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Honda Odyssey vs. Hyundai Entourage vs. Kia Sedona vs. Toyota Sienna
Anyone currently shopping for (or owners of) the 2007 Honda Odyssey or Hyundai Entourage?
These are the two models we are most interested in (Odyssey EX-L w/o Nav/RES and the Entourage Limited loaded specifically) and I've read countless posts with praises and problems with past model years of each van but never a head-to-head review by shoppers and/or owners of 2007 models. Any input would be greatly appreciated!
These are the two models we are most interested in (Odyssey EX-L w/o Nav/RES and the Entourage Limited loaded specifically) and I've read countless posts with praises and problems with past model years of each van but never a head-to-head review by shoppers and/or owners of 2007 models. Any input would be greatly appreciated!
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If you look at the comparisons of minivans the Ody is always on top except for the first year Toyota introduced the new Sienna. But the Hyundai keeps moving upward.
One thing I have observed is that the Odyssey is the Samsonite of minivans (although there's nothing that "mini" about them). Several years ago, some friends of ours bought an Ody. I watched Barbara's kids one day in our church parking lot as they played in the van. It was like you'd turned three chimps loose in the van. They rolled the windows up and down, up and down. She had the power doors - they opened them, closed them, opened them, closed them. They turned the steering wheel from lock to lock (yes, she'd left the engine running) until the tires ground up the asphalt beneath them. I think you get the picture. Anyway, I determined after watching Barbara's kids and then seeing how well her van held up that if I ever bit the bullet and bought a minivan, the Ody would be at the top of my shopping list.
One thing I would do is check out Edmunds True Cost to Own for each van. I haven't checked it myself, but my guess is that over the long haul, the Ody will cost you less, even though the initial purchase price is more. I'm guessing that in five years of ownership, depreciation alone will make the Hyundai cost almost as much if not more than the Honda.
I believe you can make a better deal on an Entourage. For some reason they have not advertised them very well, and many people just make the knee jerk decision to buy a Honda or Toyota (and sometimes the Dodge/Chrysler) because that's what everyone else does.
As my van sits now, with everything you can get on a minivan (admittedly except for stow and go second row, which, with two car seats in the second row, I have no desire to have, and except for run flats, which I also have no desire to own at this point in their development) my Entourage was $3,000 to 4,000 less than a comparably equipped Honda, and $4,000 to 5,000 less than a comparably equipped Toyota. And I have a warranty which is years longer than either, from a company which has placed in the top three in customer satisfaction in the J. D. Power surveys (ahead of both Honda and Toyota).
Warren Brown, the car writer for the Washington Post has called the Kia Sedona the best value currently in minivans. The Entourage is, of course, the fraternal twin of the Sedona. Even though the Entourage costs a little more (we liked the looks better), it is still, by far, the best value currently in minivans (unless, of course, you just like to spend thousands more than necessary on a vehicle).
Thanks for making me aware of the "true cost to own" portion of this site. I didn't realize it existed and had to squint to find it on the home page.
Very interesting figures - especially first year deprecation. :confuse: Ouch!! Honda was just over $4K and Hyundai was nearly $11K. Man, that hurts! Subsequent years were about even on depreciation but Hyundai came out 11 cents higher on cost per mile and roughly $8K higher total true cost to own. Very eye-opening.
I'm test driving a loaded Hyundai Limited this morning so we'll see if it's still in the running after an up-close look.
Good luck on your test drive.
On the Ody with RES the only usable options you'll give up to the Entourage are a power passenger seat (seldom used), backup sensors, and power adjustable pedals. The power pedals are not really an issue with a power driver seat and telescoping steering column on the Ody. Also the Ody includes carpeted floor mats as a standard feature - a $139 (invoice price) option on the Entourage.
If you're going to finance, Honda is offering 4.9% for 37-60 months or 2.9% for up to 36 months. When we bought our Ody I got it for $100 over invoice and 3.9% for 60 months. Additionally the dealer we bought from does not charge document fees as some others do.
