2014 Honda Odyssey: What's It Like to Live With?
Read the latest updates in our long-term road test of the 2014 Honda Odyssey as our editors live with this car for a year.
What do you want to know about?
- HondaVac
- Front Seat Review
- Innovative Storage
- Safety First
- Brake Light Out
- Entertainment Features
- At Your Fingertips
- Neck and Neck With the Toyota Sienna
- Fuel Economy Update for April
- How's the Weather Back There?
- Fuel Economy Update for May and June
- Minivans Aren't Really Mini
- Fuel Economy Update for July and August
- Cavernous
- Fuel Economy Update for September and October
- No Reason To Upgrade
- Fuel Economy Update for November, December
- New Battery Installed
- Fuel Economy Update for January and February
- The Driver's Minivan
- Decent MPG in Tough City Conditions
- Regular Service
- Mid-Summer MPG Update
I don't have kids of my own, but when I babysit for my brother's kids, they always have little snack bags of Cheerios. His minivan is a much older model than our 2014 Honda Odyssey and the back two rows are always sprinkled with, you guessed it, Cheerios.
Now you know why parents get so excited to see a built-in vacuum in the 2014 Honda Odyssey. I'm sure my brother and his wife would love to have a handy vacuum in their van. I know I'd want one even in my car.
The HondaVac is built into the driver side cargo area and comes with a hose and two different attachments capable of inhaling many misplaced Cheerios. It's a wonder no one has thought of this feature before.
They may look rather plain, but the front seats in the 2014 Honda Odyssey are mighty comfy.
In such a large vehicle, it's important that the driver seat be configurable. As a short person, I need to be able to adjust the height as well as the position of the seat so that I can adequately reach all of the controls.
I have no problem in the Odyssey. The driver seat has 8-way power controls, and the passenger seat has 4-way power controls. The driver seat is also height adjustable, and has heat, my favorite feature.
The driver area also features a tilt and telescopic steering wheel, so that when I move the seat far forward to accommodate my short frame, I don't have to sit with the steering wheel right in my face.
A minivan is basically a family room on wheels. So it's no surprise to find modular furniture inside our 2014 Honda Odyssey like this handy coffee table, er, I mean front center console.
It features a deep storage space, cupholders, and a handy flip-up trash bag ring. And it's removable. Now that is innovative.
There is also a beverage cooler built into the bottom of the dash's center section.
Like I said, family room on wheels.
The 2014 Honda Odyssey earned the top five-star overall safety rating from the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration).
It also received the highest score on the tough new crash test from the IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety), scoring a "Good" in the small overlap crash test.
It's the only 2014 minivan on the market to win Top Safety+ honors from the IIHS, scoring better than the Chrysler Town & Country, Kia Sedona, Nissan Quest and Toyota Sienna.
Something to consider if you're shopping for a minivan this year.
We noticed one of the brake light bulbs was out on our 2014 Honda Odyssey. It was due for its regular maintenance so we took it in for service at our local Honda of Santa Monica.
We had the oil and filter changed along with the complimentary multi-point inspection. The tire pressure was also checked and adjusted as part of the usual service.
The third brake light bulb was replaced and new wiper blade inserts added at no extra charge.
Days out of service: a couple of hours
Total cost: $52.36
When I was a kid on family road trips we talked to each other. Sometimes we played driving games like counting the out-of-state license plates or punch buggy where we spotted different colors of VW bugs.
But today's kids...OK get ready for the "Get Off My Lawn" edition of the long-term update of our 2014 Honda Odyssey.
Today's kids get to be driven around in moving living rooms where they can watch movies, play video games, listen to their own music. Are today's kids becoming anti-social because of minivans?
Our 2014 Honda Odyssey is packed with ways not to talk to your family:
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Hard Disk Drive
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HD Radio
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XM Satellite Radio (with a free three-month subscription)
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650-Watt AM/FM/CD/MP3/WMA Audio Touchscreen System with 12 speakers and subwoofer
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Bluetooth Audio
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USB Interface
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Pandora Internet Radio Interface
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SMS Text Messaging Functionality
and best of all
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Ultrawide 16.2-inch DVD Rear Entertainment System with HDMI and Wireless Headsets (picture above)
Wow. It's like a car from the future compared to what we drove around in when I was a kid. But you know what? My brother and I used to sit in the back seat and make up stories to tell each other. And we both grew up to be writers. I wouldn't trade that for anything.
