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Honda Odyssey vs Dodge/Chrysler minivans - READ ONLY

7485 messages,  Last post on Mar 23, 2008 at 7:43 AM

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What is this discussion about? Dodge Caravan, Honda Odyssey, Chrysler Town and Country, Chrysler Voyager, Plymouth Voyager, Van

#51 of 7485 read jeep grand cherokee messages by ody4ever Feb 22, 2001 (12:00 pm)
This should end this discussion once and for all. D.C. has inferior products that are highly discounted and have extremely poor resale values. Good luck and wise buying to all!
#52 of 7485 ody4ever by tomtomtom Feb 22, 2001 (12:40 pm)
ody4ever? Helloooo??? This is just a car/minivan!! Do you have a personalized "ody4ever" license plate for your minivan too? I am sure Honda will send you a thank you letter if you do. Since when a discounted product equal to bad product? Anyway, I don't think the points you stated in your message can end this discussion, in fact, I don't think anybody can make a statement to end this topic. This is a matter of needs and taste. If you like your Odyssey that much, fine, keep it forever or buy a new one every 3 or 4 years. We don't drive or ride with you so we really don't car what you want to buy or drive.
#53 of 7485 ody4ever by gcintender Feb 22, 2001 (1:27 pm)
Just a LITTLE bit prejudiced now, aren't we?   Why should a minivan buyer look to an SUV topic for advice?   And as for resale: anyone should buy a car for hinself, not for what a stranger will pay him many years down the road. Do that, and the DC owner knows he made the right decision!
#54 of 7485 ody4ever by enternamehere Feb 22, 2001 (3:26 pm)
"read jeep grand cherokee messages "   Typical remark to expect from an ody owner. I suspect that you're also one of those ody owners that compare their ody to the Acura MDX too! ha!ha! Keep Dreamin'
#55 of 7485 Sheesh! by midwesterner Feb 25, 2001 (10:35 pm)
I came to this section of the site to hopefully gain some good viewpoints about various mini vans. What I seemed to have found was kids in high school arguing over what car they think is best. So maybe this message will give some future reader some help. We've been looking at mini vans, and this is what we have found.... Honda oddessy(LX): good van at a good price. Didn't necessarily care for the softness in corners. Cool stowaway third seat. Good practical vehicle. Honda's are known for longevity so that's a plus, sort of limited color options. No from the factory leather when we test drove one.   Toyota Sienna (XLE): Not too shabby, nice fit an finish on the interior and some cool color options for paint (A black mini van... all you need is aftermarket wheels and Mr. T and you can do an A-Team remake). Also had option for moon roof from the factory, that's cool. Had some noticeable Torque-Steer under hard acceleration/shifting, but was a quick accel.   Ford Windstar: Not real impressed. Interior looked cheap, and somewhat poor finish. Some items looked like afterthoughts. However, also had cool color options for exterior. The salesman seemed like he came right off of a used car lot, so we didn't even take it out for a test drive (he hit the side of the doors with his fist to show us how dent resistant it was... whatever.). But we pretty much nixed it based on the interior (we own a 95 Taurus currently)   Dodge Grand Caravan ES/Chrysler Town and Country: Tons of creature comforts, and a well thought out interior. Definitley go with the 3.8, the performance difference is worth the $300. Pretty decent exterior color options.   Didn't look at Chevy/GMs, the she part didn't have any interest in them.   Things that we were looking for : Her: Creature Comforts, comfortable driving environment (instrument layout, seat comfort, safety) ability to seperate bickering siblings- and they all do, easy to keep clean, easy entry and exit with three kids in tow (one in infant seat). Him: Able to get out of it's own way (read: go power), fairly stiff suspension so no rolling in the turns. Clean looking fit and finish inside and out. Both: LEATHER, because it's easier to clean (by the time you get the kids in the house and get back out to clean an oops, it will wipe off leather esaier than coming out of cloth). Something that we can both be comfortable in and feel relatively safe in. Good finance rates.   Our Automotive background: Own: 95 Tarus SE, 92 Toyota 4x4 xtra cab, 71 Plymouth Duster (V8), 67 Dodge Polara (V8), 83 Toyota Pickup, considering a 1970 Opel Manta. Have also owned 87 Nissan Maxima.   