Anyone own a Honda Odyssey??

[Yowie]

We have a little two door car so we need to upgrade to a bigger car. After bubs is born when we have dsds there are going to be 6 of us and we haven't decided of we are going to have another bub so it may go up to 7 . I have been looking at the honda odyssey, we would only be able to get a secondhand one, most likely 1st gen, 96-98 probably. I was wondering if anyone here owns one, how do you find it?, how is it on fuel?, have you had any problems?

Thank you for any replies.

[bon]

We have a 2005 Odyssey, luxury model and I love it. Great to drive and good on fuel (heaps better than the V8 Statesman we used to own!). There are few things though that you will need to consider - first, the anchor points for the middle row of seats are in the roof above the back row of seats. For us its not too much of an issue as our two older kids are not tall enough for the straps from their little sister's car seat to bother them, but it may be an issue for older kids and adults if they sit in the back row. If you want to put a baby seat in the back row, the anchor points are in the floor of the boot, which then obstructs your boot space. Second, the middle seat of the middle row of seats is a lap only seat belt, which is fine if you have baby seat there, but unsafe for older kids.

Also, I think that any more than four young children and it may be getting a bit cramped - the car will seat up to 7 (including the driver and front passenger), but any more than two car seats and it might not work too well space wise. When we have our fourth and last bub in September we will have two car seats and a booster seat which should work fine, as the booster will not need anchor points, but any more car seats will be getting cramped.

It sounds like I am talking the car down but I love it, and it is perfect for our family, but realistically it probably wouldn't fit any more than 4 children in comfort, unless they were all old enough to not need car seats.

[Pretty Butterfly]

My cousin has ones and loves it, but yep, its not very suitable for too many kids.

They find it v hard to get some into the back seat, climbing over the car seats in the middle row, esp hard for bigger kids and adults.
If you have a couple of car seats, it becomes v small, with little boot space left for prams and/or shopping too...

To fill it all up completley i think you may find it way too small.....

[mbear]

Yep we had one....sold it in Feb this year....We had a 05 lux model.....it cost us $28k and it was the most luxurious car ive ever driven.....theres something about Hondas that just spell luxury to me. Anyway, brilliant car to drive, smooth, easy on petrol. Lots of luxury items (gosh i miss that CD playre and the fancy knobs LOL)...but 4 kids...ahhh no. Like pretty butterfly said, with the car seats, and the fact you cant really use the middle seat for a car seat coz you constantly would have to allow that seat to be vacant for the other children to get in the very back...it just wouldnt have worked for us. I will have 4 children, 5 and under, so all will need a car seat.
The anchor points for the middle row of seats are just above the back row of seats...so if your sitting in the back row, you essentially will have a anchor belt above your head...

We bought our car off a lady whom had 3 teenage girls - yes, it would defn work there. Older kids, no car seats, picking up and dropping off at school - yep, would work fine. But younger ones.....nope.....sorry.

[squidipa]

no i dont own one....
BUT
i have driven one many times when i go on holidays my mother inlaw lets me use her car and its one and i LOVE it its great on country driving when you stick to around 90km its best on fuel its a great car and i wish i had one. ive driven one on holidays now for a total of...14 weeks

[Liz]

Yep, and love it! Our is a 2004 I think.

My only gripe is there is a MASSIVE blind spot with the bars down the side of the windscreen. Can't tell you how many times people/cars have suddenly appeared from behind it on crossings & things. And you notice it when going around roundabouts & stuff, it's a big flaw in my opinion.

Aside from that tho, we absolutely love ours. I can understand the points about sitting people in the back with anchor belts above their heads. If we have a 3rd, we'll be needing to fit 3 car seats. i think 3 will fit across the middle row of seats ok if we change over to more compact ones. We'll just have to see I guess!

We have a luggage box for on top if we need extra boot space.

[squidipa]

Originally Posted by Liz

Yep, and love it! Our is a 2004 I think.

My only gripe is there is a MASSIVE blind spot with the bars down the side of the windscreen. Can't tell you how many times people/cars have suddenly appeared from behind it on crossings & things. And you notice it when going around roundabouts & stuff, it's a big flaw in my opinion.

yep thats the fault i saw too scary too but being such a small engine i found it had power when needed so overall happy with the car.
need to be careful with the view tho

[bon]

Originally Posted by Liz

My only gripe is there is a MASSIVE blind spot with the bars down the side of the windscreen. Can't tell you how many times people/cars have suddenly appeared from behind it on crossings & things. And you notice it when going around roundabouts & stuff, it's a big flaw in my opinion.

This actually happened to me last night - was turning right onto a busy road at an intersection with no traffic lights, checked both ways, all clear so I start to pull out, next minute this white car appears on my left, from behind the big bar on the windscreen. Lucky I wasn't going any faster or I would have run into it! That's the first time that has happened to me with this car, but I am definitely going to be more vigilant in the future!

[Yowie]

Thanks ladies for all the replies. Sounds like there are alot of good and bad points. It well give me something to think about. Thank you.