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Comments
With a car seat attached, you won't be flipping those seats into the floor. The flat folding third row gives plenty of cargo space in the Ody. <<
Even if you never fold the 2nd rows seats even once, you get a whole lot of extra storage space to keep the van uncluttered. And with child seats installed, the perceived discomfort of the 2nd row seats means nothing...
I don't care how much storage space you have - there's no such thing as an uncluttered minivan.
Well, there is such a thing as a less cluttered one.
Well lets see: 1) a gas cap, 2) two front window motor regulators and 3) some suspension work. Seeing that we were not the original owners, some problems are expected buying used of any make and model. (Sorry man, I live in the real world, not fantasy as A lot of honda owners try to down play its problems). Out of the three, I feel that both window motor regulators going at the same time was bad, but not enough to call our van not reliable. With all three problems, we were still able to drive our van and didn't have any performance problems. As with the suspension work, I noticed knocks over the bumps and took the van in. The total cost to us was under $300 dollars for all three repairs . What I call unreliable is having problems with the drivetrain, electrical components, vechicle computers and AC problems. All these components will cost a lot to fix depending on the type of vechicle you drive. A gas cap questionable and suspension components is hard to say, since we don't know how much and what was being carried in our van before we purchased it. As I said, our van has been very reliable outside of these issues which didn't inconvenience us in any way and didn't cost us over $300 total to fix. From what I have been reading in both the Ody. and Sienna problem forums, it would seem that some would have liked to have had the same problems that we had instead of the more serious trans., phantom side doors, engine slug problems. (There where a lot more mentioned, but I felt these were reliability issues).
besides being able to remove the 2nd row seats to haul stuff, removing the seats to remove the clutter and vacuum out the van makes the cleaning effort much easier. i learned this after doing same for a year with the seats installed.
while, i doubt my wife would be installing or removing the seats since the '03 ODY seats are a tad heavy, they are easy to remove and install otherwise. the process is pretty simple.
i think the stow + go is probably attractive for those that don't want to actually deal with the weight of the seats...unless of course, all that clutter would bind the seat folding mechanism.
Don't even think about opening up the sippy cup to wash it out!! I made that mistake - once. Toss it right in the trash.
Thanks.
A great point! When prepping our 2002 MPV for sale last month I spent hours cleaning and vacuuming nooks and crannies. I found probably about quarter pound of Graham crackers in the indentation where the seat buckle on the middle row seats is supposed to hide!
THAT is funny! I never in a million years would have guessed that someone with a minivan would be LESS likely to drive the gang around because there are not enough seats.
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stanfordfamily,
Sorry to hear what happenned to your new van
We did not have your type of problem. However, we noticed our 05 EX-L has an "unrefined" booming engine sound at 2200-2500RPM. It sounds like the vehicle shifts to the wrong gear and gets bogged down. As soon as the engine gets out of this range, the booming sound disappears. We have about 2000 miles on it already. Other than that, the vehicle is very good in handling, ride, acceleration, body integrity (mostly mechanical stuffs).
Can you tell me what you observed to your vehicle before the transmission went bad? Hope that Honda has solved their previous 5 speed Automatic transmission problem that affected older Odys. I heard they have massive engineering design defect on the old unit (>1000 ppm failure rate)
JNT
Speakers - I have Infinity 6002si's on order from Crutchfield. They will fit both front and rear w/o modifications. They are very efficient so they should be a good fit for the lower powered factory head unit. As for tweeters, rumor has it that the Touring has a better quality tweeter that's an plug'n'play exchange for the stock units. I hear that they go for +- $16 each. NOTE: I ordered Infinity tweeters before realizing that the Honda crossover is built into the speaker. I will need to add bass blockers or something to utilize the Infinities (which may be a custom fit issue anyway) so I will probably return the Infinities and look into the Touring tweeters.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Heh. The article isn't clear on what it takes into account for the Ody. Or rather, other than an intro explanation of the story, doesn't break anything down beyond some general comments about certain aspects of each car. It is Money magazine, after all. They don't delve into detail about cars. And by citing their rankings, I don't intend to say they are the best car experts. I just add it to the growing list of 2005 rankings picking the Ody #1, and they don't just say "best' or "most reliable," they say "value." They provide a wide price range covering all models of Odys and mention that it is luxury styling with an economical price and some other stuff. They selected a "best value" for a bunch of categories of vehicles.
LOL. I would complain! The subscription comes standard. You can use the magazine on the dash to stop the wind noise (tic). :-)
Honda customer service said they might exercise their discretion to send a free update CD if the car was purchased just a few days before the software change.
Right now I consider this a quirk of the car, although if someone tells me I should worry about it, I'd probably take it in and have it looked at.
I read something similar in C.R. about a year or so ago. They said most American vehicles are comparable to Japanese vehicles in reliability with the exception of Toyota. They still lead all manufactures.(Of course they cost the most too.)
C.R. said the most unreliable vehicles now, are European. They make some of the best looking, riding and engineered cars, but are the most unreliable.
