Value?

Workmanship, rear brakes, cheaply made, poor acceleration, resale value,electrical problems

Very Poor Workmanship. Rear Brakes Sqeak and Roar...Dealer can't fix. After warranty period Nissan dealer "finds" that $1200.00 worth of work needs to be done (van has 40,000 miles at this point) Recommended that all coolant hoses be replaced....quoted $750.00. Numerous electrical problems, radio presets mysteriously erased, windsheild washer won't work, cruise control often won't set.

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Dodge Grand Caravan- much better, '90Honda Accord-previous vehicle-car was in much better shape at 180,000 miles than this van was at 35,000. Experience with the Honda dealer was much better. Nissan dealer was the worst that I have dealt with, we complained...no response

Ride and handling. Appearance, colors, and general design. Wonderful and easy (even for a senior citizen) moving second and third seats. The third seat is on a rail and will slide all the way to the front seat with the middle chairs removed. Cargo shelf midway down the back behind the third seat which not only adds an interesting space, but also covers up what's underneath. Other vans don't have this feature. VCR, which also allows the tape or radio to be played independently of the front, with headphone jacks, and further has input jacks for video games. Driver vision is the best of any of the 5 vans we tested. Many (31!) places for storage, coins, cups, etc. Rear air conditioning is very effective (this is a MUST for any of the vans, regardless of length).

Initial feelings re: MPG is that it may be lower than hoped, but the engine hasn't yet broken in, to be fair. Nothing else. Everything works well and seems tight. The upholstery pattern in the GXE is a fairly unattractive check pattern.

After considerable reasearch and test driving, I narrowed my choices to Toyota Sienna, Pontiac Montanna, and the Quest. The Odyssey was unavailable at the area dealer, and he also made it clear I would be looking at a list price of at least $28,000 for the typical model. So, scatch that. Quite simply, my wife fell in love with one of the Quest two-tone color combinations, and I admired the options, even on the GXE base model (4 captain's chairs, comfort plus package, running boards). Plus, all Quests come with the $1300 "family entertainment package," essentially a VCR, with the screen mounted in the roof behind the front seats, which my grandson loves! Montanna was too plain jane; and the Toyota $3000 more similarly equipped. So, we chose the Quest, and are delighted. BTW, the SE middle level model is tempting because of the options, but the ride is very (too) firm. They call it a "sport tuned suspension," but it rides more like a truck. Choose either the base GXE with upgrades, or the top of the line GLE, with leather and more toys, but about $3000 more. The ride is noticeably better than the SE.

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Sienna - Quest is better all round, and $3000 less. Montanna - Quest is cheaper, esp. incl. the VCR, and has a better engine/drive train warranty (60/60 compared to 36/36). Odyssey is too large (for us), and way too expensive. They almost want you to buy it sight unseen. Windstar and Town and Country are more expensive and less reliable by all measures. Also the Quest is less common, not seen as much as the others. SUMMARY - the Quest is a real quality sleeper - seriously consider it (or the Mercury Villager) in your "quest" for a Van.

Drivalbilty,acceleration, fit and finsish

radio,tires, dealer practices

Nice van with good value, like the video ent. system provided for $0.00 unlike other manufactures that charge up to $2000.00. Fairly impressed with the overall driving exp. good engine response and handling. However, there have been some things that are troublesome, especially the radio which the illumination comes and goes, and after taking to the dealer, repsonse was no problem found. Tires are another area that seem to wear excessively and have leak issues. Fit and finish is great however, and fuel economy is fair.

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Drivability

The Dealers " Up Yours" attitude. Has Nisan never heard of Customer Relations training for their employees????? This is the 21 century. They are running their business in the dark ages.

Vibration at 60 to 70 MPH
Brake noise and wear
Tire wear and alignment
Stereo system
High idle out of the blue. Dealer couldn't fix after 6 times to the dealer.

Good looking van

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None

Roomy, great sunroof, good stereo, good entertainment system, great handling, good value.

The sliding doors make me nervous, it's built by Ford and that makes me even more nervous. Nissan should have figured out a way to keep the sunroof and flip down monitor for entertainment system as one package.

It’s only been 2 days and I am impressed. After reading the reviews I was concerned that I would not like the Quest. Just goes to show that you shouldn’t believe everything you read, which is what keeps the Odyssey selling so well-and I love Hondas.

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It is a much better buy (at the end of it's product run) than the other minivans. It handles better then just about all of them (probably except the Mazda), and even though the acceleration numbers are slower, it does keep up with the crowd.