Ah, but there are also no state income taxes, the weather is tolerable (with working air conditioning, that is! But I can't stand cold, so....), the economy in DFW is among the best (especially for us techie types), the cost of living is fairly low, our governor will be the next President of the United States (he will too! :-P...), and I have family nearby. What more can you ask?
The country of origin is listed on the new car window sticker. If I remember correctly, the car is 80% domestic. The trans (and engine?) are from Japan.
I paid $26,000 for my Honda Odyssey. Dark Emerald Green LX with Roof Rack, wheel locks, CD, and splash guards. Is this a good deal? Please, let me know. If you could, write me at nlau@ews.uiuc.edu. Thanks.
Just got back from our first long trip in our 2001 SS EX-Navi. Overall, we are happy with the car. We drove the car from Atlanta to Raleigh, NC. The 6 hour trip did not feel like that long because the car was very comfortable to drive. I did notice a few problems that I would like to share:
1) The gas tank sloshing is clearly heard even when the tank was half full. If I turn down the radio, I can even hear it when braking at a stoplight. I'm wondering why this is not a problem in other cars/vans. What can Honda do to fix this? More sound insulation?
2) The wind noise is a bit pronounced.
3) The car definately starts immediately drifting to the right when I take both hands off the steering wheel. I had the dealer fix the alignment the first week I got the car and that fixed the pulling, but not the drift. I'll have to take the service bulletin with me next time.
4) I can hear some kind of rattling sound coming from the right power door. I can't pinpoint exactly what's causing it. Whenever you go over a bump or rough spot you can hear the rattle. Has anybody else experienced this? The trick is to have everything quiet but the noice is pronounced.
5) I can also hear creaking from the dashboard or overhead. My wife was not able to hear it, but I have sharper ears than her. I really don't want to have the dealer rip apart my dashboard to fix this. Is there any other way around it? From earlier posts, I've learned that the dashboard is held together with just tabs?
6) The navigation works great. The only complain I have is the constant reminder that says "Stay on 85 North" whenever you are going straight on an interstate and you pass a major highway or state road. This gets annoying after a while. I wouldn't take an exit unless the system told me to!
7) The power doors cannot be stopped from closing by pulling on the handle. The only way to stop them is by remote control or the driver's side switch. I had accidently pushed the button to close on my remote while my wife was putting the baby in the car and frantically tried to get it to stop by pulling on the handle. Luckily, she was able to get out of the way.
8) Is it true that you cannot control the temperature for the rear passengers? If you move the knob the the first red dot, it will only blow hot air (at one temp) at the passengers feet.
If I'm not mistaken the Odyssey engine if from the Acura line not the Accord. Its used in the new MDX and the RL Acuras. The rear temp is the same as what blows into the front as on the EX its automatic by what temp you set and the LX where you put the temp switch.
The rattle you hear is from your license plate maybe. It is suppose to be installed with two rubber pads in the back, but they forget those sometimes.
The dash board area rattle could be from the sunvisors. They are suppose to be left attached above at two points, not one point or they will make a noise as they keep hit against the second attachment point..
There is a place for you to move a dial on the dash area so that the backseat passengers can make adjustments to air flow which adjusts the temperature back there.
The power doors will stop if someone gets in their way. I have not heard of anyone being injured by them. A troll came on this board and claimed his mother was badly injured but he was having a good time with some of us and making it all up. Some people on this board got taken in by him and unfortunetely Edmonds removed my warning post about him,for some reason.
There is no control to adjust the temperature in the rear. Only a fan speed adjustment. The auto front seat temperature climate control is totally independent from the rear. The rear comes out hot with only variations in the volume of air.
billg: The rattle sound is definately not the license plate. Mine has the rubber stoppers and I have tightened the screws. My wife and I both think its the sliding door, but visually it doesn't seem to be loose or anything. I called the dealer and he said over the phone that it might be the wires that are hitting the side of the door and they may just need to be insulated. I'm not so sure.
mschafer: Thanks for clarifying that. The three red dots differ in only the fan speed of the hot air. I noticed on mine that it is not really hot like it should be. Instead it is sort of between warm and cold (tepid). Is this normal?
On the flip side do the blue dots blow out Air conditioned air no matter if the front A/C controls are off or on?
I think I've found out how to kill the majority of door movement rattles and noises in the Odyssey, at least so far in my '01 EX.
I posted a couple of weeks ago about lubing the door seals with silicone spray. That still helps, but it doesn't do the whole job.
What seems to help eliminate an awful lot of the noises is, in addition to lubing the seals, adjusting the small rubber anti-rattle bumpers on the doors. There are two on each front door and one at the rear of each slider. It doesn't require any tools to adjust these as they are just rubber pieces with a course screw thread molded into them. Just unscrew each one a little bit and test the door for closing and rattle. Unscrew each one so there is just a moderate compression of the bumper when the door is closed. Don't turn them out so far that the door is hard to close.
So far, on anything but the roughest roads, the rattle level is about 95% better.
