Which 2023 Odyssey Trims Are Best for Families?

When you’re raising young children, your car rides go a little bit differently than they do for others. Okay—they go a lot differently. You don’t just need to focus on the road; you also need to respond to rear-seat requests for snacks and manage fights over who poked who first. You’re keeping young passengers content, entertained, and (mostly) behaved, all while trying to get the whole crew to their destination safely.

And that’s not even getting into all the stuff your kids come with, like toys, juice boxes, iPads, and stinky sports gear. Being a parent of little ones is a full-time, all-hours job, and you need a vehicle that’s designed for your unique, chaotic, but ultimately lovable lifestyle. That’s why we highly suggest visiting us at Ralph Honda and checking out a Honda Odyssey for sale.

The Odyssey was Honda’s very first minivan. They released it in 1995, designing the original model on the Accord platform. The first generation could seat six or seven passengers, had less-than-impressive horsepower, and boasted rather limited safety features.

Today, the Odyssey has come a long way, with seating for eight, terrific driver assistance features, and a myriad of convenience tech to make mom and dad’s drive more pleasant and rear seat passengers happier. Plus, its cargo space and configurability can’t be beat. The 2023 Honda Odyssey comes in five trims, and we’ll help you find the best one for your family’s needs.

Before getting into what makes each trim unique, we’ll quickly touch on what you can expect on all trims. The Odyssey offers seating for eight, with a MagicSlide second row that glides forward to allow easy access to the third row. The second row even folds flat and can be entirely removed. Plus, the third row stows into the floor when folded flat. With the second and third rows out of the way, you can enjoy up to 158 cu.ft. of storage space in your 2023 Odyssey. There are even bag hooks behind the third-row seats for propping up groceries and similar items!

You’ll get a peppy 3.5L V6 engine across the lineup, which gets impressive fuel economy for a vehicle of such heft. In fact, the EPA rates the 2023 Odyssey at 22 MPG combined—19 MPG in the city, 28 MPG on the highway—so it’s more than ready for some family road trips. That engine is paired with a ten-speed automatic transmission for smooth, subtle increments in shifting gears.

Expect smartphone compatibility for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay on all trims, plus USB cords in the front and center console, and passengers can easily get in and out via the power sliding doors. On the safety front, all trims will get the Honda Sensing suite of driver assistance features; these include a Collision Mitigation Braking System, Road Departure Mitigation System, Lane Keeping Assist System, Traffic Sign Recognition, and Adaptive Cruise Control with Low-Speed Follow. Plus, all trims enjoy a multi-angle rearview camera.

The EX is the base level trim and will have everything covered above. It’s a terrific offering for the price point, and it’s a trim we confidently recommend to families that are sticking to a budget. However, if you want some more advanced features, there are plenty across the higher trims…

The EX-L has several features that make it appealing to busy parents who spend a lot of time on the road and running errands. For instance, this trim gets the hands-free power liftgate; simply make a swift pass of your foot beneath the bumper to open the trunk automatically. When your hands are full of groceries or sports gear, this is a major benefit. Plus, its height is adjustable, so you can control how far the tailgate opens. If multiple drivers get behind the wheel of your minivan regularly, you might also like the power front seats with driver’s memory settings; this will recall your preferred positioning, so even if someone adjusts the driver’s seat, the next time you turn the vehicle on, it will automatically return your seat to your preferred settings. The EX-L also gets a one-touch moonroof, which is a nice addition for those road-tripping families who relish a clear view of the sites during their adventures.

We’ll touch on the Sport, just so you’re familiar with it, but we don’t necessarily rank it as a top trim for families. It’s got some striking interior and exterior styling to make it earn its moniker, but the truly family-friendly features start to show up in the Touring trim…

If we meet parents who say, “Give me a vehicle that will take my stress away,” well, we can’t promise perfect backseat behavior, but we can come close to perfection with the Touring trim. This trim gets the rear entertainment system, which streams music and shows to keep little ones content on long drives. It also boasts the “How Much Farther” app—an ingenious little app that uses fun graphics to show your rear seat passengers when you’ll arrive at your destination. What we most love about the Touring trim are the CabinWatch and CabinTalk features. The former streams rear-seat camera footage into your touchscreen, so you can always keep an eye on your passengers. CabinTalk lets you speak into an intercom system that will pipe through to the rear speakers. It can even pipe through to any headphones your kids might be wearing, so they can’t claim they “didn’t hear you” when you asked them to stop pinching their siblings.

The Touring trim is also the first with a Wi-Fi hotspot capability. That means your kids can keep up with virtual classes or online homework assignments on the road or simply use their devices to stream shows and chat with friends. It also means you, as the parent, can access the internet wherever you are. We also love to show the Touring to families who adventure together because it has the Honda Satellite Navigation, meaning you’ll still get navigation, even when you’re not in a service area. It’s also a good trim for road trip naps, thanks to second- and third-row sunshades. Finally, all three rows of the Touring trim get USB ports for easy device charging.

The Elite has these same family-friendly features, like the hands-free power tailgate, CabinTalk, CabinWatch, USB ports in all three rows, and Wi-Fi capability. It also gets heated and ventilated front seats for some added climate control in different conditions. Some of the other features you’d be getting here might not necessarily be priorities to families of little ones, like the 11-speaker Premium Audio System or the wireless phone charger. However, if you want a family-friendly trim with some perks for mom and dad, this is a solid choice.

We always get excited to show the Honda Odyssey to parents of small children. When we see that “I need a vehicle that makes my life easier” look in a parent’s eyes, we know it’s the perfect time to introduce them to the Odyssey. Honda designed every inch of this minivan with the days of hectic family life in mind. From front to back, it’s rich with convenient features that make the driver’s and passengers’ experience more enjoyable and comfortable. Plus, it offers incredible cargo space and configuration, ideal for loading up gear for athletic practices and school projects. When you need seating for eight and intuitive features that make a world of difference when raising little ones, you need the Honda Odyssey. Visit us today and take one for a test drive. We’d love to show you these features in person.