2009 Honda Odyssey User Reviews

Pros

Comfort, quiet cabin, space for passengers, convenience features, visibility

Cons

Mid-teens mileage around town (but it is regular gas), homelink buttons not well lit

Purchased As New

We bought the car last week after driving both the Odyssey and the Siena. Both are fine vehicles but for me the Odyssey is a bit more taut and solid in its handling and I prefer the more flat interior finishes on the Honda compared to the gloss finishes in the Sienna. This car is loaded with features I had not even expected, and I'm a car guy. You can voice control the entertainment, the climate control and the bluetooth phone systems. It seems I've almost talked more to our new car lately than I have my wife. It's a very nice feature in that you don't have to take your eyes from the road or your hands from the wheel to adjust things but you must learn the language, which we are working on. We keep cars for a long time so we'll be fluent soon. It also has an active noise cancellation system which uses the radio speakers to produce "white noise" that quiets the cabin. It works! I didn't know it had this until I'd already bought the car. The car drives very smoothly and I have noticed no jerkiness or hesitation in the transmission mentioned elsewhere. Also the engine ECO feature, where cylinders are progressively shut down at cruise speed/steady throttle settings to conserve fuel, is completely unobtrusive and operates seamlessly. The only way you know it is working is by the light coming on. Finally, the Touring now comes with regular, not the previously mandatory "run flat", tires that so many have been complaining about. The "run flats" were expensive, short lived, required special servicing, came on special sized rims, which could not be retro-fitted with regular tires and thus held no attraction for me. When I heard they now offered regular tires on very attractive 17" rims I became interested in the Touring edition. The "run flats" are still available as an option but I'll bet that they won't sell many.
We bought the car for the purpose of catering to elderly parents and grandchildren. We both like the elevated seating position and the comfortable ride and the Odyssey is a very enjoyable way to travel for both driver and passenger. We're looking forward to our first long trip.
Things they could add to the Touring that we'd like to see (these are pretty picky and in the descending order of importance) - 8 way passenger seat, heated rear seats, electric retract rear seats (like Toyota), front seat center console storage option (vice just folding down), incorporate control for all trip computer functions/options into the steering wheel "Info" switch (now some displays are accessed by the "Info" switch and some are accessed by the Odometer button at the bottom right of the speedometer requiring you to reach through or around the steering wheel to make a change).
We're very pleased with our new car and based on previous experience with 7 Honda cars and motorcyces expect above average reliability from the Odyssey.