2011 Sienna or 2011 Odyssey?

[SandEagle]

i'm torn between the two. actualy like the styling on both of these. heard the interior of the Sienna is cheaper but the drive quality is better. plus the base v6 Sienna is typically 2k less than the Odyssey.

any Sienna, Odyssey owners want to chime in?

 

[voodoojc]

I have a 2011 Sienna. Was doing the same comparison as you when I was looking. The Honda does have slightly better interior, but they weren't as willing to budge on their price because of the tsunami in Japan at that time. I went with the SE trim, which is their Sport trim with bigger wheels, stiffer suspension, aero body kit, clear tail lights and blacked out headlights. Haven't had any problems with it so far. I like how the second row seats can slide back and forth so you get plenty of leg room when no one's in the third row. The only thing I don't like is the second row seats are a bit heavy to get in and out by yourself.

 

[manimal]

Value wise the LE trim gets you bang for the buck on the Sienna. The top interior of both are great with the Honda probably having the better ride. Does the Sienna still seem bigger?

We are crazy happy with our 08 Sienna LE.

 

[SandEagle]

voodoojc, what about the positioning of the steering column? i've read complaints that it was off center and just plain weird.

found a base v6 '11 with 9k miles and dvd for 23k. not bad. will look into the LE option. want to keep it under 25k. unless i can get a base v6 2012 for that?

 

[voodoojc]

Never noticed the steering wheel being off-center. One thing I don't like is the position of the ignition. My knee keeps hitting anything attached to the keys longer than the remote.

 

[SearchMaster]

I have an '07 Odyssey that's been great. At the time, Toyota didn't want to negotiate but Honda knocked off $5000 from list price.

I hate the styling of the new Odyssey, it looks like they stitched two separate vehicles together. If I was buying today it would probably be the Sienna.

 

[steppinthrax]

I was torn between the odyssey and sienna about ayear ago. I got the Sienna because when I went on the odyssey forum I was told that the Odyssey had lots of transmission problems. I was told several years of the Odyssey had issues where the transmission would break down only after 40K. They were never able to fix it for several years until they put the ridgeline trassmission in there (which was not really designed for a minivan). I got a sienna for those reasons.

One guy on the Odyssey forum actually told me when he bought his Odyssey he put away around 4K in a savings account "just-in'case" the transmisison blows out (WTF????).

 

[SandEagle]

yup, read abouta ton of folks having trans issuex with the odyssey. will most likely end up with a sienna. either way, its.

 

[kornphlake]

Siennas can to develop emissions related problems right around the time the emissions warranty expires, it's not a guarantee that you'll have problems, but it's not uncommon. If you aren't planning on keeping the van 80k it's probably not worth worrying about.

The mini-van market is like modern politics, you don't vote for the best, you vote for the least bad.

 

[vi edit]

We bought a Sienna SE last spring. I found the Oddy just flat out ugly and a huge step back from the prior gens which were one of the cleanest looking vans out of the bunch.

The Toyota offered better base features that I wanted. At the time you had to move up to the high end trims of the Honda to get blue tooth integration & USB adapter and you needed to be in the $40,000 top-o-the-line to get built in sunshades. My Sienna got that for a negotiated price of $30,000k'ish.

I also really liked how much further back the second row slides. Incredible amount of legroom in that second row. Much more than the Honda. It makes the Stow & Go seating seam laughable in comparison how much extra room those slide seats provide.

The SE trim drives great for a minivan. Very composed, strongly damped suspension and good weighting to the steering wheel.

I've got two complaints about it. The middle row seats don't completely remove to give a flat surface. There's still a metal frame that remains locked into the rails that makes a bump in the floor. Not really happy about that. And the seat behind the drivers side has a huge storage tray attached to it that slides with the seat and makes that chair even harder to remove.

The other complaint is that there's something with the way the gas tank is shaped or some seal isn't correct and you can never get more than 11-12 gallons of gas in there without setting off the vapor lock on the gas pump. You can do the controlled squeeze for 10 minutes and get another 2-3 gallons in there, but you are still only accounting for 13-16 gallons out of a 20 gallon tank. The onboard computer says "0 Miles remaining". I've dealt with it, but want to get it into a dealer to have them look at it.

For what it's worth, I did get an extended warranty from a Toyota dealer to cover me for 7 years, 100,000 miles for another $800. With the sliding doors on *any* minivan being a major failpoint and costing hundreds, if not thousands to replace that was a worthwhile investment to me.

