Road Tests: Long-Term Test

When the time came to end our two-year lease on the Odyssey, we realized we were facing a stiff excess mileage penalty. Our lease allowed 30,000 miles, but we racked up 42,500. If we wanted to turn in our minivan, we would have to pay a $1,875 penalty. We decided to consider buying the van from the bank and then selling it to a private party to avoid this cost.

Our consumer advice editor, Phil Reed, called Bank of America (which leased the Odyssey to us) and requested a buy-out price. He was told that we could buy it for $16,992. The Edmunds.com True Market Value^® price was $22,300 for an Odyssey in "outstanding" condition. Clearly, we should sell the van and pocket the difference.

But what about that nasty scrape along the right rear quarter-panel? There was also significant pitting on the front bumper. Should we sell it as "clean" or fix these problems ourselves and charge more for the van in "outstanding" condition? We decided that a "facial" of sorts was in order.

Our contributing editor, Erin Riches, spent a few last days with the lovable blue minivan before the Odyssey took a trip to the body shop to be prettied-up for the new owners. While the Odyssey lived with Riches, it was forced to adapt to the rigors (or perhaps a lack of these) of her rather mundane life. The minivan was housed in a safe, dry garage within a gated apartment complex in one of L.A.'s bedroom communities, and everyday, Riches came downstairs (alone), carefully backed the minivan out of the garage and proceeded to drive 32 miles into the city. And every night, she returned home, as childless as when she left. Not that she wanted to find an unexpected child in the van.

So she acknowledges that she was rather hard-pressed to put the Odyssey through a sufficient minivan workout. Nonetheless, the Odyssey makes a pleasant commuter vehicle. And if Riches ever wanted a minivan for personal use, there would be no waffling. She would buy the Odyssey. Even if she had to buy a used one to stay within her budget.

In spite of her affection for the van, she still wasn't happy with the gearing of its transmission.

"The conservative transmission was irritating when I needed to accelerate quickly to merge or change lanes in heavy freeway traffic. It refuses to get the most out of its low gears, and sometimes, easy maneuvers take longer than they should — to the point of becoming somewhat risky. Which is ridiculous, since this V6 has plenty of power. I think I would be more annoyed by this quality if I had purchased an Odyssey because I wanted a safe vehicle for children. Of course, the Odyssey is a safe vehicle, but it would be more so if one could count on it to accelerate smoothly and immediately in tight situations. I've also noticed that the Odyssey's transmission does not like to drop into third gear on one particular mountainous incline of Interstate 5. No, it just hums along pleasantly in fourth while the mph drop on the speedometer. You have to absolutely stand on the gas pedal to get any sort of begrudging response."

Of course, as we noted in the March update, the 2001 Odyssey's transmission is considerably more amenable to acceleration. Install a nice aftermarket audio system, and you'll have the perfect minivan.

As always, Riches enjoyed the quiet potency of the minivan's V6 as it enabled her to glide along with various muscle cars and German sedans on the highway. "And its superb view of the road gives it an advantage at 85 mph," she noted, "because the Odyssey driver can see the highway patrol car entering the freeway three lanes over."

And since the Odyssey handles so well, you can make all of the maneuvers you would make when driving an Accord. "The more I drive this van, the more I like the steering," she wrote. "Honda managed to make it light on effort, yet quite tidy for a vehicle of this size. For comparison, the Odyssey offers a more comfortable seating arrangement than a Sequoia or Suburban, but which one is easiest to handle on pavement?"

Although Riches doesn't like the Odyssey's underpowered stereo system or the ergonomics of the stereo faceplate, the rest of the interior seems beyond reproach, especially the center tray.

"The Odyssey's folding center tray is the most practical center storage apparatus that I've ever encountered in a vehicle. Each of the four cupholders is the perfect size, and the expansive, textured tray will accommodate all of my personal effects. It also makes trips through fast food drive-thru lines much easier. The cupholders swallow the drinks and the tray holds the bag of food securely. On so many other occasions, I've fumbled around with flimsy cardboard drink holders and greasy bags of food on seats, and it's a mess. This is the solution."

Later in the month, one of our own vice presidents, Bob Kurilko, spent a couple of days with the Odyssey. He was our first prospective buyer.

"The kids loved the van and were really encouraging us to buy it," he said. "They thought that the push-button sliding doors were ultra-cool. Mom and Dad loved the fact that the kids could talk and play while we were still able to have a conversation up front. We have a Nissan Pathfinder, and with the kids in the back, they pretty much talk right in our ears. No such problem with the Odyssey — very nice. We decided not to buy it only because my wife couldn't get by the 'soccer mom' image. She wants a Toyota Sequoia...more of a truck."

No sale. But given the Odyssey's wild popularity, we knew others would be interested in our van, particularly after the body repair was complete. We took our minivan to Paintless Dent Professionals in Irvine, Calif., and had the work done for $1,585. The shop also detailed the Odyssey inside and out — they even cleaned and detailed the engine.

With the van looking as good as new, we advertised it for sale for $22,600, (the extra $300 over TMV^® was because we had purchased and installed a cassette player). We listed the van for sale on AutoTrader.com and Classifieds2000.com along with a photo.

A few days later, we got a call from an interested buyer who had seen our AutoTrader ad. He was concerned, however, about how the transaction would be handled since we didn't actually have the Odyssey's title (since it was a lease, Bank of America kept the title). The prospective buyer came to our Santa Monica offices with his wife, and they test drove the Odyssey. They offered $22,000 cash for the van. While deciding whether to accept the offer, we noted that the updated TMV price was reduced to $22,019. We accepted the offer.

We contacted Bank of America, and a representative met with us to speed up the transaction for our buyer. Reed handed the bank representative a cashier's check for $16,992. The buyer then handed Reed a cashier's check for $22,000. Finally, the Bank of America representative contacted the title company, which immediately issued a new title in the buyer's name.

It's important to remember that the buy-out figure for our Odyssey was low, because a substantial down payment had been made two years before. Still, we paid $29,970 (the sticker was $26,215, but we paid extra for dealer goodies) for the Odyssey, and it lost only $7,000 of its original value in two years and 42,500 miles worth of driving. That was a depreciation of about 24 percent.

When this complicated transaction was finally completed, the buyer dropped our editor off by the side of Pacific Coast Highway near his house. As the minivan powered back into traffic, our editor reported hearing the crisp chirp of tires on asphalt. That was our last connection to the faithful Odyssey, but a fairly accurate indication that the new owner was already enjoying the power of the Honda's lusty V6 engine.

Our Odyssey is gone, but we'll provide a detailed recap of our two years of ownership in the Wrap-Up. Do you transport your family in a 1999-2001 Honda Odyssey? If so, we would like to publish your commentary on the minivan in your life. Write to eriches@edmunds.com and include your full name and city and state of residence.

Current Odometer: 42,500
Best Fuel Economy: 26.9 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 19.2 mpg
Body Repair Costs: $1,585
Maintenance Costs: $0
Problems: Loud rattle from rear window area