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Honda Odyssey vs Dodge/Chrysler minivans - READ ONLY
7485 messages, Last post on Mar 23, 2008 at 8:43 AM
You are in the Honda Odyssey Forum.- Your Host is kcram
What is this discussion about? Dodge Caravan, Honda Odyssey, Chrysler Town and Country, Chrysler Voyager, Plymouth Voyager, Van
#429 of 7485 2001 DC Minivans by 4aodge
Jul 25, 2001 (10:48 pm)
Hotspur keeps boasting about how many possitive reviews the Ody has been given over the last few years as if the same cannot be said for DC minivans. In fact, this is not true and I think in this post I will successfully prove my point.
EDMUNDS.com
And while the Honda Odyssey comes closer than the Montana, the Honda still feels a bit more ungainly and heavy than the seemingly more nimble Chrysler van.
One driver summed up the T&C's impressive road manners thusly: "Unlike the Honda and Ford vans, which are big and feel it, the Town & Country is big but doesn't feel it."
Despite the fact the Town & Country wasn't the quickest van in this test, the engine and transmission still got high praise among the drivers.
With 215 horsepower and 245 foot-pounds of torque, he said the engine "moves this vehicle with authority."
Despite the few gripes, Chirico really enjoyed his time in the minivan. He spent the better part of one month driving all over Southern California in a Dodge Grand Caravan and "loved it." Wow, who woulda thought?
http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/longterm/articles/45220/page003.html CHRYSLERS RESPONSE TO INTRO
"The Grand Caravan's engine and transmission seem to be a much better match for each other than the Odyssey's. Acceleration from a stop was much quicker, therefore making it easier to enter a freeway."
Karl feels the 3.8-liter V6 in our long-term vehicle provides abundant low-end torque, giving the Grand Caravan an almost nimble feel during around-town cruising. The copious power delivery is backed up by a responsive, communicative steering system that further elevates the Dodge to "almost fun-to-drive" status. Rather amazing for a minivan.
During his commute, Brent found time to evaluate the interior. The amount of feature content impressed him, specifically the leather seating, automatic headlights, power doors/mirrors/locks, automatic climate control, seat heaters and moveable center console. The console's flip-out cell phone holder earned a thumbs up, as it held his Nokia 6160 perfectly. And while this van can't be ordered with a navigation system, it does have a compass mounted in the rearview mirror, a feature Brent used on a couple of occasions. He also really liked the audio controls mounted on the steering wheel, saying that they are perfectly placed on the back of the wheel and are easy to use.
4ADODGE.com
In an announcement made at the New York International Auto Show, Dodge Caravan was awarded the coveted Automobile Magazine Readers' Choice All-Star for Best Minivan.
The 2001 models of the Dodge Dakota, Caravan, and Stratus Coupe and Sedan have all been rated as Consumers Digest "Best Buys".
The 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan took home top honors as the best minivan in the market for the second year running, according to AAA rankings.
MSN CARPOINT.com
DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Group was the only company with domestic brands to tally four winners in TQI segments. These were the Chrysler PT Cruiser, LHS and Town & Country and the Dodge Dakota.
WOMANMOTORIST.com
Hands down, this 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan has everything you want in a passenger vehicle, truck and minivan. I tried to find something to complain about. I just couldn't.
This new Grand Caravan has a lot to offer a busy mom or dad who wants a different level of comfort and convenience to haul your busy family to the ice rink or swimming pool.
Fifteen Years After It Created A New Market, The Chrysler Minivan Is Still The Leader And Trend Setter. Now They Add The Selectable Autostick Transmission.
Many trendy vehicles will come and go, but I predict when flash and fashion fade, there will be the Dodge Caravan, rolling along in undiminished numbers.
MOTORTREND.com
Some of the basic ingredients of this eminently successful offering have not been changed, things like its size, seat-height, and front-drive configuration. But the upcoming Dodge Caravan, Chrysler Town & Country, and Chrysler (nZ<caron>e Plymouth) Voyager, and models do benefit from quieter-ride suspension pieces, bigger brakes, a trio of more potent V-6 engines, a powered rear liftgate, dual powered sliding doors, improved front airbags and new side-impact bags, power-adjustable pedals, fresh exterior sheetmetal, and an even more clever interior design.
CARS.com
The 2001 lineup includes the Chrysler (formerly Plymouth) Voyager, Dodge Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country, a trio that has given DaimlerChrysler mini-van dominance with sales of 600,000 plus, or about 40 percent of the 1.5 million market annually.
It would appear as though the Ody isn't the only minivan out there winning awards and praises from various organizations. Dispite all of the hype over the Ody, Chrysler's minivans are still the only ones on the market that have been awarded MOTORTREND's CAR OF THE YEAR (1996). That's very impressive when you consider the other cars over the year that have been given that honored award.
