By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our
Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our
Visitor Agreement.
Comments
I think a lot of it is subjective. The opinion of the person who happened to be the one testing the product.
When tester, after tester, after tester all agree, it transcends subjectivity.
Some things are purely subjective i.e...steering "feel", comfort of seats, sound quality, switch feeling etc...
When person, after person, after person plunk down their hard earned cash for a vehicle, that says a lot. That there are more important things like racing from a stoplight, or maybe someone lives alone and can't lift heavy seats out. Many people make one U turn a year and don't do it on a busy street
Every single head to head comparison of 2005 minivans in all professional publications do pick Odyssey as the best one.
Car and Driver
Consumer report
Edmunds.com
Kiplinger
Money
Road and travel
ConsumerGuide
Smart Money
New York Times
...
One professional reviewer may be an idiot. Every single one in agreement - is as close to truth as it possibly may be.
Odyssey beats DC vans silly in every driving category - cold hard numbers, spin them all you want, and still gets better milage.
You need to pay for an "upgrade" engine, and it is still dog slow.
Anything that takes more then 10 sec for 0-60 in this century is a sad anemic dog. Those folks can not design themselves out of a brown paper bag to come out with this joke of an engine and suspension.
And that interior. Gawd it is ugly. Every time I rent Chrysler product it is like a cultural shock. It seems to be designed for somebody with no taste and no feelings.
Does it hurt so bad that you chose a so clearly inferior product and cheaped out?
Perhaps. They do have higher education and income level, so most likely they do like to be pampered.
There was an interesting comparison on brand preference in relation to income, education and political affiliation.
Results were not surprising.
My 2002 T&C LX consistently gets better gas mileage than my son's 2001 Ody EX. He gets between 20 mpg and 24 mpg on round trips while I NEVER get as low as 24 mpg on a round trip and usually get between 26 and 27 mpg on a round trip.
But we can take ours camping and sleep in it. You can't unless you take the seats out.
We can take ours to the drive in movie and turn the third row seats around and watch the movie on them and you can't.
We can go to a garage sale and buy anything that will fit in our van and bring it home right then, you can't unless you take your seats out first.
We can park our van next to the lake, reverse the back seats and fish right out of our van and you can't.
Yes, there are some things your van can do better than mine. But there are things I can do with mine that your's can't do at all.
I sure wouldn't want that as a trade-in!
****still trying to get a visual here*****
Could you and your two kids drive 500 miles to Disneyland, stop over in a road side park and sleep and start out again tomorrow in your Honda? I don't think so.
Could you take a bunch of kids to the park and then go to Walmart and buy a barbecue grill, bunch of food, drinks, ice chest, shade tent and get it all in that Honda? I don't think so.
With a little more time, I could think of a heck of a lot more you can't do in a Honda that you can do in a new Dodge/Chrysler.
We are just talking MINIVANS i.e...Appliance on wheels!!!
For a company that took 17 years to copy DCX minivans, came out with Magic Seat in 1999, yet can't design themselves a simple Stow N Go system?? Hmmmm. I like looking at the Honda sites and seeing the numerous problems coming up daily....poor gas mileage, steering issues, door issues, HVAC issues, Nav issues, tranny issues. Can't wait til their wonderful cylinder deactivation system starts causing problems (or has it already?).
I went with a slightly "inferior" product, saved thousands of dollar and it is more practical and useful than any Honda/Toyota Minivan. The thousands I save is making a nice contribution to my son's college fund coming up in 18 years, when both the Honda and DCX vans will be just rust.
There is no need to argue and debate this for this long. It would be a waste of time.
I have always said to let the accollades and awards from all those sources/agencies you referenced speak for themselves.
Enjoy your Ody like I do. For the way it handles, its fast acceleration and sweet, refined, melodic engine tone as it goes, I am leaning toward buying another one to replace my other now 10yr old car when it craps out.
I am sure that you can think of better things to do in the back of your minivan!!
Think back when you were younger and more energetic! We were all there before.
You did not mention those activities!
Does it hurt so bad that you chose a so clearly inferior product and cheaped out?
