Honda Odyssey's onboard vacuum cleans up

Paying about $45,000 for the top-level Honda Odyssey EX-L Touring Elite minivan buys you a 12-speaker sound system and other features you might expect, plus one you might not—a canister vacuum that’s hardwired to the vehicle. Made by Shop-Vac, it includes a 16-foot hose and tools, and it runs for eight minutes off the Odyssey’s car battery—or as long as you like while the engine is running.

The Honda Odyssey is a winner in our tests but is the built-in vacuum as good as the rest of the vehicle? To find out, we pitted it against our two top corded hand vacuums, the Eureka Easy Clean 71b, $50, and the Black & Decker Dustbuster HV9010P, $65, along with a high-scoring Kenmore canister. Our results show this winning minivan is also a winner at helping clean up the messes these family haulers may attract.