great power! The reason we bought it.

breaks. After 20,000 miles we need to replace front and back breaks. No heavy towing only 3 kids. A little surprised.

I really like the room, but I really need to question the break problem. 20,000 miles give me break. No pun intened.

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First van

Smooth ride. The 3rd row magic seat and movable 2nd row seats are easy to use and makes re-arranging seating configuaration quick and simple. Plenty of power and handles nice.

I don't like the location of front power outlet. It is located on the bottom of the console below the middle glove box. Very difficult to reach from either seat.

When my pregnant wife said she wanted a minivan I was less than thrilled. This was one road I never wanted to go down. I agreed on the condition we got something we could both agree on. We researched during the summer and fall and narrowed our choices to the Grand Caravan, Odyssey, Quest and Venture (trying to remain loyal to GM). The Venture has a poor service record thus far (as did the 1998 Malibu LS, I traded for my minivan), the Nissan was small and overpriced. The 2001 Grand Caravan was nice, but it didn't perform to my expectations. The MSRP was close to $29000, and they weren't very flexible on price. We looked at the Honda last, and the dealership has a "no haggle" policy that I was less than comfortable with (however it turns out that due to the demand for the Odyssey it may have worked to our advantage). After test drving the Odyssey, we decided that this was what we wanted. It was nearly $3000 less expensive than the similarly equipped Dodge (but the Dodge had the power rear hatch, that the Odyssey doesn't). We have had the Odyssey for about a month now and I can honestly say we made a great choice. If you are in the market for a minivan, you owe it to yourself to at least check out the Odyssey. I can't believe some of you haven't been able to get test drives...that's insane!

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2001 Grand Caravan, 2000 Venture and 2001 Nissan Quest

Great Looking Van, Safe, Lots of great features.

shift knob seems a bit loose (it slides to easily)

The best mini-van on the market!

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Toyota Sienna -- Honda Kicks it's butt. Researched both Vans for more than a year. Honda wins Hands-down. Toyota seems very "Tinny"

Smart Honda a lot of useful idea control light for the passenger A/C control from the driver control
nice smooth driving OK dealer ship test drive almost any dealer I bean in to.
Flexibility of the chars very useful third row fold. Smooth riding fairly quite the sound system not so bed. Cool looking car. Road handling very good! Happy every moment with the car.

The gear shift cover some of the control when is in the Drive.
The light donÕt shut of by itself when turn of the ignition. If u forget the interior light from the driver control. Plan not to start the car next day. Nothing tell you that the interior light is on.
Honda Invest in allot of smart idea but not very expensive material.
The poor driver seat can use more control. The driver seat is not very comfortable if you are skinny type of person.
The driver seat does not hold the driver very good in turn.
The car holds the road very nicely but live you adjusting yourself back to the seat after the turn.

Very recommended for every family with tow children or more fun to drive U appreciate the smart idea that Honda invest and the room. Fun to travel joyable car.

Rear fold down seat. Flexible air/heating system with several zones. Tight turning radius. Cool power sliding doors.

Heavy vehicle; builds up a lot of speed going down hills. Seems to use a lot of fuel for a Honda. Spoiler cracked near rear washer but Honda dealer (Pacific) fixed no questions asked (and washed the van too, and dropped off/picked up from work with shuttle). They said they had not seen the problem before, yeah right (don't they read Edmund's?). Interior lights should shut off automatically if left on (which the kids do sometimes in the back). Should have leather available. Plastic kick plates on door entry scratch easily. Honda wants a few hundred bucks for the metal cross rails on the roof rack - are they nuts? Bought thule kit instead.

Overall a nice minivan. Bought 2001 EX 2 months ago. My wife has no complaints and regularly hauls 4-5 soccer girls around. Handles well on ice; probably new tires - I can't tell whether TCS is kicking in. Nice quality finish and nice paint; all seams are even.

Forget buying at a dealer - test drive it at a dealer, figure out exactly what you want and then place an order with a broker a broker (leasing agent); I recommend Quinella in Vancouver. No hassles, no haggling, lowest possible cost ($1200 less than the best dealer price if you're prepared to wait 4 weeks for order from the factory).

