We tested the Honda Odyssey’s latest and greatest version for 2025 and found it to be an amazing value and quite luxurious.
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Honda, Chrysler, and Toyota remain the minivan leaders in America. All offer huge volumes of space for big families. Each model has some plusses and some minuses. Here’s our take on Honda’s best version for 2025.
The Odyssey is a minivan with seating for up to eight people. It is a very large vehicle, but it is low to the ground compared to SUVs with its seating capacity. It also makes better use of the interior volume than SUVs. The Elite is the fanciest trim in the line.
The Odyssey Elite fetches $52,275, including Honda’s $1,395 delivery charge, but not including dealer Doc fees of added dealer content. Normally, we quit talking in this section, but the Odyssey deserves an opinion here. At around $52K, this vehicle is hands-down the largest and most luxurious large family vehicle one can buy. We think it tops the Toyota Sienna in luxury and ride quality. With compact/midsize five-passenger wagons like the Toyota Crown Signia pushing $50K, and mainstream crossovers that seat five now almost uniformly $40K in their top trims, the Odyssey gives a family buyer much more vehicle for the money than they get with almost any other choice.
The crazy thing about the 2025 Odyssey Elite is that we love driving the thing. Unlike 8-passenger SUVs, this vehicle is low to the ground, like a big car. That makes getting in and out much nicer. Once you are inside, it feels spacious and roomy. It’s a Honda, so all the switches and buttons are exactly where they should be, work exactly as they should, and feel better to the touch than almost anything else on the market, regardless of the segment.
The buttery-smooth V6 engine is perfect for this mission. It works with a geared transmission to deliver satisfying acceleration in every scenario. Once underway, the Odyssey drives smaller than it is. It feels like a large premium wagon. This is a family car, and if you drive it as such, it rewards you with a comfortable and very pleasant ride. I found parking it and moving it around parking lots to be much easier than any 8-passenger SUV I have ever tested.
The Odyssey has it all. Heated and ventilated “leather-trimmed” seats. A heated steering wheel. A great audio system. Power side doors you can actuate from the driver’s seat or keyfob. Power and Aux connections to the rear-seat entertainment system all over the rear seating area.
A MASSIVE cargo space - even when the thor row is in use.
A compact spare tire is packed neatly under the middle row’s floor. After all, you’d have to be nuts to buy a family vehicle without a spare, right?
One really useful feature is a front passenger purse or bag holder.
The Odyssey has a massive greenhouse, making the view spectacular. Yet, because Honda wisely chose a wipr design that easy to lift and the vehicle's low ride height, washing that glass is easy to do.
2025 Honda Odyssey Elite - What’s Missing?
There is no hybrid option, and that’s a shame. Do not run the numbers on the cost of fuel vs. the Sienna if you want an Odyssey. There is no AWD version offered, and for my family in New England, that would point us to the Honda Pilot, which is also a darn good option. That was all we could come up with. This vehicle has it all otherwise.
2025 Honda Odyssey Elite - Conclusion
The Odyssey has been refined over decades into a polished gem of a large family vehicle. If you can live without AWD, trust this veteran vehicle tester. At $52K, the Odyssey Elite is hands-down the best front-wheel-drive luxury family vehicle available.
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John Goreham is an experienced New England Motor Press Association member and expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. In addition to his eleven years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on Linkedin and follow his work at our X channel. Please note that stories carrying John's by-line are never AI-generated, but he does employ Grammarly grammar and punctuation software when proofreading.
Images of 2025 Honda Odyssey Elite by John Goreham.
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