Even though the 2014 Honda Odyssey is a large vehicle, the center stack controls are all well within reach. This area is well-organized and pleasant to look at with its symmetrical layout.
There are two screens so your map and entertainment are separate. It's not overloaded with too many buttons, yet there are controls for everything. It is easy to use and understand.
It's not overcomplicated or trying to be too fancy. It gets the job done.
How does our 2014 Honda Odyssey compare to the Toyota Sienna?
As far as feature content goes, the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna are always neck and neck as each automaker tries to outdo the other by making the best minivan on the market.
This healthy competition is great for the auto industry and the reason these two Japanese brands make such excellent minivans. Not only do you get to choose your favorite brand (Honda vs. Toyota), but these two companies are constantly pushing the boundaries on how much feature content to include with each new model year release.
This translates to you, the consumer, winning. Yay!
You know you are always going to get a vehicle packed with useful and innovative technology and entertainment features.
The minivan segment is fiercely competitive. These vehicles are starting to become like mobile homes. I mean the Odyssey even has a vacuum cleaner. What's next, a third row bathroom? Or a fold-out bed?
I can't wait to see how far these two companies push the boundaries of minivan in the coming years.
We've driven a little more than 3,200 miles in our 2014 Honda Odyssey in the first four months of the year. In that time, we added 202 gallons of fuel and averaged 13.4 mpg in combined driving. That's not exceptional fuel economy by any measure, especially when compared alongside what the EPA says the Odyssey can do.
We blame our driving environment. This van serves hard duty on congested rush-hour streets of West Los Angeles, accompanied by plenty of acceleration and plenty of quick slowing and erratic braking. All of that stop-and-go has taken its toll, especially in a vehicle with the Odyssey's mass.
We may need to get out on a long-legged road trip or two to boost our average, but given our roads and daily commutes, we'd be optimistic to expect significant improvement.
Average Lifetime MPG: 13.4
Best Fill MPG: 19.4
Worst Fill MPG: 10.3
EPA MPG Rating: 22 combined (19 city/28 highway)
Best Range: 354.1
Current Odometer: 14,543 miles
If you're sitting in the third row of a minivan like our long-term 2014 Honda Odyssey you may feel like you're in a different time zone from the driver.
But that doesn't mean you can't partake of the cabin comforts offered by Honda. Now that the weather is warmer, air conditioning can be very important in southern California.
The Honda Odyssey offers ventilation ducts and fan controls for second row passengers. So the second and third rows don't have to wait for the cool air to eventually make its way to the back of the vehicle. Rear passengers can be just as comfortable as the shotgun rider.
In May and June, we added 1,563 miles to our 2014 Honda Odyssey, using 132 gallons of fuel in the process. That brought our combined average to just 11.8 mpg for the period, down about 1.5 mpg than from our previous report (although note that our data from the prior period was pulled from more than double the miles).
Still, 11.8 mpg isn't all that impressive given that the EPA says the Odyssey is capable of better than that in all-city driving. And that's the kind of driving we do in our Odyssey. Admittedly, it's a special kind of stress-testing in the congested rush-hour streets of Los Angeles. Plenty of hard acceleration, plenty of hard braking.
All of that stop-and-go has taken its toll, dropping our lifetime average to 12.8 mpg.
Average Lifetime MPG: 12.8
Best Fill MPG: 19.4
Worst Fill MPG: 10.3
EPA MPG Rating: 22 combined (19 city/28 highway)
Best Range: 354.1
Current Odometer: 16,107 miles
You probably wouldn't look at the 2014 Honda Odyssey and say, "Wow, that's really small." Minivans are not that mini. So how did they get that name? Well, compared to a hollowed out cargo van, they are quite a different vehicle.
They are not as tall, for example, as something like a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter or a Ford Transit.
