[NewToClub]

Hi Guys,

I am new to this forum and cannot even start to explain how useful this forum has been. I have found unbelievable helpful information and thanks everyone for that. I am about to buy new Ody tomorrow and a doubt just crept in my mind....

Our garage door opening is 94.5" and we are almost sure that Ody will not fit inside. But that's alright. We can make that compromise for other benefits that we are going to get. Just wondering how many Ody owners are able to park it inside the garage? Anyone??

We live in Chicago so the weather can get pretty cold sometimes. I have 1 year old and a 5 yr old. Just wondering how useful remote engine starter would be? So far our car was always parked inside and it was manageable to load kids in the car and not battle bad weather outside. Any thoughts?

Thanks Guys....

 

[RichNY]

Hi - welcome to the forum and hopefully, soon, welcome to Ody ownership! We're on our second one (a 2011, coming from a 2005) and couldn't be happier.

We have a standard garage door opening for a two-car garage. Our 2005 Ody fit width-wise just barely. The 2011 needs to have one or both of the rear-view mirrors folded to fit. The extra couple of inches of girth seems to have made that difference. It's really tight for us with all of the other stuff in the garage, so we only pull it in when it's going to snow a lot or there's hail in the forecast. We rarely, if ever, actually load up the kids in the garage. With stuff we've already got in the garage, there'd be little room to open doors.

So, in summary, it fits, with a mirror or two folded, but it's tight. Also dependent on what else you have in the garage along with the car.

On the remote starter thing, I know some swear by them. Personally, I don't like them. Starting the engine and letting it idle is one of the worst things you can do for the engine and the environment. At idle it takes a while for the engine to heat up, meaning the cold-start wear and tear is dragged on longer and, while the engine is cold, it typically runs a bit lean, meaning more emissions which, combined with a cold catalytic converter, means more stuff in the atmosphere. Again, just one person's opinion. I know others swear by them, and maybe their impact is minimal. I don't think so, though. I think there's a reason so few cars come standard (or even offer a manufacturer option) with them.

 

[skinny2]

When you say 94.5"...is that width or height? A standard garage door is 9' wide and 7' high.

Official specs on the Ody are 79.2" wide and 68.4" tall. I do not believe that includes the mirrors....so I'm guessing another 16" (a guess) might make it too wide to fit through the door. I didn't notice when shopping...but do the upper end Odys have power folding mirrors? Not a feature I would ever use (although our Sienna did come with it) but obviously could be beneficial in this situation.

I've had remote start on the last few vehicles. Sure it's bad for the environment and the car...but I usually let it warm up a bit if it's under 20°F simply for my comfort. That's about the only time I use it though. If you have to park outside that may just be a cost you're willing to take in order to not scrape u

 

[Shazzam]

Sorry I can't help. Our garage is 25' x 25' with a double garage door. Interior height is 9.5' so we are lucky that we are able to keep 2 cars inside and have enough room to open the tailgate while parked inside. Aside from parking issues, I can tell you that there is allot to like about this van. Drives car like, smooth, reasonably quiet and fairly fuel efficient. Great backup camera on al but the LX model and there is allot of content so you don't have to get a top model to enjoy your new van.

I don't really care for the car starters either. I think they burn allot of fuel and aren't that great for the engine. But, you have to do what you have to do to stay warm.

 

[NewToClub]

All - Thanks for the feedback. Greatly appreciate it.

I am not worried about garage height since our's is tall enough. I concerned about the width which is certainly restricting me to putting the can outside. Still, given that we are huge honda fans, we are most likely buying the Ody (EXL/RES).

Skinny and RichNy - You seem to have convinced me about not getting the remote starter.

We are just a family of 4 right now.....no plans to grow in near future. Is Ody a overkill for our size of the family? (Guess may be I'm just trying to convince myself... )

Thanks Guys...

 

[skinny2]

Sorry I can't help.

Exactly. Didn't need to hear about how your garage is bigger than the OP's...but since you asked mine is far bigger than yoursD

Is Ody overkill for family of 4? Maybe, I guess it depends on your personal situation. If you want the room and comfort of something bigger than a sedan there's not many other choices outside of the SUV realm. A CRV is probably adequate for a family of 4 that doesn't travel a lot. They get better real-world mpg and are far easier to get along with in the city.

 

[Gstom1]

We are just a family of 4 right now.....no plans to grow in near future. Is Ody a overkill for our size of the family? (Guess may be I'm just trying to convince myself... )

Personally, I don't think it's overkill. I am only a family of 3 and enjoy the extra space the Odyssey offers. We keep our third row folded down at all times and it gives an amazing amount of cargo space. We have tons of room for the stroller and other stuff and we'll have lot of room for road trips.

 

[wktjr]

Personally, I don't think it's overkill. I am only a family of 3 and enjoy the extra space the Odyssey offers. We keep our third row folded down at all times and it gives an amazing amount of cargo space. We have tons of room for the stroller and other stuff and we'll have lot of room for road trips.

Same here, I have a family of four. Lots of room and versatility.

 

[Bill in Houston]

We are just a family of 4 right now.....no plans to grow in near future. Is Ody a overkill for our size of the family? (Guess may be I'm just trying to convince myself... )

We are only 4, and we love the size of the Ody.

It's great for when we want to take our kids AND THEIR FRIENDS to places. It is great to meet their friends and see what kind of kids they are.

Plus, we haul stuff for PTA or theater or camping or home improvement or whatever, and it all fits great.

If you don't do that kind of stuff, save the money and get a CR-V or Element, for sure.