I know I'm biased, but the Honda sounds like the better deal. ESPECIALLY if you think you might not keep it more than five years.
Again, good luck!
We sat in an LX model first. The whole family really liked the plush, velvetty fabric on the seats. The model doesn't offer the 8th seat, or the power sliding doors, and a few other things high on our priority list, but the seats were great.
They pulled up the EX-L NAV RES and we immediately fell in love with the power sliding doors. Touch two buttons and both kids piled in just like that. Plus you can close them from the driver's seat. I think all day long, this simple feature was what we liked most.
I went to program the NAV, and it wasn't quite as intuitive as I expected. I'd heard great things about Honda's GPS systems, but this required use of buttons and touchscreen controls, and I'm used to touchscreen only. The voice was soothing and it re-calculated directions when I intentionally drove a different path effortlessly.
The screen also serves as a backup cam. I thought I would love it. Nope. Found that visibility was pretty good already, and I looked back to back up anyway. In fact I did not use the backup screen at all. That was a surprise. It would help to line up a trailer, sure, but it's not at all essential for basic parking and backing up.
The leather seats were a bit hard, 3 out of 4 of us found them *less* comfortable than the LX' cloth. That was a bummer. The driver's seat also had a lump in the lumbar support, even at the lowest setting. I was simply not comfortable in that seat, so right there I decided that would not be the model I got even if we did choose an Odyssey.
It drove well, riding far better than the Pilot, as I recall it, and handling decently for all its size and mass. I did sense some torque steer, but I wouldn't be driving a minivan in that manner, so I think here it's acceptable.
The engine was fine, and VCM was unnoticeable, doing its job quietly. Steering is Honda standard, i.e. way overboosted and a bit numb compared to what I'm used to. To be fair, I'm used to smaller, sportier vehicles.
The kids saw the DVD movie player, and that deal for that item was sealed. We will get one, regardless, even if we have to go aftermarket. They loved it.
The middle of the 2nd row is not very comfy. It's a seat for use in a pinch, not for a long trip. The armrests become the backrest, and it's just not wide enough for an adult. OK only in a pinch.
I really wanted better seats, though, so we then asked to check out a regular EX model, with cloth seats. I was disappointed to find cheap looking mouse-fur style cloth. I have no idea why they put plush velvet in the LX, and recycled peach fuzz in the EX. At least the seats were better than the leather in the EX-L, and the lumbar support did not bother me with the cloth. Odd, but the cheaper the van, the more I liked the seats.
Still, even though the fabric was a bit cheesy, we still left the dealership thinking the EX model was the best compromise for us. I say compromise because you can't get NAV or the RES with that model - you have to get the hard leather.
Internet price quotes run in the mid $26k range. Not too bad, but I'd need to add the DVD movie player and a portable NAV system, so with tax and those two things we're getting close to $30k.
It was informative and useful to drive it, because we established a benchmark.
I can't talk my wife into even trying a Hyundai, which is a shame. We have a Kia test drive offer for a free gift card so I may sneak her into a Sedona.
As for pricing, what I'm finding the Koreans do have a big price advantage, but make sure you compare apples to apples. I have seen Entourage Limiteds for $24,100 with freight included, but that model doesn't come with a moonroof or a 6CD changer, which Honda includes at the EX level and Toyota includes even at the LE level.
You do get a power tailgate for a price that's less than the EX from Honda or the LE package 3 from Toyota, and heated leather seats with memory, too, if you like leather.
I'm sure the $11k "depreciation" on the Hyundai is off MSRP, so it's not nearly as significant as you might think at first.
Let's look at an example. Sources are fitzmall.com and brownshonda.com, both no-haggle dealers local to me. I'm adding freight and processing fees to make them equivalent for comparison.
Sienna LE 8 pass package 3 MSRP $29,484, on sale for $25,539. So the no-nonsense price is $3945 off MSRP.
Entourage Limited MSRP $29,820, on sale for $24,200. So it lists for more, but you pay less. The discount is $5620. So the discount is nearly $1700 bigger.
