In my house, we had an old saying about our bulldog -- she was so ugly, she was beautiful. I guess you could say the same about the Honda Odyssey -- despite a rather bland exterior, this is one beaut of a minivan. This is the vehicle that has Dodge Caravan owners drooling and wishing they were my wife, tooling around town enjoying the 3.5-liter V6 engine (also used in the Acura 3.5 RL luxury sedan) and the Honda reliability.

In fact, we were the couple wiping off the drool when our 1996 Dodge Caravan decided to divest itself of its transmission at the start of a family vacation last fall. We had heard the buzz about the Honda Odyssey -- but knew that they were about as easy to find as Cabbage Patch Kids were in the 1980s.

That said, my wife managed to elbow off three other ladies (one of whom she swore was 10 months pregnant) to make the winning bid on one of the rare uncommitted Odysseys to come in at our local Honda dealer. (Note to reader: if you've decided the Odyssey is for you, start your search yesterday and get on the waiting list of any dealer in a 100-mile radius).

Our experience has been nothing short of dreamlike. That powerful, quiet engine, with its ready power. Those dual power sliding doors (which I smirked at at first, but now would not live without). The third-row "magic-seat" -- which has made me forget that nightmare of an experience when I attempted to dead-lift my Caravan's 2,500-pound (a slight exaggeration) third-row seat myself and paid for a week. The Odyssey's seat simply glides down into a recess in the floor, never to be seen again -- unless you want to, of course.

While we're on the seats, one negative -- and if you own virtually any other Honda, you know what I'm going to say -- in typical Honda fashion, the leg support falls a bit short. But the driver's seat in the EX is fully power adjustable, so you're bound to find some position that suits your posterior.

Other goodies include the dual A/C system (so your rear-seat passengers can feel empowered about their climate-control), four-wheel disc anti-lock brakes, and even LATCH anchors so you can strap in your little one with improved safety.

Gas mileage has been average -- we're getting about 280 miles of city driving to a 17-gallon tank. But those are 280 of some of the best miles you'll be driving.


Amount Paid (US$): 27500
Condition: New
Model Year: 2002
Model and Options: EX