There are no inner armrests in order to fit a full sized middle seat. Otherwise they would probably have to go with the junior sized seat found in the previous generation Honda Odyssey and current Toyota Sienna.There must be some logical reason for lack of inner arm rests. But plenty of choices out there.
Yeah, that is what Honda thought:I thought the arm rests were built into the centre seat, once folded ?
I suspect the deal breaker issue would be the PITA of access to the third row, with the centre seat in place. ie flipping an outer seat forward and keeping the centre seat in place ?
There must be some logical reason for lack of inner arm rests. But plenty of choices out there.
Deal maker for us too, but let's see when the kids outgrow the car/booster seats (and if we still own the car), I bet that can become an issueI prefer the full sized middle seat as that is where I place my convertible car seat, but I can also understand where some would prefer armrests. It's all tradeoffs.
Interesting idea, volunteers anyone?Perhaps you could just switch just the BACKS of the seats? Much disassembly required though, if it's even possible.
The LX only has one arm rear per 2nd row seat and that only arm rest is placed on inside, no arm rest ouside.
thay do its the lx!I hope honda would have offered 7 seat option also. Just to confirm the problem, i went for a test drive with a friend who is also in the market looking for a van. He also confirmed that seating without arm rests in outer chair will be really difficult for a long journey.
I checked with few honda dealers whether they heard about this problem and any after market solution. So far no response.
Cool, hail to the free market. What options did you get?I decided to buy sienna xle because lack of arm rests in odyssey was a deal breaker for me. I hope honda changes that in refresh to stop loyal customers like me from churning.
They all have compromises. To make the seats move back and forth as much as possible, the Sienna ends up with rails on the floor so the cargo area is not flat. The Dodge's second row seats are not as substantial and comfy as those in the Honda and Toyota, although they can be easily folded down to make room for cargo. Howeve since the center console of the Honda can also be removed, the Ody can carry the longest objects in this group.The lack of the inner armrests is one of many deal breakers I have with the 4th gen Ody. It seems as though with this generation, Honda focused on the target market of parenting, and completely forgot about everyone else. It is totally centered around children, which I know is not all that surprising in the minivan market, but for those buyers who don't have kids and want to transport adults and cargo, he choice of 3 latch postions in the middle row. For example, it seems as though
My middle seat has been removed since the day I bought it back in March of 2006. I used it twice, and neither time was it a necessity. When I shop vans, I litterally "shop the isles" as part of the comparison shopping process. I don't know about the OP, but I want/need that center isle clear ALL the time. I am usually alone in the Ody, but I often like to walk back to the 3rd row to access things there or in the cargo area behind. I can do this by going through one of the back doors or by going from the front seats. When there are people in the backseat, they are almost always adults, so I want the second row to be more luxurious feeling, and I personally think that two separate seats look and feel much better with a center isle in between them. I also think it makes the 3rd row feel much less claustraphobic. It also gives the 3rd row more legroom. I don't have kids, but I have heard some people say that with little kids it is much easier to have them walk back to the 3rd row between the two seats than it is to have to slide the other seat forward. When I was shopping the Quest I was dissapointed that the isle was only 10 inches, 3 inches narrower than my 2006 Ody and 5 inches narrower than a new Sienna. Whatever van I get must have a clear center isle and losing two of the armrests to get it is UNACCEPTABLE.They all have compromises. To make the seats move back and forth as much as possible, the Sienna ends up with rails on the floor so the cargo area is not flat. The Dodge's second row seats are not as substantial and comfy as those in the Honda and Toyota, although they can be easily folded down to make room for cargo. Howeve since the center console of the Honda can also be removed, the Ody can carry the longest objects in this group.
I wish the OP can tell us why it is essential to ride always with the middle seat removed. Even with the middle seat installed, one can still go to the back seat, especially if only adults are seating in the second row. Arm rest would be nice but people in the third row would have no arm rest any way. If one do have to occasionally go the third rowl with the middle seat in place, one can just step on it. It is not the most elegant way to get to the back but it is doable, provided that you only need to get to the back while the van is moving in a matter of emergency. However it seems possible to make the inner arm rests removable so they are removed when the center seat is used but put back in when not.