Honda Odyssey 1999 - 2004

windwalkerman · May 2003

Save yourself some driving. Go to Carr's Honda website and look under internet specials/Odyssey for the EX and EXL advertised at $2 over invoice. Send emails to the internet managers of as many local and surrounding dealers as you can stand. Tell them that you want to give them the opportunity to compete with that price and paste the link to Carr's website as proof. I used this approach and 4 dealers where I live (Ohio) would match the price. Have them send you a purchase agreement detailing all costs associated with the deal. Some dealers may try to jack up the title fees, license fees, and doc fees. Check the prices paid discussion for details on how to get email addresses. Good luck.

garyw · May 2003

Hi All:

Local independent dealer is selling Canadian Odyessey's backed with 4year/60K mile warranty from Ultimate Warranty. It is a 2003 EXL for $24,500.

What is the forums opinion on puchasing a Canadian model. Does it hurt resale or will it cause problems vis-a-vis the warranty and the provider of service.

We would keep the vehicle at least 4 or 5 years. Please help!

stever · May 2003

Check your replies over in the Prices Paid discussion :-)

Steve, Host

fibber2 · May 2003

a van in which you can fold the rear seat into the floor, easily lift out one of the middle buckets and stuff in 23 large potted plants from the garden center! It looked like a rolling green house. I could never do that with my previous vans ('97 GC Sport or '00 Windstar SE).

Steve

robr2 · May 2003

Do a search on buying in Canada or just Canada. Read those and it should steer you away from it.

There will not be any Honda warranty offered nor will there be any extended goodwill repairs offered. You will also have the issue of trying to resell either a vehicle with metric guages or a vehicle considered total miles unknown if the guages are changed over.

Good Luck.

wholigan · May 2003

My experience at Carrs, with the sale, was GREAT. I didn't have to dicker about anything - the price was the price - $27361 for any '03 EXL-RES on their lot (they had about 10 RESs when I was there). Wasn't too thrilled with their finance office though. They refused to take a Sight Draft (that would have put me at 4.59% with free GAP coverage - not much of an issue for this vehicle!) and I ended up with financing from American Honda for 4.95%. Just for my satisfaction, however, I will be refinancing at my 4.59% rate: it saves $300 over the life of the loan, costs about $50 in fees, allows me to buy the Cargo Mat/Splash Guards/Lug Locks at HandA, and just makes me feel better!

For my sale, I had around $80 in fees - something like $52 (DOC) + $15 (Title fee) + $10 (Cook County fee - I love Chicago!).

I would be interested in hearing what happens if you try windwalkerman's suggestion. I had been looking for a deal for about three years. The five metro dealers only RECENTLY (last three months) started moving off MSRP (about $500 to $1000)... And even then, they were all rather "smug" about the process: "You order what you want - you pay what we want" kind of attitude.

I am looking for an extended warranty so I went to visit the folks at Burnsville Honda. Finance manager (I know he has nothing to do with the sale...) stated that he had NEVER seen one sold for that close to invoice ($2 over). Then again, he may have been greasing me for that $1400 warranty he wanted to sell me. But I digress...

BTW - You don't have a relative named Tom in the twin cities... Do You?

Good Luck!

wholigan · May 2003

Is it true that the HondaCare Warranty does NOT cover the power doors? I have an option for the 7/100000/$0 for $910... Not sure if I should try to get a different warranty that covers the doors...

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

robr2 · May 2003

Hondacare (at least the version I got in 2000) covers the power doors. It does not cover "wear" items and I recall a post somewhere in which the poster was told that the rollers in the power door were a wear item. I don't recall if they ever followed up with a resolution.

You may want to ask the service department.

wpalkowski · May 2003

From what I've been led to understand, US Honda Dealers won't honor Canadian Warranty when its owned by US citizen. No knowledge of the aftermarket warranty company you mention, but I'd be worried about it not covering the little piddly things that can go wrong with new vehicle. My sister in law didn't under stand power sliders and broke a door handle when my van was about month old (she didn't realize that the beeping sound meant that the door was locked!! ) Out of state dealer repaired it, no questions asked.
Also Canadian Odys have gauges in metric - Kilometers, and degrees Centigrade (They may be able to reprogram dashboard, but I think you'd still have to replace the gauge faces)

billg7 · May 2003

There is an 800 telephone number for HCW and they will tell you what is included and not included. The number I have is 1-800-999-5901

The HCW is probably the best warranty there is. It tells you what is not covered. The other warranties tell you what is covered and let you try and figure out what is not covered, which is almost impossible to do. In addition at $900 you are getting the warranty at a rock bottom price. A dealer will often offer that warranty to you for about $1,800, if you do not negotiate with him.

