Registered: May 2006
Location: Colorado
Posts: 131

The following are from a thread that I started at Sienna Club to illustrate how my Odyssey is performing. I have read so many posts from Sienna owners bad mouthing the Odyssey just from a simple test drive and no previous ownership of any Odyssey. As a former owner of a 2000 Sienna, I felt that I could have some honest insight for those at Sienna Club.

It was recommended today from a member at Sienna Club to start a thread here so here it is. Thanks in advance for reading my posts. The following posts through 6/21 will reflect my substantive posts to this thread. I will omit all the posts made to the hopeless Sienna owners that just cannot accept that the Odyssey is a great vehicle.

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June 2, 2006:

As some may know, my wife and I traded in our 2000 Toyota Sienna XLE / Leather for a 2006 Honda Odyssey EX L RES. While I do love the Toyota products, and would absolutely consider owning another Toyota, I thought I would post an honest perspective regarding how our new Odyssey performs in all facets of car life. I will unbiasly report the good, bads and uglys regarding the Odyssey from my perspective. I am in hopes that my reporting will add to this thread when honestly comparing Odyssey to Sienna for those frequenting this board. Thanks for reading.

Week 1:

So far the Odyssey has lived up to its billing. Here are the topic points for this post.

1) I had to fill up the tank for the first time. The driving was mixed city and highway (nearly 60% city and 40% highway). The mileage was 350 miles for 16.5 gallons which equates to 21.2 mpg. While this would be good for city only, I am hopeful that this will improve when driving as much on the highway. I would also suspect that the dealership used the lowest octane gas (85) available to save a few dollars. I will use our mid-grade gas here (87 octane) and see how this affects the mileage.

2) The front center storable tray is useless! This is one of the items we both did not care for. I want a center island like the Sienna!!!!! Well, our 2000 Sienna did not have a center console so my wife purchased and aftermarket a few years ago. Coincidentally, our Sienna had a Taupe interior so we are able to use the center console in the Odyssey. I lowered the Odyssey's useless center console and placed a towel around the aftermarket center console. IT FITS!

3) My wife wants the third row window vents!!! The Odyssey does not have this for this generation. This is not a real issue with me but it is a slight negative to my wife.

4) I know this is comparing apples to oranges but........
The ride of the '06 Odyssey is soooooo nice. I can feel the road much better than my 2000 Sienna. Don't take me the wrong way, we loved our Sienna and the '06 Odyssey is a later revision. We did test drive the 2nd generation Sienna and I felt that the ride was a little softer with the Sienna. I do like the feel of the road so I have to give this edge to the Odyssey. Keep in mind that my time with the 2nd generation Sienna was limited.

5) So much has been made of regarding the noise level of the Odyssey compared to the Sienna. Again, applying the apples to oranges theory, the ’06 Odyssey is MUCH quieter than the ’00 Sienna we had. However, this is not a fair comparison and I have no benchmark regarding the 2nd generation Sienna. So far the Odyssey is quiet enough for our liking.

6) Coin holder:
Good grief, would you think that the engineers at Honda would include this. All I can say is, for a lack of a better word, DUH. Does the Sienna offer a coin tray? I know my 2002 Camry did and I loved that. My current car, ’03 Accord also has a coin tray.

7) Disk Brakes:
The Odyssey has disk brakes for all models, no rear drums. I prefer disk brakes over drums. I wanted the XLE package 4 but would have had to purchase package 7 to get this. IMO, Honda offers a better option with disk brakes across all trim levels.

We have not really put the Odyssey through its paces to offer much more regarding operational/maintenance/reliability issues as of yet. Be assured I will report my findings without bias so that we all can benefit from this thread.


Best regards,

RobotDoctor

__________________
2006 Odyssey EX L RES, Sagebrush Pearl/Ivory
2003 Accord EX L, Graphite Pearl/Gray

Good grief, do I own two cars nearly identical in color?

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Registered: May 2006
Location: Colorado
Posts: 131

June 3, 2006

I took the Odyssey into a Auto window tint shop yesterday to get a clear bra applied and get the front windows tinted. The clear bra was applied to the hood (24" up, just more than 1/2 way up the hood), fenders, lights and back of mirrors. The clear bra should really provide protection being this far up the hood. I also had the front windows tinted so that should bode well for the vacation my family and I are going to take next month. All told, the price was $380 out the door. I had my sedan tinted and clear bra applied here three years ago as well and both are holding up very well.

However, the front passenger door now does not open from the inside. The door worked before taking the Odyssey into the shop but now cannot open. I can open from the outside. I appreciate the cost and the workmanship of the application but they broke my passenger door. It looks like a trip back to the shop to make them correct what they did.

__________________
2006 Odyssey EX L RES, Sagebrush Pearl/Ivory
2003 Accord EX L, Graphite Pearl/Gray

Good grief, do I own two cars nearly identical in color?

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Registered: May 2006
Location: Colorado
Posts: 131

June 20, 2006:

Weekend trip with the Odyssey:

My family and I took a weekend trip to Colorado Springs for a friends wedding. The ride was smooth and comfortable. Drive time was a little less than 2 hours and all highway (through Denver and T-Rex ). I have to say that the car is less noisy riding on new asphalt compared to concrete roads. The DVD worked and was great to keep the kids quiet through Denver. I will say that I am not really impressed with the city gas mileage that this Ody is getting. Combined city/highway (20%/80%) yielded just under 22 miles/gallon. I am expecting more in the mid 20s for this pattern of driving. I will say that the gas here really is poor quality and I suffer the same gas efficiency with my sedan. Gas quality here has degraded in the past couple of years. Greedy, greedy, greedy!

No issues with the Ody of a negative sort. Adding a center console was nice as the functionallity is better than the tray. There was plenty of room in the Odyssey to minimize the War of the Kids. I did not suffer from reported droning problems around 2100-2200 RPM that other Odyssey owners have reported. The Cylinder management system (6 cylinder to 3 cylinder) switch was not noticable when going from cruising to additional engine power.

All in all, this was a very good short adventure for the Odyssey and my family. Now for the vacation coming up next, the 2,000 mile excursion that will really reveal the Odyssey.

__________________
2006 Odyssey EX L RES, Sagebrush Pearl/Ivory
2003 Accord EX L, Graphite Pearl/Gray

Good grief, do I own two cars nearly identical in color?

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