Hmm, I would think it would be safer to have the seatbelts as part of the seat as it's one unit and more likely to stay in place. If the seat becomes unhinged, the seatbelt may not be as effective since it's tied to the side pillar which may go in a different direction?

At any rate, my plan is to take the middle seat out and slide the outboard seats to each other in the middle away from the sides to help should a side impact occur. My kids are still in car seats as well so the seat belts in this instance will be used as anchors for the car seats.

 

Honestly safety is so paramount on these vehicles that you can bet they tested the living daylights out of this. The tbone and other tests that the NTSB and IIHS does will tell you all you need to know. I don't expect anything less than stellar scores. I'm sure they smashed a lot of these Odysseys using the exact same specs and crash tests that the NTSB and IIHS use to ensure they get top scores. If there is one top priority that minivan customers want it's safety and Honda knows that.

 

True but I will wait till the results come out in iihs and the nhtsa ones.

 

Sound decision. I'm guessing the NHTSA will come out first since I think the IIHS has to buy theirs...I think.

 

GM has been doing seat mounted seatbelts for sometime... im sure if it were a huge disaster they would have stopped by now

 

Seat belts for 2nd row outboard seats had to be moved to allow the seats to slide. The so-called "magic slide" was conceived four years ago, but to produce crash test results comparable to the previous generation, they had to reinforce the seat frame with extra steel and make sure the track (which some have complained about here) they slide on is strong enough.

 

The results will tell. I just want to be assured relocating them due to magic slide is going to yield safe results as previous generation if not better. Again I realize Honda should have done their homework but I will wait to check the results once they are scored for both agencies.

All I am saying is those seats can move (slide). Any seat can be set off their track if the impact is hard enough in an accident. I want the warm and fuzzies to see where the passengers end up (kids) in a situation like that vs being anchored to the pillars.

 

I really don't think the placement of the seatbelts should be an issue at all. In fact, the belt being part of the seat and not the frame was one of the reasons we went with an '08 Sienna about 5 years ago. I am happy Honda has followed suit because I personally feel with child seats it works better! Considering a child in a booster seat, the belt would come from further away and stretch across the frame to the seat if it was moved over (same scenario if installing a carseat with belt) and not just that but potentially be more difficult for younger ones to reach easily. That's just my thought!
I can totally relate to your position on wanting to wait for the official safety ratings though. I am in the same boat (just in general, not on seatbelts). I fully think they won't disappoint but I am still a little reluctant to purchase without seeing them because I've always checked that before buying. Now that we are expecting a 4th baby we need the extra tether anchors that the Odysseys provide, so we're looking into the new models since they have more features and I'm excited to make the switch!

 

We tried seating a teen and an adult on the 2nd row seats, and they hurt themselves by jumping straight on the seat, not noticing the seat belt buckle which was sticking out inside the seat (vs seat belt buckle staying completely on the side of the seat in our older Sienna)
Even after they were seated, and these are not very big ladies, they were not comfortable seating in the 2nd row seat because the buckle was taking much room off the seating area.
This is pretty much our only sticking issue with the 2018 before we decide to buy, is there a trick to make the 2nd row seat seat belt buckles take less out of the seat area and make them more comfortable to use ?

 

Our dealership confirmed we weren't the only ones noticing this, any teen or adult will feel the buckle on their posterior while seated. We're still not sure about buying because of it.

 

flavoie, can you try to post some pics? People with carseats may run into issues with this has it's a common issue in other vehicles.

 

Here is my attempt at providing pictures.
I love the seats, hate the buckle location.
These are the fabric seats in mocha, they look awesome. Color difference is due to different lighting while taking pictures.

 

I'm pretty good sized (50" around my hips) and I can sit in the middle 2nd row seat without it being uncomfortable. The buckle does touch me to where I can feel it, more so with the belt off than when it is latched. I don't think it will be that much of a problem for us but if it is you can slip the elastic retainer off the buckle and get a bit more pressure relief.

 

Stan-qaz, I noticed this with the left and right magic seats, I don't recall how well I tested it on the middle seat.
The placement of the buckle is quite different between the left/right seats (inside the seat) vs the middle seat (on the side).
How is it comfortable sitting on the magic seats, is the seatbelt buckle in the way ?
Do you have to watch it to make sure you don't get impaled by the protruding buckle when you join your seat ?
I would appreciate any hints that would make the situation comfortable for us before I buy

 

I just went out and set in all three second row seats to confirm my impressions, and for me the buckle in the center one is the most comfortable of the three. It has the ability to be pushed over to the side, giving a bit more clearance. On the end seats the buckles are not recessed and come up through a hole in the padding preventing them from being pushed down and/or off to the side as far as the center seat.

Getting into the center seat you do need to plan to avoid the side seat buckle on the passenger side seat, on the driver's side you pretty much miss it unless you get in very differently than I do. That is a possibility as I'm 6' 6" and likely come at things from a different angle than someone shorter does.

Of the rear seats I prefer the center one as the toe room under the console is more comfortable and I'm not worried about kicking one of the under-seat air conditioning vents out of whack.

 

There's air conditioning under the middle row side seats?

 

I'm curious what he means as well.

 

Must be talking about the center row. He said foot room is better under the console and there are a/c vents under the driver's row seats.

 

Too late to edit that to make it clearer, I did mean the center / 2nd row seats.

I forget the back / rear / third row seat is there, I don't think we ever had it up in our 2001 Ody and I doubt we will ever use it in the 18 either.

 

Pictures of the three floor vents on my Touring, one each under both front seats and one under where the third row seat would be if it is open.

 

Salesperson was able to push the buckle into the seat then back out on the seat side.
This does make the buckle a little farther from you which is good.
You still do have to watch out while seating to not sit directly on that buckle

 

I am glad you can at least pull the seat belt out and position it outside the seat. I think Honda compromised way too much to make the middle row seats slide side to side with the middle row seat design.

- The armrests are ridiculously narrow and uncomfortable.
- It is a pain to remove the overly heavy middle seats
- The seat backs don't fold flat where you can place things on top of them, so if need cargo space you have to completely remove the middle row and even then you are stuck with a big hum where the seats are installed.
- For the mechanism to work properly they had to slide the seat belts through the seats making the seat much narrower

Personally I would have built very comfortable seats that don't slide side to side but enable to van to provide all the traditional flexibility one expects from a minivan.

 

I am glad you can at least pull the seat belt out and position it outside the seat. I think Honda compromised way too much to make the middle row seats slide side to side with the middle row seat design. Something that I find is more gimmicky rather than provide real utility.

- The armrests are ridiculously narrow and uncomfortable.
- It is a pain to remove the overly heavy middle seats
- The seat backs don't fold flat where you can place things on top of them, so if need cargo space you have to completely remove the middle row and even then you are stuck with a big hum where the seats are installed.
- For the mechanism to work properly they had to slide the seat belts through the seats making the seat much narrower

Personally I would have built very comfortable seats that don't slide side to side but enable to van to provide all the traditional flexibility one expects from a minivan.

 

The buckle will only go between the fabric and the plastic side, it's a move of about an inch to the side so we should not call it move outside the seat.
It doesn't look so good because it leaves a hole where the buckle is supposed to be, but for us it is an improvement

 

Someone got a picture of pushing the buckles to the outside. I hate the current location.