2001 Honda Odyssey EX-L review from North America

The van was leaking oil the first day we bought it home and parked it in the garage. I noticed a large stain under the engine and immediately took it back to Honda to be checked. They checked it out and sent me on my way telling me that it was just run off from when it was manufactured. I knew that was untruthful having gotten under the vehicle myself and watched the excessive dripping prior to bringing it in. They said it would stop in a day or so! I took it back again the next day and found out after having it in the shop for 8 hours that the power steering mechanism was cracked and that was causing the leak. They fixed it and I was on my way again.

The next series of problems were questions about the transmission shifting hard. Under normal driving conditions the van would lurch into 3rd gear then settle and shift smoothly through the rest of the gears. More alarmingly were the abnormal down shifts when braking on a downward slope. I took it back in to 2 dealers and no problem was found. Actually I was told it does that by design to reduce wear on the brakes. That is great, the brakes won't wear, but the dashboard will have blood on it from the sudden decelerations!

My last problem with the vehicle is the low tailgate height when in the up position. I am 5' 11" and when loading and unloading items into the spacious back well I have learned to do so while bent over to avoid getting smacked in the forehead by the trunk latch. I guess the engineers did not figure the height of the average male consumer is taller than 5'8"?

Overall the vehicle is very practical as long as you are shorter than 5'9". There is plenty of room for our 3 kids and the storage behind the 3rd seat is better than most large SUVs.

It gets great gas mileage for its size and is easy to maneuver in and around town. The seats lack support and get noticeably more uncomfortable on long trips. There is a tendency to slide around in the leather seats because they are relatively flat rather than true buckets that hold you in place with a sporty feel.