Don't bother with a Honda Odyssey, they ain't that great.

So, we sold the '05 Town and Country and bought a 2011 Odyssey because, well, according to just about everyone, the Oddy is the minivan that God would build if he were to build a minivan.
We've had it for 5,000 miles now and, meh.
The lack of middle row stow n go seats is a fail in my opinion. I've been burned by this three times now. Last night I loaded some lumber and was left with the choice of setting an unsecured seat on top of the lumber, or leaving it at Home Depot and going back to get it later. Our Town and Country had a 600cc Ninja INSIDE the van while towing a 944 about 1,000 miles.
T&C WIN
This morning the temps outside is 32 with light snow. It appears the side doors are frozen shut. Well, the Honduh doesn't have a way to manually open the doors. When you pull the handle you are triggering the electro-mechanical system to open the doors. Well, the computer sees the resistance of the frozen (?) door and just beeps at you. We have somewhere to go and can't get in the fan. The T&C had power doors, but when you pulled the handle you were actuating the physical latch and opening the door.
T&C WIN
The 3.8L in the T&C has much, much more torque, but the Oddy revs higher and is smoother. The T&C gets a bit better economy.
TIE
I have a hard time getting the Oddy seat adjusted to give me a comfy ride, the T&C would swallow up the miles and leave my butt feeling pampered.
T&C Win.
So, what does the Oddy do better. Well, it looks better to me. It sounds better than the 3.8L, but since the Pentastar is the current engine, I bet the Oddy wouldn't win there, maybe a tie?
Our T&C was very reliable. I have to say the engine let go under warranty, but other than that, supremely reliable. But it rusted. That's about it.
If the Oddy doesn't rust, that's a big deal for me. But the Honda isn't the end all, be all of minivans. They failed pretty miserable in those two ways first mentioned.
Gotta run, going to try to get into the Honda now.

You should have bought another T&C

I'll look forward to your future instalment where you tell us of Odyssey transmission issues.

The van that God would have built.
Maybe you are following the wrong God?

JohnRW1621 wrote: I'll look forward to your future instalment where you tell us of Odyssey transmission issues. The van that God would have built. Maybe you are following the wrong God?

They were probably just trying to copy Chrysler on that one.

Fuel economy has to be far better in the Odyssey than T&C. My wife has the top of the line T&C from 98 and it's terrible on gas. Can't get better than 15 mpg from hwy with it.

In reply to Sine_Qua_Non:

I get 22-24mpg in my '14 T&C at 80mph depending on wind and terrain. In mixed driving(20mi each way daily commute, 14-miles 2-lane highway/6-miles in-town) I get 20-22mpg...but most evenings I have it hammered to the floor passing slower traffic when I can.

My wife wanted a Honda, so we looked and looked.

Yep. Bought another T&C. A 2010 to replace the 05. Same package. saved over $8K over a comparable Honda we wouldn't have been as happy with.

There's a switch to turn the power doors off. To the left of the steering wheel on the dash.

I love my mom's Odyssey, but I would buy a T&C over one any day of the week, and it's mostly because of Stow n' Go.

This is relevant to my interests. I'm looking for something to replace the Astro for winter and light hauling duty.

Sine_Qua_Non wrote: Fuel economy has to be far better in the Odyssey than T&C. My wife has the top of the line T&C from 98 and it's terrible on gas. Can't get better than 15 mpg from hwy with it.

That's odd.. My 05 has the 3.8 and a lifetime average of about 18.9 mpg according to the computer. It gets about 20-22 on the longer trips we take, and about 15ish in the around town stuff.

I do over inflate the tires a bit, though. For calls for 32 psi I think, and I generally run closer to 40.

So lumber is an impulse buy?

I liked my Odyssey because it drove like an accord, not a school bus. I have never driven a Chrysler van. I had an LX. Manual doors.

Sine_Qua_Non wrote: Fuel economy has to be far better in the Odyssey than T&C. My wife has the top of the line T&C from 98 and it's terrible on gas. Can't get better than 15 mpg from hwy with it.

Sumpin' ain't right. My 2000 GC never gave less than 19 in town on short trips, and more like 22 average on longer trips.

Beer Baron wrote: This is relevant to my interests. I'm looking for something to replace the Astro for winter and light hauling duty.

I recommend a 2012 or newer Mopar twin in the nicest trim level you want. The 2008-2011 versions have a few semi-minor issues that were improved later. If you get a 2008-2011 version, look for one with the big brake package or expect to retrofit it. The biggest complaint is with brake performance and longevity due to undersized brakes on the pre-refresh model years.

I had to repair the power sliding doors on our 2nd gen Oddity several times and based on that experience, I believe there is a special place in Hades for the jackwad that designed that system.

OHSCrifle wrote: So lumber is an impulse buy?

Often a trip to Home Depot turns into more than you thought. Plus, even when you plan it, pulling seats out to leave at home is a much bigger pain than simply folding them up

Beer Baron wrote: This is relevant to my interests. I'm looking for something to replace the Astro for winter and light hauling duty.

Just got to try mine with the General Altimax Arctic tires in ~2" of wet slushy snow. It tracked just fine at ~70mph.

I've figured out that since it's pretty unlikely I'll need to stow all-4 seats(I'm getting a hitch mounted next Saturday), I've used the driver's side 2nd row floor compartment for all my hardware: jumper cables, compressor, tow strap, tools, shovel, etc.

