I have been researching the Honda Odyssey cause I am interested in finding one. I noticed from reviews that the 95-98 seem to be the best quality compared to the 99-04 models. I am interested in these years because of limited funds but I wanted to know for sure about the 99-04 models vs the 95-98 models. I am seeing that the transmissions are bad for the 99-04 years.

 

Gen 1 is not really a van. Look at it as an Accord Wagon. Yes, Gen 2 have known transmission problems. Can your budget be stretched to a Gen 3? 05+. There are lots of good deals now as they are discounted with the economy.

According to Consumer report. The black (bad) mark for Trans turned Red (good) from 05+.

 

I own a '95 and a '01.

The 2nd gens have tranny issues and sliding door issues, but they are twice the van the first gens are. Bigger, more powerful, better options, quiter, more comfortable and get better gas mileage(from my personal experience).

The first gens are cheaper, dead reliable(proven accord motors), and have 4 car style doors that I like. But they are gutless as hell. The '98s arent as bad, they came with the 2.3 from the '98-02 accord 4cyl, but still nothing impressive.
I swapped an h22 in my '95(200hp compared to stock 140hp) and its still isnt any quicker than my '01 and still gets worse mileage.

 

i have a 96 model,im the original owner.ill be hittin 200k miles within the next week or so.i've only had to replace one axle and the battery.its sittin on chrome 20s with a pounding eclipse/fosgate stereo.my gas mileage isn't that bad.whenever the engine ever dies,an h22 is on standby with a turbo as a strong option.

 

I, too, have been researching for an Odyessy. My hunt will start from the 2005, 3rd gens (2006 preferred, because of the first year jitters, etc) and will definately avoid the 2000-20004 years, due to the infamous transmission problems. Even with some of the people that have experienced ZERO defects on the 2nd gen, I would still like to avoid them. I have no opinion on the 1st gens, other than the fact that they are high in reliability, but it doesn't offer the options of a real mini-van, IMO.

I think a bare option, basic, 2006 LX model will suffice for my needs. What's your budget and price target? I need to sell my pickup truck (2003 Nissan Frontier XE 2WD King Cab) and put it towards the Odyssey down payment. I also located a few 2005-2006 LX Models with low mileage that also comes with the 100k miles Honda warranty for $13-14k average.