Honda Odyssey ...good & bad

[Dictator]

Well, I disagree about your bullying. Lots of one and two sentence posts disagreeing with others gets old. Your tone comes across as arrogant and obnoxious. You are tiresome when you repeat the same stuff over and over and do not actually have a conversation. We got your point.Too bad you refuse to acknowledge others' points.

I will probably never buy a GM or a Chrysler made car either. I think they suck and they have for a long time. A Subaru, sure, they've been a consistent quality car in several of their lines. But like the KIA, a Subaru is also a different class of car. With some companies, while the type of car might be similar, they are still apples and oranges. There is no way an Audi A4 convertible is comparable to a Pontiac whatever convertible. That is the point a few folks have tried to make and you do not get. You are missing the point that Toyota Sienna and Honday Odyssey have very long track records of being safe and reliable minivans. KIA does not yet have that kind of reputation. For those of us who remember the fires, tip overs and other problems KIA had when it came out, KIA is and always wpill be, an inexpensive car that has a lot of problems in its history. It's going to take a lot more good ratings to lessen those first impressions.

You "think" they suck. That's not a fact. That's an opinion. The FACT is the GM is making good cars again. Chrysler still has a way to go. But the Chrysler of 2 years ago is not the Chrysler of today. I completely understand the how and why of people's perceptions with regards to auto manufacturers. Again, it's funny how people jump all over Chrysler/GM, while completely ignoring the troubles of toyota and honda.

And yes, comparing a luxury vehicle like Audi to a pontiac is apple and oranges (although performance wise, the pontiac solstice has been clocked faster). Comparing Kia to Honda is not. It's more akin to comparing a Green Apple to Red Apple.

You pay a premium for the "H" badge on grill/hood of the vehicle. Just because it has that badge, does not automatically make it a better product. I understand that they have a better track record. Kia has made tremendous strides. Those in the auto industry recognize this. Until the rest of car buyers wake up and see it for themselves, they will continue to be second tier to the big two japanse producers.
Those who are aware of the quality they put out now, buy them at a much lower price and pocket the savings.
If you aren't one of them, so be it.

So in the end, it seems you don't get my point. Seems to me you wanted to do some bullying of you own. I see you have Honda. Now I understand you defensiveness

 

[nickspace]

Love our 06 Odyssey!

 

[midas]

How do the newer ones go in winter weather (snow and/or slush)?

 

[jennilynn510]

How do the newer ones go in winter weather (snow and/or slush)?

wow all this info is great !!! thank you soooo much, i'm pretty sold now & i was liking the new nissan minivan. what abt the winter weather ?? things get pretty nasty here in WPA in the winter ?

 

[walkdmc]

I've had mine for 6 years. It has over 130,000 miles and (knock wood) never one problem aside from usual maintenance-brakes, timing belt, new tires. The sliding doors still work like a charm, as does the DVD player.

It's great on gas, getting about 26 mph highway, takes low-test gas. The leather interior still looks fantastic, no rips/stains/frays, nothing. The carpet is another issue...but we're hard on cars. The shocks are fantastic. The ride is so much smoother than most other cars I've ridden in and after 6 years, it still feels as good as day #1. I think mine came with McPherson shocks.

The cons:
1. we live on a steep hill and during the winter snow, forget about getting up that hill. We live in PA and for the last 3 Winters had studded snow tires installed and voila...problem fixed.
2. My 2004 back door is very heavy and needs to be opened/closed manually. The third row seating is also very heavy and if it needs to be put down, it's very very heavy and difficult. I don't think anyone with back issues/pregnant/bad arthritis/rheumatoid arthritis should even attempt to lower the back seat. Maybe they've changed this? I hope they did.
3. the spare tire is very difficult to access. We've never had to (again, knock wood) but we were shown how to get to it upon buying the car. Truthfully, I would never be able to access it without looking it up in the manual.
4. The entertainment center came with very bulky headphones that were supposed to allow the front seat passengers to listen to music while the back seat wore the the headphones and could hear the movie in the DVD. We were never able to get the headphones to work and they're way too big for even a 5 yo kid! So, we all listen to kiddie movies.
5. The back windows don't go down, although I think the newer models do have windows that go down.

Despite my long list of cons, I'd buy another Odyssey in a heartbeat.