I understand your concern over the power doors. We bought the 2000 Odyssey EX last October. The first thing we discovered was that the power doors do not seem to back up as soon as you expect them to. We learned that they are designed to begin closing, then reverse if an obstruction is discovered within the last 12 inches before the door is fully closed. Try it. Start closing the door, and immediately push on it with your hand. The door will continue closing. Wait until the door is within 12 inches of being fully closed. Then push again with your hand. It will reverse with very little pressure...within the last 12 inches. While this is not something that kept us from purchasing the Odyssey, it is something that Honda would do well to change. Last year, I read a post on one of the previous Odyssey forums from a woman who said that she is fairly large, and that a 12 inch safety margin was not safe for her.
Having said this, we love this van. We have 3 children, ages 16, 13 and 4. Driving around town is easy. Long trips are great. This van provides excellent handling and steering response. The disappearing third seat is the greatest when we need to haul something home from the store. The automatic climate control simply takes care of itself; we rarely have to adjust anything, and everyone stays comfortable. Yes, we often get only 14 or 15mpg in town. We get 22 to 23mpg on the highway. But can this baby move...I love the acceleration. We never worry about whether we have enough power to get on the freeway safely. We recently travelled from Austin, TX to Wichita Falls, TX (a 5 or 6 hour drive), and on a 2-lane highway, we passed many cars. Usually, they were going between 55 and 65 mph. Our Odyssey always passed quickly and in a fairly short distance.
Wish list for our Odyssey: - power sliding door (wish it backed up anywhere; not just in the last 12 inches) - I wish the rear wiper control were variable intermittent, like on the new 2001 models - The stereo could sound better
Yep. That's all I can come up with.
Having previously owned a '96 Dodge Caravan that spent lots of time in the shop, I would say that this is probably the most useful vehicle we have ever owned, and well worth the money.
T & C won't have a h.p. advantage for long--already read in an auto mag that Honda is planning to increase power in the Odyssey for 2002. Somewhere around 230-235 hp. Other news is that perhaps only the EX would get that increase. Also hear that Honda is considering an EX-L version, similar to that offered on the Accord (leather and a premium sount system). There will be minor cosmetic changes to the front and rear in '02 as well.
To anyone who has installed PIAA (or similar) fog lamps in a 99-01 Ody: How do the lamps mount in the bumper? Without an adapter bracket like the OEM lamps have, it doesn't look like there's anyplace to mount anything. What does PIAA use instead and what does it attach to?
Also, does the lamp switch included with the PIAAs fit in the fog lamp hole in the Ody dash and where did you tie in the 12 volts?
I'm just trying to decide between the PIAAs, which are less expensive but probably of better quality, and the OEM lamps which, of course, will fit properly but probably won't perform as well.
In 1995 I bough a Pontiac Bonneville from Ricky Smith. Two caveats - a Pontiac is a Pontiac (that's why I now own an Odyssey and not a Montana) plus, '95 was a while ago. However, from my ample experience w/ the dealership (since my Pontiac acts like most American cars) they have been honest, fixed things right, and even helped me get some $$ back from GM for a problem that began under warranty but was discovered shortly after warranty ended (of course that's a whole 'nuther story). Reason I did not go back was distance. I bought my Odyssey at Herb Chambers, Boston. Good luck!
I took delivery of my '00 GG EX in Dec '99. Well, it's Dec again! If anyone out there is interested...
- Odyssey is a great vehicle overall. The space is great, especially in the well behind the rear seat and the Magic seat is a splendid thing to have. Chrysler said they did not design '01 vans like this due to gas sloshing noise, but it's hardly noticeable, and as long as I know what causes the rare noise, it's not a problem. Of course space comes at the cost of a large size vehicle, but great turning circle, handles well, find no real problem parallel parking (as long as parking space is big enough). - Seats are not bad. I am 6'0 and get achey back on long trips in bad seats. While adjustable lumbar would be nicer, I drove 500+ miles in one day not long ago, could not complain. EX power seat is key for me - I keep front of seat cushion tilted up a bit to extend the reach for my legs, as legroom is not ideal, but is OK. - On the seats, I've posted this before, and here is is again - we need a middle row 3-seat bench so this van can fit 8 passengers (or 6 little ones who cannot otherwise sit in passenger airbag seat). GM has 8-seater vans, by golly Honda can do it. A simple after-market bench seat to fit in the capt'n chair anchors is all they need. Anyone at Honda listing?? - Radio - OK for Sesame St or Rafi CD's, not bad for classical music, but absolutely no base. Cranking volume on a great classic rock song is a big mistake. Sound gets garbled, poor listing experience. This is no Infinity sound system. Thought about upgrading speakers, but wife thinks that's nuts, plus little time, so will live w/ system as-is. - Honda needs to make interior lights time out. During summer, just we kept the dash switch off. Now, gets dark so early, we really need interior lights on, but I cannot tell you how many times I have come home (in my car) and found one of the rear overhead lights left on. Kids turn it on, when doors opened and all lights came on this is not apparant, and since lights stay on after doors close, wife and kids go into house not noticing a light was left on. - Traction control is great. (enough said) - Tranny is a bit shifty to second gear, worse when cold, shifts OK at highway speeds. - EX sliding doors are fair - way cool, often convenient. Flip-side is sometimes annoying (eg when guests try to manually close as motor is slowly whirring - I get nervous about these situations). Also, in the haste of school drop offs, once in a while I forget to put gear in Park, or forget to unlock doors - so kids are chomping at the bit to got out, the thing beeps like crazy, motor whirrs, nothing happens... gets annoying. We found that once in a while the passenger slider would bind or not close all they way. Sometimes, several times in one day we had to manually reset it; usually did OK after that until the next week. When I had the door latch recall repair, they promised to fix that problem and they seemed to have done the job.
