A 2019 Honda Odyssey owner/shopper noticed that Honda updated its Odyssey for 2019 without any fanfare, no press release needed.
Sometimes Honda will make changes to their vehicles for the new model year but the changes are so small that they don’t even need mentioning. However, to owners and shoppers, they do notice, so much so that they’re willing to point them out to inform others. As per the latest post on Temple of VTEC earlier today (Sept. 28, 2019) this Honda Odyssey owner noticed Honda changed two major aspects of their best selling full-sized minivan thanks to customer input.
Kudos to Honda for sending out their engineering team a year ago to get responses to the then new Odyssey for 2018. The two items above were high on the list of needed fixes. There are other issues I had on the list, but it doesn’t look like they will be addressed anytime soon. No more compass and homelink on EX models is a common problem now in all Hondas.
The first thing they did was replace the horn by returning the horn to its two tone glory using high and low tones. It looks like Honda might’ve thought their horns in 2017 were too loud or maybe Honda engineers preferred a lower tone altogether for its cars. Apperently it was such a problem that many owners complained. Here’s a thread on OdyClub.com where many Odyssey owners complained and offered workarounds for the 2018 Honda Odyssey’s anemic horn. Thanks to Youtube, I was able to dig up horn comparison’s between the two.
Here’s last year’s horn.
And here’s a horn from Honda Odyssey’s glory days of two-tone horn goodness.
It’s a subtle difference but in a vehicle where you’re transporting your kids in and safety is paramount,a good horn can be the matter of life and death in sticky situations.
For example, if you’re going through a railroad crossing and the other car in front of you stops just after the train tracks because of traffic and leaves you in the crossing with a train approaching, yah, you’re going to want to have a loud horn available.
The second thing Honda changed for the 2019 Honda Odyssey was the size of the cupholders. Honda hinted that they’re updating all cupholders in their lineup when they announced changes for the Civic lineup, which includes said cupholders. Presumably, these cupholders are deeper and wider, more accepting of the larger cup sizes we might buy.
Families are one of Honda’s most valued customers. If they get the Honda experience right with families, they make a good first impression with kids. The kids, in turn, are left with fond memories of Honda that translates to fond memories of said brand when shopping for their own cars.
Props to Honda for listening to their customers and promptly taking action.