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We really liked the look of the Caravan but the horror stories with inferiour quality are awful. We almost bought the Sienna but it was just too small for the same cost.

Great styling. Smooth, responsive V-6, very convenient "Magic Seat",
Tight handling, excellent dealer service from Poway Honda. Love the motorized sliding doors.

Metallic silver paint on hood not uniformly coated. Nice finish but metallic pigment not evenly laid on. Saw others to determine if I had legit complaint, they were same. I decided to accept it. Minor complaint.

This is the nicest vehicle I've owned. The handling borders on sporty without being harsh. You can feel the attributes of the independent rear suspension when going through dips. Would like to have a left drivers armrest. The transmission upshifts at irregular rpm points and I haven't quite figured what exactly triggers staying in first gear longer. I do like the downshift feature when you are going down a grade. The navigation system is very useful at times in unfamiliar areas. It is absolutely fun to drive, not typical of a van. On first thought, it seems that dealers are not willing to deal much on these because of the demand and short supply, but I think it's more a case of the MSRP being "real", not inflated. Again, Poway Honda has been more than accomodating with my only two complaints, a cracked spoiler over the back hatch window and a passenger mirror with the paint rubbed off during transport. Overall, I love this vehicle. Would highly recommend it.

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Chevy Astro Van. Oddysey is light years ahead in every way. Fit and finish is superb and is much more refined.

3rd row hide-a-way seat, and middle seat bucket/bench seats. Strong quiet engine with excellent passing ability in 40 to 80 mph range! Price was reasonable for competition. Excellent turning radius which is great for parking, or any tight space you might find yourself. For a van it takes corners very good.

Driver's seat most uncomfortable of any car I have owned in my 30+ years of car ownership! Even the power adjustments don't help. The seat seems to be lower on the right side than the left side, and/or the seat seems to face the left front headlight not the straight ahead. It is OK when turning right, but if you are turning left or even driving straight but on a slightly crowned road the seat attempts to throw you inot the middle of the vehicle. This has me constantly straining to stay in the seat, and the hanging on feeling puts pressure on my lower back! Low fuel light comes on with 7-8 gallons left, but dealer told me this morning he has gotten a bulletin on replacing a sensor, so hopefully this will be corrected shortly. Also, the black plastic cowl above the rear glass has cracked at the spot where the washer fluid comes out for the back glass. I've read numerous other reports of this and do not expect any trouble in getting it replaced. Have taken van on one trip to Texas, and it has more wind noise than either of my two previous vans, and the road noise in general for the van is also worse.

Hopeful, but not optimistic about dealer helping me with the driver's seat problem. Excluding that I would strongly recommend the van, in fact my neighbor just purchased an EX with the Navigation system. My wife and I really miss the direction and outside temperature indicator, and it would also be nice to have the little trip computer showing average mpg, etc.

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1994 Plymouth Grand Voyager LE (traded March 2000 for 2000 Honda Civic, but recently decided I still a van). I also owned 1984 Plymouth Voyager prior to the last van (put over 100,000 miles on both vans). Much better engine, turning radius, cornering ability, mileage is similar -- I am getting 18-20 mpg in town, and 22-24 mpg on the interstate (80 mph+).

Honda reputation, strong engine, fold down 3rd row seats, large size, nice looking van

limited interior choices (no leather??), weak stereo, limited passager seat adjustment, no outside temperature or mpg monitor, power doors mechanical problems and that 'beeping', rattles, too much demand for supply

My first Honda, I am not as impressed as I had hoped. The van itself has many good points, the engine is strong verses other vans and the entire package is great, very roomy, 3rd row seat fold-away, tow package to 3500 lbs, and effortless highway cruising. However the Honda quality experience I have heard so much about hasn't made it to this van. The windsheild has been resealed and still the rubber around it bubbles out, trim off the rear hatch (where 3rd light is, which also has been replaced) hangs down, rear wiper has fallen off, rattles in the interior are un-Honda, the power doors are a disaster, they have been worked on twice, now they at least work, but they beep under hard braking and bumps. One door while being shut in manual mode (because power mode would not shut it) broke inside and created a dimple from the inside out, which was a $750 repair, and Honda refused to pay, then agreed to pay only half. I have only 27,000 miles on the van, what happens after warranty? Of course the common complaints of no test drive, 4 month wait, full sticker price, and only a 36,000 mile warranty. When everything is together and working, I love it, but this is not an Accord.

