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South Korean manufacturers have made great inroads in the North American market over the past few years, and have raised their quality level to the point their vehicles meet or exceed that of their Japanese and European rivals.

Hyundai's new Sonata model recently topped a Consumer Reports initial quality survey. And the auto maker's subsidiary, Kia, is one of the fastest-growing car companies in the world.

But there's one rather large hole in the North American model lineup of South Korean manufacturers -- they have almost nothing in the way of minivans. The sole exception is the Kia Sedona, which debuted in North America in 2002, when it was, for a brief time, the least expensive minivan sold in Canada. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case.

The 2005 Sedona starts at just under $27,000, which makes it tough sledding for the South Korean manufacturer these days when General Motors and Ford, for example, are offering similar units for thousands less. With GM's employee pricing plan, for example, you can pick up a Pontiac Montana for about $21,500.

Still, the Sedona can hold its own in terms of drivability, fit and finish, and in particular, equipment level.

Even the base LX has a pretty impressive list in its standard kit, including front and rear passenger air conditioning, power windows with one-touch express down, tilt steering, remote keyless entry, removable second- and third-row seats, and all the other modern conveniences we've come to expect these days.

My test car, the top-of-the-line EX Luxury, had all of the above, as well as a full leather interior, power sunroof, and heated front seats. It has a starting price of $31,695.

Regardless of the model, all Sedonas are powered by a 3.5-litre V-6 engine that develops 195 horsepower at 5,500 rpm and 218 lb-ft of torque at 3,500 rpm. Transmission is a five-speed automatic only.

This engine is used elsewhere by Kia, and puts the Sedona roughly in the middle of the power scale for minivans in Canada. It delivers fuel economy of 14.8 litres per 100 kilometres in town, and 9.6 L/100 km on the highway -- again, about in the middle of the pack.

As it turned out, my test Sedona was a long-termer. I had this vehicle for one full year, and accumulated about 13,000 km on it during that time.

It was used for around-town schlepping, several long-distance highway trips, and was taken camping at least once. It also saw duty as a camera shoot vehicle and helped me move my daughter into her university digs last fall. Aside from a few minor electrical glitches and gripes about the removable seats, my time with the Sedona was devoid of any kind of drama.

Regarding those removable seats: Both the second and third rows have wheels mounted on their underside, so that once you've taken them out of the vehicle, you can just roll them away. Having said that, these are heavy tuskers and have to be lined up just so before they lock back into place.

Kia is slightly behind most of the competition in seat technology here. Honda, Toyota, Mazda, and Ford all offer third-row seats that disappear into the floor, and Chrysler also has second-row seats that do the same thing with their Grand Caravan. Just goes to show how spoiled we're getting in this market, and how it's evolving; having seats that pop out and roll away apparently isn't good enough any more.

Where the Sedona really shines is in body-assembly quality. This is a tightly constructed minivan, with little in the way of highway or wind noise. I put a lot of highway miles on my tester and was constantly surprised at how quiet it was.

Can't say the same for the engine, though. Compared with the Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna, the Sedona's power plant is kind of rough around the edges. It's got enough spunk, but just makes a little more noise than some of the competition. Again, this could just be a matter of being spoiled; it's hardly obtrusive and only louder than its Japanese rivals because they make no noise at all.

In terms of interior cargo space, the Sedona lags behind the Odyssey, Sienna, Quest, Caravan et al, but does have the edge on the Mazda MPV. With both the second- and third-row seats out, it has 3,610 litres of space. By way of comparison, the Odyssey has 4,173 litres, while the Mazda MPV will hold 3,596 litres of stuff. There are also at least three power points inside the Sedona, which is handy.

The electrical glitches I found took the form of recalcitrant windshield wipers and an unpredictable air-conditioning system.

My test car had the optional rain-sensing automatic wiper system, which automatically increases the wipers' frequency when it starts to pour or you're splashed by a passing truck. Good in theory, but the system seemed to get discombobulated regularly and not go on when it was supposed to and vice versa. Ditto with the AC; you had to really crank it up to get results; it wasn't as efficient as it could have been. Sometimes it would work well, other times not.

Otherwise, the Sedona performed exactly as advertised. It's not exactly the kind of vehicle that gets your blood pumping; it just went about its business and did what was asked of it.

But isn't that what this market is all about?

tlaturnus@globeandmail.ca

Specifications

2005 Kia Sedona

Type: Four-door minivan

Starting Price: $26,995

Engine: 3.5-litre V6

Transmission: Five-speed automatic

Output: 195 hp/218 lb-ft of torque

Fuel economy (litres/100 km): 14.8 city/9.6 highway

Like: Interior cargo space; build quality; standard equipment level

Don't like: Optional wiper system; air conditioning