[Aslan]

I need some honest opinions on the importance (or unimportance) of Body Side Molding. My wide and I both think it ruins the sleek appearance of the 2011 Odyssey and makes it look ordinary as opposed to extra ordinary, while the third member of our clan believes fervantly that we should buy the molding or someone is going to whack the side of our brand new 2011 taffeta white Odyssey and cause some expensive damage.

What are your people's experience with the body side molding in general and the body side molding when it comes to the 2011 Odyssey?

 

[tom34diy]

I believe it improves the look, but the designers put it too low to be effective.

Welcome to the forum, and at the risk of being rude, there are several threads about this that can be found through the search feature, and here is a link to one of them.
http://www.odyclub.com/forums/54-2011-odyssey/147934-body-side-molding.html

 

[lima]

I bought the 2011 Odyssey because the molding was available. Without it, the lightning bolt look was too strong for me; it makes the van look like half minivan (front), half MDX (back).

Buy it and put it on yourself, so that you place it as high as you want, and at an angle that suits your taste. You can make the van look more sporty by keeping the rear end of the molding higher than the front end.

 

[Bill in Houston]

third one needs to get over it. you and your "wide" can make this decision.

 

[bmwzimmer]

It's worth it. Here are some pics showing it's effectiveness. On two of them, I applied touch up paint (really crappy job) and the other longer scratch, I can polish out. Plus it looks much better with it installed IMO but that's just a matter of preference. Damage likely caused at weekend trips to Costco or Target. We always make sure the parking spots are wide enough but it still happens. It could be caused by either other car doors hitting us or runnaway shopping carts.

 

[jediphil]

body side molding

I think it doesn't go well with the look of the van.
It look ordinary with the side molding, kind of like the dodge caravan.
But hey! that's my taste.

2011 touring black.

 

[cebu 888]

Door dings can be avoided if you park far far away from the facility entrance as most people are lazy to walk. When you do that not only you avoid door dings but giving yourself a favor of walking exercise too.

 

[gatorblue92]

I'm not a fan of the moulding. I think it makes the side look too busy.

 

[bmwzimmer]

The primary purpose of the moldings is to provide "some" protection. Looks are secondary. Yes having it installed slightly higher may protect better against trucks and tall SUVs but I'm sure the Honda engineers did their research and found the best compromise when they selected that location. Works great against shopping carts.

 

[NickWaj]

The moldings are about the same height as my 04 Aztek. It worked great in my garage with my old Neon. I don't have as many dings above the molding as I do on the molding. I haven't put both the Odyssey and Aztek in the garage at the same time, but we are selling the Neon soon so we will eventually. If I have time I'll test it out and post pics.

 

[oddy03]

The primary purpose of the moldings is to provide "some" protection. Looks are secondary. Yes having it installed slightly higher may protect better against trucks and tall SUVs but I'm sure the Honda engineers did their research and found the best compromise when they selected that location. Works great against shopping carts.

In real world usage it doesn't work that well. All the dings (rare)I've ever gotten are above or below it. I find that the vehicle looks better without it. The vehicles where the strip is not even color matched even look worse, in my opinion.