The sheet metal has been carefully sculpted. A crease tapers down from the steeply sloping windshield to the grille, falling between the big wedge-shaped headlights and the small sharp corners of two horizontal grille openings, long black slots with a single chrome strip in each, and Kia badge in center. The fascia/bumper under the grille is thick, with an air intake having cage-like slats to keep out stones. Tidy fog lamps on the EX surround the intake, inside cavities that sweep up at the corners to match the lines of the headlamps.

The wheelwell flares are nicely done. They don't go out of their way to be noticed, by being bigger than they need to be; they carry just the right squared-off but smooth edges. They're sculpted by the same knife that carved the beltline running from the headlamps to taillights. The standard six-spoke, 16-inch wheel covers are nothing special, but the 10-spoke, 17-inch alloys that come with the EX are beautiful and elegant, sending a message that this minivan has style.

The sides of the Sedona aren't too busy, given all they have to do; dings are caught by a low, thick, body-colored horizontal strip, and there's a necessary gash under each third window for the sliding rear doors. The trailing edge of that third window matches the modest slope of the roofline.

The rear view is functional, with a big rear window and taillights whose shape matches the lines of the rest of the vehicle. From the rear, the Sedona lacks style; it could be any minivan.

The shorter, SWB version rides a wheelbase of only 113.8 inches, which is 5.1 inches shorter than the more popular, LWB models. At 189.4 inches overall, the SWB is 12.6 inches shorter, bumper-to-bumper, than the LWB versions. All of this length seems to have come out of the Sedona's hindquarters, which are noticeably stubbier in the shortie version. There's far less wraparound to the rear bumper; the slot for the sliding rear door almost reaches the tail light, and the rear wheel tucks up tighter against the rear edge of the sliding side door. The shorter minivan's greenhouse seems proportioned just right for a compact station wagon, although of course the lower portion of the vehicle remains mini-van tall. Overall, the chop job has been very well handled, with little compromise in Sedona's appearance.