Here are the dimensions of our long-term Honda Odyssey:
Length = 16 ft. 10.9 in. (202.9 in.)
Height = 5 ft. 8.4 in. (68.4 in.)
Width = 6 ft. 7.2 in. (79.2 in.)
Curb Weight = 4,396 lbs.
So, it's not mini. But it mini-er.
In July and August we added 1,208 miles to our 2014 Honda Odyssey, about what we've averaged for other two-month reporting periods. This time, we dumped 111 gallons of fuel into the tank, yielding 10.8 mpg in combined driving. That's down one full mpg from our last report.
We're still failing to achieve what the EPA says the Odyssey is capable of, and we continue to blame our driving environment. We'd like to invite the EPA to join us on our regular commutes through Los Angeles's congested city arteries and see if the estimates are still realistic.
Excessive braking and acceleration is tanking our fuel economy, and our lifetime average has dipped a half-point to 12.3 mpg.
Average Lifetime MPG: 12.3
Best Fill MPG: 19.4
Worst Fill MPG: 8.4
EPA MPG Rating: 22 combined (19 city/28 highway)
Best Range: 354.1
Current Odometer: 17,392 miles
Minivans aren't just for parents shuffling kids to and fro soccer and dentist appointments. One of the advantages to owning a minivan is its cavernous cargo area.
If you own a small business or have adventurous weekends involving dirt bikes and such, you'll appreciate all the room in back after you fold away the rear seats.
With all seats in place, the 2014 Honda Odyssey offers 38.4 cu.ft. of cargo capacity. So if you do have a load of passengers, there is still plenty of room for soccer gear, groceries, and trips to Costco.
With the seats folded flat, that space expands to a whopping 148.5 cu.ft. For someone like my friend Lisa, who runs a small scented candle business, this vehicle would be perfect. She could load in cases of her product and all of the equipment she needs to set up her booth at craft fairs.
Minivans, and the Honda Odyssey in particular, are perfect for the retail entrepreneur.
September and October saw us add 1,038 miles to our 2014 Honda Odyssey, a bit less than what we've been averaging for our two-month reporting periods. The Odyssey drank 94 gallons of fuel, giving us an average of 11.1 mpg. That's not spectacular, but it's an improvement from the downward trend we had been seeing.
That's a jump of 0.3 mpg from our last report, but not enough to inch the lifetime needle upwards. The Odyssey's current lifetime average in combined driving stands at 12.1 mpg.
Average Lifetime MPG: 12.1
Best Fill MPG: 19.4
Worst Fill MPG: 8.4
EPA MPG Rating: 22 combined (19 city/28 highway)
Best Range: 354.1
Current Odometer: 18,672 miles
You may be wondering why we still have a 2014 Honda Odyssey in our long-term fleet. The truth is we are perfectly happy continuing to drive our 2014 model year Odyssey. When the 2015 version of the Odyssey was released it was unchanged from the previous year.
And now for 2016, the only update is that Honda is offering a Special Edition (SE) trim level. It doesn't offer any new features but it does bundle some of the premium optional features and makes them standard when opting for this affordable new SE trim package.
Otherwise, the Honda Odyssey has remained unchanged. Why mess with a good thing? We are enjoying our time with the 2014 Odyssey, so no need to upgrade to the new model year.
We spent a couple of busy holiday months driving our 2014 Honda Odyssey around, adding 1,633 miles to the odometer. That required 136 gallons of fuel and averaged out to 12.0 mpg in combined driving.
Admittedly, we don't do a lot of combined driving. Our commutes feature a lot of stop-and-go acceleration and braking during rush hour on heavily congested Los Angeles streets — a nightmare scenario for decent fuel efficiency from a large V6-powered minivan.
Still, the 12.0 mpg result for the past two months is better than what we've been achieving. We were down in the low 11s last reporting period. It wasn't enough to move the needle on our lifetime average, which still hangs at 12.1 mpg.
Average Lifetime MPG: 12.1
Best Fill MPG: 19.4
Worst Fill MPG: 8.4
EPA MPG Rating: 22 combined (19 city/28 highway)
Best Range: 354.1
Current Odometer: 20,306 miles
We came out to our 2014 Honda Odyssey to find its battery dead, done, finito.
