Yes, it is an interference engine. I was just reading this week an article on kiatechinfo.com, which is free for anyone to register, that clarified almost all of Kia's engines, including the 3.5L 6 cylinder, are interference designs. If I find the article, I will post the number here in this thread.

We just replaced the timing belt last week on a 2002 Sedona EX. Cost was $344.95 plus tax which was quite reasonable. The other dealer in our area wanted $453.

I always decide what service *I* want performed. Paying for the '60k service' is a recipe for paying too much.
For $680 plus tax on our 2002 Sedona EX, we recently did the following:
* timing belt
*fuel system service (injectors, throttle body, etc)
*transmission flush
*tune-up (new spark plugs, etc)
*serpentine belt

This seemed like a pretty good price to me. The other local dealer wanted $360 to change the spark plugs!

 

We just replaced the timing belt last week on a 2002 Sedona EX. Cost was $344.95 plus tax which was quite reasonable. The other dealer in our area wanted $453.

This seemed like a pretty good price to me. The other local dealer wanted $360 to change the spark plugs!

It was a good price. I wish I'd read this forum before I let my wife buy our 2005 Sedona. What a POS. My 2002 Chrysler T&C doesn't even HAVE the OHC belt to break, mash the valves, trash the engine. Or cost over $600 every 60K to replace to minimize the chance of breakage. What idiot designed an interference engine for an "economy" automobile line? Which moron shoehorned that mismatched engine into a mom-mobile? What idiot let a mom buy one? oops.

 

ok, here is the wording from the 'Tech Times' article on www.kiatechinfo.com:

Tech Line tells us they get a fair amount of calls asking about valve/piston interference on our engines. The Sportage and Sephia/Spectra are the only "freewheeling engines." The valves do not interfere with the pistons if the timing belt fails. All other Kia engines are "interference engines.” The valves may interfere with the pistons if valve timing is off.

The article is from early 2005 and the article number is KT20050302142. I hope this helps.