What is it about this thing? Our Honda Odyssey must have some sort of abnormal gravitational pull. It's the only way to explain its string of bodily mishaps.
Once again, our minivan has obtained body damage. During the month of March, one of our editorial staff members (who shall remain nameless) took the Odyssey to a local grocery store. When this person finished shopping, they hopped back into the Honda and started to back out of the parking space.
Too bad they didn't check the mirrors carefully enough. This particular person who shall remain nameless backed up into another car that was driving down the parking row. The left rear corner of the Odyssey contacted the driver's door of the other car. Oops.
As you would expect with such slow speeds, the damage was minor and nobody was hurt. The contact was enough to crack the Honda's taillight and scuff its paint, however. If there is a silver lining to all of this, it's that it happened before the Honda's scheduled service for repairs to all of the previous body damage.
Before the incident, the Odyssey was rolling along just fine. It continued to garner praise from the people who drove it, with flexibility and size being the top attributes. Our photo editor particularly liked the instrument panel, praising the excellent ergonomics and easy-to-use stereo and climate controls.
Our photo editor does not like the power doors, however. For our fast-moving shutterbug and his load of camera gear, the Honda's doors are just too slow. He also said the passenger-side door became balky at one point, and refused to close even though the vehicle was parked and not in gear. That problem has not surfaced again (it could have been user error), but we will keep an eye out for further incidents.
We hope to have our bruised-and-battered minivan back in time for April. When you check in next month, the fresh damage should be repaired, as should the dented left-rear quarter panel and the slashed rear bumper.
Total Odometer Reading: 19,552
Best Fuel Economy: 18.2 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 14.5 mpg
Body Damage Costs: $0
Maintenance Costs: $0
Problems: None.