Despite what all the professional publications say the buying public, i.e., consumers, purchase chrysler vans by a margin of 3 to 1 over other vans, does this mean we consumers are being duped or you trying to justify your purchase of a Honda Odyssey.I just took some friends out in my new Base LX Town and Country, first thing they remarked about were all the features we had that were standard on my Base LX that were not on their Odyssey, and i paid one third less for my Base or $9,000 than they did for theirs, and how quiet the ride was, oh, well maybe that is why when i sell mine it will sell for less than the Honda, i paid substantially less for mine and got more bang for the dollar, and very pleased with it, am a retiree and on my second chrysler van
There is no need to argue and debate this for this long. It would be a waste of time.
Soooo true macakava, it's really a waste of time. His minivan can do what it does so well, it just can't do it all, like the Dodge/Chrysler. His does have so many limitations to it.
Does it hurt so bad that you chose a so clearly inferior product and cheaped out?
Despite what all the professional publications say the buying public, i.e., consumers, purchase chrysler vans by a margin of 3 to 1 over other vans, does this mean we consumers are being duped or you trying to justify your purchase of a Honda Odyssey
I think it means the majority of the public can see all the advantages to buying the Dodge/Chrysler that they can't get with the Honda/Toyota. Sort of like not marrying a beautiful woman that can make love, because she can't cook or clean.Most want a woman that can do it all without cleaning out our bank account
Don't the DCX vans have roof racks? :P
If I only had about $16K to spend and I want a new minvan, the DGC would be the obvious choice and I would be prepared to overlook/ignore the features of a more expensive vehicle with "sportier" handling, better driver engagement & fun to drive, better resale value, more powerful engine, faster acceleration, etc.
In my case, i was prepared to spend the extra $8K for the Ody for the same ignored features above.
Not having to go back to the dealer for any problems and sportier handling/performnce are priceless to me.
I disagree. I think it all comes down to what your going to use your van for and how many goodies you get for your buck.
Beating me to the next light by 2-3 seconds doesn't mean anything to me. Neither does sportier handling. A smooth quiet ride does.
Different strokes for different folks.
Different strokes for different folks.
If all you want to do is use your van for carrying people, I agree. You don't need Stow-N-Go seats. If paying thousands more and not getting that silly computer or power rear hatch, better radio with cd/cassette, auto locks and etc. is fine with you, it's fine with me too. I'm satisfied with watching you buss by me in your sportier handling van while I enjoy all the little niceties that you don't have.
This is my 3rd Caravan, the previous 2 were company vehicles that I totally abused, each for 70k miles....never had either back to dealer for any issues. Buying an Oddy is not going to prevent trips back to your dealer....just look at the issues on this site!!! or go to www.odyclub.com, there's plenty of Honda horror tales out there so no one can feel that smug.
No FWD car is "fun to drive", and yes I've driven many Oddys....they are MINIVANS!!! It's like getting enjoyment from using a toaster!!!!
This example can also be seen in purchasing a great house with all the wonderful features you want for a great low price but the house is in a not-so-desireable neighborhood.
Will definitely consider the Chrysler vans in 7 years when making next minivan purchse...as well as Ody and the others.
Who knows what the pecking order of minivan manufacturers is at that time?
The Koreans are moving to higher tech engines as in the new 3.3(and 3.8)V6 VVT engines in their 2006 offerrings.
Hopefully the current leader is not sleeping/resting on its laurels!
Maybe they'll stow'n'go the front seats too. Then owners can take home an entire bedroom suite they picked up on a lark at a garage sale, sitting on the dresser while they drive. Take about family/work friendly!
I'll agree with you a little bit there. I do hope Chrysler makes it so the back of the front passenger seat folds forward.
You might just get it!
You might just get it!
I hope so macakava. I am sure there would be something more I could put in that van if the front passenger seat back folded forward.
Your thinking only about what more you can stuff in the van.
Some are thinking about doing it right there in the front instead of going to the back seats.
Sienna already has this feature. It is possible the Ody does also, but I haven't checked.
I could but it wouldn't be nearly as much fun. There is always that high of being caught.
True. Would probably be looking at the tail end of the second generation of the current Ody,Sienna, Chrysler, G.M and Kia series. The quality/reliability gap between foreign and domestic continues to narrow. Who knows...by that time Kia may be the king of the mountain.Would be hard turning down a comparable quality van for thousands less with that big warranty they have.
After all, why leave profits on the table if you don't have to?
That could likely happen in those long 7 years.
If Hyundai enters the market, I will bet on them. The most apparent progress among all companies it seems.
Mercedes is the most apparent regress in my opinion.
Well, brand love and arrogance is what made GM what it is today.
Dusty
Even for fishing out the back! :confuse: