Honda Odyssey - 1998 Review

Overall 4.00 of 5 (by 1 user)

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c3ajeff
Chehalis, WA

They don't make them like this anymore

parent, a person who enjoys quality, love to travel, married, willing to pay for quality, value conscious, cost-conscious, cares for the environment

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Pros

Seats 7, ABS brakes, Parts are reasonable, Regular Doors (no sliders), Excellent gas mileage, Smaller than other, Drives like a car, Quiet, 4 cyl high performance engine

Cons

3rd row seats difficult to access, Small interior compared to other vans, Not great for towing, Transmission failures

DEC

2007

If you're in the market for a good used minivan and have a limited budget, this van is for you. It's dependable, gets great gas mileage (I regularly get 25-27 mpg around town and up to 28-31 mpg on the freeway) is great for a small family and fits into even a small garage.

One reason I bought this van is that I am physically tall from my hips to my head - I often bump my head on the roof of cars and other vans. The Odyssey has a lot of headroom. Another reason I bought this van is that it has a low profile and doesn't have those blasted slider doors. I know I'll eventually have to give in and buy a new van with sliders, but I'm holding out as long as I can. It's the most common comment I get on the van; people really like the doors.

With the 3rd row seats folded down, there is a lot of storage space, however with the 3rd row seats up/occupied, there isn't much room behind them. Let's face it, it's a small van, but the trade off is that you get great gas mileage and driveability.

I bought the van with just under 100,000 miles on it. I've put about 100,000 more miles on it without any major problems. I have read that other folks have had problems with the transmission (not a cheap repair) but I have tried to avoid this problem by REGULARLY changing the tranny fluid (I use AMSOIL trans fluid or the Honda fluid) and being careful about the shift from reverse to forward and vice versa (some Honda transmissions are vulnerable to problems when shifting into D when still rolling backward.)

I take good care of the van but I am not obsessed with service. It has been extremely reliable. It's quiet when driving down the road, however I will say that the tires you choose have a lot to do with road noise in this van. The interior doesn't look like a 200,000 mile vehicle - in fact, when cleaned up (which I do as needed) it looks almost brand-new.

The exterior paint is showing signs of wear, but it still looks almost as good as it did when I bought it. I paid about 1/5 what I would have paid for a new van when I bought this two years ago (I shopped around for this van for several months) and I couldn't be happier with my decision. It's the ultimate in practicality.