2005 EXL leather navigation dvd

I am going to have to update my review in bite size chunks as I have time, but as I have owned this car longer, there are a few things I would like to add. I will add new items to the end of this review. All of the remainder is what I posted two days after purchase in April.

I traded in a 2000 Odyssey for $9600 at 82kmiles. I think that is a pretty great tribute to the fact that Hondas do hold their value pretty well.

Since so many people are shopping for this car, I want to first tell you about the deal we got on price. We paid $1000 over dealer invoice for this car, which I believe to be a great deal on this high-demand vehicle. The price I have listed is what I paid including destination charge but without taxes. We were able to get this deal because we bought two cars at the same time. I seriously recommend that you check with neighbors to see who else is on the market and go at the end of the month together. You will get a much better deal. The great news about this car is that you won't have to look long for someone else who wants one. They are really a fantastic upgrade. We also purchased a Pilot at invoice. Honda has no incentives on the Odyssey as of today. Do shop around if you need a loan. Your dealer with come down usually .5% on any rate you have found even if they have to go through a credit union.

We did not get the fancy teflon wax seal offered at the great "bargain" price of $399 for exterior and interior with a 5 year warranty from the Honda dealer. I include this information because I had to do an internet search at the last minute to find out what it was.
I spoke to the contractor who applies the product under the pretenses of having a used car I wanted to get coated. It would seem that if you don't go through the dealer, it is around $200 with a 3 year warranty. After reading reviews online, I was not willing to take the plunge. The warranty from Honda may be worth the money for some people.

Also regarding warranties,take note that the extended warranty comes with roadside assistance. They don't tell you this when they try to sell you separate roadside assistance first.

Right now, my only concern is the voice activation on the navigation. I am pretty well-spoken, but my navigation lady is having trouble understanding me. This could be a problem because the manual controls are much further away than the ones on previous models. They don't really expect you to be using the manual controls while you drive in this model. Let's face it, we do. I love all of the technology in this car, but if you think about it, when something goes wrong, it is going to be very expensive. If you have navi,dvd,etc., I would definitely go for the best warranty you can afford. I have just a gut level hunch on some issues with the navigation. I have had navigation since 1998 when I was living overseas. I am very comfortable with the fact that even though this is very "high-tech" for us, it looks prehistoric compared to the models in Japan. I am just wondering how they programmed the voice recognition. It will take me some time to figure out all of the electronics on this model and how to differentiate front from back. Let's just say, I am not sure it is very user friendly because I am having a bit of trouble figuring it out. I keep turning off the dvd the kids are watching when I try to use the XM radio up front. I know this is just a matter of practice.

Meanwhile, the rear camera on my model is fantastic. I love being able to see the dog, toys, bikes, etc. on the driveway when I back out. I am not sure I like the location of the camera on the rear hatch. It looks a little exposed to me. Again, I can't stress enough the warranty if you are going for the fancy gadgets.

One thing I am missing right now is the CD holding compartment on my older model. I am trying to figure out where to store those CDs and DVDs in this model.

The gear shift is up on the dash of this model. It is fine. It didn't even take getting used to.

After our 2000 model, our children felt like they had stepped into the lap of luxury. Even with some of the problems we had with our 2000 model, we traded for a Honda. There is just nothing else out there that comes close to being better.

I think I will get great use from the lazy susan in the middle of the back. It is a compartment in the floor for storage. I will keep you posted with how it works.

Also, if you have three children, this is great because there is an extra seat in the middle row. This means you can fold down the rear seat for storage and have all your kids right behind you. My neighbors are trading in for this very reason. They are having a baby and do not want to put baby or one of their other two way in the back. Scratch that. My neighbor (a safety engineer)just came over and looked at mine. He says that the extra middle row seat is not built for regular use. It is more like an emergency jumpseat when you have an extra kid in tow. He would never put a babyseat there. On the other hand you can split the rear seat and fold part of it down. This still leaves 4 seats+extra storage.

The ride is very smooth if a little boat like. My husband's pilot definitely has a tighter ride. He is an engineer. I am a mom. I am interested in comfort and amenities as I haul four kids around town. He is interested in the tight ride and turn radius. He is; however, very pleased with the amazing number of airbags on my Odyssey. That in itself is worth trading in for...I think there are 8 or 10.....I will have to check. There is something a little off about the driver's seat. Maybe I just need to make an adjustment, but there is something that is not sitting quite right.

Anyway, must run to the dentist in my new van. Like I said, I will keep updating as I drive it around town. My apologies for a less than total report at this point. I thought writing what I had was better than nothing.

Updates:
There is a slight clicking noise when you reach 7 miles per hour the first time you turn the engine over. You will have to turn off all music to hear it. Little noises bug me, so I asked the dealer about it. I am told it is the antilock brake system kicking in. This disturbed my husband who thought it should kick in immediately. I asked why it waited to 7 miles, and I was told that their tests concluded that the car was safer without ABS under that speed. This made little sense to me as it is only the first time you turn over the engine that it waits until 7 mph to kick in. It does not kick "out" each time the speedometer goes under 7mph. Go figure. My husband owns the 2005 Pilot. His kicks in almost immediately. You can hear the same noise as soon as the car moves. I would love to know what is really going on.

There is a carousel between the front and middle seats. It is nice, but we don't use it much. Let's face it, if your kids feet are there, you are not going there much. It is good for putting stuff in that is dry and sealed (heaven forbid something yucky spilled down there) for a long trip when you don't have to get to it. You also would not want to open and close it much and risk it getting horribly dirty. The rotation is kind of hard as it is. I put dry stuff in there at the beginning of our trip that we did not need until we reached the end. Whatever you do, don't let your kids know it is there....Heaven knows what they will stash in there :) Juice boxes in the seat backs is bad enough to keep up with.

The rear door takes some real pushing to get it to seal. I believe that is only because it is so airtight. I can shut the back hatch, and get in the car only to find the light on that the door is open. I just had to get used to it. The handles on the automatic sliding doors seem to be a little hard as well. My kids really have to yank the handles to get them to open sometimes from the outside.

We just took the van to Florida and really enjoyed the ride. It is really nice on a long trip with the kids. The rear seating is nearly as comfortable as the front, and my hubby with his bad back enjoyed the heated seat in the front.

We like the advantage of the little jump seat, but if you keep it in, it is hard to reach the back row.

The navigation is still a little iffy on voice command. We found that there was a huge upgrade in available addresses down South compared to the 2000 Odyssey we had before. We took back Georgia roads all the way to the Florida panhandle. I felt like a taxi driver :)

Another minor detail is that there are no keyholes on any doors but the driver's. I am sure there is a reason for that, but I did not enjoy it at the beach. I carry my key on a rope at the beach to avoid it getting lost in the sand, etc. I don't carry my automatic door opener. I had to go to the driver's side each time I wanted something from the trunk or back of the car.

Mileage around town has been around 17 0r 18. I try to be a cautious driver and that could be better. Mileage on the highway is around 27. That is nice.