re: Anybody here own a Honda Odyssey?

My secret shame is that I love driving my father-in-law’s odyssey more than my truck.

Disclaimer haven’t read this entire thread. But after a lifetime of swearing I’d never drive a minivan…I drive an Odyssey. It isn’t the only van we looked at, but some of its exclusive features are things I could not live without.

One of those things is the middle row seats that slide side to side. I have two rear-facing car seats in the middle row and a kid who can’t unbuckle herself entirely who has to sit in the third row. I slide the seats literally every day for both school car line pickup and getting people in and out. That isn’t available on any other van.

I also like the middle row removable seat. Maybe you can get that on another van, but not on the other models we looked at. It’s something I can keep in the back and pull out if I suddenly need to add a carpool kid. That seat is fantastic for that purpose, and it is pretty easy to do by yourself.

I like the entertainment system - can do standard DVD/blu-ray but also is capable of HDMI to your phone/tablet or streaming if you get the wifi option. I like the cabin camera because I can see all the passengers without having to turn around. I like the vacuum (only on the top model but it is really useful on road trips).

It is not the most fun to drive. I definitely test drove others (Pacifica specifically) that were faster or handled more like a smaller vehicle. But the benefits of the Odyssey outweighed.

My husband has an expedition and it is nice, but honestly it does not compare to the odyssey as a primary family vehicle when the kids are all really little. I don’t think I’ll drive this thing forever, but definitely while I have really young ones.

queenie you got one of them bumper stickers on the back of that minivan that reads:" I used to be cool on the back"?




FWIW I drove a minivan when all 3 of my now grown kids were younger. I could have been Brad Pitt in his hay day an I knew damn well I wasn't getting any looks in my minivan.

Haven't seen that one but I do laugh when I see those on the minivans. My kids have great memories of the red windstar and it wasn't pretty but with 3 kids and sports all over it was a great vehicle.

Homer liked his.



We're on our second one. Had a 2002 that we kept for 10 years. I don't recall how many miles were on it (well over 100k) but it had very few issues. Those that do arise often have a simple do it yourself fix, like clogged rear A/C drain and replacing a plastic bracket that failed on one of the power rear doors.

Have a 2012 Touring now with about 150k miles. We noticed the shudder around 50k miles but that Honda did a free transmission fluid change and something else on the tranny - no issues since. Only issues at present are a broken DVD player (haven't used it since the kids were young anyway) and cv joints likely need replacing (starting to make noise on right hand turns).

Can't beat it for hauling people and stuff, and long road trips. Daughter and 5 of her HS friends plus two moms took it to Orlando and managed to fit all their stuff behind the 3rd row. 8 people with luggage without needing a roof rack.

A friend has a 2008 with over 250k miles - they drive it to Calgary Canada every couple years to visit his wife's family. Very few issues, and he does most of the maintenance himself.