[jones]

I'm on a wait list for a 2002 MB EX-L. For the last months, I have been following the “Consumer Ratings & Reviews” posted on MSN's carpoint.com web site. Much to my dismay, the majority of the reviews are very negative. Of the 45 reviews currently posted, almost a half (!) rate the Ody very poorly (lots of 1.0). Even more troublesome is the fact that most problems mentioned in those reviews seem significant (engine, transmission, rattling, and unhelpful dealers). One posting claim to have invoked the lemon law (see: "the Odyssey from HELL" review).
Anyone has a sense whether this is a good representation of customer's satisfaction with the new model’s reliability? Is Honda really scarifying quality for quantity? Should I wait with my purchase until this new model matures a little and Honda gets at least the major bugs fixed? I did look at the postings on this (the OdyClub) web site but couldn't really get a sense of whether the problems describe on carpoint are pervasive, that is, is it really the case that a mere half of the 2002 owners are satisfied with their purchase? Thoughts anyone? Thanks.

 

[odycadmus]

I am not too excited about my new Odyssey. I have it for only 10 days, and it has gone to the dealer once for a defective solenoid. I believe the quality of Odyssey is not as good as other Honda's. My sister has an 01 Odyssey and it is perfect so far. My friend has another 01 and is complaining to me all time. Even though my confidence level is low on my Ody, I would still buy one if I want a mini-van. Ody is fun to drive compare to my old MPV and the Sienna at work. If quality is your concern, buying a Sienna will be a safe bet. Our company has a 2000 Sienna, and the build quality is perfect.

 

[vquan]

I think these are disgruntled people trying to dog everything about the ODY even if it's just a door problem. If you notice, of the people that seriously complain, they rate everything low, even styling. Well, if the styling is that bad, why did they buy it?? So I don't give much credit to these folks, they're just trying to scare people and making it a bigger issue than it really is.

From this club, it is fairly common to have rattles and door problems. Expect that. Don't want door problems? Buy an LX. Don't want rattles, but a luxury car. This is a van folks, a practical family people mover. I don't expect this vehicle to be perfect, I don't think any vehicle is perfect, but for what's out there, the ODY is the one to beat. I have no regrets with my decision.

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Never thought I could get so excited over a minivan!
'02 GG EX-L
'93 Acura Legend L

 

[daringdave]

If you read the reviews that these users posted on carpoint, you'll find that it is only few people posting them. I deteriming whether the Ody was the van I wanted, I used the reviews from Consumer Reports, Edmunds.com, Car and Driver, NTSB and quite a few other places including carpoint. After reviewing every van, my decision came down to the Sienna or the Ody and finally decided on the Ody due its safety rating and haveing 2 other trouble free Honda's and not liking the style or size of the Sienna. Granted, I could have gotten a Sienna below MSRP I still feel I would get a better deal with the Ody.
Needless to say, I ordered an '01 Ody and bought an '02. I have had my Ody for 2 months now and have had no problems worth a special trip to the dealer.

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'02 EP Odyssey EX
'92 Accord LX
'86 CIVIC Si

 

[jones]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by daringdave:
If you read the reviews that these users posted on carpoint, you'll find that it is only few people posting them.
</font>

Thanks, daringdave. How can you tell that it is only few people posting them?

 

[sa9651]

Hey, what's that web? I gotta complain! My gas filler door wouldn't stay shut, and I had to make a special trip to dealer to get that almost call-back defect fixed!
2002 SS 2200 miles

 

[S Miller]

I believe Daringdave is correct with the thought that it is only 1 maybe 2 bad a$$'s posting the B.S. reviews on MSN's carpoint site! I chased a couple of reviews off of that site by posting some facts on the Ody,and would advise other members to do the same,as well as post all 10's just to bring the average score up to an acceptable level for this vehicle!!!!!!



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Milli

 

[darelldd]

Just look around on this board for more information (both good and bad) than you could shake a stick at. Realize that EVERY car has problems, and there will always be those who get seriously ticked off about them. For 2002 the van hasn't changed all that much, and the concensus from previous years is that there is nothing better out there in a minivan.

Read reviews from several sources to get a ballanced view.

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-= Darell =-
2001 Civic EX - currently the BIG car.
1997 EV1 - "This is NOT your father's golf cart"

 

[FLozito]

When we were first shopping for our Ody, I too read the carpoint reviews and was shocked and surprised. Then I noticed that it appeared to be one disgruntled individual. I contacted carpoint via e-mail, and since them they have removed approx 4 of the posts.

 

[A. B. Hair]

Most of the reviews are done by disgruntled people. I guess we who appreciate our 02 Odys are mostly silent. I loved my '99 but the things I wanted corrected were mostly corrected. I feel my EX-L with 1600 miles is at this point, one of the best designs of any vehicle I have ever driven or owned. I do have a front end rumble that has yet to be fixed but this procrastination is my fault. The dealer told me to bring it back in for repair.
Any one who thinks the Ody has poor quality should have owned the '98 Windstar I owned or a 96 BMW that could not stay out of the BMW dealer in Greenville.

 

[PD55]

There is an old customer service adage that says a happy consumer will tell 2 people, an unhappy consumer will tell 10.

In the defense of those disgruntled - this may have been their first foray into Honda from domestic and maybe they were expecting automotive utopia - we sure present Honda in that light sometimes! A car/van can be a very personal item and it is easy to feel betrayed when it lets you down.

