The Kia Sedona is one of the most popular non-Japanese minivans available in the United States, competing with the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna, as well as with US offerings like the Dodge Grand Caravan, Chrysler Town & Country, and Chrysler Pacifica. The Sedona has developed a reputation as an affordable alternative to the Sienna and Odyssey, and fills a niche for families interested in safety and reliability without the top sticker prices of the more famous minivans on the market. I borrowed a new and old Sedona this weekend in order to see how well they worked when it came to 3 across installations in a Kia Sedona.
It’s a good idea to review best practice principles when it comes to car seat safety, and that means rear-facing children as long as possible (ideally until 4!), and then forward-facing our kiddos as long as feasible (ideally until 6!), and then placing them in booster seats until they’re capable of using a regular seat belt (which typically happens between 10 and 12). These guidelines are meant to keep our little ones as safe as possible by restraining them appropriately as long as feasible.
However, to apply best practices, we need to know which car seats we’re going to be able to use in the Kia Sedona, which is why I wrote this guide. I had a small army of car seats available in my garage and got to work. Several hours later, I came up with what I believe to be the most detailed list of 3 across combinations possible in the Kia Sedona. It’s not a complete list, but it’s off to a very strong start. If you find the list helpful when shopping for car seats for your Sedona, you can show your support by shopping through my Amazon link below. I’ll add more seats as I test them over time.
You can access the complete 3 across guide for every vehicle here and the complete list of recommended seats here. The Canadian car seat guide is here. 3 across car seat images are courtesy of Wikipedia.
2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 Kia Sedona
Guaranteed 3 across installations:
2nd or 3rd row:
Clek Fllo (x3).
Clek Foonf (x3).
Combi Coccoro (x3).
2nd row only:
Diono Radian / RXT, Britax Boulevard ClickTight, Graco TurboBooster.
Diono Radian / RXT, Britax Boulevard G4.1, Graco TurboBooster.
Diono Radian / RXT, Britax Boulevard G4, Graco TurboBooster.
Diono Radian / RXT, Britax Marathon ClickTight, Graco TurboBooster.
Diono Radian / RXT, Britax Marathon G4.1, Graco TurboBooster.
Diono Radian / RXT, Britax Marathon G4, Graco TurboBooster.
Diono Radian / RXT, Britax Roundabout G4.1, Graco TurboBooster.
Diono Radian / RXT, Britax Roundabout G4, Graco TurboBooster.
Britax Roundabout G4.1, Recaro Performance RIDE, Graco TurboBooster.
Britax Roundabout G4.1, Recaro ProRIDE, Graco TurboBooster.
Diono Radian / RXT, Britax Parkway SGL, Diono Radian / RXT.
Britax Parkway SGL, Graco My Ride 65, Diono Radian / RXT.
Tips and Tricks:
This generation of the Kia Sedona is 201 inches long and 78 inches wide, or 1 inch shorter than the previous generation. This means that in general, any car seat configurations you can install in the previous generation will work well in this generation. It’s important to note that the 3rd row is much narrower than the 2nd row, and you’re only going to be able to fit the narrowest of seats (17″ or narrower) in 3 across configurations there. The 2nd row is much more amenable, although you’ll need an 8-passenger Sedona to get any 3 across configurations to work, of course.
2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 Kia Sedona
Guaranteed 3 across installations:
Clek Fllo (x3).
Clek Foonf (x3).
Combi Coccoro (x3).
Diono Radian / RXT, Britax Boulevard ClickTight, Graco TurboBooster.
Diono Radian / RXT, Britax Boulevard G4.1, Graco TurboBooster.
Diono Radian / RXT, Britax Boulevard G4, Graco TurboBooster.
Diono Radian / RXT, Britax Marathon ClickTight, Graco TurboBooster.
Diono Radian / RXT, Britax Marathon G4.1, Graco TurboBooster.
Diono Radian / RXT, Britax Marathon G4, Graco TurboBooster.
Diono Radian / RXT, Britax Roundabout G4.1, Graco TurboBooster.
Diono Radian / RXT, Britax Roundabout G4, Graco TurboBooster.
Britax Roundabout G4.1, Recaro Performance RIDE, Graco TurboBooster.
Britax Roundabout G4.1, Recaro ProRIDE, Graco TurboBooster.
Diono Radian / RXT, Britax Parkway SGL, Diono Radian / RXT.
Britax Parkway SGL, Graco My Ride 65, Diono Radian / RXT.
Tips and Tricks:
This generation of the Kia Sedona is 202 inches long and 78 inches wide, which means 3 across installations are going to be rather easy to accomplish, both in terms of width and in terms of front-to-back length. However, it’s important to note that you can’t achieve a 3 across installation in the 3rd row with the Diono Radian / RXT in the center seat of the 3rd row; it needs to be in an outboard position.
If you find my information on best practices in car and car seat safety helpful, you can do your shopping through this Amazon link. Canadians can shop here for Canadian purchases. Have a question or want to discuss best practices? Join us in the forums!