 

[steppinthrax]

A guy I knew where I last work told me he bought a odyssey that had run-flat tires. When he went and got the tires changed at around 50K, they told him that Michelin no longer manufactures those tires. He indicated, just go ahead and put basic tires on there. They guys told him that the drivetrain were manufactured around the runflat tires and certian components other than the tires had to be replaced. He ended up spending 4K to replace rims and some other items on hes vehicle, to make it "basic tire" compatibile.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/automobiles/20TIRES.html

http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2720611

 

[exar333]

A guy I knew where I last work told me he bought a odyssey that had run-flat tires. When he went and got the tires changed at around 50K, they told him that Michelin no longer manufactures those tires. He indicated, just go ahead and put basic tires on there. They guys told him that the drivetrain were manufactured around the runflat tires and certian components other than the tires had to be replaced. He ended up spending 4K to replace rims and some other items on hes vehicle, to make it "basic tire" compatibile.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/automobiles/20TIRES.html

http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2720611

Wow, very interesting. I would press the Honda dealership to replace the wheel/tires with something conventional, and they cover any costs over and above the standard wheel/tire/mounting. 4K is just rediculous, especially if they are not produced anymore.

 

[steppinthrax]

Wow, very interesting. I would press the Honda dealership to replace the wheel/tires with something conventional, and they cover any costs over and above the standard wheel/tire/mounting. 4K is just rediculous, especially if they are not produced anymore.

I was doing some more research on this. They sell DePaxing kits online, however, if you do this you likely void warranty (if any exist). Since Honda dosen't recomend doing this. But pretty much you can use 4 steel 19" rims and new TPMS sensors. But they say nothing about the suspension. Some say they take the TPMS sensor off other "different brand" vehcile.

 

[CraigRT]

Drive a 2011 Sienna quite a bit at work as its one of our pool vehicles.
Runs good. That engine has quite the bark when you stomp on it. Definitely gets out of its own way, no issue there. Styling is nice. Huge inside obviously.

I found the interior to be really not a good place to be. It is a sea of hard plastic and reminds me of the last generation Dodge Caravan (now they are improved and feel WAY better in quality over the Sienna)

Company has had no issues with it yet, I just hate the interior. Our Corollas are the same way. Yuck.

 

[manimal]

People have been screaming about run flats on Oddys for years. There was a class action suit for the old style.

 

[Zivic]

A guy I knew where I last work told me he bought a odyssey that had run-flat tires. When he went and got the tires changed at around 50K, they told him that Michelin no longer manufactures those tires. He indicated, just go ahead and put basic tires on there. They guys told him that the drivetrain were manufactured around the runflat tires and certian components other than the tires had to be replaced. He ended up spending 4K to replace rims and some other items on hes vehicle, to make it "basic tire" compatibile.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/automobiles/20TIRES.html

http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2720611

That's a PAX conversion.... which is why the tourings were the last models to be sold - If he was a savvy buyer he would have gotten the initial purchase price discounted to account for this headache.


to the OP...
buy the odyssey unless you are completely adverse to the hideous new body style.

The odyssey has a better interior, and IMHO is better mechanically/driving. the toyota has better exterior styling.

Both are quality vans.

have you considered the new quest? I am kind of a minivan fan and the nissan IMO is the best looking van on the market. the VQ motor is phenomenal, just hope they don't error like they did with the previous gen -> a good motor into an overall crappy package. I can look past quirky styling, but the interior and build quality must be sound

 

[mmntech]

I've driven a lot of Siennas. They drive nice and are fairly good on gas. Well, the I4 version is anyway. Rides smooth and handles like a typical van. Not as stacked as the Grand Caravan feature wise by far, though will definitely be more reliable. Then again the Sienna is a typical Toyota. Dull, boring, nothing to write home about.

Can't speak for the Odyssey as I've never driven one.

What are you using it for? For carting kids/passengers around I'd probably go for the Toyota. If you're looking for a work van, then a Grand Caravan. Stow & Go is handy if you need to cart around large objects but don't want to take the seats out.

 

[SandEagle]

That's a PAX conversion.... which is why the tourings were the last models to be sold - If he was a savvy buyer he would have gotten the initial purchase price discounted to account for this headache.


to the OP...
buy the odyssey unless you are completely adverse to the hideous new body style.

The odyssey has a better interior, and IMHO is better mechanically/driving. the toyota has better exterior styling.

