The wife and I traded in our cars (95 Lumina APV with towing package & 96 Honda Civic HB bought brand new) last Saturday for a Honda Certified 2005 Odyssey EX.

We had gone to our local honda dealer (where we bought the HB back in 96) to test drive an '06 Dodge Caravan and ended up test driving the Odyssey instead.

Wow, what a difference. I was used to North American "quality" having owned an '88 Caravan which blew 2 trannies, a '90 Aerostar which also blew 2trannies and a '95 Lumina which was a replacement for my '90 Honda Civic wagon that ended up under a truck. Driving the Odyssey was like dying and moving on to a grander realm of existence !!!!

The '05 was a lease return and the local dealer made sure it was back "up to snuff" before letting prospective buyers take it on the road.

Sure, it's twice the price of the Dodge we were going to test drive but it also has so many more creature comforts and features that it blows the Dodge "out of the ballpark" !!!!

I'm 6' 2" and my wife is 5' 2" and the 8-way electric driver's seat adjust fully to accomodate both our frames. The independent heat/A/C zones will also be a plus 'cause I'm a furnace and my wife sometimes has trouble staying warm.

We are new to tent trailering so getting something with enough "oomph" to safely pull and pass (without getting a deaded SUV) was important. The Odyssey 3.5L engine & 5-speed automatic tranny combo will be up to the task.

Just to be on the safe side we also bought the extended 3-year / 60K bumper to bumper warranty the dealer offered.

The dealer gave us a fair trade in value for our vehicles and threw in the towing package in order to seal the deal.

We take delivery this Saturday and then I'm going to the cottage wit hthe van the very next morning. Nothing like striking the iron while it's hot !!!

And I still have my '91 Lada wagon to tinker with... so I'm happy !!!

Cheers !!