 

[walkdmc]

Oh, and I'm sure most minivans have this feature but we often rely on the safety door closure feature. If the door senses anything between it and the frame when closing, it stops, beeps and opens back up.

I read about this feature before we went to the dealership. I asked the sales guy about it and he (OMG, LOL, I'm laughing just remembering this) stuck his hand in the door as it was closing, then he got scared when it got close and yanked his hand out. He seemed embarrassed and luckily, a colleague was walking past and saw what happened. The other guy came over and showed us that the door actually has to "feel" your hand while it's closing but it does indeed work. The first guy just had to leave his hand in there a little longer.

 

[disneymarie]

2002 Odysee Van. now has 93,000 the only thing I keep saying is the breaks seem to replace a lot more often then any other cars. They are $$$ too.

Our Honda Civic 2002, made in US not canada, had problems with the transmission. It heated so hot during long trips that shards of metal came off in the bell and clogged the filter....my non mechanic memory. But as long time cosumers, they replaced and we had to pay half the labor, came to $250.

The belts on they Odysee are needing replace, timeing belt, items related to maintance. Like new inside, no wear and tear, near new looking. lots of storage. THe gas is a bit expensive for the 20 gal tank.

I love the captain chair for support of my arms.
the only thing I think I would like better, would be the Honda Pilot.

 

[JollyHoliday]

I have a 2002 Odyssey EX-L and the transmission went at 80,000 miles. So we had it fixed and is now going again at 101,000 miles. No I am not a speed car racer,but I know they do have transmission problems. I like the van but I wish their warranty was better, we really wanted to get over 100,000 with no major problems.

 

[mjkacmom]

I wish I had an oddesy (but price is too much of a factor)

I would never get one with a power side door. I have heard terrible things about having to get that repaired

I noticed someone suggested lookig at kia's. IMO telling someone looking at Honda vans to look at a Kia would be like tellig a BMW shopper that Fords are cheaper.

There is nothing that rivals a Honda Oddessy

I LOVE my automatic doors! My first minivan didn't have them (Windstar - yuck), so I appreciated them even more. My van is almost 8 years old, and they broke once, and it was covered by the warrantly at the time. I am the carpool queen, and love those doors.

 

[Soccerpooh]

We have owned 3- a 2000, a 2005 and just purchased a 2010. LOVE them all! We traded the 2000 one in for the 2010, and it had 197,000 miles on it. It never needed a major repair, just normal wear and tear issues- new brakes, belts, etc. The 2005 now has 125,000 miles on it and it drives almost as nice as our new 2010. IMO, you cannot beat the reliability!
As far as how it handles in the winter, I cannot complain. We get some pretty good snow storms her in Indiana (not like PA, but still somewhat comparable) and I like how it handles. It may not get through the deep snow, but I am not sure many minivans would. But when driving on snow or ice, it handles great. It has a Traction Control system that lets you know when you are sliding even before you feel it.
If you are planning on getting a 2010 it may be hard to find. We wanted the EX and not the EX-L or touring edition, and it was really hard to find. There were lots of the higher end models left, but the mid level ones were difficult. It took a lot of searching, but we found one. They are really popular in our area. We laugh when we go to soccer tournaments- the parking lots are full Odesseys! Apparently it is the Soccermoms vehicle of choice!

 

[smile750]

Oh, now I am sad! I didn't get the leather, and had a entertainment system put in by Honda, for almost the same cost as the leather package (the system broke years ago). I had 5 in carseats, and was worried about the leather. Should've gotten the leather...

I got the EX - no leather and had dual headrest dvd players installed at local Auto Image for about $1000. I love it! Kids can watch different things and no fighting! Wireless headphones came with it I'm in heaven. Also, added Sirius radio to car with feature called "backseat tv" - we get three satellite channels - nickelodeon, disney channel and cartoon network. Awesome for kids up to 10 I would guess. Takes the worry out of making sure I have the DVD's with me for long trips.

Best is also that these headrests basically matched my tan interior (my headrests came out). When I buy new car, I can just remove and put into the new car. If it's a different color, they can be dyed to match! Best $1000 I ever spent.

 

[FarmDisney]

We bought our Odyssey new in 2001. I absolutely loved it! My husband and three oldest kids were in a bad car accident about 1 month ago, and thankfully, the Honda lived up to its safety ratings - only one broken finger and one broken collar bone.

