Anyone with strong opinions based on experience feel free to chime in. Mrs. Stroker and I are replacing our late lamented Forester that gave its life in the saving of ours. It appears that the national rental chains are flooding the market with Siennas now unwanted due to Big T's legal issues. The missus likes the Honda but I'm drawn to the lower price of the Toaders. Thoughts?
Why not another scooby instead since one already saved your life?
Honda because we make the odyssey here in alabama and it helps feed my kids if you buy one.
Both have somewhat nightmare auto trannys. I run a transmission shop and of the 35 vehicles in for rebuilds, there are 7 Odysseys and 2 Siennas. Not only do they fail early, they are complicated, very difficult to build, and internal parts are very expensive.
Put it this way... Bring me an 01 silverado with a 4L60E and I can R&R, build, and test/tune for around $1200 retail. I put half of that in my pocket. The last Odyssey that left our shop had 81k on it and I lost money on the deal charging the customer $3100.
The Sienna tranny fortunately doesn't fail quite as dramatically as the Odyssey, but its equally expensive.
If someone comes to me with a Lexus RX300, Odyssey, MDX, Mercedes, VW, or darn near anything 5-speed, I skip straight to quoting either a used tranny or a factory reman. The cost/profit ratio and shear amount of time involved is not worth the headache.
Of those two, I would say the Sienna is the lesser of two evils. Expect front wheel bearings at about every 60-80k. It shares CV joints in common with the Camry (with a bit longer stub shaft) but the driveline angles are steeper. Axles like to wear out quickly, especially when the front and rear engine mounts tear.... which will happen.
... Have you considered a 77 Dodge Adventurer? Slant six, 727 tranny. Bulletproof.
curtis73 wrote: Both have somewhat nightmare auto trannys. I run a transmission shop and of the 35 vehicles in for rebuilds, there are 7 Odysseys and 2 Siennas. Not only do they fail early, they are complicated, very difficult to build, and internal parts are very expensive. Put it this way... Bring me an 01 silverado with a 4L60E and I can R&R, build, and test/tune for around $1200 retail. I put half of that in my pocket. The last Odyssey that left our shop had 81k on it and I lost money on the deal charging the customer $3100. The Sienna tranny fortunately doesn't fail quite as dramatically as the Odyssey, but its equally expensive. If someone comes to me with a Lexus RX300, Odyssey, MDX, Mercedes, VW, or darn near anything 5-speed, I skip straight to quoting either a used tranny or a factory reman. The cost/profit ratio and shear amount of time involved is not worth the headache. Of those two, I would say the Sienna is the lesser of two evils. Expect front wheel bearings at about every 60-80k. It shares CV joints in common with the Camry (with a bit longer stub shaft) but the driveline angles are steeper. Axles like to wear out quickly, especially when the front and rear engine mounts tear.... which will happen. ... Have you considered a 77 Dodge Adventurer? Slant six, 727 tranny. Bulletproof.
SEX on wheels!
My brother has an 02 Oddy and beats on it regularly. 98k miles on it and no issues to speak of other than rapid tire wear due to his heavy right foot.
We did just do the wheel bearings on the front end but that was no biggie and was expected.
I haven't driven either...thank Gawd, but to me this is a case of vanilla versus french vanilla. Like most newer cars today, the transmission is the weakest link.
I take my Civic to an independent shop for repairs and they are always taking in Oddys from owners who don't want to pay that HUGE trans. repair bill.
And if Toyota wasn't in trouble, I'd still NOT want a Sienna. Except for the just released/new model (not sure if it's an 2010 or 2011) Siennas are THE ugliest vehicle on the American road.
Hey Curtis,
We own an 06 Sienna that we bought as a certified pre-owned car back on Jan 07. Turns out it was a rental,but no big deal to me with the 100k mile warranty. Is there anything that I can do to prolong the life of the transmission in this van? I ask because I don't want to be buying a new vehicle for my wife anytime soon(we are still paying on this one for a little bit),and the warranty while long isn't forever. I have done all the maintinence so far,but it hasn't needed much according to the owners manual yet with only 50k miles on the clock. I am planning on looking at the brake pads this weekend,not because it is making noise,but rather just to see how worn they are.