Body parts are not included and that would therefore be a part of the door, but I don't have the details on that. I doubt that you could find a warranty that would included the parts of the door that the HCW does not include.

stever · May 2003

"We feel we have been ahead of the curve in terms of safety"

Honda Accord, minivan top U.S. safety ratings (Sun-Sentinel)

Steve, Host

bbusse · May 2003

Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely use it.

bbusse · May 2003

When you bought your car in Chicago, how does sales tax work? Do you pay IL or MN, and when? Did you drive down there and drive it back?

Oh, and no, I don't have a relative named Tom. My turn - are you a Who fan?

bowke28 · May 2003

you pay taxes where your home address is.

bbusse · May 2003

That makes sense. Where and when do you pay them? Do I go to the place I renew my tabs to register the car in MN and pay the sales tax there? I've only purchased cars from dealers here before, so I'm not at all familiar with the process.

mikevu · May 2003

Windwalkerman (or anyone),

I'm looking to buy a 2003 Odyssey. Dealers here in South NJ give only $1K off max. Carrs Honda is to far. Could you please e-mail me(mhvu8143@yahoo.com) the information on dealers in Ohio willing to match Carrs price? Thank you.

lapvn · May 2003

Check out some post over at the Ody Paid forum, and I am in North NJ (Bergen)I bought mine just this past March. 2003 Ody EXL-RES Midnight Blue. Let me know if I can be of any help.

mikevu · May 2003

Could you please e-mail me the dealer contact and how much you paid for you 2003 Ody? My in-laws will be visiting us in the end of June and I just have a few weeks to buy the van to transport them around. Thanks. My e-mail: mhvu8143@yahoo.com

stever · May 2003

It's probably better to mark your email public in your profile. No guarantees, but that's one more layer to hide behind so the spam bots won't find you too easily.

Steve, Host

wholigan · May 2003

I am back and forth to Chicago every weekend to take care of some "personals". Anyhow...

Actually, that's how I got the car. I was in for a funeral and saw a newspaper ad for Carrs. I thought it was one of those "that car only" deals, however to my delight, EVERY Ody was selling at $2 over invoice. Just an easy, awesome deal that I had essentially been researching for three years. But I digress...

The Tax
============
Because I have a MN address and purchased in IL, NO tax is charged at the time of purchase. You are provided with a 10 day (in my case the dealership added a few days to account for mailing) registration "sticker" affixed to the vehicle. Once in MN, you have to register... You must bring in one of three items to one of those local "registrar" offices: the Registration Papers (funny, isnt that what I am trying to get from you - the state?), the Title (after a purchase - yea, right!), or the MSO (Manufacturer State of Origin). The MSO is supplied to the buyer (by the dealer's business office) once the dealership has their money for the vehicle. I have yet to finish my transaction because I am waiting for the MSO. Luckily, in the state of MN there is a 10 day grace period from the day your registration expires, which reminds me, I need to make a phone call... Finally, you are charged tax on the purchase price less your trade. This is documented on the purchasing state's "Tax Statement" provided by the dealer. In My case - $27361 + $52(doc fee - taxable:SHOULD NOT BE!) - $1000 = $26414 * 6.5% = $1716.91. The nice thing about this - you finance only what is PURCHASED, not the tax. The tax, essentially, is your down payment.

The Who
============
Who fan? Oh yea... But I got the nickname from my crazy aunt-in-law! Enjoy!

bbusse · May 2003

This is all great. Thanks. As for The Who, I have five copies of Live at Leeds: regular LP, original LP with poster and other stuff, cassette, regular CD, and remastered CD with complete show. Definitely wouldn't do that for any other band.

fibber2 · May 2003

We paid full sticker (nothing else, but that was bad enough) for an '02 on 2/1/02 - and that was pretty much the way it was around the country. What has changed? Has the Tenn plant added that much to the flow, or are sales down?