Sine_Qua_Non wrote: Fuel economy has to be far better in the Odyssey than T&C. My wife has the top of the line T&C from 98 and it's terrible on gas. Can't get better than 15 mpg from hwy with it.

Our '05 T&C with the 3.8 averaged 18.9. The honda gets 21.3. So what's that, 10% or so? When I had the Ninja in the van and a 944 behind the van I averaged 21 mpg between S. Carolina and MI, that's through the mountains too! Something is wrong with yours.

OHSCrifle wrote: So lumber is an impulse buy? I liked my Odyssey because it drove like an accord, not a school bus. I have never driven a Chrysler van. I had an LX. Manual doors.

My wife and I were driving home, and she mentioned that she was going to drop me off and go grocery shopping. I needed the van to go to HD and didn't want to wait for her to get home so I dropped her at the grocery store and I went to HD. So, not an impulse buy, but I wasn't able to spend the time necessary at home to remove 1/2 of the interior. Not having second row stowable seating is just stupid. It's a HUGE deal in my opinion. I've hauled stuff in the T&C many times and having to remove seats and reinstall them is just stoopid.

DrBoost wrote: Not having second row stowable seating is just stupid. It's a HUGE deal in my opinion. I've hauled stuff in the T&C many times and having to remove seats and reinstall them is just stoopid.

I dont get this complain ... You bought the van knowing the second row did not stow away, didnt you? Either way its your fault for not checking.

I dunno, we have an '07 Odyssey and I've never once wanted to fold the second row of seats into the floor. We have it primarily for kid-hauling duties, not as a replacement for a truck, though.

And yes, the two big wins for the Odyssey are the vehicle dynamics and the reliability. In 90K miles, ours has had a total mechanical repair cost of $0.00. Seriously, it's only been back to the dealer for maintenance I didn't feel like doing myself (coolant flushes and tranny flushes, mostly).

Saying that the only thing your T&C needed was a whole new engine at less than 50K miles is the sort of thing any other manufacturer would be crucified for. I've owned three Audis and none of them have done that! :)

Sine_Qua_Non wrote: Fuel economy has to be far better in the Odyssey than T&C. My wife has the top of the line T&C from 98 and it's terrible on gas. Can't get better than 15 mpg from hwy with it.

Several years ago I had a 2000 GC with the 3.8. It normally got 21-22 mpg on interstate trips until one year I decided to "improve" it by dropping in a K&N panel filter.

Huge mistake, power fell off dramatically. MPGs on a big trip dropped to about 15-16. Basically made it terrible. It was so clearly related to the new filter though that 1000 miles from home in the middle of my vacation I bought a new paper filter for it. Problem solved, car ran like a top again and pulled 21 all the way home hauling a 20 year collection of Bloodhorse magazines to an archive.

codrus wrote: I dunno, we have an '07 Odyssey and I've never once wanted to fold the second row of seats into the floor. We have it primarily for kid-hauling duties, not as a replacement for a truck, though. And yes, the two big wins for the Odyssey are the vehicle dynamics and the reliability. In 90K miles, ours has had a total mechanical repair cost of $0.00. Seriously, it's only been back to the dealer for maintenance I didn't feel like doing myself (coolant flushes and tranny flushes, mostly). Saying that the only thing your T&C needed was a whole new engine at less than 50K miles is the sort of thing any other manufacturer would be crucified for. I've owned three Audis and none of them have done that! :)

We didn't buy it as a replacement for a truck, but to me, truck-like abilities are more important than ride dynamics since we didn't buy it as a replacement for a quasi sport-sedan. And while it sucks that the engine went at 46K, I figure everyone has an issue like that once in a while. It sucked at the time for sure, but that's not the first time I've heard a manufacturer having casting sand issues.
I've had two Chrysler minivans with about 300K combined miles and that was the only failure that wasn't abuse (more on that later).
The driving dynamics, to me, are secondary to utility since that's what a minivan is, a utility vehicle. Oddly enough, our first Chrysler minivan saw more track time than your average Corvette, including the C/D One Lap of America. I'm pinning the trans that went out on the first one (120K on the clock) to the abuse of a mildly built motor, beefed up suspension, LSD, and track time, so I don't have a problem with that.
The Odyssey is nice, for sure. But it's not as great as I expected. I assumed after I got it I'd be swearing off Chrysler minivans for good. Not so. Chrysler got it right.

Slippery wrote:

DrBoost wrote: Not having second row stowable seating is just stupid. It's a HUGE deal in my opinion. I've hauled stuff in the T&C many times and having to remove seats and reinstall them is just stoopid.

I dont get this complain ... You bought the van knowing the second row did not stow away, didnt you? Either way its your fault for not checking.

I assume it ended up being a much larger problem than he expected when thinking about it abstractly before buying the Oddy.

As often as i see them for sale with a bad trans id never buy one. I also didnt like my 99 town and country though. I loved my 93 caravan and would buy another if i could find a clean 2.5

Never understood the honda hype. Disclaimer: the farthest ive drove an oddysey is in and out of a garage, it needed a trans.

JohnRW1621 wrote: I'll look forward to your future instalment where you tell us of Odyssey transmission issues.

There's really no issue. The torque converter is the size and shape of a personal pizza and it is the fuse between the unstoppable force and the immovable object. Honda couldn't put anything larger in there without sacrificing elsewhere.