[Visiting D.C. with a bundle of kiddos...Ideas?]

We went this summer and stayed at the Hotel Harrington. They have very large rooms--our family of 5 had 2 double beds and 4 twin beds in the room. They also had a refrigerator, so we brought cereal, bowls, and spoons and bought milk for breakfasts. The hotel isn't anything fancy (they don't have the small bottles of shampoo, for example), but it was clean and very centrally located.

[Thoughts on the Honda Odyssey]

My biggest beef with it is the gas mileage. IT's killing me.... it sucks! LOL!!! I'm averaging 18-20 and driving all over to the doctors at 55-65 miles each way. I don't get alloted much cash for gas, so that means we stick close to home otherwise.

 

We just got back from a major, drive-halfway-across-the-country-and-back trip. We were getting 23 mpg consistantly on the way out, we stopped for an oil change at a dealership we'd dealt with in the past, and began getting 25 mpg immediately on our return trip. DH is convinced that oil change made the difference.

 

Might be worth trying!

[Thoughts on the Honda Odyssey]

It only goes to one dealer to get serviced, and only to one service writer and his team. IT's my parents van actually, and they went rounds and rounds with Honda on some service issues - and Bob is the one that worked with Honda to sort it out (to the post higher up - part of that was over service intervals, Honda said in no way to follow the printed sheet from the dealer, to follow the cars prompts).

 

That's good to know. I need to contact Honda directly over this because what the service mgr is telling us is that we need to follow his advice, not follow the owner's manual/vehicle prompts.

 

If anyone out there has the Odyssey, I would recommend going to the Honda dealer and checking for recalls that they will fix without charge for you. When we took ours in for the transmission there were other recalls that they took care of that we were unaware of. At least the service was good!

 

Our dealer won't do that. Other dealerships have done this for us in the past, but this one tells me they don't have access to that information. They have also told me that even if they are working on an issue covered by the warrenty, once the warrenty expires, Honda will no longer repair that issue for free. We would need to pay for any future repairs. Unless Honda has recently changed its policy, that is also inaccurate info.

 

Unfortunately, this is the closest dealership. They opened this past spring and we haven't been comfortable with the service they offered. The next closest dealership is 90 mi. away. Both dealerships are owned by the same company, so I'm not sure we'd receive any better service from the one far away, either.

[Thoughts on the Honda Odyssey]

"I wonder if I am the only person who is NOT having problems with their Odyssey aging? Of course the new engine and transmission help."

 

When I look at Consumer Reports April issue (the car issue) I see they are not aging well.

 

My mechanic is very disappointed in them and does not recommend them. The man who replaced our transmission is disappointed in them. He said they have a very obvious design flaw in the transmission and he is shocked Honda hasn't fixed it.

 

Are any of you who own them disappointed in them?

 

We have owned Hondas since I began driving. We loved them! Our Accord had well over 100k miles. We have owned 3 Odysseys. The first we had no problems with. Our second one was a 2005 or 2006 model. Once it began having electrical problems that couldn't easily be remedied, we decided to get a new one, a 2008. We have owned this one for 18 months; it has 36,000 miles on it. Both of our sliding doors rattle frequently (but not frequently enough that our service tech can hear them consistantly when we take the van in :glare:), sometimes our front driver's window rolls up too far and squeaks when the glass is pushed into the top, same driver's window rattles, and the transmission makes funny sounds when it's going between 40-50 mph (I've been told this is because the vehicle doesn't know which gear to stay in. I understand that concept, but when we got the van, it only made that sound at 43 mph. Now it sounds like this anywhere between 40-50 mph. Why would the gears change inconsistantly?), and the transmission is no longer shifting smoothly. We're not comfortable keeping this vehicle, but we can't replace it yet. We probably won't get another Odyssey because of the problems we've had with the last 2. The quality of the vehicle isn't what it used to be.

 

Part of the problem for us is our service techs. We take the van in to a Honda dealership for service because we have very few mechanics here who are experts on Hondas. Our service manager has told us not to follow the service recommendations in our owner's manual; we should follow his recs instead. I'm not comfortable scrapping the info I have directly from Honda in favor of spending many extra $$'s. He has also told us he can't check to see if there are any problems with 2008 Odysseys that we might want to be aware of. That info has been given to us at other dealerships without even asking for it.

 

I'm not sure this post makes much sense. It's late and I'm tired, but I did want to say I've been very disappointed with the last 2 Odysseys we've owned. (And if anyone has any info re: transmissions for 2008's, I'd love to hear it. The local service manager just pooh-poohs my concerns.)

[hiccups]

We have had good luck with a teaspoon of vinegar. I've used apple cider vinegar because that's what we usually have on hand. When I give it to my dc, I call it my "magic hiccup potion".

 

Good luck!

 

Marcia

[Camping near Omaha or Lincoln NE?]

You might check Mahoney State Park. It is between Omaha and Lincoln off I-80, very near the SAC Museum (It may also be called the Air and Space Museum).

 

Marcia