stpierrewm
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Here is Inside Line's Quest review: http://www.insideline.com/nissan/quest/2011/2011-nissan-quest-sl-first-drive.html
It sounds like a nice car, and it should be interesting to see how it fares in other comparison tests (e.g. Consumer Reports).
(I always take IL's 1st drives with a grain of salt, however, as they tend to be over-optimistic)
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Mtnbkrlts
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I'll wait for Car and Driver, Automobile and Road & Track.
Consumer Reports? Only for reliability ratings on used cars.
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SoichirosHeroes
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I haven't seen one in person, but the by the pictures, I like the styling.
I'm not a huge fan of the new Odyssey's styling. The competency of the Odyssey would trump my style reservations though. I'd still buy Honda.
A handsome effort by Nissan on this one though.
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Frogger
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Mtnbkrlts wrote:
I'll wait for Car and Driver, Automobile and Road & Track.
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I'll wait to get in it and drive it myself, why get confused by such intensely biased editors.
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6SPDTL
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They didn't seem very enthusiastic at all to me. FUel economy is thoroughly non competitive 24 mpg highway is not going to get them any prizes.
COuldn't they copy thefront sienna design any more blatantly? No disappearing third row? They might have just given up like the domestics. THis thing is 100% non competitive.
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stpierrewm
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Mtnbkrlts wrote:
I'll wait for Car and Driver, Automobile and Road & Track.
Consumer Reports? Only for reliability ratings on used cars.
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I personally like their reviews, but I think what is more important is that 90% of the people buying minivans are influenced in some way by CR. We want them to rate Honda products highly.
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Frogger
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6SPDTL wrote:
They didn't seem very enthusiastic at all to me. FUel economy is thoroughly non competitive 24 mpg highway is not going to get them any prizes.
COuldn't they copy thefront sienna design any more blatantly? No disappearing third row? They might have just given up like the domestics. THis thing is 100% non competitive.
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As discussed elsewhere before, this is sort of intentionally a tepid offering, Nissan hedging to stay in the market without really putting in any investment by bringing over a highly-successful JDM platform practically unchanged (rather than taking risks like a CrossTour?!). It may or may not work, but they really have little to lose. They did not design this van for the not-very-logical US market. In Japan and in England, the ElGrande is King.
On a slightly different note, I look at Honda's sales numbers, and I see the Ody consistently is 4th best seller with serious 6-digit volume in the US. That would seemingly make the platform ripe for consideration for use by Acura IMHO. The first nearlux company to offer a mini-van with real skin and TL fit and finish (and maybe SH-AWD) will benefit greatly I think. $44k for a Honda minivan... please. And look at the pricing on this here Nissan ($35k to enter?)... probably pretty damaging.
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GhOsT
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Frogger wrote:
6SPDTL wrote:
They didn't seem very enthusiastic at all to me. FUel economy is thoroughly non competitive 24 mpg highway is not going to get them any prizes.
COuldn't they copy thefront sienna design any more blatantly? No disappearing third row? They might have just given up like the domestics. THis thing is 100% non competitive.
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As discussed elsewhere before, this is sort of intentionally a tepid offering, Nissan hedging to stay in the market without really putting in any investment by bringing over a highly-successful JDM platform practically unchanged (rather than taking risks like a CrossTour?!). It may or may not work, but they really have little to lose. They did not design this van for the not-very-logical US market. In Japan and in England, the ElGrande is King.
On a slightly different note, I look at Honda's sales numbers, and I see the Ody consistently is 4th best seller with serious 6-digit volume in the US. That would seemingly make the platform ripe for consideration for use by Acura IMHO. The first nearlux company to offer a mini-van with real skin and TL fit and finish (and maybe SH-AWD) will benefit greatly I think. $44k for a Honda minivan... please. And look at the pricing on this here Nissan ($35k to enter?)... probably pretty damaging.
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I'm starting to think that nobody really read the review....the van starts at $28K....from the article:
"Offered in base S, SV, SL and top-level LE models, ranging in price from $28,550-$42,150, the Quest offers features like Bluetooth connectivity, a DVD player and hard-drive music server/navigation, plus a few elements that will have the folks at Honda and Toyota muttering."
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SoichirosHeroes
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Frogger wrote:
6SPDTL wrote:
They didn't seem very enthusiastic at all to me. FUel economy is thoroughly non competitive 24 mpg highway is not going to get them any prizes.
COuldn't they copy thefront sienna design any more blatantly? No disappearing third row? They might have just given up like the domestics. THis thing is 100% non competitive.
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As discussed elsewhere before, this is sort of intentionally a tepid offering, Nissan hedging to stay in the market without really putting in any investment by bringing over a highly-successful JDM platform practically unchanged (rather than taking risks like a CrossTour?!). It may or may not work, but they really have little to lose. They did not design this van for the not-very-logical US market. In Japan and in England, the ElGrande is King.
