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Steve
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I get 21.5 MPG consistently on my commuting which is 40% highway and 60% city. I get about 26 MPG on all Interstate driving. I drive fast. I averaged over 75 MPH average on a 540 mile trip with 2 stops. (I was over 100 for some of the trip.)
CA adds MTBE to it's gas which probably hurts the milege a bit.
The sticker on the Odyssey list the mpg estimates from 17 city to 25 hwy.
I should state that the Odyssey is an awesome car after having the MBZ ML320 which isn't too bad either. I've got more room, more horse power, better fuel economy and (cross my fingers) better build quality.
19.5 mpg overall, mostly suburban driving with lots of stoplights and stopsigns, usually under 40 mph and rarely over 50 mph. No gridlock or 'stop and go' driving, though.
17-20 mpg in the city (lower in winter).
24-26 mpg during a few highway trips (with A/C at about 70 mph) with 2 adults, 2 kids and luggage.
87 octane gas almost exclusively.
Thanks,
Kiet
As far as getting a 2003 vs. a 2002: hmmm, I don't believe that price and features will be that different. Long-run value may differ enough to make a difference to you. Choice may depend on other personal factors and preferences of yours. Personally, I'd wait to get the '03, however, I could understand many good reasons for getting the '02 now, for example, if my current minivan was unreliable and near death, and my lovely wife was letting me know about this a couple times a day on a regular basis. The "I'm happy when she's happy" principle trumps most reasons for waiting :-).
Like bostongarden said there are some "major" determine factor how long can you wait? Look like you have time on your hands. Keep in mind if you want to get a good deal on Ody even for 2003, it's time to shop now. I think booking date for 2002 is almost over. You know Honda dealers will not have any left over 2002, there will not be any end of model year sale for 2002 ODY.
Good luck,
bjk
I assume it says milege will vary depending on lots of different stuff....
Do you think Honda recorded 26mpg going down hill with the wind behind them?
what was your point?
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/info.shtml
2001 Odyssey gets 210 hp, 229 ft-lbs of toque with 4 speed Trans, 2002 Odyssey gets 240 hp, 242ft-lbs of torque with 5 speed Trans.
According to Honda's estimate both 01 and 02 get the same MPG 18 City and 25 highway. Isn't it amazing? 01 uses 5W-30 oil and 02 uses 5W-20 oil. IT MUST BE THE OIL!.............
Regular commuting north of and into Boston every day - appx 17-18 mpg - 50/50 city/highway.
Throw in a weekend highway round trip to southern Maine or Cape Cod (200 miles round trip) and then commute a bit and it jumps to 21. I've never checked it after just the highway trips.
Steve
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SUVs, Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
I see larger engines today quite often getting similar milege to the smaller ones. I'm not sure if it's due to technology or oil or what?
So I wonder if a 2000 Odyessey used 5W-20, if they would get a boost in milege.
I did notice that a sticker under the hood says the coolent will last 1000k miles - which is another nice surprise with the Odyssey. This makes me want to put Synthetic Oil in so I can minimize mechanic time, which is a drag.
Heavy foot driver probably lower mileage 2002 Ody than 2001 Ody.
Normally, at this point in time we would have been given a "build out" on the 02...to change to the 03. That hasn't happened. The last allocation that I had was for 02 and that was for August builds with end of Aug/early Sept deliveries.
My last allocation was pretty screwed up too. We ordered color across the board and all we got was Silver and Redrock pearl..not a single Evergreen or Taffeta White.
Hopefully, next allocation will see the Sage Brush and Sandstone. No word on when Midnight Blue and Black will be available.
Sorry for not answering your posts, I do cruise through Edmunds, but my time is pretty limited now.
Jerry
No word at all on available colors.
Jerry
Wheel locks - your call. If someone really wants your wheels, they can take them. All you need is a jack and a long pipe that fits over the lock nut. Stomp on the pipe and the bolt snaps off.
Cargo mat and tray - yes to one or both. A tray will keep your rear well clean when the magic seat is being used. A mat will cover the whole rear cargo area when the seat is folded. Shop on line for these items - usually cheaper than the dealer.
then be sure to consider that dark colors look like hell after a garden rake is run down their sides.
I personally love dark blue, but with two young kids, my last car was a nightmare.
I'm happy to see that Honda provides jobs in the US by assembling cars here unlike General Motors who seems to favor Mexico more and more.
Does my honda purchase count against the bulging US trade devicit or is it considered an American product by an American company?
You can buy shares in Honda through the NYSE under the symbol HMC. These are ADR's (American Depository Receipts) and give us the opportunity to buy stock in companies not based in the US. You can also find out whatever you want regarding Honda at http://world.honda.com. Their annual report is available online there.
IIRC, a few years ago Honda considered moving its world headquarters to the United States as most of its business was conducted here. I don't know why they never did.
It does matter to me where the revenue is headed. I buy from Honda because I like the product. It's also nice to know that many of their cars are made in the USA. It would even be an additional bonus to the US economy if it were taxed as a US company.
I hold no stock in General Motors, yet I do benefit from their corporate earnings and taxes that they pay to the government (at least I hope I do). There's alot of critism of "US based" companies who set up "head quarters" in off shore nations merely to avoid corporate taxes. e.g. Stanely Tools.