Ody EX MSRP $29,290, on sale for $26,883. Your discount is only $2,407.
Going back to the Entourage, the discount off list price is $3,213 bigger. That explains a lot of the extra "depreciation". I put that in quotes because it's not the right term. It's actually the retail price minus the residual value, but nobody pays retail so it's not very meaningful.
And we haven't even begun to talk about the opportunity costs of investing the money you save.
Any how, buy what you love. It's worth paying more in the long-run for the Entourage if you like it better. You get all those extra features.
Or, if you prefer the Ody, buy it and know that residuals will be high, even if you pay more up front.
I'm shopping for all of these, and they all have compromises. It's pretty frustrating, actually.
I test drove the Entourage Limited (w/ ultimate package) this morning and was, to my surprise, very impressed. Deep down I thought for sure the test drive would rule this vehicle out but it has now made our decision harder.
I'm used to driving a small, sport wagon w/ not much in the area of bells or whistles so the more "high end" features of the Limited were quite appealing to me.
A few things that jumped out at me...I found the driver seat leather to be soft and very forming to the body. Lumbar was perfect for my "bad" back. The vehicle drove so much like my small sport wagon and the turning radius blew me away! I found the dash controls easy to find and reach and I liked how the auto shift was lower on the middle console and out of the way of the radio.
I drove it on bumpy roads, railroad tracks and highway at 70mph+ and it didn't waiver. I found road noise to be average and visibility great. I was impressed with overall fit and finish, too. I had my infant son along so I didn't crank the sound system but I am curious to hear it when we return this weekend. I can't wait for my husband to drive this and see if he is as pleased as I was.
The only things that jump out at me at first glance that Honda does better (for my interests) are the second row capt. chairs sliding to form a bench, second row built in sunshade, and easier 3rd row seat fold-into-floor function. I had difficulty lifting the Limited's seats using their tether system - seemed to not be as smooth and a bit heavy.
We'll see. I guess we'll head to the Honda dealership within the next few days to give the EX-L a spin!
I can understand your dilemma. I was in the exact same predicament last month. I almost signed on April 30 for an Odyssey EX-L with fog lights ($579 extra) = $28,579 + taxes + $250 fees. I searched reviews, read test drive reports, went to different dealerships to take closer look at cars ....
Eventually bought an Entourage Limited with Ultimate Package on 05/05/07 with floor mats, covered cargo bins ($33,995 MSRP) for $28 + taxes OTD.
Both Entourage & Odyssey are extremely fine cars. Sienna is overpriced according to me and their packages are extremely confusing. Also their interior styling is drab to me unless you opt for XLE and above. Also, the sienna engine bay is naked with hoses/wires/belts/fluids. You can see the road through the engine bay if you peep under the hood. That to me is pathetic for a $35K car!!
I like Entourage headlights, rear end looks, and value for money proposition. The Entourage projector headlights look awesome at night. I like Odyssey front end styling, handling, dash design and 3rd row seats better. The Entourage is actually slightly quiter at 70 mph (66 decibels) as compared to (68dB) in Odyssey.
Buy Odyssey if you keep your cars for 3 years or less. Otherwise go with Entourage and you could'nt be happier
Buy the car you like the best but if you keep a car for any length of time - they all are worth close to nothing. I traded in a 8 YO Voyager that was giving me some problems otherwise I may have kept it for another 2 or 3 years.
I didn't test drive the Honda, I figured it was a really nice car based on what people have said about it and I did own a Honda so yes they are reliable. I do own a Hyundai and based on that car and the positive write ups I test drove and bought the Entourage. I probably saved approximately $4,000. It seems like a tight car with a lot of power and I haven't driven it enough to give a positive or negative opinion; I will say that the colors that are offered are lacking.
I did have a problem with the battery and it was in the shop for a little over a week because the Entourage has a different sized battery than the other Hyundais (per dealer)and most dealers that I visited didn't have many Entourages on the lot and they wouldn't steal a battery from the ones that were there. But things do fail and at this point they did repair the car so I will see how it goes.