On a slightly different note, I look at Honda's sales numbers, and I see the Ody consistently is 4th best seller with serious 6-digit volume in the US. That would seemingly make the platform ripe for consideration for use by Acura IMHO. The first nearlux company to offer a mini-van with real skin and TL fit and finish (and maybe SH-AWD) will benefit greatly I think. $44k for a Honda minivan... please. And look at the pricing on this here Nissan ($35k to enter?)... probably pretty damaging.
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You make a good point about the $44K price point for the Honda. If Honda is serious about Acura, that Touring model should have maybe been an Acura.
The CrossTour too with that price point. Honda's one configuration/one trim model is starting to make some of the models too pricey to be serious volume models.
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6SPDTL
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I've recommemded an Acura minivan for years. Since it doesnt seem forthcoming, I bought an elite. The fact is that it is essentially an Acura as far as content is concerned. What else could they add besides shawd and a little uaeless bling? If they added shawd the price would balloon over 50k!
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Frogger
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6SPDTL wrote:
I've recommemded an Acura minivan for years. Since it doesnt seem forthcoming, I bought an elite. The fact is that it is essentially an Acura as far as content is concerned. What else could they add besides shawd and a little uaeless bling? If they added shawd the price would balloon over 50k!
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I think one thing they might do is focus on an Acura van for a non-baby family, makes more sense to have the luxury when kids are older and won't consciously destroy it. Forget about all the baby happy things like weird configurations of chairs to accomodate car seats and pass-throughs. Make the front like the MDX with the solid center. SH-AWD it which will require really tweaking the platform. And put the 3.7 in there.
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MasterOfDaDomain
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Bad idea to make an Acura version - Acura already has enough the same Honda products. Yes Odyssey can get expensive, but so do the Toyotas and Fords.
It's a family vehicle.
The styling is Nissan Quest's major strength to me. Mileage and transmission all suffer. I can live with the packaging shortcoming. One review says there's no telescoping steering wheel; that's a no no.
I test drove an EX-L Odyssey - handling seems to suffer compared to previous gen, and it's still noisy.
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HONDA AFVM
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stpierrewm wrote:
Here is Inside Line's Quest review: http://www.insideline.com/nissan/quest/2011/2011-nissan-quest-sl-first-drive.html
It sounds like a nice car, and it should be interesting to see how it fares in other comparison tests (e.g. Consumer Reports).
(I always take IL's 1st drives with a grain of salt, however, as they tend to be over-optimistic)
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I commend them for trying, but it's just not there. especially the rear seating and no rear well to speak of behind the 3rd row.
DIG the sky light tho..................Not a bad looking piece, very Euro looking.
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6SPDTL
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Have you really seen the nissan? It is fugly. They put the siennas front, grafted the side glass of a flex and finished the end like the caricature of an oriental face, slant eyes and all. Its is horrible. What is so ridiculous is that everyone complained about the Ody's door track, on this thing its the same but nobody seems to mind!
This thing is just going to be another rental fleet bench warmer. The battle for the rental fleet mini just got a lot hotter: toyota, nissan or chrysler who can lead the pack down to the cheapest sale.
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SoichirosHeroes
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MasterOfDaDomain wrote:
Bad idea to make an Acura version - Acura already has enough the same Honda products. Yes Odyssey can get expensive, but so do the Toyotas and Fords.
It's a family vehicle.
The styling is Nissan Quest's major strength to me. Mileage and transmission all suffer. I can live with the packaging shortcoming. One review says there's no telescoping steering wheel; that's a no no.
I test drove an EX-L Odyssey - handling seems to suffer compared to previous gen, and it's still noisy.
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I think one of the main points is $45K for a family vehicle is the conundrum.
Particularly when versatility/CUVs/wagons are the hot segment. It seems an Acura derivative might do well enough - and help them flesh out the model line for Acura.
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DevilMayCry
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6SPDTL wrote:
Have you really seen the nissan? It is fugly. They put the siennas front, grafted the side glass of a flex and finished the end like the caricature of an oriental face, slant eyes and all. Its is horrible. What is so ridiculous is that everyone complained about the Ody's door track, on this thing its the same but nobody seems to mind! This thing is just going to be another rental fleet bench warmer. The battle for the rental fleet mini just got a lot hotter: toyota, nissan or chrysler who can lead the pack down to the cheapest sale.
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Yeah, when I saw that, that was the 1st thing that came to mind, lol!
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DevilMayCry
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6SPDTL wrote:
Have you really seen the nissan? It is fugly. They put the siennas front, grafted the side glass of a flex and finished the end like the caricature of an oriental face, slant eyes and all. Its is horrible. What is so ridiculous is that everyone complained about the Ody's door track, on this thing its the same but nobody seems to mind!
