Time for a new Odyssey - what to do?

It's time for a new truckster for our family, sometime probably in the next 6 months. We have had our 05 odyssey for the last 3 years and we love it. Put 60k on it from 155 to 215 or so currently. It is mostly still going strong but I am looking to get us into something a bit newer with less miles.

Should we go with the 08 ody (just jump forward 3 years)? Should we try to get something with fewer miles so we can keep it longer?

Should we go with the kia Sedona instead?

What time of year is best to buy? Should I look at insurance auctions for mildly damaged ones?

I have a good set of snow tires on steelies for it that I would love to be able to use on the new vehicle too. Wife wants factory bluetooth in the new van (we have an aftermarket add in the current van and it is only ok).

How old are your kids? When our last Odyssey finally needed a trans, our kids were big enough to strap themselves in, so we got a Flex instead. Plenty of room for 6 or 7 depending on seat selection, while only giving up a little cargo space to the minivan. Our Flex has been trouble free for the 3+ years we’ve had it. The earlier ones are starting to come down quite a bit in price too. A non turbo 3.5 fwd should be pretty low maintenance . 

We have an 07.  I won't buy another if I can avoid it.

I would consider the Sedona, or more likely, the Sienna.  Ideally I'd replace it with a Mazda 5, but I probably wont win that battle.

I would put any minivan above the Honda.

I own a Caravan and have been very pleased, though I did just replace the torque converter at 135K. I love it because it can fit a 4x8 without removing any seats through stow and go magic.

The Sienna is probably going to be the most reliable, but I cannot comment on that versus the Kia.

From what I see and hear, the Kia is probably the nicest place to sit.

I got a sienna.. last one went 200K.. this one should do the same.  

In reply to tuna55 and ProDarwin:

What’s not to like???

I'm going to be replacing my wife's sienna with another sienna next month. Going from an 04 to an 11 or so. 

Had 2000 and 05 Odyssey vans previously. 

Planning to pick up from a dealer auction. Local private dealer will bid for $500. Since it's being sold to a dealer, there's a 30 money back guarantee from the auction.  

poopshovel again said:

In reply to tuna55 and ProDarwin:

What’s not to like???

 

We've had ours a year, and there are a couple of things not to like:

1)  The variable cylinder system.  The engine mounts to support this system are more complicated active mounts.  They fail often.  The aftermarket mounts are garbage.  The Honda mounts are approximately $600-$700 rear and $600-700 front.  Doing the front one is a very involved job as well.  Its only a matter of time until they fail again, unless you fool the VCM system into never activating.  There are a few very ghetto ways of doing this, all of which trick the computer into thinking it has never reached operating temperature.

2)  The brakes have the worst feel of any car I've ever driven, except possibly that one time I pulled the Lemons car into the garage and forgot it didn't have calipers on it.  There is nothing you can do about this.

3)  The factory tire is a 235/65 on a 16x6.5" wheel.  Its terrible.

4)  Other OE parts are also insanely expensive.  See my other thread, where I decide I'm going to have to pay the dealer $650 to deal with the power steering pump (another common problem on these).

We got a fairly good deal on ours, but I am regretting it pretty hard at this point.  Any issue with it, and there are bound to be a few on a 11 year old car, turns into a very pricey fix.  A single trip to the dealer undoes any savings I may have found up front.  And most people don't even get the up front savings... these things carry a premium for some reason.  It would've been easier to simply buy something that doesn't have these issues to begin with.

You missed the power sliding doors.  I just fixed an actuator/rear latch with the OEM  Honda part and it's already failing less than a year later!

In reply to ProDarwin :

Yikes. 

We rented a GC with 10k(?) miles and fell in love. Rented another with 30k and it was falling apart. Granted, that’s 30k *rental* miles, but still, it got me thinking the 4th gen Odyssey might be worth a look.

Not to derail the thread, but any idea if the 4th gens are plagued with similar issues?

I know the 4th gen still has VCM and active mounts, as well as the same part number for the power steering pump (although it has superseded the old #).  Those issues are likely still present.  the VCM/active mount issues wont show until 100k probably.  Note that not all Odysseys have VCM - only most of them.  I think the LX does not, but EX, EX-L and Touring all do, at least for 3rd gens.

It doesn't have the tire issue as bad.  Larger/wider wheels help.

I believe it has the same size master cyl and caliper pistons, however rotor diameter has gone up.  So brakes feel better, but only incrementally so.

Wow, no love for the Odyssey?

Ours has vcm, and no problems with it or the mounts at 215k and counting. It does save gas though, approximately 15k miles of essentially free gas at this point in the car's life (say average 21.5 mpg vcm vs 20 without, going from memory here not my actual numbers). So $2k-3k savings. Better than a sharp stick in the eye.

Why is the tire size a problem? 

And I don't have any issues with brake feel. Certianly better than every single suburban I've ever driven.

We've been quite happy with our ody so that's why we are looking to replace with another one. Anyone have thoughts on best time of year to buy (does such a thing exist for minivans)? Or when Bluetooth became an option (I know it was an option in 2011 and not in 2005, having difficulty finding in between)? 

The tire size is a problem because it feels like absolute garbage.  Like driving on marshmallows.  I also suspect that this is part of the reason mine wears the outside and the inside of the tire down like crazy but not the center.  And its not an inflation issue.  I've seen other reports of this, as well as many complaints on the odyssey forums of excessive tire wear.

I'm glad your brakes feel ok.  Mine do not.  Others seem to agree that its awful (several on this forum as well).  I even took mine to the dealer to verify it had the brake recall done.  The dealer agreed they feel bad and told me 'its just the way they are'.  He let me go out and try another 3rd gen on the lot to confirm... same deal.

Maybe I'm just grumpy about the VCM.  I replaced my mounts with aftermarket mounts, and I'm not sure if I regret it or not.  They are nearly as bad as the busted stock mounts.  I wasted like 6 hours on that job.  But at least I only wasted ~$150 instead of $1500.

Lx's and ex's don't have the vcm or power rear hatch, the lx doesnt even have power sliders. I love mine, 07 ex. My grandfather has an 08 t&c, and I've driven them back to back. The Odyssey is waaaaay better.

I also have the tire wear issue, insides and especially outsides wear down very quickly.  I'm going to change out the cobtrol arms and wheel bearing and see if that helps.   Ours gets aligned with every new set of tires, BTW.  

We love ours but it does require care and feeding.  Our '05 has 147k on it.