Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Non-investing personal finance issues including insurance, credit, real estate, taxes, employment and legal issues such as trusts and wills.
Post Reply
Topic Author
Gufomel
Posts: 702
Joined: Sat Feb 14, 2015 8:52 pm

Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by Gufomel »

Another minivan post!

I'm not gearing this towards discussing new vs. used or "should I buy a minivan". I'm looking for some insight into the price of used Odysseys/Siennas.

We're likely about 2-3 years away from a minivan purchase (rough estimate of when we expect to have a 3rd kid). For our financial planning purposes, I keep tabs on minivan prices so I can have an idea of what level of savings we need. We intend to pay cash.

Reading the frequent posts on this forum about minivans, I often see the debate about new vs. used. Often I see comments such as "you might be able to find a deal for a 3 year old minivan at $30k with decent miles - so you might as well buy new!"

This is significantly different than the prices I see when searching online. Sure, there's a lot of high priced used Odysseys out there, but after filtering those out I seem to frequently find very reasonably priced ones in my general area. From what I've seen, there are often postings for a 3-4 year old Odyssey LX with around 50k-70k miles for $15k-18k. That's exactly the range we're looking for, and what I'm planning based off of at the current time.

So when I see these posts about how you "might" be able to find a 3 year old Odyssey for $30k, it makes me concerned. Are these people in either HCOL areas or referring to only EX-L / Touring trims? Or are the postings that I'm seeing in some way bogus for one reason or another?

One example below, but I see these anytime I do a search.

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/l-Used-Ho ... =163004137

Is it likely that any Odysseys/Siennas priced like this have been in an accident? I don't see any indication of it in this case, or in the case of the many I come across that are priced in this range.

The KBB fair purchase price for a 2013 Odyssey LX with 60k miles in my area is $15.6k. A 2014 Odyssey LX with 60k miles is $17.3k.
Last edited by Gufomel on Thu Mar 02, 2017 3:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
LateStarter1975
Posts: 775
Joined: Tue Jul 02, 2013 4:50 pm

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by LateStarter1975 »

This is quite interesting. Just to be curious, I searched for used Honda Odysseys 2013-2014 in the same website you linked above and this is what I found
https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/inventory ... ified=true

The prices range from $23K to $31K. So something interesting is going around your area....maybe I should come down there to buy a car
Debt is dangerous...simple is beautiful
bloom2708
Posts: 9855
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2014 2:08 pm

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by bloom2708 »

The LX model is the base. Most with kids prefer leather over cloth seats (kids spill a lot, feet on seat, wipe off). A DVD system for long road trips and small kids is pretty nice. LX might not have power doors. Kid pushes button, door opens/closes.

The Sienna will be a bit roomier but drive a little larger. The Odyssey is still roomy but will drive a bit different from the Sienna.

Drive them. Figure out the options that are nice to have an must haves. If you can go with an LX base model and are happy with it, then save yourself some good :moneybag
Last edited by bloom2708 on Thu Mar 02, 2017 2:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Topic Author
Gufomel
Posts: 702
Joined: Sat Feb 14, 2015 8:52 pm

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by Gufomel »

LateStarter1975 wrote:This is quite interesting. Just to be curious, I searched for used Honda Odysseys 2013-2014 in the same website you linked above and this is what I found
https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/inventory ... ified=true

The prices range from $23K to $31K. So something interesting is going around your area....maybe I should come down there to buy a car
First thing I'll note is there's only EX-L and Touring's listed for you. Would be interesting to see what a you might see for LX's.
cutterinnj
Posts: 406
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2011 10:08 pm

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by cutterinnj »

bloom2708 wrote:The LX model is the base. Most with kids prefer leather over cloth seats. A DVD system for long road trips and small kids is pretty nice.

The Sienna will be a bit roomier but drive a little larger. The Odyssey is still roomy but will drive a bit different from the Sienna.

Drive them. Figure out the options that are nice to have an must haves. If you can go with an LX base model and are happy with it, then save yourself some good :moneybag
LX from years ago is pretty low end.

