Ahhh.., the old Sienna vs Odyssey vs 3rd row SUV decision. Been there a few times myself. The first was several years ago with the arrival of the first child. I liked the Odyssey because of its newer features and styling. The wife like the Sienna because of the AWD. Colorado has about 5 days a year where AWD is pretty desirable. Just a month ago I was on a snowy road where the Odyssey in front of me got stuck on a hill and had to back all the way down it. My 4WD trunk almost didn't make it up the hill. Those kinds of conditions don't happen often but even one day in a ditch is too much. The ending compromise was the Honda Pilot. It was basically the AWD version of the Odyssey but without the sliding doors. I loved that car and it didn't give me a lick of trouble between 65k and 144K miles. So, when it came time to trade it in, I wanted another Pilot. We looked at mini vans again. They seemed like a good choice when the kids were younger, but now that they can get in the car themselves, and use seat belts, it wasn't as appealing. The wife was also tired of driving the "family" car. She wanted something fun and since I didn't want to give up my truck, we got an Acura MDX. I figured it was basically a Honda so it should have decent reliability. I think if Honda had one weakness in their VANs and SUVs over the years it was their transmissions. The pilots had undersized coolers and transmissions would fail under load. I never towed with mine. My fried had an Odyssey that down shifted into first gear while doing 65 on the highway. I think Honda fixed that for free since it almost killed him. He immediately sold it. My MDX had some shudder and after doing some research I found there was a field notice about upgrading the ECU code to fix the shift points. Honda upgraded the code for $35 and now it works like it should.
The transmissions seem to be the Achilles heel of Honda/Acura vehicles. The engines will run practically forever. When something big goes it usually the transmission.
LOL my first instinct was why Odyssey instead of Pilot? But I guess if you need real 3rd row seating there isn't many options. Most of the 3rd row seating in SUVs make me laugh. American kids wont fit in there. I've always owned at least 1 Honda/Acura since I could first drive. Super reliable with very little maintenance allows me to experiment with a 2nd less reliable car. But it's best to stick with what they do best: 4 cylinders automatics. It took them over a decade to get 6 cylinders automatics to work. To be fair I used to have a 1st gen 6cyl auto, it had serious transmission problems that got progressively worse after 50k miles. But it still never failed and hung in there until I got rid of the car 12 years later at 180k.
Most 3rd rows are only suitable for 10 and under but can be used in a pinch by adults if needed. People with 3+ older kids need a larger SUV. We came really close to buying a VW Atlas instead of the MDX. I don't really like VWs but we both loved the Atlas. Two full size adults can fit in the back seat. Plus I love the 70s mustard shag carpet color.
Notre Dame cathedral is burning: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/15/world/europe/notre-dame-fire.html
I had to put one of my dogs to sleep. I’m so heartbroken right now. It was one of the saddest things I’ve ever experienced.
Yeah, dude that suck. I think men get even more attached as they are the primary caretakers of dogs most of the time. Anyway, this always makes me smile when I'm sad.
I loved her just like any other member of my family. My son loved her too. He's looking everywhere for her. I've tried telling him that she loved him so much but she was very sick and had to go away and he won't be able to see her again except in pictures, but he is too young to understand. I've been crying off and on all day.
I can understand. It’s so sad. My vet offers at home euthanasia so we went with that option. She got to die peacefully in her own bed and I held her the whole time. The vet said the at home option is becoming more common. Having it done at the office can be scary for the dog. It was like she went down for a nap and just didn’t wake up.
I had to make the decision to euthanize the family dog from my childhood. He was extremely old for a dog and had severe heart problems, and it was nearly summer, a hot and humid hell that would have been horrible for the types of cardiopulmonary problems he was having. The vet was polite and tactful about it. I think it surprised them I carried him out afterwards and buried him on family property myself, though. He was like a member of the family for us as well, so that seemed fitting and appropriate to me.
The king of international toilet slavers has died by "suicide." Sounds like the cabal of toilet slavers couldn't let their secrets get out. https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/10/us/jeffrey-epstein-death/index.html
Just yesterday I was reading about how there was no way this guy was going to be alive much longer and that their would be a "suicide" soon. He had enough information to get a lot of rich and powerful people locked up for a long time.
I'm sure even his friends, who weren't directly involved with his activities, must have known what type of guy he was. “I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it – Jeffrey enjoys his social life.” -Trump