Honda Odyssey
What’s for sale near me?
Above Average: Resale, reliability, interior room, features, fuel economy, safety
Below Average: Horsepower on early models
Consensus: One of the most reliable, most practical and most enjoyable minivans you can buy.
Kia Sedona
What’s for sale near me?
Above Average: Standard features, warranty, safety, versatile seating options
Below Average: early model quality, resale, turning circle
Consensus: A well-equipped minivan with loads of room, a powerful V6 and a great warranty, but only average resale values.
The Honda Odyssey offers value galore, with some of the best fuel economy numbers in the segment. Its interior is big, roomy and versatile, with unique features such as the Magic Slide 2nd-row seats and an in-cabin vacuum for cleaning up unexpected spills. A camera mounted in the passenger side mirror helps when changing lanes, displaying a streaming image of the right lane whenever the turn signal is activated. The Kia Sedona, on the other hand, isn’t as well known and its resale values can’t touch those of the Odyssey. Early models offer a surprising number of high-end features including premium audio and entertainment setups, lounge chair seating and a heated steering wheel. Later models stay current with the latest collision avoidance systems and both vans score well in IIHS and government crash testing. The Sedona’s advantage lies in its weaker resale numbers, which means as a used prospect, you can get more features in a higher trim level than a similarly priced used Honda Odyssey. The Sedona also offers a longer standard warranty and a much better CPO warranty that restores the factory 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty.
Honda Odyssey Advantages
Magic Slide 2nd-row seats, built in vacuum on some models, good fuel economy, excellent resale values
Kia Sedona Advantages
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto on 2017 and later, high-end features, excellent CPO warranty, 2nd-row lounge seating, advanced infotainment and telematics
Similarities
8-passenger seating, strong V6, versatile seating configurations, high-tech features, good safety and crash test scores
Final Recommendation
The Honda Odyssey is the clear leader here in terms of resale, reliability and fuel economy. But the Sedona isn’t all that far behind in the reliability and fuel economy fields, and its upper-level trims offer features you can’t get on the Odyssey. The Sedona doesn’t hold its value as well, but that means you’ll likely be able to get a lot more used minivan for the money versus the Odyssey.
OK, so what’s next?
I’m ready for one of these cars, and I’d like to trade in my current car while I’m at it.