This thing is just going to be another rental fleet bench warmer. The battle for the rental fleet mini just got a lot hotter: toyota, nissan or chrysler who can lead the pack down to the cheapest sale.
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Yeah, when I saw that, that was the 1st thing that came to mind, lol!
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GhOsT
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HONDA AFVM wrote:
stpierrewm wrote:
Here is Inside Line's Quest review: http://www.insideline.com/nissan/quest/2011/2011-nissan-quest-sl-first-drive.html
It sounds like a nice car, and it should be interesting to see how it fares in other comparison tests (e.g. Consumer Reports).
(I always take IL's 1st drives with a grain of salt, however, as they tend to be over-optimistic)
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I commend them for trying, but it's just not there. especially the rear seating and no rear well to speak of behind the 3rd row.
DIG the sky light tho..................Not a bad looking piece, very Euro looking.
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... folks you need to read the article....
the Well is still there with the seats up or down.....it's more of a little trunk....where as in other minivans you lose that space once you fold the seats...
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MasterOfDaDomain
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6SPDTL wrote:
Have you really seen the nissan? It is fugly. They put the siennas front, grafted the side glass of a flex and finished the end like the caricature of an oriental face, slant eyes and all. Its is horrible. What is so ridiculous is that everyone complained about the Ody's door track, on this thing its the same but nobody seems to mind!
This thing is just going to be another rental fleet bench warmer. The battle for the rental fleet mini just got a lot hotter: toyota, nissan or chrysler who can lead the pack down to the cheapest sale.
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Quest door tracks go with the normal horizontal line, while Odyssey's tracks are in conflict with the lightening bolt design theme.
I think this vehicle will find a reasonable audience. I'd get it if it were a Honda design.
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Blue_Sky_surfer
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In england, elgrand is 'king'???
I can't even find it @Nissan UK's web site, not even the prev. gen.
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HONDA AFVM
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GhOsT wrote:
HONDA AFVM wrote:
stpierrewm wrote:
Here is Inside Line's Quest review: http://www.insideline.com/nissan/quest/2011/2011-nissan-quest-sl-first-drive.html
It sounds like a nice car, and it should be interesting to see how it fares in other comparison tests (e.g. Consumer Reports).
(I always take IL's 1st drives with a grain of salt, however, as they tend to be over-optimistic)
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I commend them for trying, but it's just not there. especially the rear seating and no rear well to speak of behind the 3rd row.
DIG the sky light tho..................Not a bad looking piece, very Euro looking.
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... folks you need to read the article....
the Well is still there with the seats up or down.....it's more of a little trunk....where as in other minivans you lose that space once you fold the seats...
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That is a good point...........didn't think about that.
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40mpg
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When the 3rd row is down, most people will have something big and long to haul that will be on top of the cover, and therefore make the room below the cover useless. Besides, having this kind of configuration practically reduces the cargo capacity, and raise the floor higher. I rather have the Oddy & Sienna set up as I can maximize the utility. I have a Honda Pilot which is the same kind of set up as the Quest, and I never use the space below the cover except for some towing tools and straps. Something that belong to the car and I will carry all the time. For groceries, I rather have the well ala Oddy to keep it in place and not slide all over the place.
HONDA AFVM wrote:
GhOsT wrote:
HONDA AFVM wrote:
stpierrewm wrote:
Here is Inside Line's Quest review: http://www.insideline.com/nissan/quest/2011/2011-nissan-quest-sl-first-drive.html
It sounds like a nice car, and it should be interesting to see how it fares in other comparison tests (e.g. Consumer Reports).
(I always take IL's 1st drives with a grain of salt, however, as they tend to be over-optimistic)
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I commend them for trying, but it's just not there. especially the rear seating and no rear well to speak of behind the 3rd row.
DIG the sky light tho..................Not a bad looking piece, very Euro looking.
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... folks you need to read the article....
the Well is still there with the seats up or down.....it's more of a little trunk....where as in other minivans you lose that space once you fold the seats...
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That is a good point...........didn't think about that.
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A77
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having an acura van is a terrible idea - the only reason the Odyssey is so well spec'd and finished is that there is no danger of it taking sales away from an Acura version. just look inside the Pilot and compare to MDX.
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6SPDTL
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I guess that is true.
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GhOsT
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40mpg wrote:
When the 3rd row is down, most people will have something big and long to haul that will be on top of the cover, and therefore make the room below the cover useless. Besides, having this kind of configuration practically reduces the cargo capacity, and raise the floor higher. I rather have the Oddy & Sienna set up as I can maximize the utility. I have a Honda Pilot which is the same kind of set up as the Quest, and I never use the space below the cover except for some towing tools and straps. Something that belong to the car and I will carry all the time. For groceries, I rather have the well ala Oddy to keep it in place and not slide all over the place.