My biggest disappointment - van's had about as many recalls as Ford Focus. Thought Honda would do better. Even having said that, I did NOT buy extended warranty. I have a real problem w/ manufacturer selling this. If it's necessary to have this protection, then provide it to the customer. They could have charged $1,000 more for van and still had more than enough demand. So really, it's a cash cow for the dealer. Sure, you can easily have a $900 + repair after warranty, but you can easily have one in year 8 or just as easily not have a major repair (I hope) which would equal wasted money. I still belong to AAA for my other car, for auto ins discount and other services, so Honda can't even give me the road service sales pitch). Of course this is very subjective, I am sure plenty of others disagree.
Hope you all enjoy your vans much as I enjoy mine. I would make the same decision now, even with '01 Chryslers out there. And as for those Izusu TV ads ("owner of tan minivan left your lights on..." and the guy at the gym gets embaressed); the utility of minivans for on-road use w/ kids kicks 'A' over any SUV. I have never been embaressed about my Odyssey.
Picked up our new 2001 GG Odyssey last night! I couldn't believe it when I received the call. It seems like we had been waiting forever. I purchased the Honda Care Warranty and had them install the transmission cooler, hitch and cassette. (Paid for parts only and they installed the hitch.) They "threw in" the mud flaps and Honda door edge guards. As far as the warranty, they really pushed a third party warranty-even saying it was far superior to Honda Care ("...you can take it to Joe's Garage and get it repaired with this one, with the Honda Care you must go to a Honda dealer"). At first they said they didn't even sell the Honda warranty. After I told them I would buy it elsewhere, they sold it to me. By the way, the 3rd party warranty was $1299 and the Honda Care $895. (They matched the price I told them I could buy I for on the internet).
Many thanks to everyone. I have found this forum very useful. I will post our experiences with the van.
My dealer wants me to buy an extended warranty from an outside vendor. He points out that the Honda Care policy does not cover the navigation system(as it says in the brochure). This could be an expensive item to repair.Any information about this? Anybody at Honda that I can call?
I've looked around on Edmonds and Yahoo Clubs and haven't been able to locate the info I want so I'll ask here again.
For those of you who have installed aftermarket fog lamps in your late model Odys, how have you prepared and mounted the lamps in the bumper?
I've read the instructions for the Honda fog lamps and you have to cut out part of the bumper, but the cut area is then finished off with the lamp mounting bracket, etc., and it looks like it would present a very nice finished appearance.
How have you prepared the bumper faschia for PIAAs or other non-OEM lamps so the bumper doesn't look hacked up?
They are wrong on not covering the nav. unit. I have my Honda Care warranty in front of me right now and it says: On page 2 and 3 All Vehicle parts are covered by this Contract, bla, bla, bla. Examples of Systems covered: Engine, bla,bla, American Honda Authorized Electronic/Audio Accessories: including cell phones that are factory installed, bla, bla GENUINE HONDA FACTORY INSTALLED NAVIGATIONAL DEVICES which is in capitol letters. So they are wrong, it is covered.
The Dealer extended warranty is better then the Honda Care Warranty (HCW). Better for the dealer that is.
I read the extended warranty I had bought, when I got home. I called the dealer and said are you sure this is the Honda company warranty. He said yes the warranty company I bought it from is owned by Honda. That turned out to be "right". The warranty company is part owned by the local Honda dealership and part owned by some other company.
So it all depends on what the meaning of the word is is.
What is the ongoing price for dealer's installed entertainment system for '01 Odyssey? What brand and the warranty about the system? We know that there are few after-market options, but just wanted to know about dealers' prices.
The whole thing is a racket. Honda (or any manufacturer for that matter) should be embaressed that thy make this produt available. On the one hand, they say come in and buy our product, it's reliable. And the likes of Honda often make you pay a premium for the reliability (eg similar car more $'s compared to some American and certainly Korean brands, some of which now INCLUDE the 10 year warranty). Then Honda says - oh, would you like to plunk down another $1,000 or so up front just in case you experience some costly repair after the warranty expired? Well, which is it? Are you reliable, or are you making money scaring customers that there will be big repairs down the road?
Of course you can explain it away in some logical manner, but this misses the forest for the trees. The fundamentals of the whole thing are ludicrous.
