Compare the2018 GMC AcadiaVS 2019 Kia Sedona

The Acadia Denali’s optional pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Sedona doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Acadia are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Sedona doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Acadia has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Sedona doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

The Acadia offers all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Sedona doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.

The GMC Acadia has Daytime Running Lights to help keep it more visible under all conditions. Canadian government studies show that driving with lights during the day reduces accidents by 11% by making vehicles more conspicuous. The Sedona doesn’t offer Daytime Running Lights.

The Acadia has standard OnStar®, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to get turn-by-turn driving directions, remotely unlock your doors if you lock your keys in, help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Sedona doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.

Both the Acadia and the Sedona have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, rearview cameras, available crash mitigating brakes, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, around view monitors and rear cross-path warning.

The Acadia’s corrosion warranty is 1 year longer than the Sedona’s (6/100,000 vs. 5/100,000).

GMC pays for scheduled maintenance on the Acadia for 2 years and 24,000 miles. GMC will pay for oil changes, lubrication and any other required maintenance (up to 2 oil changes). Kia doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the Sedona.

There are over 2 times as many GMC dealers as there are Kia dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Acadia’s warranty.

The Acadia’s optional 3.6 DOHC V6 produces 34 more horsepower (310 vs. 276) and 23 lbs.-ft. more torque (271 vs. 248) than the Sedona’s 3.3 DOHC V6.

As tested in Car and Driver the GMC Acadia V6 is faster than the Kia Sedona:

On the EPA test cycle the Acadia FWD V6 gets better highway fuel mileage than the Sedona (18 city/25 hwy vs. 18 city/24 hwy).

In heavy traffic or at stoplights the Acadia 4 cyl.’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. The engine is automatically restarted when the driver gets ready to move again. (Start/Stop isn’t accounted in present EPA fuel mileage tests.) The Sedona doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

The Acadia has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Sedona doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

The Acadia’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs on the Sedona are solid, not vented.

For better traction, the Acadia’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Sedona (245/65R17 vs. 235/65R17).

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Acadia offers optional 20-inch wheels. The Sedona’s largest wheels are only 19-inches.

The GMC Acadia’s wheels have 6 lugs for longer wheel bearing life, less chance of rotor warping and greater strength. The Kia Sedona only has 5 wheel lugs per wheel.

The Acadia has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The Sedona doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

The Acadia offers an available driver-adjustable suspension system. It allows the driver to choose between an extra-supple ride, reducing fatigue on long trips, or a sport setting, which allows maximum control for tricky roads or off-road. The Sedona’s suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

The GMC Acadia may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 200 to 450 pounds less than the Kia Sedona.

The Acadia is 7.8 inches shorter than the Sedona, making the Acadia easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The front grille of the Acadia FWD 4 cyl. uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Sedona doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Acadia uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Sedona doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

The Acadia has .5 inches more front headroom, .1 inches more front legroom and .2 inches more rear headroom than the Sedona.

Pressing a switch automatically lowers the Acadia’s second row seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The Sedona doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

Maximum trailer towing in the Kia Sedona is limited to 3500 pounds. The Acadia offers up to a 4000 lbs. towing capacity.

The Acadia uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Sedona uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

The Acadia’s standard front power windows lower with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside of the car. The Sedona’s power windows’ passenger windows don’t open automatically.

The Acadia’s speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The Sedona’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

The Acadia’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Kia only offers heated mirrors on the Sedona EX/SX/SXL.

The Acadia SLT/Denali has standard automatic dimming rear and side view mirrors which automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Sedona offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

The Acadia has a standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. Dual zone air conditioning is only available on the Sedona EX/SX/SXL.

The Acadia will cost the buyer less in the long run because of its superior resale value. The IntelliChoice estimates that the Acadia will retain 46.28% to 52.71% of its original price after five years, while the Sedona only retains 36.26% to 39.36%.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Acadia is less expensive to operate than the Sedona because typical repairs cost less on the Acadia than the Sedona, including $17 less for fuel injection and $39 less for front struts.

The GMC Acadia outsold the Kia Sedona by almost five to one during 2017.