Just as a counter-point my co-worker bought one new with all the bells and whistles and it was an absolute nightmare of a lemon. Huge money-pit with endless repairs including multiple transmission issues. Likely just bad luck but it has convinced him to never buy any Chrysler product again.
Based on personal experience from that dark period in my life known as “The Minivan Age”, my vote is for the Honda. It really is a great vehicle. Thankfully my kids are now grown and I’m back in a 2-seater!
Do you have access to a car buying service? Sam’s Club, Costco, AARP and others do the heavy lifting for you. May not be the absolute best price, but it should be close. Less haggle with the dealers as well.
Hello all! Just wanted to say thanks again and give you all an update. I am now the proud owner of a new 2016 Honda Odyssey EX-L. (woot woot!) Heated seats, but no RES or NAV, which I didn’t want anyway.
I did a ton of research and ended up going with the Odyssey simply because with the options I wanted, the Sienna actually priced higher, plus there was way less available stock in the area. Decided to go new because the Odysseys with as low mileage as I wanted were barely marked down from new, so I figured I may as well spend an extra thou or two to get exactly what I wanted.
Negotiation was actually pretty easy…just emailed five or six dealers in my region and asked for their best price, then when I got a lower offer I went back to the others and asked if they could beat it. Ended up with an excellent OTD price working with a great dealer…he was very matter of fact, didn’t try any big sales tactics, etc, which earned him my business. At the first dealer I physically went to for a test-drive, it was almost laughable how transparent they were in their attempts to strong-arm me, and I’m not sure I would have bought from them even if they had come in with the lowest price. (They didn’t, thank goodness, so I didn’t have to make that choice.)
Anyway, love my new car! Even got the color I wanted although that wasn’t a big priority for me. Still learning how to park the damn thing, though…it’s huge!
Camping trip already planned for October. 
Congrats. Good choice. I prefer to buy lightly-used these days rather than new but I understand the choice.
My daughter, who usually drives an Outback, calls the Odyssey “the spaceship” when she borrows it.
If you didn’t, get a cargo-well protector (OEM is best) and, if you’re going to haul anything it it but butts, a full cargo mat from WeatherTech. Both have saved major cleanups (down in seat cracks and worse) many times. F’rex, my puppy managed to barf every single time we went to obedience class, and instead of repeated daylong cleanouts it was a quick hose-off each time.
Great choice. And you know what’s even better than RES? iPAD. My wife also has the EX-L and just loves it.