We have a 2016 Touring Elite, which we traded up from a 2007 EX-L; night and day.
andrew1976
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2016 9:44 am

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by andrew1976 »

I know a car buyer that has a dealer's license at Manheim Auto Auction which is the largest car auction on the east coast. He can get wholesale pricing and cut out the car dealer middleman. If you can find someone like this in your area, that is your best bet for finding the best price. Otherwise, I would use autotrader or cargurus.com or craigslist to find a private party or non-Honda dealer which may give you better pricing but will probably never match a wholesale price you can get from a car buyer. Definitely get the car checked out by a mechanic you trust. Mannheim does a thorough inspection and you can pay a $150 fee for one of their mechanics to inspect the vehicle if it has less than 80k miles. For this fee, Manheim will give you a 30 day money back guarantee.
Topic Author
Gufomel
Posts: 702
Joined: Sat Feb 14, 2015 8:52 pm

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by Gufomel »

bloom2708 wrote:The LX model is the base. Most with kids prefer leather over cloth seats (kids spill a lot). A DVD system for long road trips and small kids is pretty nice.

The Sienna will be a bit roomier but drive a little larger. The Odyssey is still roomy but will drive a bit different from the Sienna.

Drive them. Figure out the options that are nice to have an must haves. If you can go with an LX base model and are happy with it, then save yourself some good :moneybag
I was starting to wonder if this was simply an issue over trim. I will say I find it ironic that on Bogleheads an OP will post "We're on a tight budget. We can afford 20k without going into debt. We have 3 kids and we're running out of space and reliability in our 1990 Honda Civic. We're strongly considering a minivan." Response: "The cheapest used Odyssey with all the new features that you're going to find out there is $30k. Go with the 40k new Touring - it's got a ton of space, leather seats, and DVD player for your kids."

Sarcasm to an extent, but for young families on a budget and looking for a minivan that they're going to run into the ground with 3+ kids over the next 10-15 years, I don't know why we're limiting our options to 30-40k top-trim minivans.

Maybe we'll go test-drive minivans in a few years and find we can't live without the EX-L or Touring. Our Civic LX gets us around just fine right now (just won't be enough space eventually). Not sure that'll change with a minivan.
User avatar
jhfenton
Posts: 4754
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2015 10:17 am
Location: Ohio

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by jhfenton »

bloom2708 wrote:The LX model is the base. Most with kids prefer leather over cloth seats (kids spill a lot, feet on seat, wipe off). A DVD system for long road trips and small kids is pretty nice.

The Sienna will be a bit roomier but drive a little larger. The Odyssey is still roomy but will drive a bit different from the Sienna.

Drive them. Figure out the options that are nice to have an must haves. If you can go with an LX base model and are happy with it, then save yourself some good :moneybag
We have a 2012 Odyssey EX-L. The leather seats are very nice and have held up very well. They made the EX-L trim a worthwhile upgrade from the EX.

But we had no interest in a DVD or the NAV on top of that. Both systems were already outdated when we bought the car and would not have aged well. (I guess people still have DVDs, but we switched to blu-rays years ago; and the kids have iPhones and iPads for in-car entertainment.)
Gufomel wrote:Sarcasm to an extent, but for young families on a budget and looking for a minivan that they're going to run into the ground with 3+ kids over the next 10-15 years, I don't know why we're limiting our options to 30-40k top-trim minivans.

Maybe we'll go test-drive minivans in a few years and find we can't live without the EX-L or Touring. Our Civic LX gets us around just fine right now (just won't be enough space eventually). Not sure that'll change with a minivan.
I wouldn't lump the mid-level EX-L in with the Touring. The Touring seemed seriously like overkill for a family minivan, but we started looking at the EX and ended up finding the EX-L worth it.
Last edited by jhfenton on Thu Mar 02, 2017 2:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Topic Author
Gufomel
Posts: 702
Joined: Sat Feb 14, 2015 8:52 pm

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by Gufomel »

andrew1976 wrote:I know a car buyer that has a dealer's license at Manheim Auto Auction which is the largest car auction on the east coast. He can get wholesale pricing and cut out the car dealer middleman. If you can find someone like this in your area, that is your best bet for finding the best price. Otherwise, I would use autotrader or cargurus.com or craigslist to find a private party or non-Honda dealer which may give you better pricing but will probably never match a wholesale price you can get from a car buyer. Definitely get the car checked out by a mechanic you trust. Mannheim does a thorough inspection and you can pay a $150 fee for one of their mechanics to inspect the vehicle if it has less than 80k miles. For this fee, Manheim will give you a 30 day money back guarantee.
Interesting. Any idea how to locate one of these?
bloom2708
Posts: 9855
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2014 2:08 pm

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by bloom2708 »

We have 3 kids. One is driving now, so we exited the mini-van stage not that long ago.

I was exactly in your position several years back. I drove an Odyssey and a Sienna. They were at least $10k or more over the Mazda MPV I ended up purchasing (Mazda killed off the MPV...I guess I was the only schmuck that bought one). It had leather and a DVD system for ~$20k compared to $32k+ for the Honda/Sienna. I drove the mini-van for 7 years because my wife didn't like driving a mini-van. I was man enough to drive it. :mrgreen:

Part of sticking with Toyota/Honda is you hope their reliability and resale value trump other factors. Often they do.

When you are out test driving, take a Kia Sedona for a spin. If you buy new, they have a 10 year warranty. There are quite a number of 3 row vehicles now. Some are good at people OR stuff, but mini-vans are still the best for people AND stuff. Unless you want to drop $60k+ on a Suburban and gas mileage isn't an issue. Or $80k+ on a Lexus LX 570. :dollar
Last edited by bloom2708 on Thu Mar 02, 2017 2:49 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Topic Author
Gufomel
Posts: 702
Joined: Sat Feb 14, 2015 8:52 pm

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by Gufomel »

jhfenton wrote:
bloom2708 wrote:The LX model is the base. Most with kids prefer leather over cloth seats (kids spill a lot, feet on seat, wipe off). A DVD system for long road trips and small kids is pretty nice.

The Sienna will be a bit roomier but drive a little larger. The Odyssey is still roomy but will drive a bit different from the Sienna.

Drive them. Figure out the options that are nice to have an must haves. If you can go with an LX base model and are happy with it, then save yourself some good :moneybag
We have a 2012 Odyssey EX-L. The leather seats are very nice and have held up very well. They made the EX-L trim a worthwhile upgrade from the EX.

But we had no interest in a DVD or the NAV on top of that. Both systems were already outdated when we bought the car and would not have aged well. (I guess people still have DVDs, but we switched to blu-rays years ago; and the kids have iPhones and iPads for in-car entertainment.)

And the Touring seemed seriously like overkill for a family minivan.
I'm only in my late 20's, but I'm starting to feel old. As a kid, I stared out the window of my parent's minivan on trips <500 miles. On trips >500 miles, we brought a 10 inch tv and game system to hook up to the cigarette lighter.

I can't imagine paying $10k-20k more to get extra equipment on a minivan. We'll have to weigh cloth vs. leather and whatever safety features may or may not be available on each trim when we're looking. Always had cloth in our minivan growing up and never remember my parents complaining about it being an issue, so hadn't really considered leather to be a deciding factor.
Last edited by Gufomel on Thu Mar 02, 2017 2:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
andrew1976
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2016 9:44 am

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by andrew1976 »

My previous car mechanic had a car buying business on the side. Personally, I think every ambitious mechanic should be in this business since buying and selling used cars can be very lucrative. And a good mechanic can evaluate a used car within minutes of inspecting and driving it. What part of the country do you live? You can start with your mechanic or figuring out where the closest auto auction place is. Your mechanic should be able to point you in the right direction since he'll probably cross paths with people who buy cars at these auto auctions.
corysold
Posts: 960
Joined: Mon Mar 24, 2014 12:58 pm

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by corysold »

The LX trim is certainly an option if that is your budget. It will work fine as a people mover, which is what they are ultimately meant to be.
andrew1976
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2016 9:44 am

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by andrew1976 »

I have been married for 14 years and have 5 kids (ages 1, 4.5, 6, 11.5, 13). We have a 2001 Odyssey and 2007 Odyssey. We purchased the 2001 for $15k in 2005 and we found it through the Sunday newspaper classified section. It currently has 150k miles and I use it as my vehicle to commute about 15 miles round trip a day. We purchased the 2007 Odyssey in 2013 for $12k at a high volume used car dealer which had a decent reputation. I found out later the vehicle had been in an accident which caused problems with both power sliding doors which we had to pay to get fixed. Both are EX models and we find the power sliding doors to be very useful. Both have cloth seats which we prefer over leather. We spent about $1k to add aftermarket hitch, flip down DVD unit, back up camera, and DVD stereo bluetooth audio unit.
Last edited by andrew1976 on Thu Mar 02, 2017 4:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
jhfenton
Posts: 4754
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2015 10:17 am
Location: Ohio

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by jhfenton »

Gufomel wrote:I'm only in my late 20's, but I'm starting to feel old. As a kid, I stared out the window of my parent's minivan on trips <500 miles. On trips >500 miles, we brought a 10 inch tv and game system to hook up to the cigarette lighter.