This is my wifes car as was the Voyager and we bought the SE. My kids are 12 & 16, we have a portable DVD player, they now listen to their own MP3 players and we didn't think the difference in a Limited was worth the price. Money was the driving force of this purchase and we were happy with the level of comforts that the SE offered. I try to keep cars forever and resale value wasn't at all a concern with me.
I have been impressed with my Sonata and hopefully will be equally impressed with the Entourage. I think either way you will be happy.
Granted the features on it are great, but this is a new model with no long term reliability studies done on it. You get what you pay for a lot of times.
However, rapidly aging 2002 Odysseys like mine with 100K+ miles can still fetch anywhere from $9K-$14K, and that is probably far more than what a 5 year old Entourage with 100,000 miles will fetch.
That is certainly something to consider, especially if you're a person who trades in cars on a regular basis. (like myself)
If you're going to drive it into the ground, then by all means the Entourage is a better deal. But, if you trade cars every once in a while (say, every 5 years or 100,000 miles) then the waters become murkier.
I bought my Voyager based on driving a couple of company Voyagers and friends having Dodge/Plymouth minivans and loving them. I was unimpressed with this Voyager and the Caravan I drive now sold me off of the Chrysler product. But it is the best selling minivan out there. BTW, one of my friends had 165,000 miles on his Voyager ... pretty impressive. This was a 1999 and was nice for about 6 years and 80,000 miles. I then had to start putting some money into it and I did maintain the van. The seat back was leaning back and the air needed to be repaired and it had 102,000 miles on it ... so it was time.
I only have 20,000 miles on the Sonata but other than regular maintenence - no big problems. I did have the inside drivers door handle start to chip off the chrome and they replaced it under warranty. The Kia Sedona has been out for years and I looked at this as a redesign just as other manufacturers redesign. The Honda may last longer but there is no proof that a Hyundai will not last as long. One bad experience is not an indication of a bad manufacturer IMO.
Time will tell if my decision was correct!
The catch is, perception lags behind reality, by 5 to 10 years, even more. The average Hyundai on the road is about 7 years old right now. Most people are still driving the ones from before they made their biggest improvements.
Any how, deals are so good, I've seen GLS models for under $20k. A one year old used Sedona LX goes for about $16-18k on Cars.com. That's as far back as we can go for this generation van.
So far, so good. Right now we can only forecast what actual residuals will be. If the van turns out to be a hit, it could fare much better than previous Hyundais, as long as they can get the word out to enough people.
It's too late for us as we bought an 07 Honda Odyssey EX and have been very pleased with it. We looked at Dodge, Toyota, and Honda and felt the Honda fitted us the best. I did look at the Kia & Hyundais and found it lacking mostly in little detail items. Plus my poor memories of that brand didn't help I freely admit.
The windows don't open, the armrests are cheap vinyl, and the seats just aren't that comfy.
Stow-n-Go is nice but the 2nd row seats aren't comfortable. AWD is gone and so is the 8 passenger model.
Honestly Dodge didn't even make my short list, though we did check it out at the auto show. Price was the main thing they had going for them.
That stow-n-go seat is a great idea, but you guys are right, it is very uncomfortable to sit in.
The Honda Odyssey is just that: a Honda. They've proven their reliability. But with that proof comes a higher price tag.
Honestly? I see new GLS models for $19.8k.
Then I looked for year-old Sedonas, and they cost $16k to $18k, the higher priced models with more equipment.
So going from 19.8k to 16k after a year of use doesn't seem too bad, it's about par for depreciation nowadays. Honda and Toyota will do a little better, but there is an opportunity cost for the extra $ you pay as well.
