8 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
'05 odyssey touring - caveat emptor
Date of Review: Jun 22, 2006
The Bottom Line: I cannot recommend this vehicle for two reasons - the run-flat tires and dodgy brake rotors. Beyond that, a great car.
With our first baby on the way, we traded our V6 Accord for a non-nav touring Odyssey. As a driving machine, though bigger and not as quick, this feels much nicer than the Accord, somehow imparting more feel and character. And though we love almost everything about it, we've been thinking about changing. Single reason: the run flat tires. Recently, on a rainy friday night we hit a puncture, in central Pennsylvania. To make a long story short, we spent the night in a crappy motel, with the baby.
Even though these tires allow you drive 125 miles at 50mph, and even though the michelin phone reps were helpful - as were the honda repair guys we limped to - and even though michelin paid for everything, it still took 24 hours to complete a trip that normally takes 6. The problem is it takes special gear to change these tires, and specially trained personnel to do it. And as with any garage, none are open at night! Terrible idea, these run-flats, though a spare would solve everything.
On the fuel front, if I'm picking my wife up from work, jump and crawl driving in Manhattan yields about 8mpg! But at a steady 80mph on the interstate, with a good load on board, I get 23/24mpg. Average is 17.5mpg.
The parking sensors are god-sent, the remotely powered doors, etc are also nice. Some of the cabin fittings were a hair short of Honda perfection - the steering wheel is slightly misaligned, the lower glove box door is totally out of line, and the bottom windshield seal whistled. Also, the front brake rotors warp when they heat up, shaking the steering wheel. Problem is this seems to be a wider Honda problem - I had the rotors on the Accord resurfaced and finally changed, so bad was the warping. And then the new ones did it! Others I know also experienced this. I'm amazed that such an accomplished car company would fall down in such an important area.
Would I recommend the Odyssey? I love driving it, don't get me wrong, and it swallows everything. If they lost the run-flats I'd say yes (the cylinder shut-off is great); otherwise you'd have to settle for the EX, which would be less fuel-efficient, though the initial cost savings would offset that. And you'd have fewer toys. Toyota will be putting their 3.5L engine in the Sienna soon. And just look at that Hyundai Entourage! My my my, how they've come along. The Korean Volvo has chiseled its name itself into the safety books. I'd definitely check them out.
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