Wanted - Odyssey/Pilot Owner Experiences

I have gone to the JD Power site and the r.a.m.h. FAQ and didn't get much of
anything on owners experiences.

We are looking at new vehicles and the Odyssey and Pilot are on our list of
options. I'd like to hear from owners about likes and dislikes, gas mileage,
etc. I am well versed in the brand and quality and general product specs,
what I'm looking more for are the intangibles from those who have actually
owned/driven one of these for a while.



TIA

 

02 Odyssey EX-L w/factory rear entertainment system: love the car, love
the power, love the size. (Don't get the SUV; it's not worth it, and
it's much smaller than the van built on the same platform.) I can put a
full 96" couch (48" wide, no less) inside this thing and close the
hatch. Try THAT with an SUV.

Goes through snow like nobody's business, even on factory tires.
Currently we have 38K on the clock.

The transmission was subject to a recall. No replacement was called
for; they added the oil jet kit. Still, it disappoints me that Honda
engineered something like that so badly.

At 35K miles and 42 months, the idle air control valve went bad. Dealer
went ahead and warrantied it anyway. Good thing; it's a $300 repair.
Now, I'm a Honda guy from way, way back--and my experience has been that
things like this never used to happen. So the disappointment with
Honda's engineering isn't exactly going away.

Love the electric sliding doors. If they're available on the next
vehicle I buy, I'll get them no matter what.

I paid a $1500 premium for the factory rear entertainment system.
Nowadays, $300 at Target buys a dual DVD player with dual screens to
hang on the headrests. I'd go that route now, I think, unless the fee
for a factory system is significantly less than $1500 now.

In the end: I'd do it again, no question. But if Lexus made a minivan,
I'd take a strong look at that first.

 

btw:

http://www.odyclub.com

 

and http://hondapilot.org

 

04 Ody. 15,000 miles.
I recently Tboned another car that ran a red light. $17k in damage to the
front of the van and still Farmers wouldn't total it. I came out of the
accident without a scratch. My passenger only had minor scratches on his
shins and across his chest. After going through this accident, I will not
let the wife drive anything else as long as we have children in the car. I
fully believe that Honda engineering saved my life. We have the vehicle
back and and it drives like the day we picked it up.

I verified that the van was outside the VIN scope on the tranny recall
upon purchasing it. No other issues what so ever. and it gets what we
consider great gas milage (20 city/25 hwy).

Scott

 

My brother's wife, same story. She ran full speed into the back of a
stopped car, in her 00 Odyssey. $6000 later, it was back on the
road--as tight and straight as the day it was built. In fact, it was so
tight, I noticed that it didn't rattle like my 02--which led me back to
the dealer to fix the sliding doors (new seals and something else).

 

I have a 2000 Ody and my only real complaint is that it's noisy. Road
noisy. I hope when I get new tires to find some that will help reduce the
noise. I suppose I could do some sort of undercoating but I'll wait for
that.
If you test drive an Ody, take it on a rough pavement (not potholed) and see
how you can carry on a conversation.

 

We have 36k on a 03 Pilot. No problems whatsoever and inexpensive to
service. Gets about 22-23 on the road and 18-19 around town. Handles
extremely well with superb brakes and traction. OEM tires are noisy -- but
only last about 33-35k miles.

 

You're welcome.

Perhaps you just forgot to thank us for our responses.

 

Bearman,

First off, Sorry....I've been out of town with our Cub Scout Webelo's den on
a parent/child camping weekend since Thursday afternoon and just got the
chance to read the posts. Secondly, I knew this would be the case tobegin
with, which is why I ended the original post with a TIA ....Thanks in
Advance.... which seems to have *accidently* gotten snipped from the OP in
your above reply.

Perhaps you missed that part of my original post?

Seriously though, thanks to all (Elmo, Mike, Scott, Bearman, TWW and Tubeguy
<email>) for the replies. We are still shopping and will be going out this
weekend to do test drives, etc. It's great to hear first-hand experiences
before plopping down the cash.

Keith

 

My apologies for accidently cutting off the TIA in your OP. It was an
accident.

 

Thus the smiley in my reply indicating lighthearted banter and not real
flames

Thanks again.

Keith

 

Good luck. Take good notes, and don't hesitate to come back here asking
for more help.

$30K+ is not chump change. Spend it wisely.