Then of course the beloved dealers take off and run with this, underselling one another, trying to sell Brand X warranties to unsuspecting customers, etc.
Has anyone experienced a 'loose' feeling when opening and closing their liftgate? I just noticed this last week on ours and havent had time to take a close look at it yet?
I bring my 99 odyssey to dealer on 11/29/00 to fix the Dash Light Recall. The dash light went out completely last night while I was on hightway. Call the dealer this morning, they told me that Honda send them the bad part. I have to take another day off to bring my car back to the dealer again. It is troublesome to have to deal with honda and dealer like this. May be this is my last honda car and/or last time at this dealer.
Yep, all reports have been that the Odyssey performs very well in the snow. Only extreme depths have prompted people to resort to chains, though some in the Northern US and in Canadian heavy snow zones are putting snow tires on just as they would any vehicle. The rumors you might have heard about poor performance in the snow seem to have been false....
Consumer Reports Jan 2001 issue rates the 2001 minivans as follows: 1. Honda Odyssey EX 2. Toyota Sienna LE. 3. Dodge Grand Caravan Sport 4. Mazda MPV LX 5. Chevrolet Venture LS 6. Ford Windstar SE Sport. 7. Mercury Villager.
It would be better if you went to the library and copied the 7 page report to get the most out of it.
CR rates the various characteristics as E,VG,G,F and P which is from excellent, very good, good fair, to poor.
They say at the top of the Odyssey report:
Highs: Refinement,interior room and flexibility,handling,crash safety, fuel economy,value.
Lows: Road noise,stiff ride at times.
Remember though these ratings are really in comparison to the other vans. So before I start up the rumor again that the Odyssey is noisy I see that for noise they still give it a VG rating. and for ride a G rating. It is apparently noiser then the other vans except the Winstar which is rated G. For ride all the vans are rated VG except the Odyssey and Chevrolet Venture which are rated G.
If the noise is bothersome then I suggest you get the van undercoated. That should solve the problem. I think the noise is only bothersome to those who have heard that the Odyssey is noisy, so they concentrate their attention on it.
As for the ride the Windstar has larger slower motions then the Odyssey which has faster smaller motions. I have driven both a long ways and prefer the Odyssey ride.
CR often tweaks its overall ratings based on subjective factors like ride, comfort and ergonomics. Just be aware that their idea of good ride may not be yours. Some people like a vehicle to soak up everything, others like road feel and better handling. I've always been leery of their noise ratings. They never back it up with measurements like some other magazines. I subscribe, but am always skeptical. It's a great resource for buyers, though, along with others like Intellichoice and Jack Gillis' Ultimate Car Book.
I have lost some respect for CR. They say the Odyssey has 205 hp. They criticize the road noise and then give it a "good" for noise. Also, they do not mention the long list of systemic problems except to say that the car has some reliability problems.
I lost respect for CR many years ago. They are partisan from a political perspective, highly opinionated (when they are supposed to be objective) and often come up with ratings that are at odds with those of the rest of the world for autos (or whatever else). I do credit their detailed reliability reports, however - many other auto reviews do little to inform readers of real-life reliability. Nonetheless, glad to see my Odyssey won! I like the ride (I drove 400+ miles today), and do not see how I can complain about wind noise in a vehicle with this size and shape.
I find it hard to understand how a van's reliability rated AVERAGE by CU comes up as their #1...must be two groups doing the testing. wait till they see the transmission failures. In my opinion.
Average reliability? Compared to what.....the Big 3 automakers? What a joke. Anyone buying an Odyssey or Sienna does so with reliability as one of their primary concerns, and for good reason. The overall reliability of both these vans will be much better than average as the years go by. There are no other vans on the market you can say that about IMO.
First of all download the Honda fog light instructions from honda-accessories. It has a lot of good hints for routing the wiring harnesses.
1. Cut out factory bumper inserts as per factory installation docs. Remove the grill or pop off the screws holding the cover below the bumper to run the harness between lamps. 2. Drill 2 holes into the plastic bumper. Try to guesstimate the correct angle to adjust for the pointed bumper. Get Size 8 stainless steel nuts & bolts (I used 3/4" length). Be aggressive with the angle because I misjudged the first time and the lights pointed slightly outwards. Pop the bolts through the holes with the threads exposed in the cutout. Mount the lights and turn in your nuts. (Don't use lock-tite until you adjust the angle.) Unfortunately the bolt threads are exposed but their view is obstructed by the lamps. Alternatively, you can use the double-sided tape, but I don't trust it for the lights. 3. Wire up the harness between the 2 lamp units. 4. Remove plastic fog light switch cover and drill a small hole at the bottom edge large enough to run the PIAA cable through. Mount the PIAA switch to the dummy cover with double-sided velcro, run the cable through the hole and then put the cover back into the dash. 5. Pop out the firewall grommet above the accelerator pedal and run the PIAA cable through it. (Check out the Honda fog light installation instructions for this.) 6. Ground the light switch near the firewall. It's too difficult to try the central ground on the firewall that is obstructed, so pick another spot. Run the PIAA harness in a plastic wire loom routing it towards the battery compartment. (Again, use the Honda instructions for the route.) 7. The hot wire for the switch is then tapped into the front left parking light. (I don't recall what color wire it is, but it is in the factory service manual if you have.) You will have to access this through the fender cover. Unfortunately, that's how Honda expects you to change the parking light bulbs to begin with. It involves popping off 3 plastic retainer-pins with your wheels turned to the extreme right. 8. Hook up the wires from the mounted lamps and from the switch to the relay and mount the relay somewhere so that it isn't obstructive. Ground the wire from the lamps to a good ground near the battery, many choices here. Attached the hot wire from the lamps to the battery accessory mount point on the positive terminal clamp. 9. You're done! Just tie-wrap all wires and harnesses and stick the wires in a wire loom where you feel necessary. And, don't forget to pop all retainers back in. Adjust your lights and use loctite when you're sure you got them right.