We have settled on the Dodge GC ES or Town and Country Limited or LXi. Here's why... Finance rates .9% is like free money Interior: Only van that you could easily get to the third seat while carrying a car seat with a child in it (fold the back of the second row bucket and then tilt the seat forward). Creature comforts: Lets face it, if your going to buy a vehicle that is the size of a small house, it should have the comfort level to match. The little things like a removeable center console, split rear bench that can be taken out in halves and the nifty little plastic grocery bag holders and power outlets everywhere are nice. Most comfortable seats out of all the ones we checked out. One thing we wish we could get is the seperate media choices for rear passengers (Venture has this option), but a couple of inexpensive portable CD players should do the trick for the time being.   Exterior: Decent range of colors, although I still think the black offered by Toyota was cool.   Drivetrain: Decent size engine per horse power. I come from the old school of "want more horsepower, you need more cubes (or liters)". Still not comfortable with wringing every last ounce out of an engine, I'll leave that to race cars. The traction control option (and even AWD) are some nice to have options, but I don't know what that may cost in repair down the road. I do hope that they have resolved the transmission problems that some of the earlier Caravans had. That's my only drivetrain concern, and the extended warranty should help alleviate that.   This is the type of stuff I was hoping to find here (not a virtual shouting match), so I hope this will help someone else out who may be looking around.
#56 of 7485 Sheesh! by midwesterner by enternamehere Feb 26, 2001 (8:48 am)
I guess most of the posters here are past the point of comparing and have purchased their choice vehicle. Now you see the next step, vehicle ownership. Read a little further into the messages and you may learn more differences between the vehicles (what is being defended) than things you may not have thought of before i.e. magic seat means no full size spare tire etc.
#57 of 7485 sheeesh by h20guy Feb 26, 2001 (4:50 pm)
Full size spare means no magic seat etc.(choices)   Midwesterner, thank you for your post we need more like it.
#58 of 7485 h20guy by enternamehere Feb 26, 2001 (5:50 pm)
So...where do you keep your mini spare tire? Not very comforting on long trips. Is it. Does Honda provide Road Side Assistance for the Ody? I know they don't offer it for my Accord, but my DC has it, as well as, a full spare tire.
#59 of 7485 to midwesterner by coop20 Feb 26, 2001 (6:10 pm)
it's nice to see someone in here who cares about the facts. my wife and I own a 98 caravan e. we are looking to upgrade to a cc or odyssey or maybe even a montana. not sure yet what to get. we have only test driven the montanna. very nice solid comfortable ride. we would like to test drive a 2001 odyssey but there are none around us to test drive. have read alot of mixed reviews about all the vans we're interested in. I think no matter what vehicle you buy you can get a lemon. 2 years ago I bought a 99 s-10 and traded it in 7k later for 97 Dakota which I have been extremely happy with so who knows. we do think the dodge cc has the most to offer for the money. but we haven't made a firm decision on any model yet. hopefully people can take this area more seriosly in the future. any input would be greatly appreciated thank you
#60 of 7485 Thank you Midwesterner by wannabuyavan Feb 26, 2001 (7:19 pm)
Thanks Midwesterner for your very unbiased opinions on these mini vans. However, I am still on the fence between the 2001's T&C EX (or maybe the LXi AWD- read on) and Ody EX. Now here is where I need some advice. We live in an area with a lot of snowfall. I mean a LOT of snow. I am debating on the merits of an AWD van vs. one with traction control. Of course the very big difference in MSRP for the AWD may decide for me. I wonder if the traction control would be sufficient for our road conditions (most people drive SUVs around here), and if so,is there a difference in the traction control between the Ody and T&C. Also, as I've only bought Hondas, any clues on how much off (besides the incentives) the MSRP I can expect to get on the T&C with some haggling.

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