Steve

fezo · May 2003

Yeah, I was MSRP in 01 for an 02.

The Alabama plant is on line and Toyota is now selling a competitive vehicle. That'll do it....

nofeer · May 2003

Sienna and increased output has changed, now sienna is top dog and getting msrp+
wait till this fall with refreshed o4 and the sienna will be in good supply.

fezo · May 2003

Spare me, oh please. Sienna is fine for 04. Indeed they are making more of them because there is indeed more demand for them - rightly so.

Honda is hardly hurting. They put a whole new plant into production and are now, in the fifth year of production finally discounting them.

Come check in in 5 years and see how Sienna is doing.

That said, I like them both - a lot.

nofeer · May 2003

if o3 fall is refresh i wonder what refresh means, and then the redesign comes when???? more features to compete with sienna and quest? i will tell you that sienna won't have the full msrp for 4 years like ody that's true and to the customers delight

crkeehn · May 2003

I believe that the Odyssey is due for a redesign with the 2004 model year.

A refresh generally involves minor cosmetic changes, the basic platform remains the same.

garyw · May 2003

FYI...I received an e-mail from a local dealer (Oregon)earlier today stating that Honda Corp. is having 2.9% financing Memorial Weekend (all models).

It may be regional but keep an eye out.

fezo · May 2003

- 2005...

nofeer · May 2003

what does that mean jan o4????? or fall o4??????
manufacturers are releasing earlier and earlier like the sienna and quest

you mean that honda won't respond to the sienna for 18 months???????, that's a lot of market share given up.

fezo · May 2003

I don't know when they'll bring it out. 05 is the regular cycle that Honda runs - three years and a refresh; another three years and a total new van.

Giving up market share isn't a given here. We'll see.

shellymeister2 · May 2003

This week's issue of Automotive News has an article about the coming resurgence of the popularity of minivans. There is a chart showing the future redesign and new introduction schedule of virtually all the major manufacturers. Interestingly, it shows the Ody is due for a re-design in the 2004 model year.
Virtually all other sources (ie: College Hills Honda) have the redesign scheduled for 2005. Any thoughts? The 2004 Ody is only a few months away!

grandtotal · May 2003

Unless Honda has got better at keeping secrets (and they were already pretty good) it's going to be 2005. By this time in 2001 it was common knowledge that the 2002 Odyssey would be more powerful, 5 speed auto etc. If the new Odyssey was to be a 2004 we'd know about it by now unless they intend to release it in 2004 as a 2004, now there's a novel concept.

dave594 · May 2003

Honda won't be losing any market share just because the new Sienna is out. They'll sell every van they make, it's as good as printing money. The design cycle is being stretched because they can make more money by extending the current platform an extra year. The cost to redesign a vehicle runs in the $billions. To put that off a year without hurting your revenue is a smart thing to do.

andrewtran71 · May 2003

They are still selling like crazy even though not at the same outrageous price. But they are selling very well. I bet Honda will still sell more vans than Toyota this year.

jcroberts · May 2003

I have never needed any extra space with a behemoth area behind the rear seat. However, I need to move several antique dressers and a bed frame I inherited. I was wondered if anybody had installed their own roof rack? How long and how difficult is it to install. I have a friend I can borrow one from his 2002 Odyssey. Are their any differences that his would not fit on my 1999 model? Would there be any later problems of leaking using the bolts to hold it on? Thanks for your valued input.
We have truly enjoyed our 1999 Odyssey LX with 54K miles. We have only had problems with the sliding doors sticking on occassion. We have averaged almost 21 mpg. This is excellent mileage for a vehicle this large and powerful.
Happy Odyssesing!!!!!

skywalker4 · May 2003

Check handaaccessories.com. They have the roof racks and the installation instructions are on-line. It does not look too difficult.

jcroberts · May 2003

How hard is it to hook up a low weight trailer hitch? It looks like there are holes for four bolts under the cargo well. What is involved in hooking up trailer lights. Where do you cut into the rear brake lights? Thanks to anyone who has installed their own hitch who could assist me?
My other option would be to load two matresses and the bed frame on the roof. What differences does it make in pulling a trailer or adding cargo on top? Thanks for your input and Happy Hondaring!!!!!