I can't imagine paying $10k-20k more to get extra equipment on a minivan. We'll have to weigh cloth vs. leather and whatever safety features may or may not be available on each trim when we're looking. Always had cloth in our minivan growing up and never remember my parents complaining about it being an issue, so hadn't really considered leather to be a deciding factor.
I agree on the high-end models, but with the quotes we received, the price difference between the EX and EX-L was a couple thousand dollars or just over. We ended up paying less for the EX-L than I had budgeted for the EX, substantially less than sticker price, which I had not expected based on what I had heard about sales prices on Odysseys in the previous few years. But apparently March 2012 was a good time to buy one. :beer There was a lot of inventory at the time.
Rupert
Posts: 4122
Joined: Fri Aug 17, 2012 12:01 pm

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by Rupert »

I just checked Carmax in my town. They're selling a 2012 EX-L with 57K miles on it for $21,998. Newer ones (2013-2014) are running about $25,000. They've got a 2014 LX with 43K miles on it for $18,999. And Carmax is usually not the cheapest option.
Chuck
Posts: 2505
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 12:19 pm

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by Chuck »

If you have 2-3 years to pull the trigger, just start lurking on Autotrader. You can set up a search (for example: "2014 or later Odyssey, less than $20K, within 250 miles") and it will just email you when something hits.

I was rolling my family around in a 2002 Ford Windstar that I knew was on its way out, so I started patrolling online. After 3-4 months I found (via the Autotrader search) a private party selling a 2008 Odyssey for $17.5K. He was flabbergasted that I contacted him 10 minutes after he posted it, and we closed the deal that afternoon.

Patience is definitely your friend, you can wait for the deal you want.
User avatar
susa
Posts: 671
Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2007 4:30 pm
Contact:

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by susa »

Couple ... cough.... notes of caution on Odyssey/Pilot technology

Ensure you understand what VCM is, it's history (the good/bad/bloody) and what older model owners say about it.

Ensure you understand how the coolant and transmission may join in a milkshake party and the implications ;)

Exchaust valve clearances become tigher as the engine accumulates miles and hours, that works as noise abatement (which is NOT good), have the clearances checked despite what Honda says "officially".

Spark plugs may decide to go into low orbit which is a really bad thing especially if the bonnet is closed and your are hurtling through the interstate space highway. Check torque at every oil change and use a proper wrench at proper temperatures.
Casper
Posts: 311
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2013 8:32 pm

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by Casper »

I'm one of the people who started a thread a couple weeks back about a CPO Odyssey, and people gave me the "you might as well buy new" advice. At the price point I was initially considering ($30k for an EX-L w/ Nav), they were right. I eventually bought a 2015 EX-L with 20k miles for $26,700. I was only looking for EX-L, because of leather seats, power doors and liftgate, and some other necessary (for us) features.

I second the recommendation to look at a certified Kia Sedona (2015 or later). The 2015 redesign is really nice, and the warranty is excellent. Kia's depreciation is really bad, so the CPO prices are typically far below new prices, even for recent models with low mileage. We probably would've have gone that route if there were any available in our area.
User avatar
jhfenton
Posts: 4754
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2015 10:17 am
Location: Ohio

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by jhfenton »

Casper wrote:I was only looking for EX-L, because of leather seats, power doors and liftgate, and some other necessary (for us) features.
The remote power doors and liftgate are worth every penny. So handy with small kids, groceries, bad weather, and the other complications of life.
boglegirl
Posts: 629
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2012 12:41 pm

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by boglegirl »

andrew1976 wrote:I have been married for 14 years and have 5 kids (ages 1, 4.5, 6, 11.5, 13). We have a 2001 Odyssey and 2007 Odyssey. We purchased the 2001 for $15k in 2005 and we found it through the Sunday newspaper classified section. It currently has 150k miles and I use it as my vehicle to commute about 15 miles round trip a day. ...
Wow. You were brave to purchase the 2001 Odyssey used. We purchased a 2001 Odyssey new - owned it for 12 years and had 5 transmissions during that time (the original plus 2 replacements - only the first 2 were warrantied). Our experience was so bad that I will never ever ever own another Honda.

