Hi Ho Silver

Author's Rating:

Pros: roomy, easy to drive, good deal

Cons: longer than some minivans

Ease of Conversion:

Author's Review
We love our Odyssey (aka Hi Ho Silver). Hi Ho Silver is a charcoal gray 2000 Odyssey LX. It is almost 2 weeks old. After trying every other minivan on the market, we were sold on the Odyssey.

Why? We love all of the features that are standard. From the spacious interior to the bigger engine we couldn't help but make the leap. The one extra feature that completely sold us on this minivan was the "Magic Seat". The third row of seats folds down and disappears to make a huge cargo area. Because there has to be space for the seats to "disappear", there is also a lot more room in the cargo area when the seats are up.

It is a great family car. The minivan itself, is easy to drive. It drives like a car and does not feel like a huge monster. All around, I would have to say this is a great car--so far there is nothing that we don't like about it. My kids love it. We get in and everyone says, "Hi Ho Silver...Away!"

******UPDATE*******

Hi Ho Silver is now 6 months old. Now that we've had it for awhile and I've driven it around quite a bit, I thought I'd update this review.

We still love our Honda Odyssey. Whenever we take it on long trips, we wonder how we ever did those long trips without it.

There are a lot of features of this mini-van that I have really come to enjoy and rely on. Here are my top 10 favorite features about this car:

1. Gas Mileage
We average around 25 miles per gallon. Not too bad for a minivan!

2. Stereo/CD Player
It has a 6 disc CD changer. Having young children who enjoy listening to the same song more than once, this is a great feature. Finding a particular song is easy. Repeating the same song is even easier! (Although, there are times when I would like for this feature not to work! HA!)

3. Speaker System
There is the capability of switching the speakers so that the music is only heard in the way back of the van. This is great for those numerous repeat songs!

4. Two Sliding Doors
This is a great feature. I love being able to get kids into and out of the car no matter what side.

5. Spaciousness
We had a friend who is 6'5" sit in the middle seat. He was very surprised at how comfortable he was in the back of the minivan. The third row, does not offer the same room, but it's great for the kids! In addition, there is plenty of headroom.

6. Parking Break
This may seem like a silly thing to like, but I do really like the way that the parking break works. There is no cable to pull. To take off the parking break, you just step on it lightly and it comes off. We had a Ford Taurus before this and had to replace the cable two times in five years.

7. Height
I like being up high in a car. This is a feature true of any minivan or SUV, but I thought I'd mention it here. I am 5'10" and leaning way over into one of the sedan type of cars to get kids in and out of carseats is very hard on my back.

8. Front Seat Table
There is a small table that comes up in between the two front seats. You could also place a minivan console in this area. The table, though, can be folded down when not needed. It also has four cup holders that hold those super size cups from fast food restaurants.

9. Air Conditioning/Heating System
There are controls in the front and in the back of the van so that you can have two different "climates". The systems work great. It cools down and heats up quickly (depending on what you are using!) You can also adjust the temperature in the back so that it is warmer or cooler than the back. Each vent also has it's own controls so that if one person does not want the air conditioning on them, they can turn it off. Nice feature!

AND MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE THING ABOUT THIS CAR??!!
10. The Magic Seat
I can't even begin to tell you how great this seat is. I don't know why this wasn't thought up earlier. The third row seat EASILY folds into a storage area in the back to create an absolute flat space. It is wonderful!! The middle seats can also be taken out if you need a lot of cargo room. We have removed the middle seats only once, but they were very easy to remove and to replace.

Some things that I don't like? I don't have ten, but I do have a couple.
1. The seatbelts lock up. This is suppose to be a good safety feature, but I've had times where I had a difficult time unlocking them. You have to turn the car off and restart in order to unlock them. Something I discovered one day with a carpool of small kids!

2. The side doors are great but you really have to be sure that they are locked open. Push them a little bit until they click...otherwise they will automatically start to slide close. This can be dangerous with small children and their tiny little hands. Just be sure that you here it "click".

Anyway, that's my update. I would have to give this car a five star rating. It is wonderful!! I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great minivan!