Once opened in normal everyday use the doors would no longer latch closed. The passenger side sliding door was the first to go. After closing the door repeatedly and having it bounce back open we finally got it to latch shut. We then tied the door shut until we could get it in to be serviced. While driving through a parking lot the door again bounced open as far as the rope would let it. On the day before we took the kia into be serviced the driver side sliding door did the same thing. Thankfully the kia was parked in our driveway when this happened. Nothing we could do, other than tying the door shut, would get the door to latch. This is a 2 year old vehicle. The latches should not be having problems. Thank god no one was injured or worse, however if the doors had fully opened while going down the road at normal speed someone could have easily been injured or fallen out.

Filed Nov 2, 2007 · Acceleration, Airbags · CT

2006 kia sedona with serious safety issues. Passenger sliding door opens while driving, opens and closes and will not close all the way. Starter was replaced. Air bag light was looked at. Consumer says there are more problems. *kb the rotors had to be replaced due them being out of round. Several parts within the door were replaced such as the cable and door switch assembly and door latch assembly. The vehicle accelerated unexpectedly. The rear sensors and rear caliper brake hose needed to be repaired.

Filed Mar 14, 2007 · Body, Locks · 12,000 miles · IL

I was out shopping with my 2 year old twins and my mother and we were in a parking lot loading our stuff in the 2006 kia sedona once again and the van door would not close. It was stuck open....we waited in the kroger parking lot for about 2 and 1/2 hours while no one at obrien kia would come and get myself and my two small children, and the door was wide open, and it was starting to get dark out and the breeze was picking up...we have had the van in obrien 2 other times for the passenger sliding door bouncing back open and not latching (big safety issue, and now the drivers side sliding door won't even shut (another big safety issue) with small children in the car...who's to say it won't happen while we are driving down the highway and when is it going to actually going to get fixed, or does someone have to get killed first!!!! A receptionist from obrien finally came about 2 1/2 hours later and drove my car down a busy street with the side door still open and the headlights turned off, and took it to the shop to be fixed, and I now have a rental car again. They say it will get fixed this time again!

Filed Feb 13, 2007 · Electrical · MI

Just purchased new 2006 kia sedona van(current miles 512) automatic door locks(safety concern) van has power door looks. Kia cust. Service says nothing they can do along with the local dealer. Hyundai(sister company)on their entourage van does have automatic door looks. I have experience with my hyundai 2006 sonata where in it also came without auto door looks and I took it back to the dealer and with in 20 min. They did a reprogram of the computer and now it has auo door looks. Since the kia & hyundai are on the same platform, same engine transmission I believe the situation can be corrected by a simple program change that the manufacture should be responsible for. Safety of internal passengers and children is most important and this defect needs to be addressed.