Oddesy V. Sienna

I was seriously considering a Sienna or oddy . So I did what I usually
do when I'm going to buy a new car, I test drive an older version. I
tested an '01 Sienna. I wasn't impressed. It felt tired but only had
about 64k miles or so.

Then I saw a 2000 oddy on a lot. It had 54k miles. So I drove it. And it
blew away the Sienna. I hate to say it cause I own an 01 Camry. I had
the saleman check the manual during the drive and it said the timing
belt needed to be changed every 60k miles?? I think this is a huge
drawback (the sienna is a 90k change) to an otherwise fine ride. Is
that the case on the 05's ???

Maybe he read it wrong? Is this one of those engines that messes up
real bad when the TB breaks? I kinda like the styleing of the 2000 vs .
the newer oddy.

 

The big worry with the Ody is the high failure rate of automatic
transmissions.

John

 

Yes, he read it wrong. The engine *is* an interference engine, but the
timing belt change interval for the 1999 - 2004 Odyssey engine is
105,000 miles, not 60,000.

I, too, prefer the older styling. The 2005 makes me think of the Dodge
with its cladding.

I have 97,000 miles on my 2001 Odyssey, and like most, have had no
transmission problems. However, the transmission has been problematic
on larger percentage (still a small percentage overall) of Odysseys than
it has historically been with Honda transmissions.

RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen

 

I have a 2000 Od with 82K miles and it has been great. The only problem has
been the EGR flow problem which was fixed today by Honda at no charge. They
have extended the warranty on this problem to 80K and on the trans to 100K
miles. The timing belt change interval is 105K, BTW, not 60K.

It did blow away the Toyota at the time we bought it new. From what I hear,
however, the new Sienna is much more competitive with the new Od. I'd drive
the new ones carefully before deciding.

Leonard

 

It's not a bad idea to replace timing belts every 60k, even if the
manual says more...

Don't know if the 2k Oddy had an interference engine or not, but suspect
it does... nice van though, my mom has one. It does have a good bit of
interior road noise at highway speeds.

Erik

 

Thanks for the responses. Actually thinking of getting the used Honda I
test drove now. Or another private owner used honda. It handles great,
like a car. Seems shorter than toyota?? Closer to a dodge caravan short
WB version?

Don't like the metal that sticks out in differnt places when the back
seat is folded down but that is a minor issue. I did read about trans
problems and they even happen with the new hondas?

Seriously consider dodge (caravan) on this hunt but been there got
burned by that..

Don't understand why dodge sells so many minivans when you can pretty
much count on a trans rebuild for sure with them.