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Always driven european cars, only van I considered.

Honda reputation,claims of good gas mileage,appearance,overall space in comparison to its Japanese competitors,disappearing third seat,moveable second row seats,handling,reviews by leading auto experts, Navi system is fun and useful,climate control is nice but a bit crude

Dealer greed and Mngmnt attitude, high price conveys expectations about the vehicle that simply do not exit,inability to test drive leads to great deal of confusion about what the vehicle actually offers and what it does not,accessories are extremely over priced,sound system is a disappointment,placement of spare tire and gas tank is necessary for rear seat to disappear but they are problematic,lacks convenience features one would expect of a car this expensive (auto-mirror, outdside temp), controls not easy to find or read, front passenger seat not adjustable except front to back and it is too close to dash for tall people even when extended to max(NOTE: seems 2000EXNavi had an inch or two more passenger front seat space),rattles in passenger side rear sliding door are a surprise and annoying, poor gas mileage (especially in town--hope this will improve during break-in but from reading other reports, it might not),tranny problems in 2000 that public does not know about raises questions about 2001 model(have tried to escape the tranny problems we had in Dodge van),long-haul comfort still a "?" (especially front passenger seat).The warranty is only 3/36,and news of tranny problems and all that logically could go bad down the line in the electronics on the Navi,an extended warranty should be considered.Honda extended plans are expensive,and dealer margins are being protected as much here as in the original sales price of the car. Last,there is a nagging question of whether the Ody will hold its resale value once the new U.S. Ody production line is completed.These vehicles are now made in Canada,and questions exists in the literature about Canadian quality. Time will tell.

I think the problem is that having experienced what can best be described as an "arranged marriage" with an extravagant dowry, albeit because the cars were scarce and not availabe to test drive, the honeymoon period becomes quite short,there is little tolerance for error and small things are perceived as much bigger things. The Honda dealers have succeeded in conveying the message that the Ody is about as perfect a minivan as exists, but,of course, this is not entirely true. While the van has a number of great features that certainly put it ahead of its Japanese competitors,(Mazda and Toyota are smaller with Mazda not having the Honda product reputation and Toyota not having the comfort)our view is that the Chrysler minivans otherwise would blow the Ody out of the water because of their comfort and convenience packages, if the widespread,publicized,and apparently continuous tranny problems did not exist. Chrysler has yet to get the point and change out its tranny, and given its current state of affairs with Damler, it might never get the point.We hope that Honda also has not gone down the same path. An extended warranty might be a consideration because of potential tranny and electronics problems that would surface after the original one expires, and the Honda plans seems good.Shop the price.Margins are as high here as they are on the vehicle,but there are dealers willing to sell the Honda warranty at somewhat of a reduction from list even if they do not sell you the car.

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Our previous experience has been with a Grand Caravan(1990) which we have had for 10 years and still use.If it had not been for the tranny problems(2 replacements),we would have purchased another Dadge minvan. Then lo-and-behold after we take delivery we hear that the early 2000 Ody had tranny problems that Honda never really pubicized and say they have fixed. We test drove all available comparable products,but only were able to take a brief ride in a 2000 Ody.In hindsight, that was not enough exposure to the car.That is not the fault of the dealers who find themselves in a seller's market and are loving it. (Why not?)

I like the flexibility of the seats and the "hide away" back seat - very convinent.
I find the drive very nice - more car like.
I have found that it has plenty of power for my needs and passing is fine.

The stereo is weak and I would expect better at this price.
As mentioned by another person - for this price the gas mileage, outside temp, should be standard.
The "Power" outlet goes off with the car - this should be always "hot"!! My biggest complaint!
The rear window wash spray is just a stream - should really spray better than that!

I have enjoyed this minivan - I never thought I would be driving one, but 2 kids later and here I am! I have very few complaints at this time and I will hold out judgement until it lasts me the 10 years I need it to!

I will say paying sticker price was almost a deal breaker for me - and than to wait 3 months for the car - did I mention, no test drive?!

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This is my first minivan - but I have had numerous SUVs and cars and find the drive great!