By the way we love the van,even though it was called the ugliest vehicle on the american road by the above poster.
Chris
Since buying used, what about the recently discontinued Nissan Quest?
Some style and flair to the otherwise dull end of the automotive world.
We have an '03 Odyssey that is about to turn over 70K....no problems to report as of yet. We did, however opt for the extended-super-plus-all-encompassing warranty when we bought it after the lease.....just in case.
I am hard on rental cars.
My coworkers cheer me on when we get together "teach us again how to do a "J" turn". "Slide sideways with the handbrake again".
One of these coworkers bought a rental Explorer for $10,000 and is happy with the car. I guess I didn't rent that car.
I second the Quest. Plus you could swap a 300 something horse VQ37DE out of the new 370Z....might be fun.
07-08 Sedona. All the goodies of the Toy and hon, without the retarded markup.
What you really need is one of these:
http://www.remarkablecars.com/main/dodge/dodge-00070-1.jpg
Sorry for the thread jack.
Curtis,
I am also interested in what can be done to prolong the life of these newer trans. We ended up with an 06 R 350 and I am sure the cost of a trans would give me a heart attack.
well, they're quality is still on the rise, not on the decline like their Japanese competitors.... and find me a new Honda or yoda that offers a 5/60 B2B and 10/100 powertrain warranty that didn't cost money at the time of purchase.
pete240z wrote: I am hard on rental cars. My coworkers cheer me on when we get together "teach us again how to do a "J" turn". "Slide sideways with the handbrake again". One of these coworkers bought a rental Explorer for $10,000 and is happy with the car. I guess I didn't rent that car.
+1
I travel somewhere almost every week for business. The rental car "experience" is one of the few things I look forward to. Always double check to ensure my name doesn't appear on the rental records before purchasing. 
We bought an CPO'd 06 Odyssey Touring last year and have put about 10k on it since. A few problems at first with all the 'stupid expensive electronics' that were replaced under warranty. Been keeping up on maint with it and just did the 50k service which included such rough things as rotating the tires and a brake flush.
Very happy with it overall and it drives very nicely for what it is.
I'm pretty sure Honda upgraded the transmissions quite a bit in the mid 00's so you might want to do some research as to exactly when.
I know a co-worker had his 98's Odyssey trans go out and the dealer still repaired it out of warranty. He was the original owner, however.
If buying used definitely check out the Quest. They don't seem to suffer from transmission failure as badly. There are two transmissions at least in the earlier ones 4spd and 5spd. I've got a 4spd one and its done well so far. Ours has been decent. The DVD system no longer works and rear brakes seem to wear out faster than I would think but solid otherwise. Available at much lower price than the Honda or Toyota.
We're going with the big van due to my size (6-4) and the need for kid seats in back. I've had great difficulty fitting into smaller cars (like the current Forester) in general, let alone with kid seats behind mine.
Gee, I thought Chrysler/Dodge where the only ones with transmission problems. The very thought of a Honda or Toyota (untill recently ) having a problem is almost sacrilege
Why the hell are companies having trouble keeping the transmission from failing?
96DXCivic wrote: Why the hell are companies having trouble keeping the transmission from failing?
Extra-gee-whiz-electronic complexity, 5+ gears, and the small form factor / nasty packaging of a FWD automatic transmission do not make for longevity.
At least not at a profitable price point.
I think most Minivans are car running gear but with the extra added weight maybe they can't hold up as long. Just a guess.
A good friend of mine has an '00 Odyssey just about to hit 200K. It has required very little other than routine maintenance. We had an '04 Odyssey than ran perfectly for its 30K lease term. We replaced it with a new '06 Pilot (very similar drivetrain to an Odyssey). It has 76K with nothing but oil and filter changes, a set of tires and a battery. It is still on the original brakes. In my neck of the woods Odysseys, Pilots, and Siennas litter the landscape, mainly because of near their flawless reliability.
Honda had a really well known issue with their 5-speed automatic transmissions from '00-'02, but most of those have been weeded out. The same friend who has the Odyssey had a V6 Accord that puked its original transmission at 45K. The replacement transmission is still working perfectly 160K later.
Sure, this is just my anecdotal evidence, but I don't think these experiences are uncommon.
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