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Honda Odyssey vs. Toyota Sienna
We're starting up a new comparision topic since the Odyssey just had a redesign for 2005 and the Sienna is still very fresh, so if you're comparing the newest model Honda and Toyota minivans, join in here.
Steve, Host
Steve, Host
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2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Members of the press have named the 2005 Honda Odyssey as a semi-finalist for "Car of the Year" to be named at the Detroit Auto Show in January.
The only way Toyota can beat it is to turn the Sienna over to Lexus.
Car of the year doesn't mean better than Bmmer, Lexus, Merc.
Car of the year can be a Civic, a Focus, can be a Kia...As long as it's creative enough for that model year.
While I don't know how the auto show classifies a truck from a car, it is more likely that the Odyssey is a candidate for 'Truck of the Year'.
Past winners of "Car of the Year"
2004, Toyota Prius
2003, BMW Mini Cooper
2002, Nissan Altima
2001, Chrysler PT Cruiser
2000, Ford Focus
1999, Chevy Corvette
Looks like you don't know the criteria or meaning to be car/truck of the year. Find out before you make yourself a fool here among those who know.
WHO GIVES THE AWARDS? - This year the awards were given by a group of 49 full-time automotive journalists from Canada and the United States. While the awards are announced at the North American International Auto Show, the show
does not give the awards.
HOW ARE THE AWARDS CHOSEN? - The awards are designed to recognize the most outstanding vehicles of the year based on factors including innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value for the dollar.
ELIGIBILITY - Vehicles must be new "substantially changed" from the previous model.
HOW DO THE JURORS VOTE? - Jurors are given 25 points to divide among cars and trucks. However, no more than 10 points may be given to a single vehicle. The ballots are counted by Deloitte. The three finalists in each category are released in mid-December but until the news conference in January only Richard Gabrys, the vice chairman of Deloitte, knows the winners.
HISTORY - The awards were started in 1993, were first given in January 1994, and were modeled after the Car of the Year in Europe. They are administered by a seven-person organizing committee and funded by dues paid by
the jurors.
As the Sienna was a 2004 canidate, I would imagine the Ody would fall to the car category.
Also, Sienna XLE LTD has power lumbar support (Driver), and 3rd row sunshades as standard equipment. Minor things like faux wood and gated is also in the Sienna.
Now, Odyssey have faux Aluminum, and Cylinder Deactivation and noise cancellation technology (which, mind you, is just covering up noise & fooling our ears.) And 3rd Row sunshades as optional.
Now, I hate Honda for putting important buttons on the dash to the left of steering wheel. Moonroof on the dash. Why can't they just get it right and put it on the overhead console? But all this is just personal preference.
Your best guess is fine
Does that mean you should always buy a Honda - NO! Even if you get a good deal on either brand, make sure you REALLY like it before you buy. Do not buy just for resale, you will not be HAPPY.
Resale values are driven by a lot of factors, most important of them being reliability. I think the perception is that Hondas are more reliable - although, it does not come close to Toyota in comfort and luxury. And you know what's ironic - Honda is considered a cheap brand in Japan compared to Toyota.
http://www.alg.com/news-information.asp?page=news_depreciation_ra- - tings
What I liked the most about the Ody over Sienna: The engine was really smooth, responsive, and powerfull, the handling was excellent for a van. The pickup of the Ody was very good. In comparison, the Sienna was a joke - weak engine and coushy handling. When I tried to gain some speed while merging to the freeway, the Sienna did not respond much. So I push the gas pedal a bit more down, this time, the Sienna's engine rev'd up too high and too soon, caused a big jerking feel - very unpleasant.
I also liked the Ody power sliding doors better than the Sienna's. I felt they were more sensitive to pressure.
The tailgate of the Ody was not as heavy as I thought originally. I thought it was a deal-breaker for us because the EX-L lacked the power tailgate. But it was very easy for my preganant wife to close it. Thus this "must have" item is off her list now.
It was a breeze to fold down the 3rd row seats, easier than Sienna, and much easier than the 2nd gen Ody.
What I liked the least of the Ody were the steering wheel - I can't believe it's not leather-wrapped for a $30k+ vehicle, just rediculous. I also felt the Ody was much smaller than the Sienna. I knew it was smaller in dimention just a bit, but I guess the interior color of the Ody, which was a dark gray, did help either. It made the van feel smaller than it actually should. But in any case, I like the Ivory interior better, just need to see one in person.
Both me and my wife felt the Ody's driver side seat was not as comfy as the Sienna's. The lumber support wasn't that good.
I also felt that the visibility to the left rear side was poor when changing lane to the left. The dealership put the window sticker on the 2rd row driver side window. So when I was merging to the freeway, I could not see anything when turned my head to the left. So I rolled down the 2nd row window, it was better, but still not as good as the Sienna's.
Specs:
http://pressroom.toyota.com/presstxt/2005toyotakit/2005_Sienna_s.- - pdf
Features:
http://pressroom.toyota.com/presstxt/2005toyotakit/2005_Sienna_f.- - pdf
Options:
http://pressroom.toyota.com/presstxt/2005toyotakit/2005_Sienna_o.- - pdf
It will be interesting to see what the resl-world Sienna pricing ends up being. If the LE package 6 (safety stuff + power seat) has TMV in the 26-27 range (like today), it might make it hard to justify the EX-L at 4-5K more.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
You don't think the factory-to-dealer incentive and cheap lease on the '04 Ody hurt resale values? Think again.
Who cares what the residual off MSRP of a GM car is if you paid 6K below MSRP? In real world terms, it might well work out to be the same actual depreciation.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Will try to get to the Toyota dealer this week to do a refresher drive in a Sienna (haven't driven one since last December). At least now an LE is in the cards, since she wants a power drivers seat, but I don't think we want to give up the moonroof, so it may require an XLE.
