2005 Honda Odyssey EX 255-hp, 3.5-liter, 24-valve, SOHC, i-VTEC

Summary:

Of all the cars I've had in my life... This one's a Honda!

Faults:

Bought the Odyssey new in December of '04 and have had no problems.

Doc says, Change oil regularly and see me in 110,000 miles. :-). Trust me, I'll let you know if anything comes up between now and then.

General Comments:

Solid performance, the 255 is impressive for a mini-van.

Dealer installed leather throughout, heated seats for driver and passenger. Very nice looks and comfortable.

Smooth, quiet ride. Handles easily.

Blind spots to the front right and rear both sides.

Driver and passenger side doors need a little extra in order to close completely. Other review indicated the same and I agree. After 2 or 3 months though, no change. (however, I have to really reach to find faults on this vehicle)

Wife likes the lazy susan in the floor, but I think it will just collect junk like every other cubby (of which there are many).

Instrument panel is straight forward, but climate control is confusing. Wait until you are at a complete stop before you try to adjust anything. There is a reason this vehicle comes with a handy little Quick Reference Guide.

MPG was low for the first 2k miles, but getting 20.5 in city and 24 on hwy. Other vans had better city mileage, but none of them performed as well as the Odyssey EX and up.

Stow-able second seat is a great addition to the '05. Granted, it can be cumbersome as you have to remove it completely, but when you need to move 8 (small) people, it comes in handy. We have used ours only twice in just over 2 months. I store it in the garage just to keep it out of the way. The option is to keep it behind the 3rd row.

The stowable 3rd row is the best on the market. Standing behind the van with the door open, the seat can be stowed with one, quick, easy movement. No need to remove the head rests.

Overall. My next car will be a Honda, and I'll go to the same dealer.

Oh yeah, 15 cup holders for 7 passengers??? OK, someone tell the minivan industry they can let up now! I need at least one hand to drive with.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 15th February, 2005

16th Feb 2005, 10:28

Is this a 2004 or 2005 Odyssey.. If it is the 2004 it has 240 horsepower. If it is the 2005, then it does have 255.

I think you may have become confused.

8th Mar 2005, 10:10

I have had my 2004 Odyssey LX for over a year now, no major problems yet. The transmission has a delay of maybe 3 second delay before shifting from reverse to drive. This makes it a little hard getting quick "get go" backing out of your driveway into traffic. The passenger air bag light is too sensitive with weight I.E. if you place a box in the passenger seat, it will cause the air bag light to go on. My 6 year old son sometimes sits in front and the light comes on unless he shifts his weight around to turn it off. Dealer has advised me this is normal, but it seems to get worst. The heater vents in the back sometimes do not turn on, depending on how your switches are set on the controls (if you have defroster on and the vent, the rear vents do not seem to work.) Overall, I would still say it is a good van. I am hoping they have fixed the transmission problem people have been having with the 2000-2003 models. If not, I recommend getting the extended warranty incase you do have problems.

2005 Honda Odyssey LX 3.5

Summary:

Purchased mainly because it is the one

Faults:

Nothing so far; brand new 2005 model.

Seems to be a good vehicle, then again it is brand new. Only time will tell. We purchased base model due to price. We figured we would not miss automatic sliding doors, automatic locks (that lock when shifting from Park to Drive) and automatic on/off lights.

The good part is this is one of the few vans that has side air bags for around $24,000 USD. The base model does have very good base features for the price; but--looking back we might have spent the extra $3000 or so for the next model up.

Other than that we are happy with the van. We only have 500 miles so far.

Only issue we've noticed is it seems the doors need to be shut a bit harder than anticipated to get the "door ajar" light to go out. This may be just the vehicle getting worn in. We'll see...overall no complaints...

General Comments:

Re-designed model new for 2005.

We purchased LX model, chose over Toyota Sienna and new Saturn Relay due to price for safety features.

Good basic safety features for price.

Wished we might have purchased "next model up" for a few nice features we are missing (power doors, automatic headlights and doors).

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 26th January, 2005

24th Aug 2005, 15:56

Can any of you newer Odyssey owners comment on the gas mileage issue?

13th Oct 2005, 16:33

To the owner getting 16.1 mpg: I would try some Shell gasoline and see what you get, then start talking again. Perhaps trying a mid grade might also help some, but the car supposedly doesn't need premium. You could try all three and see what you get with each. You might be surprised! You have to balance the cost versus the mileage you get. Make sure your tires are at the proper psi levels also. You could also try jacking up the car and seeing if each wheel spins relatively freely or not. If it doesn't, you could complain to the dealer about that. Dragging brakes can hurt your mileage. Some brake drag may be inherent with disk brakes, as they self adjust.

Regards,

Andy Goetz

2005 Honda Odyssey EX 3.5 6 cylinder

Summary:

No sentence, one word, fantastic!

Faults:

I previously wrote about my negative experiences with my 2002 Chrysler Town and country. The fact that I had a good experience with my 1999 Toyota Siena and bad experiences with my 2002 Town and Country made me trade in that Van with only a tad over 18,000 miles (I bought it in 2003). This year alone, the Chrysler Town and Country had two recalls. The first was for replacement of the upper power steering hose. The second and most recent is for electrical fires from the rear speakers.

General Comments:

The 2005 Honda Odyssey is the best vehicle I have ever owned (so far)! It's too soon to tell, but the mileage is good even though the engine cranks out 255 HP. The handling is very good, it is more like driving a car then a van until you look around at all of the room you have. An added plus is the removable center middle row seat that makes it an 8 seater rather then a 7 seater. The seat belt for this chair comes down from the roof, brillient!This van has a lot of pep from that 3.5 liter engine and 5 speed transmission. The car is made of 70% American parts and 30% Japanese (mostly the transmission).

Another plus is that they no longer charge over the manufacturers sticker price, you get the colors you want and delivery is only a couple of days (mine took 3 days, it was not in stock). If you are trading in a vehicle, don't settle on the first price, we saved $3,000 on ours by "negotiating".

So far, a real great experience, very happy!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 5th November, 2004

14th Dec 2004, 10:17

Steve, this is a 2005 Odyssey, not a 2004. I am the author.

Sam S.