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Wednesday, May 18, 2016

We Bought A New Honda Van

Our new 2016 Honda Odyssey EX-L Navi

Lulu loves convertibles 
It has been 20 years since we walked into Reading Honda and plunked down our money to buy a new 1997 Honda CRV and a 1997 Honda Del Sol. Our son just traded that CRV in on another CRV. For the last 20 years I have been buying and selling used cars on Craigslist. 

Yesterday we bought a 2016 Honda Odyssey EX-L Navi at Proctor Honda here in Tallahassee. We can't even remember the last time we traded a car in on a new car. 


We love our electric Nissan Leaf for riding around town - but we wanted a comfortable van for long trips. Some day Lulu will retire and we will not be traveling by plane as often. We wanted a dependable comfortable car for long hauls - like trips to see the kids - to see friends back in Tamaqua - and even go long distance to visit Jan and Dick Davis in Arizona. This is that car. 

We toyed with buying the new 2017 Pacifica - and almost wrote the check for a Mercedes Winnebago motorhome - but cooler heads prevailed and we bought the tried and true Odyssey.  We owned an Odyssey and loved it. 

Although Honda is releasing a new model this fall - we chose this best selling mini-van in America. 

The list of features is endless - great for a gray headed driver. First - it is easy to step in and out of. No going up or down - just slide over. Next - it seats 8 - but the seats easily fold into the floor or are easy to removed to make room for travel and junk. The luxurious leather seats move and fold into all directions - thanks to power moving seats. It has keyless entry - and each key memorizes the way the driver likes the configuration. 

Here is a simple list of features -

1. 248 horsepower engine

2. six speed auto transmission

3. power side doors and tailgate

4. rear view camera

5. side view camera

6. hitch receiver

7. radar warning bumper

8. lane warnings

9. brake help warning

10. navigation system

11. hands free bluetooth phone

12. power sunroof

13. three zone air conditioning 

14. alloy wheels

15. michelin tires

16. tire pressure warning

17. touch screen radio

18. garage door opener

19. rear seats fold into floor

20. power windows

21. power mirrors

22. heated seats

23. keyless entry

We are looking forward to trips with the kids and grandkids - it seats 8 - although in June we are welcoming Everhart number 9. 

We got a very nice deal on the van at Proctor Honda. When we said I was going to sell the BMW on Craigslist - they expressed an interest in it - and gave us a very generous offer for it. Since we could save about $2000 on sales tax by trading - we did the deal. We found out that someone at the dealership had an eye on our convertible and was buying it. 

In the Proctor Honda showroom - they have a 1972 Honda 600. That was the first new car that Lulu and I bought together. It had 2 cylinders - 10 inch tries - and cost $1473 brand new. When we bought it  we drove from Pennsylvania to Miami on $8.00 of gasoline in July with no air conditioning. We have come a long way in 44 years - but we still are buying Hondas. 

Now we are all dressed up - looking for places to go. We hope we can visit you soon. 

power side doors
Honda quality
Fits into garage
Back seats fold flat - seats 8
Power side doors 
Touch screen GPS and radio 
no step up or down



2 comments:

Unknown said...

That is ONE nice jitney! Enjoy all the trips before and after retirement.

Paul said...

We bought the same car but decided against the sun roof. When you live in the south, you try to do everything possible to stay in the shade as long as you can. A sun roof in 110 degree weather would be like us sitting inside the microwave when you are cooking some popcorn. Love the ride otherwise, you will love it for years.