Sold the old minivan - bittersweet

Joined
Mar 2, 2004
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Location
Kentucky
Wife and I sold our old '04 Odyssey which we've owned since around 2013.

We sort of got taken on the purchase, I had to replace head gaskets right after buying it which wasn't obvious during the test drive, and I'm not sure the independent dealer (who likely bought it at auction) could have known. The leak (coolant into the cylinders and compression gases into coolant) was slow and you'd never notice just driving it-- the smoking gun was some service history buried in the glove box from the previous owner, one of the most recent service visits was at the Honda dealer for low coolant and overheating, bad head gasket was diagnosed, which I then confirmed.) Wish we'd have noticed the service records in the glove box BEFORE purchasing!

But even though the start of ownership went off the rails a bit, that van turned out to be one of the most reliable vehicles I've ever owned. In seven years and about 75k miles, other than routine maintenance, I replaced an ignition coil, power window regulator and a serpentine belt tensioner. Less than $100 in 7 years.

Cost of the van plus the head gasket parts (and machine shop labor), I had about $5,700 in it. Sold it for $1,400. Could have asked for more but the blue paint on my van was defective from Honda, so it's peeling in places (reason we got rid of it), which severely limited interest. Honda issued a recall / extended warranty for that blue color several years ago, but naturally the van didn't start peeling until shortly after the warranty expired. Found the right buyer who doesn't care about the cosmetics, just that the van was in good running condition.

So $4300 was my net cost over 7 years, I think that's a pretty good value for something that reliable. The wife shed a couple tears reminiscing that she brought our youngest son home in it. We upgraded over the summer to a '15 Kia Sedona SXL-L w/ 30k miles, if that van is half as reliable as our old Honda was we'll be doing pretty good!
 
Reminds me of my '05 Pilot, bought used with 98K and sold 7 years later with a bad transmission (full disclosure) for $900 last year at 214K. Repairs were a radiator, two hvac motors (got rebuilt off of ebay) and a few little odds and ends, and maintenance. Lots of family memories and some misty moments saying goodbye to that one as well.

Friend had a Sedona a little older than yours, on '09 IIRC, for 10 years and about 150K miles when sold last year. Only major repair was timing gear/chain, guides and tensioner, was getting loose. It was a refreshing change for him from a Chrysler mini-van, which went through, I think it was 8 transmissions. I'm not going to ask him again because he'll only get angry. Now he's done with the family mini-van phase.
 
I don’t think I could sell a Honda then buy a Kia lol, I couldn’t sell any of my vehicles really. I much rather would keep fixing the old one then get something new.
 
Last year I borrowed a family friend's 2003 Odyssey with 180K and put a fair bit of mileage on it, probably 400-500 miles driving around Oregon including up and down both the coast range and the Cascades. The van drove fantastic, never skipped a beat and had plenty of power even at the higher elevations, I took it up over 6000' a couple of times.

I would have been interested in buying it if they had told me they were going to sell it, which they did about 6 months after I drove it.
 
Despite little things like bad head gaskets, bad transmissions, and paint peeling off in sheets. Ye. Gods.
If this was a European car, people would be saying: well, what did you expect?
My in-laws have a 2004 Pilot, and I told them to change transmission fluid every 30k as they are "iffy," and their answer was: but it is Honda. So much about reality.
 
Our 2001 ody was a great vehicle. It was not a pinnacle of Honda reliability with 2 AC failures and recurring sliding door failures, but the transmission was original with zero issues, it was a pleasure to drive, and most importantly, when it got slammed in a t-bone by a Durango doing 40, my wife and kids stepped out the good side and walked out on their own legs. ours was a good experience. Congrats on the new ride.
 
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