[Aardvaark]

This is a new one on me. This Sunday morning I stopped at a Honda dealer in Ames, IA to see what they had on the lot for Ody's and they have a version I've never seen or heard of before. Nor is it shown by Edmunds or KBB on their web sites. This is not the dealer I'm ordering from BTW.
It's a new 2001 Odyessy 5DR Van. Not 2002.
No middle or rear seats or anchor's for them and full length carpeting. The normal seat anchor's all have cover plates in their place. A simple carpeted cover for the rear well where the seat would normally be. Also, no sound system, only a blank cover plate for the hole in the dash, and no rear heat or air. Just two front cloth seats and non-tinted windows. It has a MSRP of only $20200 plus $440 shipping. It's white with gray interior.
This van was delivered to this Ames dealer according to the sticker and the VIN is 2HJRL18181H624753.

Is this some little promoted commercial van Ody? Ford does a cargo Windstar and Chevy does a cargo Venture stripped down like this, but I didn't know Honda did with the Ody.

-Mark (Aardvaark)


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

 

[Jim F]

What, no pics??

Our mailroom at work uses an LX for deliveries. The one you saw would have been more suited for the job.

------------------
Jim
'01 GG EX w/stuff
'93 Nissan Sentra SE-R with more stuff

 

[Mel]

According to the '01 service manual, 2HJRL18181H624753 breaks down this way:
2HJ indicates a "Light Duty Truck," as opposed to the more common 2HK "Multi purpose passenger vehicle"
1 indicates a "Van," 5=LX, 6=EX, 7=EX w/Navi

Mel

 

[Aardvaark]

Sorry Jim, I didn't have a camera with me and it would be a 80 mile round trip to take some. Ha!

Mel, thanks for the explanation on the VIN.
Guess I learned something today. There is a commercial Honda Odyssey. Bet we won't see many around though, but I got to look over one at least.

-Mark

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[Ken W]

"Just two front cloth seats and non-tinted windows."


Does this mean I can get non-tinted replacement windows for the doors vents and hatch etc? Or are you talking about front door windows with not even the slight tint? My dad's '92 Grand Voyager has clear glass all around and I love it.

Also, that "simple carpeted cover for the rear well" might be a great accessory for the rest of us.

------------------
'91 Sentra SE-R
'57 Chevy Belair Sport Coupe.
If at first you don't succeed...so much for skydiving.

 

[Aardvaark]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Ken W:
"Just two front cloth seats and non-tinted windows."


Does this mean I can get non-tinted replacement windows for the doors vents and hatch etc? Or are you talking about front door windows with not even the slight tint? My dad's '92 Grand Voyager has clear glass all around and I love it.

Also, that "simple carpeted cover for the rear well" might be a great accessory for the rest of us.

</font>

This Ody van had clear glass on both sliding doors, the rear vent windows and hatch just like the two front door windows. In other words like a base model Dodge Caravan without tinted windows. At least I couldn't detect any tint to them.
Also, the carpeting appeared to be cut differently then passenger Ody's besides not having holes for the seat mounts. I don't recall exactly how the carpeted cover for the rear well was hinged, but it seams like the pivot was incorparated into the rest of the main carpet piece. If you use the VIN off this Ody that I posted, maybe your Honda parts department can pull up a picture of these pieces used on the "Light Truck" version Ody. If you find out, let us know.

-Mark

 

[my_2001ody]

My dealer has one of these. The salesman told me that Honda required the dealer to order one for their own use. I don't think they could have sold it. At first they were going to use it as a parts dept van, but then they bought seats, etc., and now it is their courtesy van that they use to take customers to the mall, etc.

 

[groupset]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Aardvaark:
No middle or rear seats or anchor's for them and full length carpeting. The normal seat anchor's all have cover plates in their place. A simple carpeted cover for the rear well where the seat would normally be. </font>

Hmmmm....sounds like a vehicle Llarry would be interested in for his special hauling needs...

 

[robr2]

IIRC, Honda made 1 parts van for each dealer in the 99 model year. There was one guy on Edmunds who bought one and then was going high and low searching for seats to put in it. The cover for the seat well was a piece of plywood upholstered to match.

I guess they are still making them.

 

[Canodyssey]

Yep I just ran that VIN number through carfax and it comes back as a 2001 Odyssey that has never been registered.

 

[SoFlaOdyssey]

When I was searching for a 2000 Odyssey (I ended up with a 2001), I searched www.autonation.com and came across a "cheap" Odyssey. They had a few others, as well.

I went to the dealer and said, "Show me this one" (the cheap one). He showed me the 'cargo van' you described and told me that it was not for sale.

I asked him why it showed up when I searched for it and he said they didn't know it would show up and they'd have to remove it.

Well, I searched again just the other day (I am looking for a 2002 now, maybe) and IT'S STILL THERE!!!!

So, if you want, search www.autonation.com and pick the dealer in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
It might just still be there!!



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Nelson
2001 Odyssey LX - Silver
2001 Civic EX Sedan - Silver
1990 Mustang LX Coupe - Titanium

 

[chef1962]

A dealer in St. Louis had a similar van that they used as a parts/errand vehicle. I was amazed that they would use such a high demand vehicle in this way, after all, they didn't even have any available for test drives.Upon asking, I was told that Honda made a small number of these stripped-down models, which were categorized as "light trucks," in order to meet some sort of tax-break or tariff or fuel efficiency criteria - something that saved Honda Corporate some money. Anyway, the dealers had no choice - they just came in. After hearing this I looked closely at their parts van and, sure enough, it was identical to the one described above. It wasn't a regular Odyssey that had been stripped, it was intentionally bare - no rear seat belts, stereo, blanks where the rear window switches would be, etc. This one would have been a 1999 or 2000 model, as I saw it when we were waiting for our 2000 EX.