HONDA AFVM wrote:
GhOsT wrote:
HONDA AFVM wrote:
stpierrewm wrote:
Here is Inside Line's Quest review: http://www.insideline.com/nissan/quest/2011/2011-nissan-quest-sl-first-drive.html
It sounds like a nice car, and it should be interesting to see how it fares in other comparison tests (e.g. Consumer Reports).
(I always take IL's 1st drives with a grain of salt, however, as they tend to be over-optimistic)
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I commend them for trying, but it's just not there. especially the rear seating and no rear well to speak of behind the 3rd row.
DIG the sky light tho..................Not a bad looking piece, very Euro looking.
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... folks you need to read the article....
the Well is still there with the seats up or down.....it's more of a little trunk....where as in other minivans you lose that space once you fold the seats...
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That is a good point...........didn't think about that.
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the rationale is simple. Most Minivan buyers do not utilize the complete cargo space from floor to ceiling....the are more concerned with length rather than height. By using this type of configuration, you can fill up the little trunk with items before you place your sheets of plywood on top.....either way it's an interesting way to use the space.
the second point is that you never have to remove seats in order to get a flat floor...and there's no lifting involved...you simply press a button to fold flat and (on higher trims) press a button to bring the seats back to regular position.
this van is designed to make everything simple, this is why it's equipped with one touch sliding door operation as well as hatch operation.
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6SPDTL
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Yep the rationale is very simple: Its a lot cheaper that way. No additional reenforced attachment points, no rear seat swivel mechanism, no need to redesign the suspension to make a well that will fit the entire rear seat, etc. CHEAP!.
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GhOsT
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6SPDTL wrote:
Yep the rationale is very simple: Its a lot cheaper that way. No additional reenforced attachment points, no rear seat swivel mechanism, no need to redesign the suspension to make a well that will fit the entire rear seat, etc. CHEAP!.
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LOL....OK....cheap? or smart? it should make for a pretty solid vehicle......in the end it gives soccor moms and dads an additional option in the Minivan market. one that allows simplicity in the operation of every feature minivan buyers use on a day to day.
i know that if i were in the market, one touch up and down rear seats that gives me a flat loading floor that is at bumper height would be a huge selling feature.....as would the one touch sliding doors, one touch hatch and tire fill/pressure alert system....not to mention the apparent quality of the vehicle which seems to be apparent even in photos.
if it makes you feel better to brush it off as cheap then more power to you buddy.
some people focus too much on more of the same...i see this van as a bit refreshing.
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6SPDTL
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GhOsT wrote:
6SPDTL wrote:
Yep the rationale is very simple: Its a lot cheaper that way. No additional reenforced attachment points, no rear seat swivel mechanism, no need to redesign the suspension to make a well that will fit the entire rear seat, etc. CHEAP!.
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LOL....OK....cheap? or smart? it should make for a pretty solid vehicle......in the end it gives soccor moms and dads an additional option in the Minivan market. one that allows simplicity in the operation of every feature minivan buyers use on a day to day.
i know that if i were in the market, one touch up and down rear seats that gives me a flat loading floor that is at bumper height would be a huge selling feature.....as would the one touch sliding doors, one touch hatch and tire fill/pressure alert system....not to mention the apparent quality of the vehicle which seems to be apparent even in photos.
if it makes you feel better to brush it off as cheap then more power to you buddy.
some people focus too much on more of the same...i see this van as a bit refreshing.
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Since you press the point against all evidence to the contrary, I had left out another measure of cheapness. In deleting the magic seat tm (HMC) the rear seat backs of the second row are covered by carpet not upholstery, furthering the the feeling of "cargo" rather than "passengers" for those using the third row. Sorry fella this arrangement is not innovative its a throwback to cut costs, this Nissan "innovation" is what essentially all minivans did before the stowable third row (I should know I've had 4). To further the cheapness feel to an even bigger extent simply look at the center stack; just a rack to stuff off the shelf nissan hardware that is neither integrated, ergonomically arranged nor good looking, they couldn't even fit a drawer on the lower portion of it where the odyssey has its "chiller".
Nissan simply made it design less goofy and impractical (an endearing French trait: Alohrs! we make crap, but it is stylish crap in case you didn't know Nissan is owned by Renault) so they simply tried to emulate a Dodge Caravan. Note the Germans (VW) did the same but instead of copying it they simply rebadged one and put some lipstick on it, called it a Routan and called it a day.
TOTAL FAIL.
WE can argue the merits of an Ody vs a Sienna (mainly ody better but sienna more stuff on cheaper models) but with this thing there is simply no comparison. Like the Chyrsler, its fleet rental level transport.
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