Ours was 9 years old with 125,000 miles on it - no complaints! We had to use the key to open the back door, but we had broken something on it during a vacation to Disney.

Absolutely no complaints, and it did great for us during the winter!

We needed to move up to an 8 seater, but we couldn't afford to buy a new minivan. The older 8 seat Odysseys just didn't seem like they would be big enough. We went with a used Toyota Sequoia - really miss the handling of my minivan and all the cargo space.

 

[TiggerTails57]

Love my 2010 had it since new.......we had the automatic doors worked on under warranty, other than that no problems. Love to have the room even now after my kids have left home. I'm hanging on to it!

 

[Kat77]

I have a 2002 Odyssey EX-L and the transmission went at 80,000 miles. So we had it fixed and is now going again at 101,000 miles. No I am not a speed car racer,but I know they do have transmission problems. I like the van but I wish their warranty was better, we really wanted to get over 100,000 with no major problems.

Same issue here. Transmission went out at 40,000 miles and Honda replaced it for free but now at 80,000 miles it has gone out again and we have a nifty repair bill of $5500! Nothing else has gone wrong on it but still very unhappy transmissions are only lasting me 40,000 a pop. Supposedly the newer transmissions do not have this issue We'll see...

 

[savannahcat]

We've owned our 2002 Odyssey for about 4 years now. Over 100K on it and absolutely no complaints. We love it and would buy another without hesitation. We'll be driving it to Orlando in January.

 

[benolathe]

Have a 2005 Odyssey and it is a great vehicle. All good - can't think of anything bad about it.

Ok, here are my very minor complaints about the van. As you can see, these are extremely minor, but still the only complaints/annoyances I have:

--position of clock is on right side of audio/GPS screen, so it is difficult for the driver to view the correct time, especially with sun/shadows positioning at times
-- no mute button on steering wheel for audio
-- driver's door does not stay open on its own. This is weird to describe, but if I push the door open to get out, and then pause to grab something, the door closes on me. I have to stick my leg hanging down so that the door stops at my leg instead of clicking closed.

Since my van is over 5 years old, it is quite possible that there have been design changes in the current versions.

 

[r&kmommy]

I had an 07 Ody and LOVED IT!!! I can not think of one bad thing to say about it. I never had one single problem with it. It felt like a luxury to drive, the kids were comfy and I loved that I could rearrange the seats and the back part could be a "well" or flat.

Sadly I turned it in when the lease was up. It was just too darn big for us (2 kids, me and dh) and I couldn't justify the $$ (we turned it in and got TWO NEW cars for $50 more per month than we were paying for just the van!)... if we had a bigger family though I totally would have kept it!

 

[MickeyMinnie1971]

We have a 2003 EX-L. We have had it over 7 years, and it has just over 100,000 miles on it. The only issue we have had was that the DVD player stopped transmitting to the wireless headphones for some reason. The whole system had to be removed to be fixed. It was covered under warranty though. Other than that we haven't had any problems, and have been very happy with it. It was our first Honda, but since then we bought a 2008 CR-V. We love it too.

 

[amwhitaker]

The things I don't like about my Odyssey are, and alot of these are just personal preferences:

1. When the driver tries opening the locked door, it doesn't automatically unlock. You have to hit the unlock button.
2. Driver door doesn't stay open unless you prop your leg to hold it open. Irritating if you are trying to gather things before stepping out of the van.
3. Arm rests are too low
4. Seats are uncomfortable. I would give anything for my comfy seats in my old Voyager.
5. Blind spot at windshield
6. You have to push high beam arm instead of pulling it. I've never owned a vehicle you have to push. It still drives me crazy!
7. I have a little grade to my driveway and the van will not go up in the winter if there is a couple of inches of snow. I've had to park it halfway up the driveway!

 

[Praying Colonel]

We have an 02 Odyssey and had the same transmission trouble described by others. Honda had extended the warranty on previous models, but in spite of the 02 having the same clear defect as previous models (just check any Odyssey forum to see how widespread it is), Honda refused to extend the warranty on the 02. Maybe the problem has been corrected in later models, but the way we were treated with our Odyssey leads me to say we'll never own another Honda.