Before you get too excited about Honda and US manufacturing - the reason most of the "foreign" manufacturers set up in the US originally was to avoid high tariffs established by the government to protect the US based auto manufacturers (ie Japanese trucks were once assesed a 25% tariff) and to escape the currency fluctuation of the yen. In the 1980's, the yen traded at over Y200 to $1. So for every dollar in revenue generated, they were able to buy 200 yen. When the yen weakened and dropped to appx 100, they were only able to buy 1/2 as much when sent home.
Here is a great article on the transplants: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_28/b3791001.htm
In essence, all the auto manufacturers are global concerns supporting and paying taxes to economies all over the world. Headquarters locations are nothing more than for local prestige IMHO.
http://quote.fool.com/Snapshot/snapshot.asp?currticker=hmc&symbols=hmc
Latest dividend was a nickel.
Anybody got any Odyssey news?
Steve
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SUVs, Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
That's a lot of nickels!
Steve
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SUVs, Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
Are all the Ody sold in US being made in Alabama now? From Autonews sites, Canadian plant is still making Ody there. I wonder if those are for the Canadian market only.
the Odyssey is built in Alabama, not Mexico where General Motors sends alot of it's manufacturing.
your dissing Honda by saying they are here merely because of tarrifs.
Without Honda applying pressure, with great cars like the Odyssey, General Motors would still be jamming the public with sleds that are better suited for rental agencies. Japanese competition woke up the big three to step it up big time.
Manufacturers (in any industry) base their facilities where it makes the most sense to them for whatever reasons they deem important. For most, financial reasons are key. Cost of shipping, local resources, and currency exchange are but a few of the factors used for this decision. There may be some altruistic reasons for local manufacture, but I'll bet that profits and cost reduction are more primary in the minds of publicly traded companies. If altruism results, so much the better.
Honda realized early on that North America would be their major market and transplanted early. Nissan and Toyota soon followed. Mercedes and BMW are here as well because the products made here are sold mainly in NA.
As an FYI, Honda has manufacturing plants in Mexico and IIRC they were shipping Accords from there to the west coast of the US at one time.
As for tariffs, Nissan has been manufcturing compact pickups in the US since the 1980's. At that time, imported compact trucks were assessed a very large tariff because US manufacturers claimed the Japanese were dumping the product in the US. So Japanese manufacturers had to raise their price by the tariff amount to levels where US mfrs could now compete. In essence, US manufacturers were allowed to maintain their inefficient methods while hiding behind tarrifs - tariffs paid by the US consumer. Rather than compete, they whined for protection. So Nissan invested hundreds of millions into a compact truck plant using American labor and resources to avoid paying the tariff. Nissan decided to fight at the other guys' playground. What resulted was a compact truck industry in which all products improved and the consumer won.
As for GM moving jobs south, it's unfortunate that many manufacturers have done so. In the global economy, the comparative advantage of nations is prevelant. Each nation has some unique competitive advantage: Mexico offers less expensive labor with proximity to North America, The US offers it's service orientation and capital, Japan offers technological capabilities.
Hey where is everybody hanging out now?
The Honda Odyssey combined almost all of the best features of all minivans into a great minivan with the most powerful engine delivering the best fuel economy of all but GM FWD trio and the most interior volume in a very well executed package.
I would personally prefer having 8 passenger seating capability of GM minivans with the larger 25.5 gallon fuel tank to 7 passenger seating with only 20 gallon capacity. However, as a total package the Odyssey is nicer than GM with a superior driver's seat, all seats more comfortable, higher build quality, and of course the "Magic Seat".....and at a much lower MSRP.
BTW, I hope this does not get deleted for mentioning DC minivans since the comparison forum got deleted for getting "too controversial".
Buy what's best. And that's almost always a Honda ;-) Got an '88 Civic and an '02 Ody in the garage. Now, if Honda just made a full-sized pick-up.....
Anyway.............back to the topic.
We are loving our minivan. We had a poor-man's RES trial run last week on a 400 mile drive with the toddler. We borrowed a neighbor's 9" TV/VHS with DC adapter, and it wedged very tightly between the armrests on the center console. It really felt quite secure. But, alas, it put a small tear in one of the leather arm rests. Anyone got any experience with aftermarket VHS RES for their Ody? My wife doesn't want DVD, wants to record children's programs of the tube and play them in the car.
If you must wedge the TV/VHS (as obviously dangerous as that is), I recommend an 8 7/8" unit next time.
If you can't save the kids, at least save the leather.
My wife and I are shopping for a new minivan. Right now the Honda is leading the race. It would have won as easily as Lance did this year if it weren't for two issues.
1) The passenger side front seat is crammed way to close to the dashboard. I'm 6'1" so I'm not giant but my legs can't really stretch out in the passenger side seat. Doesn't anyone know if this will be addressed in the 2003 model?
2) The highway noise is much worse that other models we have test driven. Seems Honda needs to do a little work here. Anyone have comments on this?
That all said, Honda is still the front runner but a couple tweaks would make a huge difference.
Thanks for any comments