Odyssey dropped from CR Recommended List

"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78) 11/01/2018 at 09:28 • Filed to: None

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As a person too young to buy a minivan might say, this is totes obvs.

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I’m currently wrestling with an XM radio reception issue on our 2015, which the dealer wants $640 to fix. It’s a $30 part online and 20 minutes of work. I’ve owned VW’s for a long time and even their dealers would never have tried that.

We also have touchscreen freezing issues and random volume-to-the-max gremlins. Notice a pattern? Like with many modern cars, it’s all infotainment-related. We’ve also had issues with the power sliders, which are also mentioned in the survey.

random001 > Ash78, voting early and often 11/01/2018 at 09:36

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Lifted, blown Sienna AWD FTW!

Nibby > Ash78, voting early and often 11/01/2018 at 09:38

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1996 FORD WINSTAR FTW

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Ash78, voting early and often 11/01/2018 at 09:41

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Does the headunit in the new Ody control more than just music?  My lady drives a 15 CRV and that head unit is self contained, it also hasn’t had a single issue. Sometimes simplicity is better. 

Ash78, voting early and often > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind 11/01/2018 at 09:48

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Our ‘ 15 has separate HVAC controls (thank God) but all other movie/music/nav is handled through the touchscreen. I believe the new ones are similar, but increasingly trying to do more through the screen.

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > Ash78, voting early and often 11/01/2018 at 09:48

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I guess it’s out of warranty then? How comfy are you with tools? YouTube has a video for pretty much any repair you might have to do. It’s bailed me out once or twice.

Ash78, voting early and often > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom 11/01/2018 at 09:59

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Yep, 4 years old (and are you ready for this? Even extended warranties don’t cover them because the XM components are not technically Honda parts. A lot of people are pissed about that).

Anyway, I’ve already removed the old antenna, took 15 minutes just winging it . I’m just waiting on my vendor to confirm the right part before I order.

Frankly, I’m not a fan YouTube for step-by-step DIY — can’t print them out or easily go back and reference specific sections when you’re in the garage. Really a PITA compared to an actual photo writeup, but they’re not bad as a supplement for a big-picture view — just time-consuming and too often for the wrong make/model.

Apart from the XM stuff, the rest is purely gremlins. Diagnosing/repairing deep, proprietary electronic stuff is often beyond the scope of car repair even in the shops -- they just replace stuff now.

functionoverfashion > Ash78, voting early and often 11/01/2018 at 10:01

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It really is soul-crushing to hear “reliability issues” and then see in the description, “infotainment” as the main complaint area.

I have said, and others have said it better, that auto manufacturers need to make these systems less proprietary and more modular so things can be replaced and updated. It’s INSANE that we replace our cell phones every couple years but we’re expecting a similar device that was developed years before its release by a much less tech-oriented company to last much longer and perform more important functions. No.

Ash78, voting early and often > functionoverfashion 11/01/2018 at 10:04

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Absolutely. I’ve been a proponent of mandatory double/triple DIN form factor and allowing DIY updates to firmware — just like we do with everything else in our lives, from PCs to TVs to phones. And normally at no charge. A lot of fellow Honda owners have needed firmware updates for which they’ve paid $100-$200...just to keep regular vehicle functions and conveniences working. That is insane to me. These aren’t mods or enhancements, they’re fixes to flaws. Nobody should have to pay for that, whether under warranty or not.

Anyway, Honda lost any hope of repeat business from me pretty fast, so I can’t think of anything they could do to win it back at this point. I’m just along for the ride.

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > Ash78, voting early and often 11/01/2018 at 10:17

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1994 Plymouth Voyager FTW.

Urambo Tauro > functionoverfashion 11/01/2018 at 10:34

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Part of me thinks that the infotainment stuff should be considered irrelevant and superfluous , a nd left out of the final score. B ut each time that crosses my mind, the other part of me wakes up and says NO, automakers need to step up and take these systems as seriously as they do the rest of the car. Stop releasing this crap half-baked.

ttyymmnn > Ash78, voting early and often 11/01/2018 at 10:39

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Which is why I’m spending a few thousand dollars to rebuild the transmission in my 2003 Odyssey rather than looking at a new(er) one. I got 195k out of the original transmission, and I put a  new-to-it engine in a couple of years ago. I’d like to get a few more years out of it before I am forced to move on. 

