Four Honda Odyssey Features That Parents Will Love

When you have kids, life in the car is an entirely different level of difficulty than life at home. Busy parents know this. At Ralph Honda, we’ve welcomed plenty of drivers with kids with that desperate look in their eyes—and a child hanging off of each hip—asking us, “Do you have anything that will make all of this a little easier?”

When that happens, we introduce them to the Honda Odyssey. As a dedicated Honda dealer, we’ve seen many families be satisfied with what the Odyssey—a minivan with tons of personality—has to offer. Honda’s engineers and designers must be parents themselves because the features you’ll find in this model address the specific problems that only drivers with children would understand.

The Odyssey is a vehicle that can grow with your family, too. Its clever features are ideal for those with small children as much as it is ideal for teenagers. So, whether your kid is still at that adorable age when they constantly want your attention, or they’re in those inevitable teen years when they want nothing to do with you, the Honda Odyssey makes it all a little easier. Here are four features of the Odyssey we think parents of wee ones or teens will love.

The Odyssey’s Magic Slide second-row seats boast 12.9 inches of range for sliding backward and forward, and this makes it easier for third-row passengers to get to their seats. Furthermore, if your kids are of that age when they still need a lot of attention and assistance, this sliding row makes life on the road easier. When your little one in the second row needs assistance opening a juice box, needs you to wipe off their face, or just wants some attention, you’ll love that you can slide their seat closer to you in the front row. This makes it easy for a front-seat passenger to access the second-row child and give them the attention they desire.

The magic of the second-row seats doesn’t end at their sliding capabilities, though; they can also be folded flat or removed entirely. Their removability gives parents tons of options in terms of seating configuration. When you don’t need all eight seats, you can remove the center one in the second row and create an easy pathway between the remaining seats to access the third row. Or, you can use that space to stow extra stuff. Simply stash the extra seat in the garage or somewhere in your home, and add it back later if or when you need it.

Are your kids reaching that age when they’re trying to see what they can get away with? Whether it’s sneaking snacks before dinner, watching TV on their laptop when they should be doing homework, or something else, kids—especially teens—aren’t always doing what they’re supposed to be doing in the rear seats. But just because you can’t sit back there with them doesn’t mean that you can’t keep an eye on them.

The Odyssey has two great features that help parents monitor young passengers, even from the driver’s seat: CabinWatch and CabinTalk. CabinWatch shows live footage of rear-seat passengers on the touchscreen—so just because you can’t turn around to check on your little ones doesn’t mean you can’t see what they’re up to. Hopefully, just knowing you can keep an eye on them will keep young passengers from misbehaving, but if you do see something you don’t like, that’s where CabinTalk comes in handy…

CabinTalk involves microphones in the driver’s area that take your voice and pipe it through the rear speakers or a passenger’s connected headphones. So if you see a third-row passenger staring at a screen that’s meant to have their math homework but is actually a show on Netflix, you might guess they aren’t working on algebra. Then, even if they’ve put in their headphones, you can speak directly to them and tell them to address their scholastic obligations before indulging in cinema.

The seating continues its magic into the third row, as the Odyssey’s third-row seats can actually stow into the floor behind them. Beneath the cargo floor of the trunk, there’s an area large enough for the full rear bench to stow—or just portions of it, as needed. That means that, when you need to transport large, bulky items (like sports equipment or school projects that were bigger than anticipated), you can create a massive flat surface to host them. While some vehicles have third-row seats that just fold down, the Odyssey has third-row seats that can fold out of the way entirely, creating a whole new world of cargo possibilities.

You can also purchase available cargo bins to fit into that cargo floor. These make it easy to organize miscellaneous items that you don’t have room for in the trunk area or cabin or that you want to conceal. The bins are quickly removable when you need to stash the seats there.

There’s nothing a parent likes to see more than kids napping in the back seat. Well-rested kids are less cranky kids, who then have the energy to tackle their homework and help with chores. But when the sun is in their eyes, it can make it difficult for little ones to doze off. That’s why the Odyssey boasts built-in sunshades in the second and third rows. This makes it easy for backseat passengers to create a shady place to enjoy an afternoon snooze.

The rear sunshades are also useful for screen time. The sun’s rays can glare on screens, making it hard for passengers to see what’s happening on their laptop, tablet, phone, or other device. But the sunshades can solve this problem—so your kid has no excuse to avoid doing their online homework!

Now that you’ve learned more about the Honda Odyssey, you can plainly see that it’s designed with busy parents in mind. If you’d like to come check it out in person, we have a friendly sales team that can show you more of the terrific features of this minivan. As a dealership with family values, we know how important it is to have a vehicle that makes morning carpool and afterschool pickups a little bit easier, and we’re confident that the Honda Odyssey is that model.

We have every trim of the revamped Honda Odyssey, from the base trim to performance and luxury ones. If you aren’t quite sure which one has the configuration that’ll best enhance your daily drives, just speak to one of our associates; they’ll know what questions to ask you to gain a better understanding of the features you need. There’s a trim of the Odyssey for every driver, no matter your personality or driving habits, so let one of our team members help you select yours.

Our finance team is also here to help families decide how to pay for their Odyssey. We’ve helped countless parents find a lease or loan that helped them keep up with their family’s financial goals. Our finance experts will craft a payment package that suits your monthly budget so you can get on with enjoying this great minivan while staying on track financially.