To the OP: I'm not sure how a car purchase 3 years from now is actionable, so this thread is a little puzzling. Just keep saving money in your car purchase fund and ask again in 3 years.
User avatar
susa
Posts: 671
Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2007 4:30 pm
Contact:

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by susa »

boglegirl wrote:a 2001 Odyssey new - owned it for 12 years and had 5 transmissions during that time
Yes, what most Honda owners do not know but all techies do, is that the DW-1 (was ATF Z1) should be replaced at a more frequent rate and the transmissions never powerflushed. A rate of 4 qt (approximately 30% of capacity) at every other oil change is the life of a Honda transmission.
Topic Author
Gufomel
Posts: 702
Joined: Sat Feb 14, 2015 8:52 pm

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by Gufomel »

boglegirl wrote:
andrew1976 wrote:I have been married for 14 years and have 5 kids (ages 1, 4.5, 6, 11.5, 13). We have a 2001 Odyssey and 2007 Odyssey. We purchased the 2001 for $15k in 2005 and we found it through the Sunday newspaper classified section. It currently has 150k miles and I use it as my vehicle to commute about 15 miles round trip a day. ...
Wow. You were brave to purchase the 2001 Odyssey used. We purchased a 2001 Odyssey new - owned it for 12 years and had 5 transmissions during that time (the original plus 2 replacements - only the first 2 were warrantied). Our experience was so bad that I will never ever ever own another Honda.

To the OP: I'm not sure how a car purchase 3 years from now is actionable, so this thread is a little puzzling. Just keep saving money in your car purchase fund and ask again in 3 years.
Planning for retirement in 30 years is actionable, but planning for a car purchase in 3 is not? I'd like to know whether my goal is to have $20k or $30k saved. It's a pretty substantial difference over a 3 year period. Getting an understanding of whether the deals I'm finding in the $18k range are legitimate (as opposed to the $30k that I've seen others mentioning) helps me take the appropriate action for planning. HTH.

Thanks all for your input.
tic
Posts: 60
Joined: Tue Sep 30, 2014 1:56 pm

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by tic »

I wouldn't write off the new one yet, and here's why:

New Odysseys are going for ~$6000+ less than MSRP right now (I know because I bought one recently, low trim level, and that's what I paid. This will change with the 2018 redesign.). So, a new OdysseyLX would actually cost about $24k +tax. Figure either van is worth ~$6k when 10 years old and the depreciation looks like:

New:
$24k-6k= 18k
18k/10 years = $1800/year

Used:
$16,500 -6k= 10,500
10,500/6 years (since van you linked is 4 years older than new)= $1750/year.

Caveats:
1. Add in your sales taxes. This will widen the gap.
2. You may be able to negotiate the used van price lower, which would widen the gap, also.

For the knowledge that my van had never forded a river or gone 30,000 miles without an oil change, for the new warranty, for the 0.9% financing from Honda, for the slightly improved safety features, etc. I felt the premium of the new van was worth it.
Topic Author
Gufomel
Posts: 702
Joined: Sat Feb 14, 2015 8:52 pm

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by Gufomel »

tic wrote:I wouldn't write off the new one yet, and here's why:

New Odysseys are going for ~$6000+ less than MSRP right now (I know because I bought one recently, low trim level, and that's what I paid. This will change with the 2018 redesign.). So, a new OdysseyLX would actually cost about $24k +tax. Figure either van is worth ~$6k when 10 years old and the depreciation looks like:

New:
$24k-6k= 18k
18k/10 years = $1800/year

Used:
$16,500 -6k= 10,500
10,500/6 years (since van you linked is 4 years older than new)= $1750/year.

Caveats:
1. Add in your sales taxes. This will widen the gap.
2. You may be able to negotiate the used van price lower, which would widen the gap, also.

