Helping my dad find a new used car since the tranny went out on his Nissan Quest.

He kind of prefers a mini van since I have 2 nephews (2 YO and 3.5 YO) he sometimes drives around. He likes the roominess and ease of getting in and out. Plus, he's also use to the sitting height/position of the mini van.

He's got his eye on an '08 Honda Odyssey LX with 60,200 miles (dealer asking $15K) and an '08 Toyota Sienna CE with 70,000 miles (dealer asking $13.9K). He doesn't need anything fancy... just basic transportation.

Anyone familiar with either and know of any problems/issues we should be aware of? I know the 2nd gen ('99-'04) Odyssey had the tranny problem, but I believe they fixed that problem on the 3rd gen ('05-'10) Odyssey. Am I right?

Not familiar with the Sienna at all.

I'm also trying to get him to consider a 2nd or 3rd gen Honda CR-V since I know he won't be using/needing all the cargo space of a mini van. Timing chain on CR-V is a plus.

I also looked into the Mazda5 (friend who owns one recommended it), but there seems to be quite a few quality issues (i.e. suspension going bad prematurely, brake issues, and squeaks/rattles) with them according to Consumer Reports and True Delta.... so it's pretty much out of the picture.





Any other suggestions?

Thanks.

 

I like the way the Odyssey looks more than the Sienna.

 

for 08 model Odyssey for sure - looks pretty decent for a minivan. The Sienna always looked like a grandma's minivan until 2011.

 

If I ever had to get a minivan, it'd be an Odyssey.

 

Ody

 

I definitely prefer the styling of the Ody too.

Is there anything I should be looking out for as far as problem areas go on either one though? Should I be worried about the tranny on the Ody?

 

Odyssey winning by landslide!

 

I have an 05 Ody, when I was shopping for the van, I liked the Ody more because it handles a little bit better and looks slightly better. I like this gen's Sienna more tho.

 

Sienna reliability > Odyssey reliability

He doesn't care about style he needs reliability.

My wife dives an 06 Sienna XLE with 120,000+ and other than a $250 door actuator we've had no issues whatsoever.

 

^^^ I agree completely.

We just returned our 2008 Odyssey because of its reliabilty issues.

A/C issues, 1- Transmission, 3-Power steering pumps, 2-Torque Convertors, etc etc and all of this with less than 80,000 Km (Not to mention the famous Honda premature brake wear).

On a positive side I prefered the styling and handling of the Odyssey over the Sienna but the Sienna had much nicer power in city conditions and the reliabilty is much better.

Here is an interesting article on the problems with the Odyssey.

http://www.wheels.ca/news/honda-odys...cked-up-to-be/

There have been many members here with numerous issues with their Odyssey and i generally tell anyone looking at a used Honda (or any Japanese used vehicle) to put a couple grand aside because in a few years outside of warranty you will be replacing a transmission at some time.

 

Sienna did have some nicer options over the odyssey - like you could get a XLE model with AWD and HID. Toyota motor / tranny in a odyssey body would be sweet!

 

I've always heard that when it comes to reliability, the sienna blows away oddessy

 

I have a 2010 Odyssey EX-L with nav/dvd and I honestly think it was designed by baboons.

 

RUN! Don't walk away from the Oddy. RUN!

Do the smart thing, and get the Sienna.

Oddy reliability and quality = piss poor.
So glad I no longer own my '06 Oddy.

 

For what its worth, my sister and bro in law own a 2006 Sienna and they do absolutely no kind of maintenance to it. Barely even do oil changes and only when I remind them to do it.

It runs like a champ and never has broken down once. All original parts.

 

Thanks for feedback.

Dad definitely doesn't care about styling. I told him Odyssey looks better than the Sienna and he was like "Pfft. I couldn't care less about looks. I'm looking for something reliable."


So I guess Consumer Reports is pretty spot on with their listing of issues for the Odyssey.

 

Honda - more sporty, better handling
Toyota - reliable and more comfortable.

 

Dad wants to look at an '07 Honda Pilot LX (2WD) tomorrow along with a couple Sienna's and a Highlander. Not completely ruling out the Odyssey just yet, but the Sienna's definitely the preferred choice.

Looks like early 1st gen Pilots (03-05) had minor tranny problems too, but people over on piloteers.org say the tranny was updated in '06 and is more solid. True? Or stay away?

They're asking $14K for the '07 Pilot LX with 71,500 miles on it.

 

Doing some more digging on the Pilot. Starting to think we should avoid it now or am I just being paranoid?



Problems With the Honda Pilot: http://www.ehow.com/about_5615030_pr...nda-pilot.html

Consumer Reports ratings:

 

Had an 03 Sienna that went 267K miles without a single problem and that car was treated like crap. Had a family friend who's 05 Oddy transmission took a dump after 130K miles. Toyota's reliability is on another level, but of course these are older models of the cars you're referring to, not sure how reliable the newer odyssey are.