I mounted PIAA 1000X driving lamps. The bottom of the units sit on top of the unpainted surface of the bumper, so it doesn't come into contact with any painted surface. I'm sure the 1400 fog lights will fit without a problem, since they are shorter than the 1000s.
No offense at all intended to you, but I came away with something else. Guess the drilling angle?!? Double-sided tape for mounting?!? No angle adjustment except for the installation mounting?!? Amateur installation without any alignment standard or scale?!?
Now I understand why so many of these fog/running lights are glaring in my face these days! Don't states have laws requiring proper light alignment?
CR's polls its own readers to rate reliability, then reports them with respect to all other vehicles, not just within a class. Minivans overall usually lag in reliability.
Technically, reliability is not part of CR's overall rating, though a vehicle has to have average reliability or better to be a "Recommended" pick. Of course, reliability might bias a review even if it is not directly part of it.
Thanx for an excellent response. Unfortunately, it came a little bit too late; I had just finished installing a pair of PIAA 1500XTs and managed to do it without cutting the bumper and ended up with more powerful fog lights to boot (24,000cp).
Even though I think I would prefer the looks of a light mounted in the factory location, the 1500XTs mount and fit nicely with no cutting in the lower row of openings in the bumper. I also would've liked them side by side in the center, but there would be no space to remove the screws for lamp changes without removing the mounting brackets from the bumper.
I didn't trust myself to estimate angle for the lamps because of the extreme point of the bumper causing such a strong optical illusion. Instead I ran a rod through the mounting bracket holes of both brackets to keep them pointed precisely forward while I positioned them for mounting. So far, I'm using the double sided tape by itself. If it looks troublesome, I'll follow your procedure and run some screws into the bumper.
I had already checked out Honda's instructions and instead of going into one of the parking light wires, I tapped in to the point that powers the relay that plugs into the driver's cowl panel. Once you figure out where it is, it's a lot easier than splicing into a parking light wire.
Thanx again for the response. I think either of our methods would work equally well depending on where you want to mount.
I am looking for custom-fit covers for the Odyssey. I remember someone recommending Higgins Enterprises a while back. Their prices seem pretty reasonable. Has anybody out there bought from them and if so, how are the covers? Any other recommendations on where to find seat covers is appreciated. I took a look at the covers at Sam's Club, but they are generic and I don't know how well they would fit Ody seats.
I bought seat covers from Higgins and was very pleased with the quality (they will send you fabric samples, if you ask) and price. I bought the fabric-back type for the front seats and the polyester-back (stretchy) for the middle and rear seats. The covers fit the seats, headrests, and arm rests very nicely as they are custom made for the vehicle.
Each cover was labeled with what seat it was to go on, but there were no instructions -- so you have to figure out how best to tie them on. Usually there was a front and rear tie that went together. The only other problem I had was there was no slit in the rear bench seat cover for the strap on the back of the seat -- that you need to pull the seat back up out of the well. I solved that by cutting a slit in the cover, glueing a piece of material underneath as a "backer", then sewing the edges of the slit so it wouldn't fray. (Note: if you got the fabric-back cover for that seat, perhaps they could custom-install that slit for you -- ask when you call.)
Please feel free to email me if you want any further information.
Honda Odyssey is supposed to have Halogen Head lights. I do not think my 2001-EX-Navi has got it. I am going to talk to Dealer about it .Does any one of you have it? thanks in advance, Ven
Comments
We drove the car from Atlanta to Raleigh, NC. The 6 hour trip did not feel like that long because the car was very comfortable to drive.
I did notice a few problems that I would like to share:
1) The gas tank sloshing is clearly heard even
when the tank was half full. If I turn down the radio, I can even hear it when braking at a stoplight. I'm wondering why this is not a problem in other cars/vans. What can Honda do to fix this? More sound insulation?
2) The wind noise is a bit pronounced.
3) The car definately starts immediately drifting to the right when I take both hands off the steering wheel. I had the dealer fix the alignment the first week I got the car and that fixed the pulling, but not the drift. I'll have to take the service bulletin with me next time.