For the knowledge that my van had never forded a river or gone 30,000 miles without an oil change, for the new warranty, for the 0.9% financing from Honda, for the slightly improved safety features, etc. I felt the premium of the new van was worth it.
That is very interesting. Unfortunately, we're really not at a point where buying a minivan (new or used) is necessary for us. 2-3 years down the road really is optimal. If we buy the minivan now, it's 2-3 years extra of driving a more expensive minivan as our family car rather than our 2015 Civic (which is doing the job for now), and it means selling my 2006 Camry commute car (still running great and will experience very little depreciation over the next 2-3 years) to commute in the 2015 Civic instead. That all has a cost to it.

With that said, if I could truly get a new 2016 Odyssey LX for $24k right now, I might go for it. But that seems like an unreasonable expectation. Maybe I'm wrong (it seems like you did in fact get that deal). Based on what I've seen, I was expecting it would be $28k to buy it new, with the possibility of getting it down to $27k with some haggling. KBB says the fair purchase price for a 2016 Odyssey LX is $27k. I feel like $26k might be in the realm of possibility, but it's hard to imagine it can be had for $24k. That's nearing the price range of a new Accord.

You indicated that you actually got one for $24k, so I can't argue with that. I suppose I could walk into a dealership, test drive a 2016 Odyssey LX, tell them since they have a new redesign coming out I'll take the 2016 for $24k or I'm walking out, and see what happens. Maybe that's what you did.

Especially if you were already needing a minivan, congratulations on the excellent deal. That is quite a steal on a brand new Odyssey, especially with the new car warranty and .9% financing as you mentioned.

Do you know how long to expect until the new redesign is going to change the landscape on this?
andrew1976
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2016 9:44 am

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by andrew1976 »

boglegirl wrote:
andrew1976 wrote:I have been married for 14 years and have 5 kids (ages 1, 4.5, 6, 11.5, 13). We have a 2001 Odyssey and 2007 Odyssey. We purchased the 2001 for $15k in 2005 and we found it through the Sunday newspaper classified section. It currently has 150k miles and I use it as my vehicle to commute about 15 miles round trip a day. ...
Wow. You were brave to purchase the 2001 Odyssey used. We purchased a 2001 Odyssey new - owned it for 12 years and had 5 transmissions during that time (the original plus 2 replacements - only the first 2 were warrantied). Our experience was so bad that I will never ever ever own another Honda.

To the OP: I'm not sure how a car purchase 3 years from now is actionable, so this thread is a little puzzling. Just keep saving money in your car purchase fund and ask again in 3 years.

I wasn't aware of the transmission issue at the time and I haven't had any problems with either of our Odyssey's. I know a lot of people who have Odyssey's who haven't had problems either. My gut sense is that less than 5% of 2001 odyssey owners had transmission problems. I have more confidence that a Japanese manufacturer would over a US or German one to correct this problem. I read American Icon: Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company several years ago which made me not want to purchase a US made car. I may consider a Ford if there was a compelling reason over Honda.
rkhusky
Posts: 17654
Joined: Thu Aug 18, 2011 8:09 pm

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by rkhusky »

andrew1976 wrote: I have more confidence that a Japanese manufacturer would over a US or German one to correct this problem. I read American Icon: Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company several years ago which made me not want to purchase a US made car. I may consider a Ford if there was a compelling reason over Honda.
Japanese manufacturers have had their issues too. See Toyota accelerator problem and Takata airbags. I think it would be better to take a look at reliability studies and see if there are any meaningful differences worth paying extra for, rather than rely on perceptions from the 90's. We just sold our 2003 Ford Windstar after more than 13 years and 210,000 trouble-free miles, but that too is just anecdotal evidence.
See http://www.jdpower.com/cars/articles/au ... ths-busted
tic
Posts: 60
Joined: Tue Sep 30, 2014 1:56 pm

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by tic »

PM sent.
bloom2708
Posts: 9855
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2014 2:08 pm

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by bloom2708 »

We had a 2007 EX-L for ~1 year. Purchased it used with about 40k miles on it. Ride and comfort wise it was a good vehicle.

But it had many problems. The transmission was the strangest I've ever driven. When driving at highway speeds if you let off the accelerator it would do this surge thing. Not noticeable to passengers (unless you knew it was happening) but driving it was not good. I had it in many times.

The front sway bar links (or inner/outer tie rods) rattled on bumps. Had it in several times and they found nothing wrong. It just rattled. A lot.

The the killer was the front center spark plug ejected (with ~50k miles) while driving. I was traveling for work (wife driving) and the engine just clunked to a stop. Spark plug fell out, arched on the engine and exploded sending chunks of spark plug down into the engine. Wrecked the top and bottom of the motor.

