Skip to main content

2003 Honda Odyssey EX-L Review

These pictures aren't of the actual vehicle, but the colors and trim level are correct.
Those of you who have been following this blog since its inception know that my parents have two cars: a 2006 Nissan Sentra and a 2005 Mazda MPV. Well, we recently swapped our dear little MPV for a 2003 Odyssey. 

 The reason for that is, well, there isn't much reason. It's mostly to spice things up in our lives and have a different car for a change without spending any extra money. Our Odyssey came with every bell and whistle you could get in a minivan in 2003, including a factory-installed DVD entertainment system, leather seats, heated seats in the front, and dual power sliding doors. 

 First impressions were a mixed bag. The engine was very smooth, quiet, and powerful, apparently typical of Hondas, but there was a rough patch between 1000 and 1500 RPM or so. You can't feel the road textures at all while driving the car, but it crashed loudly over larger bumps. Loud can also describe the road noise, as tire whine on the highway is deafening compared to modern cars. 
After living with it for a month, I've come to notice even more things. When cold, the otherwise seamless transmission bogs from second to third gear. The third-row seat is unbelievably heavy to lift up and put down compared to modern minivans, and the power-sliding doors' beeps are especially obnoxious if you don't leave the transmission in Park while the motors are working, which is a necessary safety feature, I assume. The textured rubber steering wheel, when worn, feels disgusting.

 There are good things, though. The seats are very well-shaped, even in the third-row, and the van is pretty quick, even by modern minivan standards. The sound system is better than our previous Mazda, but not as clear as the Sentra's. Plus, the van is huge; there is just so much room in every direction. Finally, the car is super stable at high speeds. There's no floating around, no vibrations of any sorts, and it tracks straight. That's not something I can say for our Mazda.

 In the end, I still wish we had gotten a Sienna. The ride is much softer, and it's quieter. As an added bonus, used Siennas are cheaper than Odysseys. However, with all its faults and pros, the Odyssey is still a likeable van.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Big News: We Bought a New Car!

It is an exciting day for me! As the title says, my family bought a new car! We haven't done that since 10 years ago when we bought our 2006 Nissan Sentra.  There it is, parked on the driveway right after we drove home from the dealership. Isn't the color so nice? The interior is beige, too! It's the perfect color combination.  Getting that car to be on our driveway, though, was a laborious and drawn-out task. We started car-shopping yesterday morning, when my dad and I test drove the Camry and Accord.  At first, we headed for the Ford dealer intending to test drive the Taurus and Fusion, but it shunned us by saying that it was "too busy for test drives." There were maybe two other people at the dealership then. Whatever.  We then headed to a semi-rural Honda dealership in search of an Accord. I was expecting it to be loud and firm-riding in traditional Honda fashion. Instead, it impressed me with its solidity. Unfortunately, the specific Accord ...
2 comments
Read more

Changes for the 2013 Jaguar Lineup

2013 brings little to no styling changes to Jaguar, but there are some fairly important additions under the sheetmetal, as well as some drops in base price and some trim level additions.  The flagship sedan XJ gets a new 340-horsepower, 3-liter supercharged V-6 as the base engine, undercutting the still-available 385-horsepower 5-liter V-8. The XJ now starts at $74075 with the V-6, a $500 deficit compared to the 2012 base V-8. The 385-horsepower V-8 comes on with the XJL Portfolio, a new, long-wheelbase trim level between the base and Supercharged. That costs $82075, a $500 increase over the 2012 XJL. However, it does add more standard features. The other models get expected price increases with little to no change.  Other news for the XJ is the addition of a $3500 all-wheel-drive version. That lowers the fuel economy for the base engine from 18/28 city/highway miles per gallon to 16/25 city/highway miles per gallon. It can only be optioned on the base XJ and XJL Portfol...
Post a Comment
Read more