4) I can hear some kind of rattling sound coming from the right power door. I can't pinpoint exactly what's causing it. Whenever you go over a bump or rough spot you can hear the rattle. Has anybody else experienced this? The trick is to have everything quiet but the noice is pronounced.
5) I can also hear creaking from the dashboard or overhead. My wife was not able to hear it, but I have sharper ears than her. I really don't want to have the dealer rip apart my dashboard to fix this. Is there any other way around it? From earlier posts, I've learned that the dashboard is held together with just tabs?
6) The navigation works great. The only complain I have is the constant reminder that says "Stay on 85 North" whenever you are going straight on an interstate and you pass a major highway or state road. This gets annoying after a while. I wouldn't take an exit unless the system told me to!
7) The power doors cannot be stopped from closing by pulling on the handle. The only way to stop them is by remote control or the driver's side switch. I had accidently pushed the button to close on my remote while my wife was putting the baby in the car and frantically tried to get it to stop by pulling on the handle. Luckily, she was able to get out of the way.
8) Is it true that you cannot control the temperature for the rear passengers? If you move the knob the the first red dot, it will only blow hot air (at one temp) at the passengers feet.
That's it! Thanks in advance for any input.
The rear temp is the same as what blows into the front as on the EX its automatic by what temp you set and the LX where you put the temp switch.
US/Canadian Parts content 75%
Japan 10%
Engine USA
Transmission Japan
The dash board area rattle could be from the sunvisors. They are suppose to be left attached above at two points, not one point or they will make a noise as they keep hit against the second attachment point..
There is a place for you to move a dial on the dash area so that the backseat passengers can make adjustments to air flow which adjusts the temperature back there.
The power doors will stop if someone gets in their way. I have not heard of anyone being injured by them. A troll came on this board and claimed his mother was badly injured but he was having a good time with some of us and making it all up. Some people on this board got taken in by him and unfortunetely Edmonds removed my warning post about him,for some reason.
On the flip side do the blue dots blow out Air conditioned air no matter if the front A/C controls are off or on?
I posted a couple of weeks ago about lubing the door seals with silicone spray. That still helps, but it doesn't do the whole job.
What seems to help eliminate an awful lot of the noises is, in addition to lubing the seals, adjusting the small rubber anti-rattle bumpers on the doors. There are two on each front door and one at the rear of each slider. It doesn't require any tools to adjust these as they are just rubber pieces with a course screw thread molded into them. Just unscrew each one a little bit and test the door for closing and rattle. Unscrew each one so there is just a moderate compression of the bumper when the door is closed. Don't turn them out so far that the door is hard to close.
So far, on anything but the roughest roads, the rattle level is about 95% better.
Good luck. I hope this helps.
While this is not something that kept us from purchasing the Odyssey, it is something that Honda would do well to change. Last year, I read a post on one of the previous Odyssey forums from a woman who said that she is fairly large, and that a 12 inch safety margin was not safe for her.
Having said this, we love this van. We have 3 children, ages 16, 13 and 4. Driving around town is easy. Long trips are great. This van provides excellent handling and steering response. The disappearing third seat is the greatest when we need to haul something home from the store. The automatic climate control simply takes care of itself; we rarely have to adjust anything, and everyone stays comfortable.
Yes, we often get only 14 or 15mpg in town. We get 22 to 23mpg on the highway. But can this baby move...I love the acceleration. We never worry about whether we have enough power to get on the freeway safely. We recently travelled from Austin, TX to Wichita Falls, TX (a 5 or 6 hour drive), and on a 2-lane highway, we passed many cars. Usually, they were going between 55 and 65 mph. Our Odyssey always passed quickly and in a fairly short distance.
Wish list for our Odyssey:
- power sliding door (wish it backed up anywhere;
not just in the last 12 inches)
- I wish the rear wiper control were variable
intermittent, like on the new 2001 models
- The stereo could sound better
Yep. That's all I can come up with.
Having previously owned a '96 Dodge Caravan that spent lots of time in the shop, I would say that this is probably the most useful vehicle we have ever owned, and well worth the money.
Also, does the lamp switch included with the PIAAs fit in the fog lamp hole in the Ody dash and where did you tie in the 12 volts?
I'm just trying to decide between the PIAAs, which are less expensive but probably of better quality, and the OEM lamps which, of course, will fit properly but probably won't perform as well.
Any advice would be welcome. Thanx.
Reason I did not go back was distance. I bought my Odyssey at Herb Chambers, Boston.
Good luck!
- Odyssey is a great vehicle overall. The space is great, especially in the well behind the rear seat and the Magic seat is a splendid thing to have. Chrysler said they did not design '01 vans like this due to gas sloshing noise, but it's hardly noticeable, and as long as I know what causes the rare noise, it's not a problem. Of course space comes at the cost of a large size vehicle, but great turning circle, handles well, find no real problem parallel parking (as long as parking space is big enough).
- Seats are not bad. I am 6'0 and get achey back on long trips in bad seats. While adjustable lumbar would be nicer, I drove 500+ miles in one day not long ago, could not complain. EX power seat is key for me - I keep front of seat cushion tilted up a bit to extend the reach for my legs, as legroom is not ideal, but is OK.
