With the expected arrival of child number 2 in early October, my wife and I decided that it was finally time to start shopping for something larger and more practical than her BMW 325 wagon. Not that her wagon isn't useful, but repeated back strains from loading our son into his car seat (along with his ability to kick/push on the back of the front seats - something my wife hates) had her wanting something larger and taller. She had also decided that she wanted something that would carry up to 7 passengers.

So we decided to do something that we said we'd never do - buy a (cringe) minivan/SUV. We loaded our toddler into the wagon last summer and went test-driving. We looked at the Toyota Sienna, Toyota Highlander, Nissan Quest, Volvo XC90, and Honda Odyssey. We ended up deciding on the Odyssey. We felt it had the best mix of ride, practicality, and comfort.

Trim Levels:

The Honda Odyssey comes in several flavors: LX, EX, EX-L, and Touring. We wanted a leather interior, so we concentrated on the EX-L and Touring trim levels. Each can be had as a base model or with a rear seat DVD entertainment system and navigation. (The EX-L is also available with just the DVD system and no navigation).

We settled on getting the top-end Touring with DVD and navigation. However, it ended up taking us a few months to make the purchase. When we first looked into actually buying this trim level we were told (my more than one dealer) that the models with navigation systems were rare and, therefore, they don't discount off MSRP. That sent us back into a couple months of contemplation of whether we really needed/wanted the navigation system. Complicating matters was the fact that you can't get the Touring model with only the DVD entertainment system (a must for our Pixar-addicted toddler).

Once we decided to pony up the big bucks for the model we wanted we got a pleasant surprise - we found several dealers willing to discount. Perhaps Honda has upped the production for the navigation systems for 2006. Or perhaps the dealers we spoke to previously were jerking our chain. Regardless, we ended up getting the exact van we wanted for about $1000 over invoice. Even got the exact color we wanted - Sage Brush Pearl exterior with Olive leather interior. We've now had our van about a week.

Exterior:

Ok, what can I say... it's a minivan. For me, there's not much Honda could do to give this vehicle "gives-me-a-grin-when-I-walk-up-to-it-in-a-parking-lot" looks. Having said that, I do think that the Odyssey is the best looking minivan on the market. They didn't try to add any strange kinks or shapes to the lines of the vehicle to try and make it cool. To me, it's very much a straightforward, no-apologies for being a minivan kind of design. And I, personally, prefer that.

I will give high marks to the standard wheels on the Touring trim. I think they look great. The ones on the EX and LX trim levels don't look as good, in my opinion.

Interior:

To be honest, I think this is the area of the Odyssey that surprised me most, and in nothing but positive ways.

When we did our test drives we spread them out across a weekend. On Saturday, we looked at the Sienna, Highlander, and Quest. The interiors of both Toyota's were very nice. Frankly, we thought the interior of the Quest by comparison, well, sucked. Way below the quality and feel of all the other cars we tested. In fact, the interior was so poor we didn't even bother to take the Quest on the road.

On Sunday, we drove the XC90 and the Odyssey (in that order). When leaving the Volvo dealer and going to the Honda dealer, I expected the transition to feel like we were going from a Mercedes to a Civic, in terms of interior quality. I was in for quite a shock. Although it was not quite as upscale as the Volvo, I would put the fit and finish of the Odyssey interior as at least comparable.

The leather seats are relatively comfortable and of good quality. There are some seams on the base of the seats that can get a little uncomfortable in some positions, but I've so far been able to shift how I'm sitting in order to compensate. The Touring model has a power driver's seat with memory for 2 settings. The driving position is good, typical minivan, and the dash instrumentation is well illuminated and easy to read. My only complaint is that the steering wheel doesn't telescope. As a taller person with long legs, I prefer to sit farther back from the dash. But since the steering wheel does not telescope at all, I must sit a little closer than I would like in order to reach the wheel.

The shifter for the transmission is located on the dash to the right of the steering column and most of the dash has a nice aluminum-ish trim that looks and feels good. If you prefer, there is a deal installable wood trim that can be substituted. There's quite a bit of storage spread throughout the vehicle. There are even two glove boxes, an upper and a lower.

All the basic controls for power windows and doors, climate, and radio are laid out where you'd expect them. The driver's window has auto up/down. I'd prefer to have that on all the windows (yes even the back sliding door windows go up and down) and especially the sunroof, but that's a small complaint. Also, the lever on the steering column for the wipers is reverse from what I'm used to (you have to pull down to turn them on). Climate controls are intuitive and easy to use with three zones for temperature setting (driver, passenger, and rear).

