Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
2014 Honda Odyssey
I'm finally ready to replace my 2000 Odyssey. It has been a great car and we loved it. I'd really like to get adaptive cruise control, I know the Accord has it and the high end Sienna does. Any chance the Odyssey will in 2014?
Tagged:
0
Comments
They've done some minor re-styling and have added a gimmicky feature that's getting all the attention -- a built-in shopvac in the back of the car that is powered by the car and with a hose that can reach the entire interior. But the feature I really want to see is they have updated the center panel controls to have a second touch screen -- in addition to the nav screen -- to control most of the audio and climate functions and they have incorporated Hondalink, which they first released in the Accord refresh last fall. It syncs with your phone's Internet connection and provides Internet-based radio stations, weather, traffic, restaurant and gas lookup, etc.. It can also read your texts, Facebook and Twitter feeds. And it syncs with an app on your phone that you can use to program your favorite radio stations, get service reminders, review your trip maps, etc. It can also continue to play your radio stations after you leave the car on your phone. It all sounds great on paper and I like new tech. But I want to see how well it actually works in practice since most of the other car touch screens I have used all are terrible and distracting, particularly all the iterations of the Ford/Mercury system -- you're better off without the touch screen if they are as bad as that. They have also added a blind spot camera that shows a video of the blind spot on the right side of the car in the nav screen.
I'm not clear yet whether all this will only be available on the Elite edition and for how much of a premium. Their press release attributed all their changes to the Elite model but I doubt they would only give their top model 100% of their changes year-over-year.
Pretty much a bust and annoying that you have to pay for it. They have the 204 on a turnstile, robed off, so you can't see it up close nor see the interior at all, nor play with the features like the vacuum or Hondalink. Further, the people manning their booth don't know very much -- less than anyone reading this site -- and even if they did they have been ordered not to say anything that isn't in the press release. Obviously that means no pricing or release date and no hint as to which changes would be on any model other than the Elite. But they couldn't even tell you details about the features on the elite, such as the functionality of the nav system or Hondalink and whether it will be identical to the existing iteration in the Accord or in any way different.
I did play with Hondalink in the accord, and the Acura equivalent in another vehicle. It's nice, but probably not a show stopper in terms of waiting for the new vehicle. It seems to use a updated version of the nav system that's in the 2013 Odyssey. The maps now have a Garmin-like 3D angle to them rather than a being straight down from above look -- the angle is more subtle than with Garmin though . It's clearly the same system, just revised. Also, you can use the Hondalink Touch Screen to type in your street address or places rather than the scroll wheel -- you have the choice of the wheel, the touch screen or voice.
They couldn't confirm that the nav system still won't lock out features while driving, a rumor I heard they were adopting. But the Acura rep was much more knowledgable and she assured me the 2014 models are not doing that with Acura so perhaps that means they still won't with Honda.
That's about it. I also checked out all the other new SUV's at the show -- there were no other new mini vans premiering. The Toyota Highlander is all new -- but won't launch publicly until next January. It now has 8 seats instead of 7.
Do the new features mentioned come on all models or just the top of the line? (Specifically the keyless ignition and the new dashboard controls)?
Any ideas as to release date?
If I can currently get the exl for 30k before tax what can I expect to pay for the 2014 exl?
Thanks
In past when I purchased Hondas they used to give me a Radio code (4 digit number).
For my 2014 EX, they did not provide me. The dealer claims that Honda stopped Radio code starting 2014. Is this true?
Please advise.
Thank you for your time.
You can tune the radio to CH0000 and the number will show. The procedure is in the owners manual.