Both are quality vans.

have you considered the new quest? I am kind of a minivan fan and the nissan IMO is the best looking van on the market. the VQ motor is phenomenal, just hope they don't error like they did with the previous gen -> a good motor into an overall crappy package. I can look past quirky styling, but the interior and build quality must be sound

thanks all for the info. i personally like the look of the 2011 odyssey. i have yet to see the interior of the sienna, but the main complaint from most online reviews has been 'cheap plastic'. the base sienna i'm looking at has 2 dvd players and 8k miles less than the oddy. and it costs a few thousands less.

 

[Doppel]

voodoojc, what about the positioning of the steering column? i've read complaints that it was off center and just plain weird.

found a base v6 '11 with 9k miles and dvd for 23k. not bad. will look into the LE option. want to keep it under 25k. unless i can get a base v6 2012 for that?

That is a good price.

These vehicles are such direct competitors you'd have to check both to look for small preferences of them out and then basically shop on price.

Agree above about lines on odyssey looking like two cars. They are simply ugly lines and it does look like that, though a bit better in person than in pictures.

Should also consider a nissan quest.

 

[SandEagle]

That is a good price.

These vehicles are such direct competitors you'd have to check both to look for small preferences of them out and then basically shop on price.

Agree above about lines on odyssey looking like two cars. They are simply ugly lines and it does look like that, though a bit better in person than in pictures.

Should also consider a nissan quest.

the new quest is fugly. the back is too boxy. the older quests were much nicer

 

[exar333]

thanks all for the info. i personally like the look of the 2011 odyssey. i have yet to see the interior of the sienna, but the main complaint from most online reviews has been 'cheap plastic'. the base sienna i'm looking at has 2 dvd players and 8k miles less than the oddy. and it costs a few thousands less.

I like the interior fine, but the outside is very fugly to me. If the styling doesn't bother you, the only real concern is the transmission. That should be a little alarming in such a large vehicle. I might go with a previous-year model instead.

 

[steppinthrax]

That's a PAX conversion.... which is why the tourings were the last models to be sold - If he was a savvy buyer he would have gotten the initial purchase price discounted to account for this headache.


to the OP...
buy the odyssey unless you are completely adverse to the hideous new body style.

The odyssey has a better interior, and IMHO is better mechanically/driving. the toyota has better exterior styling.

Both are quality vans.

have you considered the new quest? I am kind of a minivan fan and the nissan IMO is the best looking van on the market. the VQ motor is phenomenal, just hope they don't error like they did with the previous gen -> a good motor into an overall crappy package. I can look past quirky styling, but the interior and build quality must be sound

But here's the point. No one is going to know this if they are purchasing the vehicle brand new. It's relatively new tech, and it hasen't been around long enough to have enough industry specific information regarding the issues. Personally I would have done internet research on tire replacement and other factors. I would have probably discovered these tires were expensive and don't outweigh the benefits. However, sales staff will likely use the run flat tech as a sales tactic for selling the vehicle. Most buyers aren't technically savvy enough.

 

[bigi]

I have Ody 07. Have driven 2011 as well. EX-L is really good.
Now, we don't know if Honda has fixed issues with VCM/Transmission/Torque converter. I was plaguing previous generation. Front brakes were crap too - prone to wrapping pretty much by design.

2011 Ody has really good MPG for a van, best in class actually. I'd get really what drives better. If you like Toyota, just go for it.

 

[exar333]

But here's the point. No one is going to know this if they are purchasing the vehicle brand new. It's relatively new tech, and it hasen't been around long enough to have enough industry specific information regarding the issues. Personally I would have done internet research on tire replacement and other factors. I would have probably discovered these tires were expensive and don't outweigh the benefits. However, sales staff will likely use the run flat tech as a sales tactic for selling the vehicle. Most buyers aren't technically savvy enough.

To be fair, it would be rather confusing for most buyers. Folks here (enthusiasts) will often know more about the car BEFORE we walk in the dealership than the salesperson will ever know. Standard run-flat tires are one thing, this is a whole other level above that in complexity, cost, and maintenance. I would venture many people just thought they were getting run-flat tires and that was it. You could just swap them out if you wanted. The fact they came on the touring model for multiple years tells me a lot of people probably got them without knowing all the details.

I know 'buyer beware', but at the same time I don't know to what extent dealers/Honda called this out to potential buyers.

 

[exar333]

My personal feeling is that the 2011 Odyssey looks like a min-van crossed with a hearse. Seriously. Fugly all around...

Great inside though! Like the Aztek...