CalzoneGolem > Ash78, voting early and often 11/01/2018 at 10:59

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You’re never too young to buy a minivan. 

Textured Soy Protein > Ash78, voting early and often 11/01/2018 at 11:00

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Apparently the new one has a headunit that’s based on Android underneath, but it’s super old like Android 4.4 or something. 

functionoverfashion > Urambo Tauro 11/01/2018 at 11:20

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I’m torn about it too. It’s important especially if it’s something you have to interact with for essential functions of the car. At minimum, playing music is going to rely on it, and I’d personally call that *nearly* essential.

I just think it can’t be lumped in with transmission issues, or head gasket issues, that kind of thing. It’s different. If it can’t strand you on the side of the road, then it’s annoying, but not a reliability issue, exactly.

But I totally agree that the systems need to be taken more seriously - which I’m sure any manufacturer would say that they DO, but I don’t mean just that it works well when it’s new. It needs to KEEP WORKING

facw > functionoverfashion 11/01/2018 at 11:38

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I think that, but then I think of how horrible it would be to be stuck with a bad system. If you transmission breaks you can at least fix it. If your infotainment system is bad, you may well be stuck with it if it is tightly integrated, and even if you can get a third-party head-unit, it’s probably always going to look wrong. I’d hate to have to live with a car like that.

I’d like to see a more modular arrangement where the screen and controls could be provided by the car, but the processing hardware and software were a separate unit that would fit in a standard size void and connect via standardized connectors. I don’t think we are going to get that, so a Carplay/Android Auto type solution where your phone can take over the infotainment system might be the best we can hope for (though I have my doubts about how long new devices will support old versions of those systems as well).

dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford > Ash78, voting early and often 11/01/2018 at 11:40

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I know even the 3rd gen (2005-2010) have a lot of sliding door  and head unit issues, it’s the main reason my parents got the base model without the fancy but problematic head  unit and “manual” doors

facw > Ash78, voting early and often 11/01/2018 at 11:40

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I think the Youtube approach is handier in general. I agree that a good step by step description with photos can be nice, but most have way to few photos. I want much more detailed documentation of the process, which generally you get from a video, but don’t from a step by step.

Ash78, voting early and often > facw 11/01/2018 at 11:44

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This is true. A well-edited video (lol) is good, but a random dude with an iPhone and sketchy lighting, doing it in one take, can just be frustrating. What I also like about write-ups is that anyone can do them, even without good video equipment, so you have a wider net of “participants” contributing. Plus you know if it’s relevant to your car right away, not 3-4 minutes into a video that could have been 30 seconds long :D

facw > Ash78, voting early and often 11/01/2018 at 12:34

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It’s true that not all videos are good. I’m especially fond of the “the first step is to remove this part... I’ve already done that, but you can imagine how you can do it”

Ash78, voting early and often > facw 11/01/2018 at 12:43

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LOL, I can speak from experience that when you start taking something apart, it’s easy to forget to take pics or video. I started doing it to help myself remember where everything goes, but also to document it for write-ups later.

I’ve seen shop manuals completely gloss over major stuff, like “Step 1: remove green connector from blue connector. Step 2: Remove engine, Step 3: Ensure crank position sensor is...”

Hold on, can we back up to Step 2 for a sec?

functionoverfashion > facw 11/01/2018 at 13:08

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I’m with you 100% on the modular, standardized connection, etc. and also that we’re not likely to see that happen.

Backwards compatibility of new devices with old systems is 100% going to be a problem. Even if newer phones connect to older systems, one does not have to look far to find examples of newer apps that don’t work on older hardware. It’s just not going to work smoothly.

Just give me a way to connect the phone to the audio system and a place to put the phone so I can see it for directions and to change the music occasionally. Keep the HVAC separate and call it a day. Please?