04 Honda Odyssey vs. 05 Town & Country

[mark9207]

There are probably better deals out there on better vehicles, but between these two vehicles, I would go with the Chrysler. They are cheaper and easier to repair and maintain than the Odyssey, no $1,000 timing belt to worry about, and even the worst case scenario, if the transmission kicks the bucket (much less common than in the earlier ones; I’ve only ever changed out the trannys in these vans from the late ‘90s), it’s half the price and double the reliability of the Odyssey transmission. If I were shopping in this price range, personally, I would not consider an Odyssey at all. Their resale value is so high you are likely to end up with a very expensive headache. Conversely, Chrysler minivans’ resale value is so low you are likely to get a nicer, newer, more reliable vehicle than you could if you were looking for a Honda badge. Personally, I think the Chrysler minivans are grossly underrated and have an undeserved bad reputation for reliability. If I were looking for ANY minivan in this price range, my focus would be on the Chrysler vehicles due to their low resale value (you can get a much nicer vehicle for the money), ease of repair, low priced repair parts, and better-than-most-people-think reliability.