I haven't had much opportunity to test the stereo yet. It's a little complex since it controls radio, CD, XM radio (the Odyssey comes with a free 3 month subscription and the dealer claimed he could probably swing another 3 months after that if we wanted), and the rear DVD entertainment system. The 6-disc CD changer is cleverly hidden behind the navigation screen. There is no input for an iPod or other mp3 player, although in the third row there is an auxiliary video/audio input that is intended for hooking gaming consoles into the rear DVD screen.

Speaking of which, the DVD system has a fold down 9-inch screen that has a good clear, bright picture (a must in a vehicle with big windows). There is a detachable remote and two wireless headphones as well.

In my limited use so far, I've found the navigation system easy to use and well functioning. Most of the reviews I've seen have given it high marks. Like the DVD screen, the navigation screen is bright and easy to read. I wish I didn't have to see the "don't use this while driving or you might die and it won't be our fault 'cause we told you so" message every time I started the car, but I'll get over it. When the car is in reverse, the navigation screen switches to show the view from the rear camera.

Other things of note include power sliding doors and tailgate, manual sunshades for the rear doors, a plethora of cup holders, fold into the floor third row seats, and a "lazy Susan" storage compartment between the first and second row seats.

Other Gadgetry:

The Odyssey comes with two key remotes - one for "Driver 1" and the other for "Driver 2" (the small screen on the dash even says "Welcome Driver 1" when you start the car). The remote has the typical lock, unlock, and panic buttons. It can also open the power sliding doors and the power rear tailgate. In addition, the diver's seat memory will set the seat for the specific driver key. So if I unlock it with the "Driver 2" key, it will move the seat into the #2 memory position.

Between the steering wheel and the driver's door are several buttons that allow the driver to open the rear sliding doors and the tailgate - or disable the power opening for all three. Also, the Touring offers adjustable pedals that can be moved up and down via a toggle switch. Interesting feature, but not one my wife and I will use much (we're both pretty tall).

The steering wheel has a button that allows several functions in the car to be controlled via voice commands. Areas that can be controlled include navigation, stereo, climate, and DVD systems. I don't know if we'll use the voice commands much in the long run, but for now it's very cool and seems to work fairly well.

Performance/Handling:

Another pleasant surprise was in store for me when we finally took the Odyssey out for a test drive. Both my wife and I were very concerned with the drivability of such a large vehicle. We were both relieved that the Odyssey's handling is decidedly car-like - very similar in feel to the Highlander and the XC90. When compared to the handling of the Sienna, the Honda feels downright sporty. (Both my wife and I found the handling and brakes on the Sienna very mushy and vague - alarmingly so).

The Honda's engine puts out 255 hp and 250 lb-ft of torque. More than enough to adequately move the Odyssey's 4600+ lb girth. It won't win any drag races, but it's peppy enough to get merged into traffic without fear of getting run over. The 5-speed automatic transmission shifts smoothly and doesn't draw much attention to itself.

The ride quality is good (despite the run-flat tires) - nothing too harsh or too loud. The braking is also better than we expected to get on a minivan, it never gives us that "oh-my-God-will-this-boat-stop-in-time" feeling we feared out of such a large vehicle.

Fuel Economy:

The EX and Touring trim levels of the Odyssey have a variable cylinder capability that can shut off 3 of the cylinders to run more efficiently. As a result EPA estimates are good at 20 mpg city and 28 mpg highway. We're getting about 15 mpg in city-only driving. I think the variable cylinder function may help get a better EPA rating, but it doesn't make much difference in the real world.

Reliability:

Having just purchased the vehicle, I can't comment too much on reliability. Honda's overall reliability reputation is good, if not quite as stellar as Toyota. From the data I've seen on the Internet, the Odyssey's reliability rating is ok, but not great. I'm a little concerned how well all the gadgets will wear over time - there's a lot of electronic stuff to go wrong.

By way of comparison, the Toyota models we looked at have much better reliability ratings. The Nissan and Volvo both have very poor ratings. So the Odyssey comes out mid-pack in this regard.

Summary:

So here we are. Two people who swore they'd never own a minivan or an SUV - now proud owners of a shiny new Honda Odyssey. But you know what? The vehicle's great. Honestly, I don't know how you can argue against the mix of drivability, practicality, comfort, and value.