Oh Robr2, you are soooo wrong there. In just one bin on the new Dodge, I have a big moving pad,( they are thicker than most blankets) umbrella, battery cables, and window squeegee. I find out if I didn't stow the other seat, I can get my small 5" television in there along with a fair amount of tools. Nothing sets out in my van. You still have the lockable bin under the passenger's seat and can use the rear seat bin if I need to.
I think you are missing the definition of "value." A lower sales price is part of the value equation. It is considered along with safety, features, reliability, etc. Someone who "values" only a lower sales price should buy a junk van from a junk yard for $200. The reason having a national magazine select Ody based on the true definition of value is interesting is that Money must consider a broad range of factors to come to that conclusion. They can't sit back and say, "Well, to this reviewer, I value cupholders, so the _______ is the best value." They have to take into account many factors, or by definition the review is meaningless. Again, I emphasize that I am not saying Money magazine is a car expert. I am only pointing out that it is yet another source selcting the Ody, and this time on value and not just "best."
Oh Robr2, you are soooo wrong there.
Firstly, my retort was tongue in cheek. Uncluttered to me has nothing to do with umbrellas and squeegees.
Secondly, with all due respect, you're a grandparent hauling around kids most likely much less frequently than my family. With 2 kids in Cub Scouts, gymnastics, soccer, swimming, and Little League as well as grandparents living 90 miles from us in opposite directions we are constantly running around with snacks in our car and the equipment needed for the above activities. Mud, dirt, goldfish, cheese stick wrappers, and juice boxes are a constant in our van. And just for kicks and gigles we'll toss in some drywall dust, pine needles, and peat moss. It is by no means a pig sty and it does get cleaned up very often, but we use it.
Now my FIL has a Windstar. It is pristine inside and out. He's more like you I'm guessing.
Raising two kids and having grand kids, I have had enough of my cars and trucks messed up with spills that wouldn't come out. Candy stuck to the seats and etc. Adults, it's different.
Most equipment you should be able to put in the storage bin behind the rear seat. I think I remember one being there on the Odyssey. I know on the Dodge, you can get a hard cover to even cover that bin up.
I made up my mind when I bought this van, I wasn't going to have the kids mess it up or have junk thrown around in it like the rest of my vehicles were.
I agree we are not sure what Money's definition of value is. It is hard to tell in the article. I'm saying that Money, a mass magazine, is more likely to consider all aspects of value in a way that applies to the most people than, say, you or any other individual who may THINK value to them is one thing when it is actually more their preference than actual value.
Thanks.
From everything I've seen Honda will only reveal the week of assembly.
And who did you talk to at Honda CS? I have a similar issue with my Pilot (built, I believe, the same week as your Odyssey) and they kicked the issue back to the dealer.
As far as I can recall, that was the date my dealer told me, but it may also
have been a "week of" date; it wasn't important to me at the time.
"And who did you talk to at Honda CS?"
If you send me an email (see profile), I'll send it to you if I can find it. He basically intimated that he would provide the latest version if only a short time passed between delivery of the vehicle and release of the new DVD.
Did you ever get it fixed? How?
We are taking ours in for the second time after the (passenger) slider was "adjusted." Our friends have had their van in 3 times--including one full day and test-drives by 2 techs--and the problem has recurred (same problem--door rattles as if it is loose over bumps). I would like to make this time our last. Hard to believe there isn't some problem on assembly given the number of sliding door rattle posts.
Thanks.
Sounds like a great deal!
Bit by bit, you will get your Ody as well. Sooner than later.
Our 2005 Ody EX-L with dealer installed crossbars and "Honda" ski rack had "whistling noise" since new. Noise was excessive from 35-70mph. Dealer replaced windshield cowl seal under Honda TSB, but this did absolutely nothing. It wasn't the ski rack either. Our second visit to the dealer finally solved the problem: Turns out it was the crossbars on the roof rack! Honda crossbars (at least with the '05's) are hollow with a rubber seal that fits in the top center channel of each crossbar. Accessories are installed by removing the rubber seal from the crossbar and sliding the accessory through the crossbar. At least in our van, these crossbars with an open channel create excessive wind noise. The only way to fix it is to either tape over the exposed channel or remove the ski rack and re-install the rubber seals. Since our dealer threw out the original rubber seals during the ski rack installation, they have to order new ones for us (along with the instructions on the ski rack). The roof rack on our 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan was a superior design - definitely.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
The noise is definitely coming from the dealer
installed crossbars on the roof rack.
Curious...If they are installed backwards is this
easy to fix at home or does it have to go back
to the dealer? Any special tools involved?
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
The aero kit I was refering to is very simple (see link). I just want to do the sides, not front and back. It appears all it does is drop straight down instead of curving in.
http://www.collegehillshonda.com/odyssey/05_exterior.htm
The noise is definitely coming from the dealer
installed crossbars on the roof rack."
Some Chrysler/Plymouth vans were getting noise coming from the roof rack at higher speeds. Chrysler said if you move the front cross bar back past the front window when not using it, you won't get that noise. It must work because my Dodge G/C has no noise. Honda owners should try it on your vans.