As a friend put it best, "you can't stay on top forever, at least in the eyes of the critics." I think a major reason why so much hype as been given to the Ody since it was redesigned is that DC has simply done so well in terms of customer loyalty and minivan sales. Of course critics are going to be eager to give the crown of "the best minivan" to a new contender after a single product has been given that title 16 years in a row.
It allways amusses me that despite all of the awards Honda has been given for the Ody, it's sales are eclipsed by those of the DC minivans and I think will continue to be well into the future. After all, a company just doesn't sell 9 million minivans over a period of a decade and a half for no good reason.
-Adam (16/M/CA)
00 T&C LX FWD
#430 of 7485 Ody Owners by 4aodge by dmathews3
Jul 26, 2001 (5:35 am)
It is so very convienent for you Ody owners to take advantage of the crash test news and use to it slander the image of a perfectly safe family vehicle.Just as convienent as you DC owners to slander the Odyssey with YOUR byious opinions on your vans. When I stop seeing the bull from you dc owners you will stop seeing my posts that hurt your tender feelings. As far as dashes etc. go have you ever looked at the Rolls. Not the best looking car on the road by a long shot but long standing quality, same as Honda products. Even Chysler admits that their quality has been lacking on the old vans, and most of their other products.
#431 of 7485 Nice quotes taken out of context... by hotspur
Jul 26, 2001 (5:53 am)
but Car and Driver, Motor Trend, the Automobile Magazine editors (not an owners popularity contest), Money Magazine, Edmunds, Consumer Reports, etc., etc., all still picked the Ody number one.And it doesn't leak fuel in crash tests. And it sells without outrageous and secret incentives. And there are none on dealer lots--unlike DC minis, which spill over into neighboring lots.
#432 of 7485 The last few days on this thread by cincy_ody_mike
Jul 26, 2001 (6:41 am)
Frankly, I've been a bit surprised at the nasty tone this board has taken over the last few days. It seems that some of our group enjoy getting each other riled up more than exchanging meaningful information. Perhaps I'm guilty a bit as well when I ended my recent post about picking the Odyssey with a little shot at scanner, and if that is the case, then I apologize. However, the polarizing of positions has led to exaggerations of the virtues / weaknesses of our respective vans and offers little or no value to the people who read these boards looking for help making their decisions.When you come right down to it, there are plenty of good reasons to by any of the Odyssey, DC, Toyota, Ford, Mazda, Nissan, and GM vans. This is a fact mentioned in the Edmunds article that people here choose to forget.
The fact that people here seem to get overly emotional about their van and/or get off trying to provoke these emotions says some pretty sad things about your life. Remember, these are JUST VANS!!! It's time for some people to get some perspective here. Maybe we can get back to an intelligent exchange of information. Sorry for the sermon, but I felt it needed to be said.
#433 of 7485 4adodge by caviller
Jul 26, 2001 (7:22 am)
"You all act as if under no circumstances would an all-mighty Honda Odyssey..."Please spare us the inaccurate generalizations. As part of "all" Honda Odyssey owners, I challenge you to find a post where I've negatively hyped the DC van's offset test results. Actually, I've posted a few times that I think the fuel leak issue is overblown, and that overall the 2001 DC vans are a reasonable choice for safety. As for the Odyssey LX, please find me a DC minivan at a comparable street price (use carsdirect.com if necessary) that does not sacrifice an engine with equal or more power/torque, similar passenger/cargo area and traction control. They should also be otherwise similarly equipped when selecting factory/dealer options. You might also re-read my post to find that I was actually agreeing with your original comments. Your comment on sales is interesting. Ford Escorts were the best sellers for many years in the 80s. There was at least one good reason for that. They were cheap.
cincy_ody_mike:
Such is the nature of any forum with "vs" in the title. It's also interesting to note that Odyssey is the subject of most "vs" forums for minivans. For example, for many buyers who prefer a 'domestic' vehicle, you rarely see "Windstar vs. Grand Caravan" or "T&C vs. GM trio minivan" forums. It's also interesting to note the lower activity and more peaceful nature of the "Odyssey vs" forums that do not involve DC vans. Despite the posts that take factual information too personally, there is a good bit of comparative information to be found on these forums. Plus, the debates are usually an interesting diversion.
#435 of 7485 Also worth noting... by hotspur
Jul 26, 2001 (8:48 am)
is that there is no mention whatsoever of DC minivans in the Odyssey threads. But in every DC thread (NOT the comparison threads), there are daily postings by a few people knocking the Ody at every opportunity. Comments about "refridgirators," "Ody for sheetrock, DC for people," "why does everybody I know who has an Accord have problems," etc.Interesting that Ody owners don't give a hoot about DC minivans, but DC owners seem obsessed with Odys.
