For the month of February, our '99 Honda Odyssey was once again in the hands of Senior feature editor Brent Romans. Yes, the same Brent who has no wife, no kids (that he knows of), and no pets.
As you would expect, Brent has little need for Honda's big minivan. However, he noticed that his friends did. Rather than having to drive their cars, these friends would nominate Brent as the designated driver. This was extremely popular for excursions to local watering holes, as it freed them up to consume their favorite drinks without the responsibility of driving.
Despite grumbling about having to schlep these "friends" around, Brent did admit that the Honda was perfectly up to the task of being a taxi. The power sliding doors continued to work their magic, allowing easy, if somewhat slow, access to the middle-row captain's chairs and the rear bench seat. Brent also noted that the hole created by leaving the rear seat up is perfect for carrying groceries, as it prevents the bags from sliding around and spilling their contents.
But as the days wore on, Brent became much more anxious to ditch the Odyssey. This was primarily due to the "minivan stigma." At first, Brent didn't think he would worry about it. A minivan is a logical method of transportation, no?
But sure enough, after a few instances of having women look at him while driving the Honda, Brent worried about what the minivan said of him. Married with kids? Yikes! Or how about: driving his mom's minivan? That's even worse. Either way, the Honda was the equivalent of a giant zit for a single guy in Los Angeles trying to impress.
From the practical and reliable aspect, the Honda continued to work fine. Brent did complain about the shifter again, especially after briefly driving our long-term GMC Sierra pickup. "Note to Honda: Here's the excellent console shifter from our GMC Sierra pickup. Copy it," Brent said. Otherwise, he didn't notice any new mechanical problems.
Next month, we plan to (finally) have the body damage on the left-rear quarter panel and rear bumper fixed, as well have many of the minor problems (such as the fuel gauge) looked at.
Total Odometer Reading: 19,184
Best Fuel Economy: 18.9 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 13.0 mpg
Body Damage Costs: $0
Maintenance Costs: $0
Problems: None.
