Honda Civic vs Honda Odyssey

[Conrad85]

Question out there for the minivan owners..do you think changing from a Honda Civic to and Odyssey will improve my quality of life in Los Angeles for sleeping and working on a laptop?  

I want to spend time on my laptop programming in the vehicle as I don't like coffee shop time restrictions etc..any ideas where I could go into my backseat and use the laptop without interruption?  TMobile hotspot on my phone does the trick for internet.

I have been in the Civic for a year now and love how stealth I think I am..sleep on back seat is pretty good and I don't toss or turn at night..have limo tint + black sheets to make a dark room.

Owe $10k on Civic, it's worth 7k and I have 3k in savings...looking for 7k van.

 

[user 423]

Dang. If you can sleep well in the back seat of a Civic, the Odyssey would be like a mansion.

 

[maki2]

Go to a used car lot and hang out in the model you want to preview with your laptop for 15 minutes or so. Lay down and see how it feels. It is not unusual in a big city for people to use a vehicle as a mobile office space. The sales rep has likely seen the movie "Lincoln Lawyer". You can try it before you buy it, it just takes creative thinking for how to do that without feeling like someone will demean you for what you are doing. You have the perfect story line....it is your mobile office space so you need to make sure it can work. Not a fabricated story, it is a true story. You don't have to say you live in it but it is certainly OK to say "I need to stretch out and take a nap at lunch now and again so I want to see how that could work in a Honda Odyssey".

 

[barleyguy]

Not sure if this answers your question, but I'm a big fan of the Honda Odyssey. My grandmother owned a 2000, which I think I drove as much as she did. She mostly drove it from her house on 27th street to a grocery store on 26th street, whereas I was the primary driver for long distance trips. In my opinion it was very reliable, and drove wonderfully on long trips.

The biggest problem we would have was actually with the stereo. The stereo would occasionally go into anti-theft mode and quit working, and then we had to pull out the manual and go through the sequence of magic voodoo steps to get it back out of anti-theft mode. My grandmother probably never noticed as I don't think she ever used the stereo, so it would be me disappointed that it wasn't working when we left for trips. If I was the primary owner of it, I would probably have just replaced the factory stereo would something more reliable with more features.

Since the Odyssey has two rows of rear seats that you can remove, there should be quite a bit of room in the back to build a bed and a kitchen. You might also be able to mount the passenger seat facing the rear, so you have a lounge space that faces your living space.

Overall, I think it would be a great upgrade over a Civic.

My two cents,

Harley.

 

[DanielParkins]

Civic, don't know why but I've always been obsessed with it (probably the fault of Need for Speed).

 

[nature lover]

I have friends that think the odyssey is the best vehicle they ever owned but check Bob's last live video (3/4/20) I think the odyssey was not reviewed favorably. (if my memory serves me; but I often have "brain farts".

 

[NomadHonda]

I have a Honda Odyssey and it is very spacious. I removed all the seats from it and I am almost 6 feet tall, I have no problem sleeping, travelling and being able to work in it. Although I am saving up to get a different rig if that is the only choice for you at the moment, then the Honda Odyssey is way bigger and spacious. Two people could easily sleep side by side if there is no storage around. If you have under bed storage platform then you can do that or will be able to do that. I had a very hard time finding the under the bed storage so I just went with a simple boxes storage and on the side, I had the bed to sleep in, nothing major, just a simple 6 mattress that is about it. Remember if you have the option to get other vans like Ford E-250 or anything similar to it, then you are WAY better than Honda Odyssey. I have this because I got this before I was a nomad so I ended up with this and I am saving for another rig now.

 

[bullfrog]

I'm gonna go with the Civic if it works well for you now. It will be cheaper in the long run and easier to maintain. I would have to build a platform where the passenger side seat is and probably extent it where the rear seat is. If you can comfortably sleep in the back seat then you have met the most important requirement and sitting is sitting no matter how much room is around you. Hondobago's are much better than a motorcycle. The main advantage to a van is you don't have to reconfigure as much, but if you have done it for a year in the Civic you are doing good.

 

[B and C]

I agree with the civic until at least you are not upside down on it as it works for you already. Buying something else and rolling the 3k difference into another vehicle and you are upside down further.