ALG Residual Value % After 60 Months: (37% - Odyssey), (20% - Entourage)
__________________________________________________
we bought our van and got the Honda Care extended warranty for 6 years/120K miles/$100 deductible for $860 on EX-L R+N; besides powertrain, just in case to cover RES+NAVI+XM satellite radio
Almost all the sites covering this car are using Kia Sedona data to assess the entourage. I can buy a Kia Sedona EX with 16000 miles at car max for $17000, that's comparable with other dealerships. The used entourages with similar miles(the few that there are) are only two to three thousand off retail. Lets give the entourage a chance, it may not devalue at $1000 per ten thousand miles like Honda or toyota but I think it will be close.
Manufacturer : HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY
NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number : 06V356000 Mfr's Report Date : SEP 13, 2006
Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:WIRING
Potential Number Of Units Affected : 790
Summary:
ON CERTAIN MINIVANS EQUIPPED WITH ADJUSTABLE BRAKE PEDALS, THE STOP LAMP SWITCH WIRING HARNESS MAY BE OUT OF POSITION. AN IMPROPERLY POSITIONED STOP LAMP SWITCH WIRING HARNESS COULD MAKE CONTACT WITH THE U-JOINT ASSEMBLY OF THE STEERING COLUMN. REPEATED CONTACT MAY EVENTUALLY CAUSE THE WIRING HARNESS INSULATION TO CHAFE.
Consequence:
CHAFED INSULATION COULD CAUSE A SHORT OF THE WIRING HARNESS RESULTING IN THE LOSS OF BRAKE LIGHTS, ENGINE STALLING, OR AN INABILITY TO START THE VEHICLE INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.
Remedy:
DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE WIRING HARNESS FOR CHAFING AND REPAIR IT IF NECESSARY. ALSO, THE DEALER WILL SECURE THE WIRING HARNESS TO PREVENT FUTURE CONTACT WITH THE U-JOINT ASSEMBLY.THE RECALL BEGAN ON OCTOBER 9, 2006. OWNERS MAY CONTACT HYUNDAI AT 1-800-633-5151.
Notes:
HYUNDAI RECALL NO. 078. CUSTOMERS MAY ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), OR GO TO HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV.
I test drove a Sedona last night, even though I'd already purchased a Sienna. It does lag one step behind the Ody/Sienna IMO, though it's closer than Honda and Toyota would like to admit.
I sampled a loaded up EX with power everything, but to be honest I think the base Entourage that I saw for $19.7k makes more sense. At that price point, the flaws are all totally acceptable. Once you break $25k, you venture in to the "no excuses" price territory, and at that price level I'd opt for one of the Japanese-branded vans.
If i should have to buy again, definetely wouldn't be Honda, though 9 months ago bought new civic hybrid (just before ody started falling apart) - which right away had engine check light on and had recall for battery safety. Looks like Honda lost their grip on quality, now concentrating on quantity of sold cars. I am saying bye to honda after these two will finish their 6-7 year service (praying that odyssey wouldn't fall apart before that). :lemon:
With this in mind I feel the retained value advantage of the honda is been shown to be a farce, The Hyundai is holding it's own and diseveradely so.
I see Tauruses that are listed at CarMax for $12-$13K that I could easily get at a regular new car dealership used for around $10-$11K. (In fact one of the dealers around here makes it their specialty to sell 06 Tauruses for $9995)
"DETROIT (AP) -- When it comes to car quality, think Korean. Hyundai Motor Co. leads in five categories in the annual vehicle quality study released Monday by Strategic Vision Inc., a San Diego-based market research company and consultant to automakers."
"Hyundai's Azera led among large cars, and its Santa Fe led among small sport utility vehicles. Its Entourage was tied for best minivan with the Quest by Nissan Motor Co. and the Sedona by Hyundai affiliate Kia Motors Corp."
link title
I'm not surprised to see the Entourage do well, what surprises me is the Quest making that list.
I haven't driven the new facelifted ones, though.
Driving style is also a factor, your wife and I could be much calmer drivers than the PM's tester, just a thought. Joe.
The trip computer is actually one option the Ody is lacking that I really miss. Three of our previous vehicles had them and I actually found the mileage figures to be always on the money.