#436 of 7485 hotspur by odd1
Jul 26, 2001 (10:08 am)
I receive many compliments on the "leather" from passengers in our '97 BMW. Lots of surprised faces when I tell them its vinyl.As for DC owners obsessed with Odyssey. I'd say there is just a few(but they are on all the boards) the rest just tell their experiences and why the DC was the choice for them. The obsessed one are where the fun comes in. I love the logic used to defend the DC. The why people hate GM board has the same kind of posters.
I like people saying everyone they know with Accords have tranny problems but never noting that there is a board devoted to DC tranny problems, or never acknowledging the article the host posted where the DC manufacturer admit to poor past quality, nor do they have any counter argument to the JD Powers survey of problems over a 3-4 year length of time. They also did not read the IIHS rating very well. Even without the fuel leak it rated marginal overall, unless you have side impact air bags for the head which brings it up to acceptable. It all keeps me laughing. Except, when I see someone's kids in a DC.
I do have to give them that we really won't know Odyssey's reliability for three or four more years but with the DC's record to now it is a chance I'm willing to take. In the mean time I'll feel better about the safety chances for my family.
#437 of 7485 Making Peace by 4aodge
Jul 26, 2001 (11:25 am)
Cavallier, I am sorry for making such generalized and innacurate acusations and will refrain from doing so in the future. I do in fact know that there are many Ody owners out there like yourself who are more open minded when it comes to discussing opinions in forms like "Honda Oddyssey vs Dodge/Chrysler minivans".As for finding a DC minivan that could compare to a Honda Ody LX with similar features and price, I would point out either a Grand Caravan SE or a Grand Caravan Sport. While the MSRP of the GC Sport in particular are higher than that of the Ody LX, because Chrysler dealerships aren't in the business of "price-gouging" (becuause they think people will pay anything just to get into an Ody) it is very possible to negotiate a deal on one of these vans and walk away paying even less than you probably would on an Ody LX, without sacrificing many important features.
Hotspur, don't flatter yourself about how you think Ody owners don't "give a hoot" about Chrysler minivans while DC owners are "obsessed" with the Ody. You think I'm obsessed with the Ody? If I am "obssesed" with the Ody because I have been trying to show why I think the DC minivan is a superior product for the last year and half, then couldn't someone say your "obssessed" with DC minivans for sticking up for the Ody? Also, look again in many of the other DC minivan threads in the "VAN" forum and see how many are having the same type of conversation we have been having here for quite some time now. You won't find manny, especially in the "Chrysler Town and Country LX/LXi/Limited" and "MY2001 Dodge Grand Caravan EX" threads. Perhaps another reason why DC van owners are so quick to defend their cars is because people like you go around spreading trash about how if you buy a DC minivan you are almost sure to have a transmission failure or other serious problem. This obviously is not true, just look at owners like rbacsafra (00 DGC Sport, 30k miles, NO PROBLEMS), Carelton (00 GGC SE, 30k miles, NO PROBLEMS), and myself (00 T&C LX, 25k miles, NO PROBLEMS). It is insulting to have people who have only put 15-30k miles (MAX) on their vans tell people like us that we are bound to have tranny problems, when we haven't and probably won't. We drove 70k miles in our 98 GC SE and didn't have any problems, can any Ody owner here say the same?
I think one of the reasons why I've been so passionate about defending these vans is simply because I see the Ody as the new kid on the block that everyone is obsessed with and as a result, people look over its shor commings and faults. DC minivans have been around for a long time and have revolutionized the entire car industry (yes, I will even say that). You don't sell 9 million vans just because they are affordable and mass produced as you would like people to think.
Take me for example, I'm a 16 year old teenager and I'm here defending a MINIVAN. Yes, a MINIVAN. Perhaps hotspur had a good point when he tried to point out how passionate DC minivan owners are about defending their rides. There obviously is something special about DC minivans that no other van on the market has, even the Ody. Why else would they have sold 9 million vans in a little more than a decade, have some people who have had numerous problems with their vans come back to buy yet another one (when there is an alternative like the Ody out there), and have a 16 year old kid online defending a car that is made out to be boaring and femanine by mainstream society?
I'll say it again, there is something special about these vans, despite the fact that they are "just vans". Maybe hotspur should jump in his perfect Ody and make his way down to the Chrysler dealership and test drive a 01 T&C...
-Adam (16/M/CA)
#438 of 7485 Nice quotes taken out of context... by hotspur by dmathews3
Jul 26, 2001 (11:29 am)
Hey hotspur, would you watch your choice of words. I quote you "unlike DC minis, which spill over into neighboring lots." "Spill over" Gee, you want to p.o. the dc people. That is a "HOT" subject with them. Pun intended.Advertisement
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