 

My father has an Odyssey. It's been nothing but headaches! Suspension is blown, rotors wore down pretty quick, and just recently the green square around the "D" on his cluster started to blink at times as he's driving (obviously a transmission related issue).

My vote goes for the Sienna, and I don't even know anyone who owns one.

The Pilot is also a great choice. I have 2 family members who have owned their 1st Gen since new, and they love it. My cousin has the 2nd Gen and it has given him zero problems so far.

 

If the Highlander is on his list i would say that is the best choice if he doesn't go with the Sienna. Not sure what model Highlander he would be looking at but i had a 07 Highlander Limited AWD 3.3 V6 and that is one awesome SUV. Plenty of power, great ride, everything was great quality and the gas mileage was better than i ever thought a SUV like that could get. In the city the worst mileage i ever got was like 18.9 and highway i got around 21-23 miles. If was ever looking for an SUV i would not think twice and get a Highlander.

 

Odyssey.

 

We have an 07 Odyssey in the family and it has been problem free. During six years with 130k miles, it only needed routine maintenance. Only costly part was getting the timing belt replaced at 105k. Brakes aren't the best but livable.

After checking out the ody forums though, it seems like we were lucky.

 

You are being PARANOID

Look at the CS rating system below, then look at the Ratings in your list above. Hint... Round red dot = Excellent.

 

You sir are The Honda motor is a far better piece of machinery

 

we use sienna's and ford flex's for work vehicles. those sienna's get the crap beat out of them and are never taken care of and nothing ever breaks. corporate bought 6 of them to replace the chrysler minivans that were all having tranny problems.

 

Power Toyota of Irvine was a complete waste of time. Damn bait and switch/false advertising.

Saw an '04 Sienna LE on autotrader with around 77K miles for $10,881. Went there to look at it and test drive it. Nice car.... very clean. But once we got to talking about the price....

They "claim" their original price was $11,760 and that they "just dropped it" by almost $1,000 so they started negotiating using that higher price instead of the advertised price. Even the window sticker price was $10,881. They kept saying "... but we already dropped the price by almost $1K" (to $10,881) whenever we tried to negotiate the price lower.

How and why would the price drop by almost $1K overnight? The car was barely listed for sale on Tuesday Jan. 15.... two freakin' days ago. I saw it on autotrader last night (Wed.) and we went to see it today (Thurs).

Previous owner upgraded the wheels to some crappy eBay after market alloys. Dealer even tried to say that those wheels are worth $400 each to justify why they couldn't go lower on the price. Didn't want to tell them they didn't know shit and that you can probably find those wheels at Sears for $100 each.

I would not recommend this dealer. Not very friendly either.

We're working with Longo Toyota now. Much better place so far.

 

I had a 07 Odyssey. I had several issues with it. Warped brake, deformed interior panels, problem with sliding door. On top of that i never got over 18 mpg on daily use. I can easily achieve over 21 on the sienna.

 

Picked up a Certified '09 Sienna CE for $16,350. OTD was $18,000. Stupid CA tax.

Very clean on the outside and inside. They also put new tires and brakes too. Only 34,800 miles.

Now what forum are you Toyota and/or Sienna owners on? Sienna Chat and Toyota Nation seem to be pretty good so far.

 

Congrats!

Smart move to get the Sienna over the Oddy.

It should be a pretty much trouble free ownership experience.

Best of luck!

 

Nice, should serve him well. I didn't even know they had a forum for minivans.

 

We were originally trying to work on a deal for a certified 2010 Odyssey LX with a little over 38K miles, but dealer wouldn't budge on price (lowest they'd do was $18,700 OTD) so we walked and found the Sienna a few days later.

While my dad and I like the styling and interior layout of the Odyssey better, one big plus for the Sienna is that it uses a timing chain instead of a belt.

I was kinda surprised to see a dedicated one for the Sienna, but then again what don't they have a forum for nowadays.


Time to get familiar with the Sienna and the engine in case any maintenance comes up.

 

A co-worker had one and she had a ton of problems with her and hated it. Ac went out twice (compressor), and some other stuff I don't recall.

We looked at them ourselves and read the reviews but we picked up a new Sienna instead due to better reliability.

 

Umm no. Old tech doesn't mean better.

 

Those are the forums I have found.

 

People actually lower the vans and do everything we do to cars. The se model actually handles well.

 

Didnt say it did, but Honda makes a better engine.

 

If they made a better engine it wouldn't be plaque with sludge issues due to the cylinder cutoff. Toyota has the better engine and that has been proven for years.

 

Definitely not my cup of tea.