For those considering the entourage, don't let fuel economy hold you back, mine is good (26.9 HW/21 city) for the engine and van size. You may get slightly better with the odyssey but you pay much extra for a similar product and don't get the 10 years 100,000 mile warrenty or 5 years roadside assistence and much more.
Still, the Sienna we bought started at 13.8mpg.
One reason I picked the Sienna LE package 3 over the Ody EX is that trip computer. It's very nice to have. Sienna also has a power 3rd row vented window.
The Ody does have Auto Climate Control instead, however, which the Sienna LE lacks. Call it a draw in terms of content.
It's very hard to compare these directly because there are little differences like that.
Basically, though, for rough equivalents:
Sienna LE package 3 = Odyssey EX
XLE package 6 = Ody EX-L
XLE package 7 = Ody EX-L RES
XLE package 8 = Ody EX-L NAV RES
And what I found is interesting - in that first instance the Sienna is cheaper, but in the other 3 instances the Odyssey is actually cheaper.
Shop around, folks, do your research!
Even a Dodge Ram with a hemi can register 50 mpg (or better) if you reset the computer at the top of a mountain and drive to the bottom. By the same token a Prius might even drop into the teens or even single digits if you reset at the bottom and drive to the top of that same mountain.
And you're absolutely right about where you are compared to sea level. Ideally you would begin and end a trip at the same exact spot, to equalize that.
The gas mileage stated on all cars are EPA estimates unless something changed over the years and I doubt that a trip computer is going to be very precise. This is the first car I've owned that has one but I haven't had the car long enough to play with it and see how accurate it is (or what my MPG is). All three minivans say they get between 18 to 25 MPG and honestly they are some huge vehicles.
It comes down to what you feel comfortable with ... for some it's Honda, for some it'll be Toyota, for others it'll be Hyundai and for some none of the above.
My wife wanted another minivan and with the price we got on the Entourage, we couldn't pass it up. Hopefully we don't have problems with it and it will last for 10 years. Honda and Toyota have had lemons as well as Hyundai. My 1988 Honda Civic had a really bad problem with it's paint job ... Honda called it acid rain - only car that I've owned that ever had that problem.
As far as the trip computer goes, I believe I already stated in an earlier post that the three vehicles we've had that had them were perfectly accurate. Everytime I ever checked on paper against the computer it was exactly the same.
Going back to my mountain illustration, one of the things I enjoyed on the VW Passat we had was driving in the mountains. It was especially fun to set the multi-function display to show the real-time mileage while you were going down a mountain. Several times it made it to over 200 mpg, and if you took your foot completely off the accelerator it wouldn't even register, it just showed ---. I thought it would have been a nice touch to make it just say "tilt". :shades:
A loaded Sienna has much more (and expensive) equipment than a loaded Entourage. I stand by that statement.
AWD is market priced at about $1750. HIDs are worth more than a grand. NAV is a $2000-2200 option.
So of course a loaded Sienna with all those things is going to be priced above and beyond any other van. It has features above and beyond any other van.
Funny thing is I used to think the same way. I saw Siennas with MSRPs around $42k and almost passed out. But keep in mind a crossover SUV with all those items would be near $50 grand and still not offer nearly as much space.
Plus, you don't have to spend $40 grand. I spend $25k and got 8 real seats, power doors on both sides, 6CD changer, trip computer, 266hp, all the stuff I felt we wanted. Added an aftermarket 12" DVD player for $900. GPS for $350, portable. So for mid $20s I pretty much got everything I wanted.
You do not have to spend more than $27k to end up with a very well equipped Sienna. I didn't.
Cheers. :shades:
I am sure all of you will agree that the Camry, Avalon, or the Nissan Sentra were some of the ugliest cars inside out until the newer body designs came out, but still Toyota always got top scores when the Koreans got flogged. And I read a review in a reputed auto magazine that the front grille of Jaguar S type looks like men's urinal.
Today, there is no difference in quality/performance between the top four, Odyssey, Entourage, Sienna or Sedona (not in order) although I wish Sienna/Odyssey were priced a little lower so I could afford one.