This is our first Japanese import and we have had the German ride from owning BMW and Mercedes and the American ride of several trucks and suvs, mostly GM products. The Honda Odyssey is a huge disappointment. We never anticipated that in three months of ownership with 15,000 miles we would experience such a poor ride and unacceptable handling. We have traveled and put several thousand miles on our mini van during a short period of time.

Our ride has gone from comfortable to crappy and we are nervous as to what to expect in the next several years of ownership. To make matters worse, we reside in MA which prevents us from filing a Lemon Law complaint after 15,000 miles which leaves us in a not so favorable legal position since we never complained until this past week and after exceeding 15,000 miles.

Now, Honda is unwilling to replace the shocks and struts and the dealer without obtaining a warranty claim credit will not perform corrective repairs. In fact, the dealer, attempted to have Honda through its zone rep. allow the claim, but absent leaking shocks-struts or something that clearly shows failure, Honda will not allow the warranty claim. My wife and I do not expect a perfect vehicle and do not expect the Honda to drive like our BMW X5, but we do expect it to handle pot holes without shaking and handle corners at speed of 20 to 30 mph.

What makes this most frustrating is that while our vehicle is being repaired we rented a replacement mini van, a Dodge Caravan with 30,000 miles and two years old. The Dodge put our Honda to shame. While driving the Dodge home to our house down our pot hole street, the Dodge was able to maintain 25 mph and not shake and rattle and freak out our dog that is always along for the ride. Our Honda cannot be driven at speeds greater than 10 mph because it shakes and cannot recover from the road defects. It is almost like we were driving down a dirt construction road.

Then, our dog Zac that just turned 11 years has a difficult time just holding himself up without falling over. Zac was the main reason we decided to complain and thought there must be something wrong with our suspension. When we compared it to the rental Dodge Caravan and experiencing a totally comfortable ride on the same road that our Honda could not handle at speeds greater than 15mph, we were surprised and actually shocked to discover a vehicle that was a rental, driven hard, and of what reviewer's would consider inferior to the Honda Odyssey, would actually drive and handle better than our Honda... by leaps and bounds! The Dodge could go down our road at 25mph to 30mph and over the worst pot holes. This convinced my wife and I there must be something wrong with our new Honda.

The dealer recommended replacing the front struts and rear shocks. However, Honda would not allow that under warranty. It seems that to allow a warranty claim, Honda needs to see leaking shocks and/or struts. The zone rep, did not care about the ride quality or our personal observations or opinions. It was cut and dry, no leaks, no warranty claim.

I am surprised by this treatment. This is our first Honda and it will be our last. I have owned at least 30 vehicles and this Honda has been the worst riding vehicle that I have owned and driven. I am surprised that I have not read more complaints about the handling and suspension. Perhaps, people are blinded by the Honda name and believe if it is a Honda it must be great and perfect. Well, I can testify that this Honda is not perfect, rides worse that a 2 year old rental Dodge with twice the mileage! Moreover, the manufacturer is not considerate to resolving consumer complaints. My wife and I did not receive an apology from the local Honda rep..

I suggest before buying a Honda Odyssey, you read this carefully and consider that you may experience the problems we encountered. So do not rely on reviews and the name, go out and test drive and read blogs about complaints. Good luck.