 

[PhilZJ]

I also agree that the odyssey isn't overkill for a family of 4. My wife is pregnant with our 4th but we bought the odyssey in preparation. My parents visit all the time so it's nice to all be able to go in 1 car. Also the odyssey has plenty of trunk space for our road trip to my parents house 500 miles away.

As said before, the odyssey drives great, though I wish it had a bit more passing power. I wish vtec would open it up in the high rpm range.

Can't help with the garage question though

 

[Shazzam]

Exactly. Didn't need to hear about how your garage is bigger than the OP's...but since you asked mine is far bigger than yoursD

Is Ody overkill for family of 4? Maybe, I guess it depends on your personal situation. If you want the room and comfort of something bigger than a sedan there's not many other choices outside of the SUV realm. A CRV is probably adequate for a family of 4 that doesn't travel a lot. They get better real-world mpg and are far easier to get along with in the city.

Ass

 

[flexdmc]

Get the Ody now and get the remote starter later if you feel the need from
2011 Honda Odyssey Electrical Accessories - Bernardi Honda Parts and Accessories

 

[skinny2]

Ass

Another highly intelligent and helpful post. This forum is so lucky to have you.

 

[BigBoat]

We are just a family of 4 right now.....no plans to grow in near future. Is Ody a overkill for our size of the family? (Guess may be I'm just trying to convince myself... )

This is a tough question to ask in an Odyssey forum but I believe it is an overkill for 4 (gas, size, fun-to-drive, overall price for the value). It never crossed my mind to get one until we decided to go for a 3rd kid. My member name can give you an idea.

But you will like it. It is a nice, well equipped and safe people mover and that's what matters. The family will enjoy it

 

[stephent2]

It's me and the wife, kids are grown but we've always had vans. It's nice that the '11 Odyssey functions as a luxury car, a truck, a great road car and a people hauler. I'd say buy it and enjoy.

 

[davedrivesody]

Hi Guys,

***snip*** We live in Chicago so the weather can get pretty cold sometimes. I have 1 year old and a 5 yr old. Just wondering how useful remote engine starter would be? So far our car was always parked inside and it was manageable to load kids in the car and not battle bad weather outside. Any thoughts?

Thanks Guys....

I would nix a remote starter hands down if it were aftermarket. Those cause so many problems that many dealers won't even work on the car until it's removed. At least this one is from Honda, so integration with the car is not an issue.

At this point, I agree with the others that warming the engine by idling it consumes a lot of fuel and causes a lot of engine wear. Myself, I suffer for the few minutes of warmup. The warmth is nice though for those more sensitive to the cold.

Another option is a block heater. It saves fuel, saves engine wear, and gives heat fairly quickly after startup if you turn it on several hours ahead of time. It's a low level hybrid conversion at very little cost.

BTW, your new Ody should fit in your garage, just going by the numbers. 94.5 garage > 79.2 Ody.

 

[AL940]

I agree that the 2011 Ody is a great van. My wife loves the van. There is only 2 of us and this is our 3rd Ody in 11 years. I did not want to get rid of the 2006 but those run flats just about did me in.

The only thing I did in my garage is put 1" thick insulation on the garage door so that in case I opened the hatch it would not damaged the car. I also moved the Safe T Beams up so that the garage door would not close if the hatch was open.

 

[gvjagan]

I have a two car garage with a divider in the middle. My 2011 ody barely fits with both side mirrors open. I need to wiggle little bit to fit in. Since I am in cold weather, I make sure to park it inside.

This is a smaller inconvenience compared to the features I am getting with ody.

 

[manfrotto]

Just my $0.02 on the remote-starter. While it may be bad for the environment and the prolonged cold-start warm-up might—over time—be harmful to your engine, if you already go outside to warm up/cool down your car before you drive off, it’s no different if you get the remote-starter. With the remote-starter, you just get to do that in the warmth (or coolness) of your home.

As for the type of remote-starter, note that the Honda ones are reportedly very limited in their operation (from another thread). For security, it automatically shuts off the engine the moment you unlock your door to get in; you then need to restart it.

 

[Shazzam]

Just my $0.02 on the remote-starter. While it may be bad for the environment and the prolonged cold-start warm-up might—over time—be harmful to your engine, if you already go outside to warm up/cool down your car before you drive off, it’s no different if you get the remote-starter. With the remote-starter, you just get to do that in the warmth (or coolness) of your home.

As for the type of remote-starter, note that the Honda ones are reportedly very limited in their operation (from another thread). For security, it automatically shuts off the engine the moment you unlock your door to get in; you then need to restart it.

I think my point was you waste gas and add wear to the engine the longer you run it. And when it is idling to warm up, it is burning gas and going nowhere. My garage at my home is heated, so I don't have a problem on the way to work. On the way home, after parking outside for 8 hours (sometimes in -25C weather), I'll start the car and let it warm up for 4 or 5 minutes and then get into it and drive off. I also plan to use a block heater this coming winter (something I haven't done in the past) to help speed the warm up. Finally I find the seat heaters in our EX RES help to take the chill off while driving the vehicle from a cold start.

In my case, a remote starter from Honda ($1,100.00) is just too much to spend and I think I can address my comfort concerns (and fuel economy concerns) by a bit of advance planing.

I'm sure others make more trips during the day and have a low tolerance for getting into freezing cars. For them a remote starter makes sense I guess.

It's possible I'll have a different opinion in January though. The snow is almost gone and we're out of the deep freeze here on the prairies in Canada.