Good or bad - people expect more from Honda and there are repercussions when even minor things go wrong.

 

[ody2002]

I agree with PD55. All manufacturer build some lemons and there's no exception for Honda (or even Toyota). One of our members, Tomhan, had a '01 lemon. (Please look under "problem and concern" for one of the longest threads and you will find his story.) But, guess what's he driving now? A '02 Odyssey. Please also check the following thread for how Tom feels about his replacement ody now: http://www.odyclub.com/ubb/Forum17/HTML/000268.html

I believe reading a true story is more important for your decision making than reading those anonymous ratings. Good luck!

Sid

 

[Homer]

You can tell many of the Ody CarPoint reviews are bogus merely by looking at the inexplicably low ratings in **all** 5 categories; styling, performance, interior, quality, recommendation.

With 1 being the worst and 10 being the best, I have some difficulty with the rationale for rating the van a "1" for "interior" and "styling" when the major complaint is, say, unintended acceleration or defective brakes. What, precisely, does the interior and styling of the van have to do with these anomalies? Why would anyone even buy the thing in the first place if he/she thought the interior and styling rated a "1"? Simply absurd.

But the pattern of the unfavorable posts is the most telling. In serial posting style, there are several instances of all "1" ratings on the same day. For example, on 10/17, there were 3 posts in a row with all "1" ratings. On 9/26, there were 4 posts in a row with all "1" ratings. Today (10/27), there are already 2 posts in a row with all "1" ratings (and, of course, there's still time for more). Even the writing style of many of the posts with all "1" ratings is suspiciously similar.

As several others have indicated, those all "1" ratings are quite clearly the work of one or two individuals. It's too bad because that site could otherwise be a good source of information. In addition to the Honda bashing, when reviewers are giving the Sienna 8's, 9's, and 10's for **styling**, you know something's screwed up.

 

[ODYETTA]

Homer , I believe you're right. It seems to me all the negative reviews were done by the same person. Obviously one negative review isn't enough for him(or her). This is a shame because someone who does'nt realize this might actually believe that there are many unhappy Ody owners instead of just one who keeps repeating himself.

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ELSIE G.

[This message has been edited by ODYETTA (edited 10-27-2001).]

 

[jones]

I wrote an email to the carpoint support people regarding the possibility of multiple postings, and here is the response I got:

"Because an e-mail address is not required to submit a review, we have no way to determine if the same person posts more then one review.

I (the rep) have checked the reviews for the 2002 Honda Odyssey, and some do appear to have been submitted by the same person. We appreciate you bringing this to our attention."

I suggested to them to incorporate some kind of a registration requirement. In the meantime, it seems that the only way to change the low average rating is to keep on postings 10's.

 

[Homer]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by ODYETTA:
Homer , I believe you're right. It seems to me all the negative reviews were done by the same person. Obviously one negative review isn't enough for him(or her). This is a shame because someone who does'nt realize this might actually believe that there are many unhappy Ody owners instead of just one who keeps repeating himself.
</font>

Odyetta,

Yeah and those reviews are not only negative, they're profoundly retarded.

Look at one of the more recent reviews, for example. Specifically, there's one entitled "If you take your hands off wheel and van changes lanes by itself" (great syntax!). Of course, you've got to give the van a "1" for interior and styling as a result of that anomaly. Nope, it's pretty clear someone simply wants to bash the Odyssey.

 

[supra85]

The user ratings may be unreal (like rating of 1 just because of a single problem), but the problems these people have are real - most of which are serious and had to be fixed.

I like my Ody, but it does spend its time in the shop more than any other vehicles I've own. Looks like the Ody will have to be the first vehicle that I have to buy extended warranty.

 

[tomhan]

Hey everyone. I was looking through those reviews and decided to look at some different vehicles. Check out the Kia Sedonia (spelling?) I'm impressed with all the high scores on the Kia. This is their first year for a minivan. Interesting.

------------------

See my Pics

Tom
2002 RP EXL-RES

 

[Intrepid175]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by tomhan:
Hey everyone. I was looking through those reviews and decided to look at some different vehicles. Check out the Kia Sedonia (spelling?) I'm impressed with all the high scores on the Kia. This is their first year for a minivan. Interesting.

</font>

I saw a Kia minivan for the first time while on vacation last September. It was a nice looking van, very similar to the Odyssey. The front seats looked like a direct rip off of the Ody, right down to the folding center console tray that could have been lifted directly out of my van. The interior dimensions behind the front seats appeared to be slightly smaller than the Odyssey and the rear seat have to be removed like the DC vans. It had a V6 engine and a 5-speed transmission which I remember seeing advertised before I heard that Honda was putting one in the Odyssey. It looked like a nice vehicle. It'll be interesting how it holds up in the long run.

FWIW,


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Drive Safe,
Steve R.
'01 SS LX
Cargo tray, leather steering wheel, mud guards, alarm, fog lights, transmission cooler, in-dash CD player, Kelton subwoofer, under seat storage tray.

[This message has been edited by Intrepid175 (edited 11-02-2001).]

 

[Intrepid175]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by PD55:
There is an old customer service adage that says a happy consumer will tell 2 people, an unhappy consumer will tell 10.

</font>

You can say that again except I think the ratio is more like 2 to 100!



------------------
Drive Safe,
Steve R.
'01 SS LX
Cargo tray, leather steering wheel, mud guards, alarm, fog lights, transmission cooler, in-dash CD player, Kelton subwoofer, under seat storage tray.