Road Tests: Long-Term Test

Our executive editor, Karl Brauer, found himself in a rather strange situation for the month of February. His official long-term car was our 1999 Honda Odyssey. But his personal vehicle, driven primarily by his wife, is a 2000 Honda Odyssey. With the only difference between these two vehicles being an available DVD-based navigation system, and with his 2000 Odyssey not equipped with said nav system, he essentially had two identical vehicles getting parked in his garage every night.

Well, they weren't truly identical. Brauer's Odyssey is Granite Green Metallic while the Edmunds.com Odyssey is Deep Velvet Blue Pearl. Karl was thankful for the color difference, because despite the 40,000 miles separating these two vans, they felt about the same from behind the wheel. He could have easily seen himself bringing the wrong van in to trade on long-term swap day, and with his two baby seats in the second row of the Brauer Odyssey, the "missus" would not have been pleased.

Karl had to look hard to find signs of age in the blue Honda, but a few did show up. For instance, the rear window has a horrible rattle if you take the "shim" out that one of our editors jury-rigged a few months earlier. Karl didn't discover this until two days before the end of his rotation, but he feels strongly that the van should go to the dealer to get this repaired. Karl also noticed that the little flaps in the cupholders in the center console are dried out and starting to crack, and the driver's seatbelt is starting to fray on the edges. These were the only two obvious signs of wear inside the Odyssey. Outside, the poor van has multiple scars from the last 22 months of service. The wheels have been curbed, the front bumper has a small hole punched in it near the license plate, and there are scrapes on both sides.

Still, all things considered, the Odyssey is holding up remarkably well at 41,000 miles. There are a few minor creaks and groans emanating from it (in addition to the rear window problem), but Karl feels that if his Odyssey is in this good of shape at 40,000 miles, which, at his wife's rate of accumulation will take about 15 years, he'll be quite pleased. The other large truck in the Edmunds.com long-term fleet, the GMC Sierra, has almost 10,000 miles less than the Honda, and it's falling apart.

Besides the fact that it's an automotive equivalent to Dick Clark, Karl feels the van has several design traits that keep it at the top of the minivan heap (he isn't at all biased, is he?). In Karl's own words: "I had an opportunity to drive our new 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan during my month in the Odyssey. It's obvious that Dodge wants to regain its status in this market (and with ads touting the Caravan and Town and Country as the 'Best Minivans Ever', Chrysler clearly thinks it has succeeded). The new Dodge is loaded with neat gimmicks, has comfy seats with excellent side bolstering, and it's plenty fast. It has the edge over the Odyssey in all of these areas. However...it still rides more like a truck than a car, and the second row seats don't slide fore and aft, greatly reducing legroom options for those seats. By driving both our long-term Odyssey and my own personal Odyssey so much lately, I've become spoiled and think that every minivan should ride and handle as comfortably and confidently as a car. However, except for the Odyssey (and maybe Mazda's MPV) they don't, and this includes the new Caravan. Honda and Volkswagen have dibs on selling the only minivans with fully independent rear suspensions. I won't even get into the third-row folding seat issue except to say that the 'Best Minivan Ever' doesn't have it."

That's not to suggest that the Odyssey is perfect. Brauer readily admits that Honda needs to pump up the feature list or other models will eclipse the Odyssey's top position, independent rear suspension and folding third-row seat or no. Some blatant design flaws, like the location of the power outlet and the column shifter that blocks the center stack are two prime examples. According to Karl, "...the placement of the power outlet proved highly troublesome during this month in the Odyssey. Having just purchased a new Valentine One radar detector, I'm anxious to use it every chance I get (it was too expensive to let sit around!), but the Odyssey's power point is at the bottom of the center stack, just off the floor. I had to stretch the power cord to its maximum limit, and it still barely reached. As soon as I started driving, I noticed that every time I hit the gas, the detector went into its "power up" mode, making all sorts of racket and convincing me that I'd just been hit with all three bands of police radar, as well as laser detection. Obviously, the stretched cord was causing the Valentine One to lose, and then regain, power whenever I stepped on the gas. For a vehicle with almost flawless ergonomics otherwise, I can't believe Honda let this slip by the design team and make it to production."

Another item pointed out by Karl was the audible gasoline "slosh" that occurred whenever he was maneuvering through a parking lot. He initially noticed this in his own Odyssey and was again struck by it in the Edmunds.com van. The sound is very apparent in both vehicles. It's likely due to the otherwise quiet cabin, especially at parking lot speeds when you are shifting between forward and backward momentum, but that distinct "ker-plunk" sound isn't confidence inspiring. While not exactly loud, the strange noise repeatedly gave Karl a moment of concern, until he remembered what was causing it. In fact, Mr. Brauer had often wondered if his own Odyssey was suffering from some sort of defect -- either a forgotten sound-deadening panel or maybe even a misshapen gas tank. Hearing the exact same sound in the long-term car confirmed that the bizarre noise is at least...normal.

Another concern arose when the Honda's radio seemed to have trouble pulling in even local stations. This was not normally a problem, and Karl wondered if the rare-for-L.A. thunderstorm and overcast skies were responsible. He also took a gander at the antenna and noticed a Jack-in-the-Box holiday ball riding up top. "Could Jack be the culprit?" he pondered. The next day, under continued rain and overcast skies, the reception issue did not re-occur, giving Jack at least a momentary stay of execution. One other difference between Brauer's Odyssey and the Edmunds.com model: Brauer's van doesn't have the CD/cassette player combo. With only a CD player in his Granite Green Metallic van, Karl can't listen to any custom-made tapes. His month in the long-term Honda gave him a chance to experience this optional head unit, complete with steering wheel controls that allowed him to seek forward and backward though cassette songs without taking his hands off the wheel. As Brauer wrote in the logbook, "It may be time to contact my Honda dealer and discuss audio system upgrades."

When it was time to let the Odyssey go, Karl was truly pleased to know that another one was waiting at home...one that wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon. His final comment in the logbook: "It's pretty funny when I park this van in my garage next to my own Odyssey. It gives a whole new meaning to the phrase 'minivan family.' There's no denying that I've acquired quite a taste for Honda's box-on-wheels. And my childhood buddies who remember me driving a roaring, tire-smoking musclecar -- the fastest car at my high school -- would be so proud."

Current Odometer: 41,155
Best Fuel Economy: 16.6 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 14.9 mpg
Body Repair Costs: None
Maintenance Costs: None
Problems: Loud rattle from rear window area.