When we had our third child, we suffered for over a year with three carseats in the back of our Saturn wagon. But as the baby got older, we realized three things: my back was killing me from lifting the baby into the center seat; we weren't going to be able to fit our three carseats anymore once the baby could turn forward-facing in his seat; and we needed to give up any semblance of cool and start looking at minivans again. I'm the grand-daughter of two dyed-in-the-wool UAW retirees, and had never driven a foreign car in my life, but when my husband found a screaming lease deal on a 2004 Honda Odyssey EX, I ended up with my first foreign car and my first minvan in one fell swoop, all sight unseen.

::: Basic Specs :::

The 2004 Honda Odyssey EX is a 7-passenger minivan with a split bench seat for the rear seat that folds flat, and two removable bucket seats for the center row, which can convert to a bench seat by moving the chair on the passenger side and folding up the center arm rests. Front seating features two bucket seats (with a height-adjustable driver's seat), with a folding tray between the seats with four cup holders. In fact, there is at least one cup holder per seat, meaning my kids can have two choices of beverage in most cases.

The Odyssey has a 3.5-liter V6 engine with 5-speed automatic transmission. Safety features include front and side airbags, traction control system, and anti-lock brakes. The Odyssey comes with separate front and rear controls for air conditioning, power windows, power locks, map lights, remote fuel door release, rear-privacy glass, intermittent front and rear wipers, theft deterrent system. The 2004 Odyssey EX model also includes dual power sliding doors, an 8-way power driver's seat with lumbar support, remote keyless entry, an automatic thermostat setting for climate control, AM/FM/CD player, radio controls on the steering wheel, and an automatic garage-door opener. Our van also came with the optional DVD entertainment system, which has a fold-down screen, DVD player with remote, and two sets of wireless headphones.

::: The Ride :::

The first thing that my husband said when we got the van was that "it's amazing how comfortable they can make you when you give up any semblance of being cool." Having driven two Saturns and a Chevy Blazer previously, the ride of the 2004 Odyssey EX is amazingly smooth, and handling is very nice, considering you are driving a moving dustbuster. I still hate parking the car in a mall parking lot, but that has much more to do with the turning radius of a minivan than the model itself. The ride is also very quiet, something new to me after driving my very noisy Saturn for so long.

Another very pleasant surprise was how well the 2004 Odyssey EX handles in snow and ice. Living in Western NY, bad weather and icy conditions are something we cope with up to six months a year, and the 2004 Odyssey EX is more than up to the task. The standard traction control system does wonders for helping to control the bulk of the van in icy conditions. Stopping is about the same as stopping an SUV because of the size and weight, but assisted by the anti-lock brakes, I feel very comfortable even in a storm.

::: The Look :::

There is a reason that Honda gave the Odyssey a complete makeover for the 2005 release: this van isn't pretty. The dash controls look cheap and actually gave me flashbacks of the huge Buick I drove back in high school. Controls are often kludgy and a bit overly simplified, and the location of the DVD player right above the floor is beyond inconvenient unless you have someone in the passenger seat to change DVDs for you. The displays are adequate, but I think Honda could have done a better job with making them a bit prettier (for want of a better word). The interior is comfortable, but basic, from the individual map and reading lights to the floor mats. There are also several lighter outlets for plugging in everything from phone chargers to travel coolers, but the one in front is at floor level just below the DVD player, which often stretches the limits of a cell phone charger to even rest it on the folding tray.

::: The Extra Features :::

The plethora of cup holders is confusing, at best, but the DVD entertainment system is great. You have the option of having the sound for the DVD only in the rear (via the two wireless headsets that are included, as well as three additional headphone jacks in the rear) and listening to separate music up in front, which is great for any parent who will lose their mind listening to The Wiggles for a six-hour car trip. It also features three viewing modes, which allows for best picture quality when switching from a widescreen format to standard viewing. (The screen itself has a widescreen aspect ratio by default).

