No matter what we do, we cannot seem to get more than 60k out of an odyssey transmission. The original one lasted around 60k, the next one installed at the dealer lasted 40K, I felt like the dealer must have done something wrong so I installed the third one myself, but only got 40k out of it. So I keep contemplating this; we do not live in the mountains. We have never pulled a trailer or boat with the van, but it left us stranded in the middle of nowhere...again.

I have never been fond of the "front wheel drive engine/transaxle package" regardless of the car brand, but I understand that the KEY tohaving that spacious hull of a passenger compartment depends on the engine/transaxle all being mounted forward. Without the engine/transaxle package, the floor would be twelve inches higher with a hump in it running from front to rear. My main objection to any manufacturer's engine/transaxle package is they are nearly impossible to repair without taking the entire vehicle apart. So a transmission problem is probably the worst thing that can break on the odyssey. This makes it extremely expensive to repair, for example our second tranny, the one that was not under warranty was nearly $5000.00 installed.I have wished that they had made the transmission stronger. The odyssey is a great van otherwise, but this transmission issue is rediculous.

Odyssey verdict:
The odyssey left us stranded again, with no warning at all. It is the same problem it was last time, and it is the same problem the other owners in consumer reports are complaining about. It is not getting another transmission, and we are not buying an odyssey this time.

WE shopped Mercedes:
I have never had a Mercedes tranny problem, but Mercedes does not sell their V-class minivan in the US, I have been told repeatedly. I can't even get them to special order one. I have heard from contacts in Europe that the V-class isn't as bulletproof as I might expect from MB either. My wife looked at the R-class, but it is really more of what we used to call a station-wagon, so she didn't like it. She likes the size, shape, and utility, of what we know as the minivan.

We shopped others:
She really liked the new VW minivan coming out soon, but none are available. She looked at the new Mazda minivan but wanted to keep looking. I really liked the Mazda. Chrysler: As much as I wanted to buy American, I had to ask myself, who in their right mind would hire Nardelli as CEO, and expect to keep their employees OR customers?

Our purchase:
We ended up buying an 09Toyota minivan. I don't like it at all, but the car will be for her.It came in a color she liked, and they helped her pick out wheels she liked, and showed her all the storage compartments.I hate Toyotas, and I was dieing to find something wrong with it. After she test drove it, I test drove it, so I already know how it handles in a hard turn, under full throttle, and when stabbing the brake.It appears they haveimproved all the issues Iused to dislike about their product, so didn't have any major objections. When I look at at I think..."yuck", but she absolutely adores it, and huggs me for getting it, so maybe I'll learn to like it. We are hoping for less transmission problems than the odyssey.

Blue

 

And for all of you how do not know the VW Routan is a Caravan with VW interior it even has the Mopar M on the glass.

 

mbz300,

I did not know that. Thanks for the info.

Blue

 

Yeah i was highly disapointed when i found out

 

Another nice van good for carring is the Dodge Caravan. I have the 2004 Caravan SXT with 29k on it. I use it just as a car to carry things. You never know when you will need it. I paid about $14,000 for it. no issues yet.

 

I have heard that the caravans are very good. Our Aunt will not buy anything else.
I was surprized when my wife did not choose the Mercedes, but she is not me. Mercedes was the first stop actually, but step by step they began to loose her sale. My wife has an absolute criteria about being able to fit a 4x8 sheet in the back for her projects. First they told us that the V-class will not be sold in the US under any circumstances. We looked at the R-class, I even offered to pay the difference,but she couldn't get her color, and when she took out her tape measure and could not get 48" between the wheel wells, it was over. She had heard the word "NO" too many times. She regularly buys 4x8 sheets of material, plywood, sheetrock, foamcore, masonite, plastic, you name it she is always making something.

 

You are right about tha V Class in American. I asked for one myself and got the same answer you got.However there is a man in my town who has a Dodge Sprinter(Almost the same as the V) And he has a Mercedes Grill on it and on the back it says V500 ///AMG. It is usually parked at the local sub shop.

 

This is what we originally wanted, but apparently they are illegal in the US.The v-class is a real family "minivan" not a "utility van" like the sprinter.(see link below)You can see it compares to the Odyssey, Sienna, or Caravan. We went to MB firstready to order one, but none. Youcan't special order colors anymore either! I was looking forward to getting a metallic turquois C300later in 2010.


http://motoring.sky.com/car_reviews/..._MPV-list.aspx

 

Did not know that[&:]Does it share the same drivetrain components or just the shell?

The Odyssey ordeal sounds like a bummer! Reviews and reliability reports seemed exceptional, but I guess realistically they're crap. I wouldn't rely on Toyota too much either, they've been lagging on reliability recently also. How many times have both Honda and Toyota been busted for either denying warrantyclaims or skimming quality or safety standards? Honda was busted last year for fraudulant odometers that indicated more miles on the car than it had just to shorten the warranty period. Then Toyota's management was urged to fix questionable seatbelt standards, but chose to sell their cars anyways.

With Mercedes, you never know. Sometimes they recall a10 year old car for something stupid like firstyear ML class's power steering unit. If the car is 10 years old and has 150-200k miles on it and nothing's happened so far, why bother? With the Toyota, I think that was probably the best choice minivan wise

 

Honda overall has very good quality reports, but the Odyssey is shown as having a weak/poor transmission in the reports. It has been our experience as well.

I see you have a civic. My wife put about 250k miles on a civic.She loved that car.After 250k it kept burning a valve, and we never could find the problem. The valve adjustments were correct, but I suspected it was drawing cold air from a leak somewhere. Oh I tried everything to find that air leak. Finally Isent the head and manifold to an aircraftinspection lab to find cracks in the castings. Fatigue I suppose. So even if I replaced the head and manifold, the rest of the engine would still havefatigue issues, so we just bought a new vehicle. But wow, 250k is a good run.

Blue