wpalkowski · May 2003

Don't know much about mechanicals, but I was leafing through shop manual the other day, and noticed that there is a "towing connector" behind the left tail light. Not sure if it's accessible like when you're changing a bulb, or if you need to remove tail light assembly to get to it, but at least it seems like you don't have to cut any wires.

gary001 · May 2003

Q: How much additional do we have to pay if a dealer trade an Ody with another dealer or order one for us for a specific color?
We have a quote of $250 above invoice for an EX, i.e., $24,914 including destination charge. Is the price fair enough under the current competition of Sienna and expecting remodeled Ody?
However, they don't have the color, sage brush pearl, we want. If I request them to get a sage Ody for us, either trade or order, how much additional we have to pay?

lapvn · May 2003

Steve, I double posted also on the detailing board sorry.

Does anyone know if the back of the leather seats of our 2003 Ody is leather. From what I understand most cars have the front as leather and the back as Vinyl.

Also for those who protect the leather, do you also do the doors?

dtownfb · May 2003

Sounds like a great price to me. See if they can do dealer search for the vehicle. Another dealership may have the car you are looking for and the your dealer may be able to do a switch (or whatever they do).

fibber2 · May 2003

Check the other thread "Accessories" about two-three weeks ago. We hashed out the issue there. If it is an '02/'03, Honda requires tranny and P/S coolers, which require removing the front bumper to install. Even the lighting interface requires removal of the rear bumper to get to the provided holes and mounting points. It looks like a full day job for the first timer.

Steve

stever · May 2003

Honda Odyssey - Aftermarket accessories should be the link, unless you're talking about the Honda Odyssey Club-Options & Aftermarket Accessories one.

Steve, Host

gary001 · June 2003

Following DTOWNFB's suggestion #6061, the dealer won't charge additional if they trade with another dealer for the specific color we want. However, they plan to send a guy to drive it back which will add at least 100 miles on it. Ship the car is possible but we have pay the shipping cost. How do you think about the 100 miles for your new care? What risks are involved for "dealer driving back" and "shipping"? Thanks.

billg7 · June 2003

I would worry a bit about who the driver that they pick to drive it is. A young kid, for example, might put some wear on it. During the first 500 miles, as I remember, you are not suppose to floorboard it or come to sudden stops. That break in period is important. I don't know what they charge to ship it 100 miles.

As far as the risk of the driver getting into an accident. It is not your car until they deliver it and you sign the papers, so that is not a risk for you. I see no significant risks with shipping.

What would be nice is if they will let your go with the driver to pick up the car. I did exactly that once under the same circumstances as you are outlining. I told them I wanted to see the car first and they had no problem with that.

sbpceap · June 2003

I ordered a class III trailer hitch from etrailer, recommended by other posts here. Hitch installed in slightly over an hour. (My first hitch installation). I ordered the "Draw-Tite" wiring harness #18336. Got up courage to try it myself. It took about an hour. No splicing! You loosen two screws holding the small hooks near rear driver side tail light interior (where net is, to hold head rests of third seat). Interior rear access panel easily unsnaps by slipping slotted screwdriver behind rear hatch weatherstripping. The wiring harness simply plugs into receptacle held by blue tape behind interior panel, directly in back of driver side tail light. That was it!!! Then, for cosmetic reasons, I snaked the trailer connector (using a metal coat hanger) up to the rear jack compartment, where I could access it simply by opening jack door. All other times it's invisible.
p.s.- I didn't get the transmission cooler set up because I plan to use hitch only for bike racks, and possibly for a small sunfish sailboat trailer for a few blocks. If the van overheats from that, then it ain't the van I need!

timothyadavis · June 2003

And I see some folks that I recognize. Hi guys! Still find something to chat about this vehicle after all these years? Amazing. Absolutely amazing! :-)

OK, I'll toddle off into obscurity once more....

gess · June 2003

Will you be posting in the Pilot topic for the next few years??

robr2 · June 2003

He'll be back when Honda announces the Pilovalanche.

Honda Odyssey 1999 - 2004

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