Wonder what street prices on an XLE with the safety, leather and roof will be vs. an EX-L Ody?
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I wonder if Honda had this figured out before the new Ody design was finalized?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1145-2004Sep6.html
Apparently NOT! http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=100856
Steve, Host
Steve, Host
Steve, Host
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
If the cheap lease deal has hurt the Odyssey then www.kbb.com did not get the memo. They are saying my 2004 Odyssey EX-RES with 5,000 miles is still worth $25,900 to a dealer. I know these figures can be inflated but www.carmax.com has a van identical to mine that they are selling for $25,998 with 5,000 more miles and no DVD system. My cap cost on the lease was $26,xxx.
In this case (but not every case), people who scapped up an '04 for 3k+ off MSRP can end up with very little s/t depreciation.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
They said "if whatever is causing the CR-V engine fires could also cause the new Ody to catch fire". (Key question) "I wonder if Honda had this figured out before the new Ody design was finalized". As the dated link (Posted Date: 9/21/04) states "Honda engineers 'as puzzled as anyone' by recent CR-V fires".
The Odyssey was supposed to be released on 9/22, the design was probably finalized months ago. So therefore the answer to the question is .NO, they didn’t have it figured out before the design was finalized!
I'm well aware of Honda’s platforms; see the last sentence in post #41. I can't believe how blown out of proportion this link has become, in the future I'll be more careful not to say anything that could be misconstrued........done, end of explanation, see ya!
After much, much anticipation of the 2005 Odyssey, I have been to a Honda dealership 3 times since last Saturday and test drove an EXL with RES tonight. We then went back to the Toyota Dealership and drove the Sienna XLE. I've been to Nissan, Toyota, and Odyssey dealerships on at least 3 occasions (5 for Nissan).
My impressions of each vehicle are:
Chrysler Town & Country: Lots of useful storage. We sat in the top of the line $37,000 van and I was so unimpressed with the interior styling - leather looked really cheap and controls looked dated - that I choose not to test drive. This was a complete personal preference. I was trying to like it since my grandparents just bought one and love it.
Nissan Quest: Tons of fun, poor reliability. Last time I looked at a Nissan the steering column cover was wobbling and this affirmed my perception of questionable quality. However, I love the sunroofs, dash, and styling. If I was more comfortable with Nissan Quality and resale value - this might have been at the top of my list. Man, does that full length skylight ROCK. Why can't Odyssey copy this?
Honda Odyssey - Practical and Sporty, a tad low on luxury. I still feel that the Sienna takes the cake on Luxury, but the new 05 Odyssey is oh so close. The Odyssey feels smaller for some reason than the Sienna. I think it has less internal volume and the side and rear windows are proportioned differently which causes the impression of a more cramped minivan. Engine is more responsive and seemingly powerful than Sienna. The ease of use of the rear fold down seats is phenomenal and better than the Sienna. Once you start the motion of the flip down, the seat folds down on its own under gravity and spring tension. Super easy.
Toyota Sienna - luxury and soft ride, lacking in power. A few more standard features (compass, power rear, etc). Sick of over pricing of features. Many Toyota dealerships can't say anything when I show them the ~$32,410 price for EXL with DVD Res (2005). The competition between the Sienna and Odyssey is now hairsplitting. I can't seem to have anybody even offer me a Sienna XLE for the price of the Odyssey with DVD Res. I tried, I emailed 8 or 9 dealerships in Colorado a few days ago.
Trying to have fun is at least half my money. Therefore, we decided to go with Nighthawk Black Pearl with Ivory interior on an EXL with DVDRes. I think the Black Odyssey will have a bit of "attitude" with the tinted windows and chrome wheels. This is FUN! We went in to place a deposit on a Sage Brush Pearl Odyssey with Ivory seats, but that was placed on hold earlier in the day. At first we were disappointed, but a Nighthawk Black Pearl Honda Pilot was on the showroom floor and my wife was completely impressed with the color. The black has a blue hue under certain light which is a nice effect.
After test driving the Sienna within 1 hour of the Odyssey, my wife jumped out and looked at me with a big smile and said the Sienna was no longer in the running. As a matter of fact, she said she would not buy the Sienna unless it sold for LESS than the new Odyssey. Hence, we have a $500 deposit holding our new Odyssey to be built at the end of the month and delivered by the end of October. All the Odysseys on the lot at John Elway Honda in Denver, CO were sold. I think 3 hondas coming in had deposits. They were only getting about 10 to 15 hondas over the next 3 months and I snatched up one of them.
I can go into many other details, but I'm glad the search is over. All minivans offer great features. I can't look down on any person for choosing an Odyssey, Sienna, or Quest because I still like features on all those models. But for me, the new Odyssey styling, performance, and features pushed us into the Honda camp. In my mind, there is more to get on this vehicle than all others. I can't wait for the new van, if anything to help our cramped lifestyle!
Now The Odyssey, although it has some more hp, it has just 250 lb.-ft. of torque @ 5000 rpm, and the curb weight (Touring) is 4630 Lbs.! (According to Honda).
You should already know that lb.-ft. of torque @ xx rpm is more important for acceleration than horsepower. Can anybody explain me how Sienna is sluggish?
I still remember (not too long ago) when the Sienna came out how everybody was impressed with the smooth power. Now because the Odyssey raised the bar to 255 hp, Siennas all of a sudden are getting "sluggish"??
Now if Toyota can get their smart engineers to put a 6-CD changer behind the NAV screen instead of a single CD player, and give the Sienna the same Lexus NAV, but keep the price the same, it will be even more interesting.