A quick call to AAA brought out a technician to install a new one. The tech mentioned in passing that it was the third Odyssey in a week that he'd been called out to revive and outfit with a new power source.
What's behind the big power draw in our Odyssey?
Any number of things, really. A robust entertainment system that includes a 650-watt sound system, a hard disk drive for audio, HD and satellite radio, Bluetooth audio streaming and a massive 16.2-inch widescreen display for the DVD player is an obvious suspect. But that would only be if we were using it on accessory power, which we weren't.
We could blame it on the innovative vacuum feature in the rear cargo hold. But that too would be misplaced. More reasonably, our battery was just old.
About a half-hour and $127 later, we were back on the road.
We added 1,274 miles to our 2014 Honda Odyssey in the first two months of this year, using 109 gallons of fuel in the process. That works out to an average 11.6 mpg in combined driving.
That's a drop from our previous report, when we achieved 12.0 mpg. Once again, the busy, frantic streets of Los Angeles and rush hour traffic conspire against any type of normalcy when it comes to fuel economy in our heavy, V6-powered minivan.
The drop wasn't severe enough to impact our lifetime average mpg, however, which remains at 12.1 mpg. None of our other data points (best/worst fills, best range) changed. A few road trips might be in order to see if we can bring the Odyssey up closer to its EPA-estimated potential.
Average Lifetime MPG: 12.1
Best Fill MPG: 19.4
Worst Fill MPG: 8.4
EPA MPG Rating: 22 combined (19 city/28 highway)
Best Range: 354.1
Current Odometer: 21,580 miles
You've probably heard the 2014 Honda Odyssey referred to as the driver's minivan. Now, that doesn't mean you're going to run it around a track or enter it into a drag race. But for a large vehicle that conjures up images of soccer moms, the Honda Odyssey is pretty fun to drive.
Here are some of the Odyssey's specs:
Engine size: 3.5 liter V6
Horsepower: 248 hp @ 5,700 rpm
Torque: 250 ft-lbs. @ 4,800 rpm
Keep in mind this is pulling around a heavy vehicle, especially when full of precious cargo. But this is still plenty of power for merging onto freeways or cruising in a straight line.
We're closing in on 20,000 miles in our 2014 Honda Odyssey and our lifetime fuel economy hasn't been nearly as impressive as we'd like. After nearly 17,500 miles, we're averaging just 12.3 miles, which is much lower than the Odyssey's rated city MPG, let alone its 22 MPG combined rating from the EPA.
It's a disappointing number, but we can't fault the Odyssey entirely. Sure, the 3.5-liter V6 engine could be more efficient. Sure if it had an eight-speed automatic transmission, the engine might spin slower and use less fuel. But we use this minivan exactly as it's designed: shuttling family to events and family functions, commuting. light household duties.
And we mostly drive it in some of the worst city traffic in the country, on the west side of Los Angeles. Lots of stop-n-go, lots of signals, lots of braking, lots of short bursts of acceleration to move our way through the gridlock. A lot of fuel economy-killing short trips on city boulevards and residential streets.
But we've got no complaints. The Odyssey is still supremely roomy, supremely comfortable, and supremely suited to how we use it.
The service indicator in our 2014 Honda Odyssey test vehicle illuminated, indicating it was time for an oil change.
We headed to Honda of Santa Monica for a "Basic Package" service which was simply comprised of an oil and filter change.
While the minivan was at the dealer, our service advisor said there was also an open recall for our Odyssey, but that it was limited to the need to replace a certification sticker.
Two hours later, we paid the $51.15 tab for the oil change, confirmed our new sticker was affixed to the inside door jamb, and headed out.
It's summertime, and our 2014 Honda Odyssey test vehicle is a popular choice for family road trips.
With over 18,000 miles on its odometer, the Odyssey is now finally stretching its legs on the open road and as a result, its lifetime fuel-economy average is climbing out of the city-mpg doldrums.
Our last report saw the Honda hovering just above 12 mpg, but some freeway time has bumped that number up to 15 mpg.