Anonymous wrote:I have the 2015 Odyssey Elite. The vacuum is only "OK" but we love the cool box. The ride is comfortable and onboard entertainment is great.

They got rid of the cool box in the 2018 I LOVE the cabin watch in the 2018 with two toddlers rear facing. It is SO easy to see what they are doing and if they are asleep. The vented cooled seats and the heated steering wheel in the 2018 Elite are also pretty nice. It made the transition from my BMW back to a Honda a little eaiser.

We bought the 2018 Odyssey over the Sienna last year for the unique sliding seats and haven’t looked back. Being able to just push the seat over with the kid in a carseat in it has been SO helpful in quickly loading and unloading adults from the back. It has also helped us haul odd shaped items wothout taking seats out. We found the 2nd row seats of the Chrysler to be not nearly as comfy (probably because they are designed to fold to the floor). I initially wanted the Siena AWD, but then my H pointed out that he drove an Accord in North Dakota and was fine. Plus I never drive in the snow.

2013 mid level Odyssey (did not want the in-car TV) and love this thing. Got it new and it still seems new to me. Three kids are still pretty young right now - if I were to get a new car today, I'd probably get another Odyssey.

I have the 2015 Odyssey Elite. The vacuum is only "OK" but we love the cool box. The ride is comfortable and onboard entertainment is great.

Anonymous wrote:So I just bought the plug in Chrystler Pacifica and am feeling happy about it so far. It has all the safety features, drives about 32 miles on electric before switching over to gas, and seems really comfortable. The cons are that it is priced higher (though there is a $7500 tax rebate), there is no middle seat in the middle (it seats 7, not 8) and the middle seats don't go flush to the ground when you put them down because the battery is there. It's worth checking out. I like feeling high and mighty about not buying any gas in the last month!

I am glad you like it. We really wanted one, but then the production data slipping and the twins were born, so we had to abandon that idea. It will be on my short list the next time around.

So I just bought the plug in Chrystler Pacifica and am feeling happy about it so far. It has all the safety features, drives about 32 miles on electric before switching over to gas, and seems really comfortable. The cons are that it is priced higher (though there is a $7500 tax rebate), there is no middle seat in the middle (it seats 7, not 8) and the middle seats don't go flush to the ground when you put them down because the battery is there. It's worth checking out. I like feeling high and mighty about not buying any gas in the last month!

We have a 2011 Sienna and I still love it. Super comfortable, smooth ride and quiet (well, when the kids are not in it). I love it, and will drive it into the ground. We picked it over the Odyssey at the time because it was a smoother, quieter ride and a lot more comfortable than the Honda. Price was also 1-2K lower (not sure, it was a while ago).

I'll be the lone detractor. My parents have a Sienna, and I cannot stand driving it. It is a bear to accelerate (meaning, you don't), you can't actually maneuver lanes well in DC traffic, forget shoulder checking, and overall it feels like driving a tank. Obviously others feel differently, but I don't know how people use that as their everyday car.

I live in the NYC suburbs and have a Sienna. We chose it over the Odyssey for the all wheel drive. Doubt you'd need that as much in DC, but them again if you are a family that likes to drive out to go skiing etc, then I definitely recommend it. It drives very well in snow and ice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ours is 2011, so not sure what has changed since then, but we preferred the Sienna because it had more power and a better transmission (we do a lot of mountain driving) and we also wanted the AWD option. I also find Hondas to be uncomfortable in general.

OP here and I agree. We have an accord and I know it is a solid, well made, will go forever car but it is not comfortable.

My cars have always been pretty standard and basic, so this might be my norm, but what's uncomfortable about Hondas? I have driven a Civic for 17 years and it gets the job done. I realize there are no bells or whistles, but I've never been uncomfortable....

Their seats are just hard. Every time I’ve ridden in a Honda it feels like I’m sitting on a bench.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got a Honda Odyssey with all the whistles and bells. We were not looking for all that, but now that we have it, there is not going back. We got ours used and, hopefully, we'll be driving it for a while before we get a new one. I never thought these words would cross my lips, but I love our Honda Odyssey. It handles much better than you would expect, it is very comfortable to drive, and it makes things easy.

What year is it?

It is old. Very old. But it has low mileage and it only had one owner. I know, I should not count on it lasting that long. My point was that we are now used to all the little perks that we did not think we wanted/needed. When it finally dies, I cannot imagine going back to a basic model.

We had an Odyssey for over a decade. Just replaced it with the Chrysler Pacific Hybrid. It uses almost no gas for the first 30 miles you drive. (Then the battery needs to recharge, which takes 12 hours with a standard electrical plug, or 2 hours if you have a plug specific for electric cars. We just charge it every night.) Because most of our mini-van driving is that standard school drop-offs and soccer games, we almost never use any gas. It's great -- not only for the money but because I'm never thinking "Oh shoot -- I need to stop for gas and I'm already running late!"
I read a fair number of reviews, including a review where the reviewer drove it 100,000 miles in a few months to test durability, and it did fine.
I find the driveability and comfort to be basically identical between the Pacific H and the Odyssey. Note that some of the Pacific reviews say the rear seats aren't as comfortable -- thsoe reviews don't apply to the Hybrid --- the Hybrid does not have the Chysler patented fold-seat-into-floor thing, which is cool but apparently leads to less comfortable seats. Because of the battery location, the Hybrid does not have that feature and the seats are basically the same as the Odyssey.
I'm against the TVs in cars, as I think it cuts down on quality bonding time. But I am very PRO leather seats, as they are sooooo much easier to clean in case of things like spilled milk, cheerio crumbs, vomit, whatever.

Anonymous wrote:We got a Honda Odyssey with all the whistles and bells. We were not looking for all that, but now that we have it, there is not going back. We got ours used and, hopefully, we'll be driving it for a while before we get a new one. I never thought these words would cross my lips, but I love our Honda Odyssey. It handles much better than you would expect, it is very comfortable to drive, and it makes things easy.

What year is it?

We got a Honda Odyssey with all the whistles and bells. We were not looking for all that, but now that we have it, there is not going back. We got ours used and, hopefully, we'll be driving it for a while before we get a new one. I never thought these words would cross my lips, but I love our Honda Odyssey. It handles much better than you would expect, it is very comfortable to drive, and it makes things easy.

I have a 2015 Odyssey. Got it from Carmax with 21,000 miles on it last year.

I know you say you want a new one with all the bells and whistles, but ours is pretty sweet (video screen, moonroof, push-button trunk and sliding doors, removable middle row seats) and it saved us several thousand dollars to get a pre-owned one with no haggling. We'll have this thing for the next 10-12 years, so I guess I could have made the argument for buying brand new. But I figured ANYTHING within the last 5 years was brand new compared to the 2004 sedan I was driving before we got it!

The one thing I liked about the Odyssey versus Sienna is the way the seats in the back store. It's just really simple whereas the Sienna back row seemed a little more complicated to maneuver.

Honestly though, I liked the look of the Sienna better on the outside. Notice how all the Odysseys look like someone has gouged a huge horizontal slit out of the body of each side of the vehicle (where the side doors slide)...but the Sienna's design masks the "groove" right beneath the windows. It just looks sleeker on the Sienna.

But really it's all about your preference. DO GET LEATHER SEATS though!!!