- On the seats, I've posted this before, and here is is again - we need a middle row 3-seat bench so this van can fit 8 passengers (or 6 little ones who cannot otherwise sit in passenger airbag seat). GM has 8-seater vans, by golly Honda can do it. A simple after-market bench seat to fit in the capt'n chair anchors is all they need. Anyone at Honda listing??
- Radio - OK for Sesame St or Rafi CD's, not bad for classical music, but absolutely no base. Cranking volume on a great classic rock song is a big mistake. Sound gets garbled, poor listing experience. This is no Infinity sound system. Thought about upgrading speakers, but wife thinks that's nuts, plus little time, so will live w/ system as-is.
- Honda needs to make interior lights time out. During summer, just we kept the dash switch off. Now, gets dark so early, we really need interior lights on, but I cannot tell you how many times I have come home (in my car) and found one of the rear overhead lights left on. Kids turn it on, when doors opened and all lights came on this is not apparant, and since lights stay on after doors close, wife and kids go into house not noticing a light was left on.
- Traction control is great. (enough said)
- Tranny is a bit shifty to second gear, worse when cold, shifts OK at highway speeds.
- EX sliding doors are fair - way cool, often convenient. Flip-side is sometimes annoying (eg when guests try to manually close as motor is slowly whirring - I get nervous about these situations). Also, in the haste of school drop offs, once in a while I forget to put gear in Park, or forget to unlock doors - so kids are chomping at the bit to got out, the thing beeps like crazy, motor whirrs, nothing happens... gets annoying. We found that once in a while the passenger slider would bind or not close all they way. Sometimes, several times in one day we had to manually reset it; usually did OK after that until the next week. When I had the door latch recall repair, they promised to fix that problem and they seemed to have done the job.
My biggest disappointment - van's had about as many recalls as Ford Focus. Thought Honda would do better.
Even having said that, I did NOT buy extended warranty. I have a real problem w/ manufacturer selling this. If it's necessary to have this protection, then provide it to the customer. They could have charged $1,000 more for van and still had more than enough demand. So really, it's a cash cow for the dealer. Sure, you can easily have a $900 + repair after warranty, but you can easily have one in year 8 or just as easily not have a major repair (I hope) which would equal wasted money. I still belong to AAA for my other car, for auto ins discount and other services, so Honda can't even give me the road service sales pitch). Of course this is very subjective, I am sure plenty of others disagree.
Hope you all enjoy your vans much as I enjoy mine. I would make the same decision now, even with '01 Chryslers out there. And as for those Izusu TV ads ("owner of tan minivan left your lights on..." and the guy at the gym gets embaressed); the utility of minivans for on-road use w/ kids kicks 'A' over any SUV. I have never been embaressed about my Odyssey.
Many thanks to everyone. I have found this forum very useful. I will post our experiences with the van.
-Trevor
For those of you who have installed aftermarket fog lamps in your late model Odys, how have you prepared and mounted the lamps in the bumper?
I've read the instructions for the Honda fog lamps and you have to cut out part of the bumper, but the cut area is then finished off with the lamp mounting bracket, etc., and it looks like it would present a very nice finished appearance.
How have you prepared the bumper faschia for PIAAs or other non-OEM lamps so the bumper doesn't look hacked up?
Thanx for any help.
GENUINE HONDA FACTORY INSTALLED NAVIGATIONAL DEVICES which is in capitol letters. So they are wrong, it is covered.
What a shock .....
I read the extended warranty I had bought, when I got home. I called the dealer and said are you sure this is the Honda company warranty. He said yes the warranty company I bought it from is owned by Honda. That turned out to be "right". The warranty company is part owned by the local Honda dealership and part owned by some other company.
So it all depends on what the meaning of the word is is.
We know that there are few after-market options, but just wanted to know about dealers' prices.
Of course you can explain it away in some logical manner, but this misses the forest for the trees. The fundamentals of the whole thing are ludicrous.
Then of course the beloved dealers take off and run with this, underselling one another, trying to sell Brand X warranties to unsuspecting customers, etc.
Of course, just my humble opinioin.
the Dash Light Recall. The dash light went out
completely last night while I was on hightway.
Call the dealer this morning, they told me that
Honda send them the bad part. I have to take
another day off to bring my car back to the dealer
again. It is troublesome to have to deal with
honda and dealer like this. May be this is my last
honda car and/or last time at this dealer.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Do you know what specific items put it at the top (positive or negative)?
CR rates the various characteristics as E,VG,G,F and P which is from excellent, very good, good fair, to poor.
They say at the top of the Odyssey report:
Highs: Refinement,interior room and flexibility,handling,crash safety, fuel economy,value.
Lows: Road noise,stiff ride at times.
Remember though these ratings are really in comparison to the other vans. So before I start up the rumor again that the Odyssey is noisy I see that for noise they still give it a VG rating. and for ride a G rating. It is apparently noiser then the other vans except the Winstar which is rated G. For ride all the vans are rated VG except the Odyssey and Chevrolet Venture which are rated G.
