Road Test: Kia Sedona 2.9 CRDi GS 5dr

People carriers are COOL again. But before you reel from the shock of that statement appearing in Top Gear, I need to quantify it. Some people carriers are cool, others sadly are not.

Take the all-new Kia Sedona for instance. The old one was the best-selling large MPV among private buyers and the new one is just as value conscious.

The range starts from £15,995, but the diesels begin at £17,495. Our LS test car was a hefty £19,495, which puts it firmly in Ford Galaxy territory. Oh dear.

Yes, the Sedona is absolutely vast in the back. You get seven individual seats, and you could cram it full of six-foot-plus adults and no one would complain of being cramped.

And yes, the LS also has powered sliding rear doors, so access is easier in tight spaces. Plus, a rear DVD screen can be yours to keep the children happy for about £800.

But it all feels like this car should have been launched five or six years ago. The dash is neat, but dated, and the engine is reasonably quick but also not that refined.

Jump from a galaxy into the Sedona and you would have thought that you weren't talking about the same model cycles.

Kia hasn't gone with fold-flat seats because it feels they compromise the interior space too much, but this simply leaves the age-old dilemma of where to put them. This only reinforces the feeling of advancing years. And that isn't cool.