The Honda dealer quoted me $8k for a new engine. The van was worth maybe $12-15k. I brought the title in and handed it to the guy I purchased it from. I wrote a letter to Honda describing my saga. The dealer ended up coming back to me a week or so later and said they (Honda) would pay for a new engine. (all service from new had been done at that Honda dealer). I had to pay for timing chain and some other parts that added up to $700. I did it, got the van back after 3 weeks and immediately traded it off.

Likely I just got a lemon. Was a pretty bad scenario. Certainly not the norm for most Odyssey drivers. The spark plug falling out happened to a pretty good number of people. Of course, everything in the engine bay is covered. You can't see any sign of a spark plug or check for loose plugs. Neither did the service techs. The solution was to remove, lithium grease and re-torque every so often. Easy solution if you do it.
User avatar
Kenkat
Posts: 9539
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2007 10:18 am
Location: Cincinnati, OH

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by Kenkat »

Gufomel wrote:
tic wrote:I wouldn't write off the new one yet, and here's why:

New Odysseys are going for ~$6000+ less than MSRP right now (I know because I bought one recently, low trim level, and that's what I paid. This will change with the 2018 redesign.). So, a new OdysseyLX would actually cost about $24k +tax. Figure either van is worth ~$6k when 10 years old and the depreciation looks like:

New:
$24k-6k= 18k
18k/10 years = $1800/year

Used:
$16,500 -6k= 10,500
10,500/6 years (since van you linked is 4 years older than new)= $1750/year.

Caveats:
1. Add in your sales taxes. This will widen the gap.
2. You may be able to negotiate the used van price lower, which would widen the gap, also.

For the knowledge that my van had never forded a river or gone 30,000 miles without an oil change, for the new warranty, for the 0.9% financing from Honda, for the slightly improved safety features, etc. I felt the premium of the new van was worth it.
That is very interesting. Unfortunately, we're really not at a point where buying a minivan (new or used) is necessary for us. 2-3 years down the road really is optimal. If we buy the minivan now, it's 2-3 years extra of driving a more expensive minivan as our family car rather than our 2015 Civic (which is doing the job for now), and it means selling my 2006 Camry commute car (still running great and will experience very little depreciation over the next 2-3 years) to commute in the 2015 Civic instead. That all has a cost to it.

With that said, if I could truly get a new 2016 Odyssey LX for $24k right now, I might go for it. But that seems like an unreasonable expectation. Maybe I'm wrong (it seems like you did in fact get that deal). Based on what I've seen, I was expecting it would be $28k to buy it new, with the possibility of getting it down to $27k with some haggling. KBB says the fair purchase price for a 2016 Odyssey LX is $27k. I feel like $26k might be in the realm of possibility, but it's hard to imagine it can be had for $24k. That's nearing the price range of a new Accord.

You indicated that you actually got one for $24k, so I can't argue with that. I suppose I could walk into a dealership, test drive a 2016 Odyssey LX, tell them since they have a new redesign coming out I'll take the 2016 for $24k or I'm walking out, and see what happens. Maybe that's what you did.

Especially if you were already needing a minivan, congratulations on the excellent deal. That is quite a steal on a brand new Odyssey, especially with the new car warranty and .9% financing as you mentioned.

Do you know how long to expect until the new redesign is going to change the landscape on this?
We bought a 2014 EX new for $28k which was $5k off MSRP. An equivant deal on an LX would have been $25k. So, given that a new model is on the way, I can believe $6k off MSRP is achievable with some decent negotiation.
c_is_for_cow
Posts: 107
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2015 7:19 am

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by c_is_for_cow »

We bought a 2013 EX-L with DVD in December. 48K miles for $25K. The end of year 2016 models were on clearance for anout $10k more. I figure we will get 10 years, and an additional 150k miles (200k total miles) on it so spending extra for a new one wasn't worth it to my wife and I. We are happy with it.
TheEternalVortex
Posts: 2576
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:17 pm
Location: San Jose, CA

Re: Price of a used Honda Odyssey

Post by TheEternalVortex »

Bought a 2016 EX-L new for $31k. When I looked used prices were only a few thousand less for 3 year old ones. Not really worth it.
Post Reply