The sound quality is excellent, even bouncing around that much space, and the video really is nice from all seats in the rear, with probably the best viewing from the rear bench seat.

::: Child Safety :::

If there is one thing annoying as the parent of more than two children, it's car seat installation. There are tethers for front-facing seats for both the second row bucket seats, but only one pre-installed tether anchor in the very rear of the van for the third row bench. In addition, that tether is at the far rear of the cargo area, which means that any seat tethered in the rear has the tether stretched across the entire cargo area from the top of the seat, making loading large items difficult to impossible. There are three places to install the tether anchors, so it can be moved, but I don't think a few pieces of metal would be that difficult for them to include.

The 2004 Odyssey EX also features LATCH capability, but only on the second-row bucket seats, and not in the rear bench. Again, why? Especially if you are traveling with adults and children, it's much easier to have the bulky car seats in the rear so adults aren't climbing over them to get to the rear seat.

In terms of NHTSA ratings, however, the 2004 Honda Odyssey can't be beat, boasting their highest rating of 5 (less than 10% chance of a serious injury) for both front and side-impact crashes on both driver's side as well as passenger's side. In addition, there is a feature added where the front passenger airbag shuts itself off if the weight on the seat is less than a certain weight (for instance, if a child sits there against safety advice), and I've tested it with my diaper bag, and the light does some on to let me know that the airbag has been disabled.

::: Storage Capacity :::

Since the rear seat folds flat and the center seats are both removable, leaving you a terrific amount of space if you can only have one or two adults in the car. However, odds are if you've gotten yourself a minivan, that isn't going to be happening very often. With all seats in place, we were actually astounded at how much storage room the 2004 Honda Odyssey has. The rear cargo area reaches a good amount below the base of the van, giving extra cargo room without taking up a lot of square footage in back. I'm able to easily tether my double stroller in the rear and still fit my grocery shopping in with no trouble.

Our first long trip with the 2004 Honda Odyssey was with the three children and a babysitter to a family wedding. I was sure that with all the gear we needed for the kids, it was going to be impossible, but we were able to get pillows, blankets, food, lovies, activities, luggage, and a travel cooler in with few problems by utilizing space under the bench seat, as well as the leg room under the children.

In terms of leg room, there is definitely much more leg room in the second row bucket seats than there is in the third row, and I was unable to get our Britax Husky seat installed with the tether configuration and still give my daughter any leg room.

::: Gas Mileage :::

The 2004 Odyssey EX stats boast ratings of 18 miles per gallon city and 25 miles per gallon highway, and a gas tank capacity of 20 gallons. I've found that it's slightly less than that (of course) for everyday driving, but still fairly decent, and MUCH more economical than my sister's full-sized Tahoe with today's gas prices.

::: Warranty :::

The 2004 Odyssey EX comes with a 3-year/36,000 mile bumper-to-bumper warranty, and the service schedule is different than most previous cars I've owned; the first scheduled maintenance is at 3500 miles, and the second at 7000. Our dealer includes standard maintenance for free with a lease so long as it's done at the right time.

::: Pricing :::

I have to be totally honest. We did absolutely no shopping around for our van. I can tell you that two years ago when we bought our Saturn wagon, we looked at leasing the Warner Brothers Edition Chevy Venture and it was totally out of our price-range. Taking advantage of an end-of-model-year lease special by Honda Financing, we scored our 2004 Honda Odyssey EX with the DVD entertainment system for $249 a month for a two-year-lease. It had an MSRP of $27,740, with an invoice of $24,958 for the EX with DVD system. The Honda web site often lists monthly specials, and it's worth keeping an eye out for deals like ours. Longtime GM Family discount users, we weren't able to touch a GM minivan for that price, which is why we took the van without so much as a test drive.

I can honestly say that when it comes time to turn in our lease, we'll definitely be looking at getting another Honda Odyssey, although I'm looking forward to seeing the updated design.
Amount Paid (US$): 249/mo
Condition: New
Model Year: 2004
Model and Options: EX with DVD System