2001 Honda Odyssey V6 from North America
Summary:
Great buy
Faults:
Transmission - it is just starting to go out... we are actually debating replacing it!
Side doors have gotten a little testy - probably could be cleaned out. However they froze completely last winter (and it was still over 0F!), which made it a royal pain to get 6 kids out of the back, including a toddler and an infant.
One rear wing-window hasn't worked for over a year. Not a big deal for my family.
Things like brakes have needed a bit of work, but nothing unexpected on a 200k+ car!
General Comments:
We LOVE this car.
We've owned it since our Saturn sedan couldn't fit 3 car seats (car-shopping with a 3-day old, toddler and preK ;-P ) and it has been a great vehicle for us. It drives smoothly, accelerates great (I feel like the mini-van that speeds past Mack in Disney's Cars), and feels comfortable and safe.
Things I don't like as much:
- It only seats 7 and the 2001 model can't fit the extra seat in the middle like later models... this has become a Big Deal for us, because with 6 kids it means Dad has to travel in a different car (however since that is usually the case, we haven't switched to a newer/bigger vehicle yet).
- The wing-windows instead of scrolling windows. I've disliked these ever since my parents bought their first mini-van... I'm not sure if newer Odysseys scroll the back windows or not - I know Kia, Toyota and some others do! The wing-windows are next-to useless for letting hot air out or cool air in... i.e., useless overall.
- The cupholders are ridiculously shallow, and pretty much any cup tips right out of all but the ones in the front dash. However since there *are* cupholders and I have kids, they keep getting used. Luckily they are mostly used to store toys, pretty rocks, etc. but each kid needed to learn the hard way on this.
I would totally buy another one of these. Right now we are debating a newer 8-seater, actually replacing the transmission on the current Odyssey... or moving up to a 12 passenger van.
Note: we are considering an expensive repair on a 14 year old car with 205k on it! That says it all!
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 15th January, 2015