If the noise is bothersome then I suggest you get the van undercoated. That should solve the problem. I think the noise is only bothersome to those who have heard that the Odyssey is noisy, so they concentrate their attention on it.
As for the ride the Windstar has larger slower motions then the Odyssey which has faster smaller motions. I have driven both a long ways and prefer the Odyssey ride.
Nonetheless, glad to see my Odyssey won! I like the ride (I drove 400+ miles today), and do not see how I can complain about wind noise in a vehicle with this size and shape.
1. Cut out factory bumper inserts as per factory installation docs. Remove the grill or pop off the screws holding the cover below the bumper to run the harness between lamps.
2. Drill 2 holes into the plastic bumper. Try to guesstimate the correct angle to adjust for the pointed bumper. Get Size 8 stainless steel nuts & bolts (I used 3/4" length). Be aggressive with the angle because I misjudged the first time and the lights pointed slightly outwards. Pop the bolts through the holes with the threads exposed in the cutout. Mount the lights and turn in your nuts. (Don't use lock-tite until you adjust the angle.) Unfortunately the bolt threads are exposed but their view is obstructed by the lamps. Alternatively, you can use the double-sided tape, but I don't trust it for the lights.
3. Wire up the harness between the 2 lamp units.
4. Remove plastic fog light switch cover and drill a small hole at the bottom edge large enough to run the PIAA cable through. Mount the PIAA switch to the dummy cover with double-sided velcro, run the cable through the hole and then put the cover back into the dash.
5. Pop out the firewall grommet above the accelerator pedal and run the PIAA cable through it. (Check out the Honda fog light installation instructions for this.)
6. Ground the light switch near the firewall. It's too difficult to try the central ground on the firewall that is obstructed, so pick another spot. Run the PIAA harness in a plastic wire loom routing it towards the battery compartment. (Again, use the Honda instructions for the route.)
7. The hot wire for the switch is then tapped into the front left parking light. (I don't recall what color wire it is, but it is in the factory service manual if you have.) You will have to access this through the fender cover. Unfortunately, that's how Honda expects you to change the parking light bulbs to begin with. It involves popping off 3 plastic retainer-pins with your wheels turned to the extreme right.
8. Hook up the wires from the mounted lamps and from the switch to the relay and mount the relay somewhere so that it isn't obstructive. Ground the wire from the lamps to a good ground near the battery, many choices here. Attached the hot wire from the lamps to the battery accessory mount point on the positive terminal clamp.
9. You're done! Just tie-wrap all wires and harnesses and stick the wires in a wire loom where you feel necessary. And, don't forget to pop all retainers back in. Adjust your lights and use loctite when you're sure you got them right.
I mounted PIAA 1000X driving lamps. The bottom of the units sit on top of the unpainted surface of the bumper, so it doesn't come into contact with any painted surface. I'm sure the 1400 fog lights will fit without a problem, since they are shorter than the 1000s.
No offense at all intended to you, but I came away with something else. Guess the drilling angle?!? Double-sided tape for mounting?!? No angle adjustment except for the installation mounting?!? Amateur installation without any alignment standard or scale?!?
Now I understand why so many of these fog/running lights are glaring in my face these days! Don't states have laws requiring proper light alignment?
Technically, reliability is not part of CR's overall rating, though a vehicle has to have average reliability or better to be a "Recommended" pick. Of course, reliability might bias a review even if it is not directly part of it.
Even though I think I would prefer the looks of a light mounted in the factory location, the 1500XTs mount and fit nicely with no cutting in the lower row of openings in the bumper. I also would've liked them side by side in the center, but there would be no space to remove the screws for lamp changes without removing the mounting brackets from the bumper.
I didn't trust myself to estimate angle for the lamps because of the extreme point of the bumper causing such a strong optical illusion. Instead I ran a rod through the mounting bracket holes of both brackets to keep them pointed precisely forward while I positioned them for mounting. So far, I'm using the double sided tape by itself. If it looks troublesome, I'll follow your procedure and run some screws into the bumper.
I had already checked out Honda's instructions and instead of going into one of the parking light wires, I tapped in to the point that powers the relay that plugs into the driver's cowl panel. Once you figure out where it is, it's a lot easier than splicing into a parking light wire.
Thanx again for the response. I think either of our methods would work equally well depending on where you want to mount.
Each cover was labeled with what seat it was to go on, but there were no instructions -- so you have to figure out how best to tie them on. Usually there was a front and rear tie that went together. The only other problem I had was there was no slit in the rear bench seat cover for the strap on the back of the seat -- that you need to pull the seat back up out of the well. I solved that by cutting a slit in the cover, glueing a piece of material underneath as a "backer", then sewing the edges of the slit so it wouldn't fray. (Note: if you got the fabric-back cover for that seat, perhaps they could custom-install that slit for you -- ask when you call.)
Please feel free to email me if you want any further information.
I am going to talk to Dealer about it .Does any one of you have it?
thanks in advance, Ven