2006 HONDA ODYSSEY

2006 honda odyssey

Kickingtires Reveals Family Cars of the Year

Family cars face painstaking demands. These days, they are used not just for family driving adventures but for business purpose as well. With the versatility expected of them, automakers find it hard to emerge as the best in the family car segment - but this is not the case with Honda. Earlier, 3 of Honda's vehicles were awarded the "Best Car for Small Families," "Best Car for Big Families," and the "Best New Car for First-Time Drivers" by KickingTires.

The 2007 Honda Accord emerged as the "Best New Car for Small Family. Honda Accord parts are especially designed to face rigorous family car's demands. For the 2007 model year, Accord was given new trim called SE-V6. Also, for the sedan version, cool blue metallic color was made available. The runners-up for the Best New Car for Small Families were BMW 328, Ford Five Hundred, Honda Civic, Hyundai Sonata, Infiniti G35, Mazda5, Mazda6, Subaru Legacy, and Toyota Camry.

On the one hand, 2007 Honda Odyssey was given the "Best Car for Big Families" commendation. Honda Odyssey is a minivan introduced by the automaker in 1995. The runners up for said title were Acura MDX, Chevrolet Suburban, GMC Yukon, Hyundai Entourage, Kia Sedona, Mercedes-Benz R-Class, Toyota Highlander, Toyota Sienna, and Volvo XC90.

For the "Best New Car for First-Time Drivers" category, 2007 Honda Civic emerged as the winner. Honda Civic parts are especially engineered to be accommodating to first-time drivers. The car's auto parts can be easily operated so it fits . The runners up for the category were Honda Fit, Hyundai Elantra, Hyundai Sonata, Mazda3, Pontiac Vibe, Scion tC, Subaru Impreza, Toyota Camry and Toyota Matrix.

Finally, for the "Best New Car for Empty Nesters" category, 2007 Jaguar XK emerged as the winner. The runners up were BMW 650, Chevrolet Corvette, Ford Mustang, Infiniti G35, Infiniti M45, Lexus LS 460, Mazda MX-5 Miata, Mercedes-Benz SL-Class and Volvo C70.

“Before we named the four finalists for Family Car of the Year in our first annual Lifestyle Awards, we considered all the 2006- and 2007-model-year vehicles we’ve tested and narrowed them down to a select group. We’ll tackle the other Lifestyle categories as we get closer to the final awards Jan. 3, but for now see what other cars we recommend for families and how staffers Mike Hanley, Kelsey Mays, Patrick Olsen, David Thomas and Joe Wiesenfelder debated the winners" KickingTires revealed.

In most categories, analysts say that Honda and Toyota car parts are showcasing excellence. As observed by analysts, prices for highly equipped models have greatly increased with time and innovations.

About the Author

Tom Bailey is a consultant for one of the country’s leading auto parts stores. He is also an editor of a reputable publishing company in his area. He is currently based in Atlantic City, New Jersey with his wife and 3 children.

2006 Honda Odyssey CM

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Downsizing: Switching to a Smaller Car Can Increase Your Insurance Bill

Americans are looking to smaller cars for savings on spiraling gas prices and for lower emissions, but will car insurance savings follow, too?

According to Autodata Corp., from June 2007 to June 2008, total light truck sales dropped 28.4 percent. Even the vehicles that have long reigned as top-sellers the Ford F-series pickups have taken a 40.5 percent sales hit from June 2007 to June 2008, according to Ford. Meanwhile, sales of the Toyota Corolla and Camry and Honda Civic and Accord continue to go up, filling in the sales gap. Honda reported that the Civic hit a new sales record in June 2008, up 23.1 percent from last year.

There are substantial fuel savings to be seen in those vehicle-size changes. For example, switching from a Ford F-150 FWD pickup (13 mpg city/17 mpg highway) to a Honda Civic (25 mpg city/36 mpg highway) will save you close to $2,000 annually in gas. (That's from a fuel cost of $2,091 for the Civic and $4,042 for the F-150 based on 45 percent highway driving and 55 percent city driving at 15,000 miles/year and at $4.04 per gallon.) If you'd like to make side-by-side comparisons of other vehicles' fuel economy, visit www.FuelEconomy.gov.

Once you know how much you could save on gas, how about on car insurance? Does a smaller vehicle equate to smaller car insurance rates?

The answer is usually a big fat NO.

According to Insure.com's car insurance rate research, switching from a larger vehicle to a small car like a Honda Civic or Toyota Prius is likely to raise your car insurance rate (see chart). We surveyed rates for four of the nation's largest auto insurers in multiple ZIP codes across the U.S. for the 2009 Toyota Prius and Honda Civic against the top-selling larger cars: The Toyota Camry (a sedan), Honda CR-V (an SUV), the Toyota Sienna (a minivan) and the Ford F-150 (a pickup). The results: The Prius and Civic are the most expensive to insure among the group.

2009 Model Vehicle Average Nation Premium

Honda Civic $835.11 Toyota Prius $691.13 Toyota Camry $651.07 Toyota Sienna $632.97 Honda CR-V $629.20 Ford F-series $597.13

What's going on here? Do car insurers have no appreciation for fuel conservation, lower emissions and smaller carbon footprints? The answer for insurers is: Only when it's justified by their claims experience.

"Small cars tend to increase insurance costs because they get into more crashes," says Russ Rader, spokesperson for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). "There's a myth that a smaller car is more nimble and helps you avoid crashes, but smaller cars tend to have more collision losses."

Of course it's not the cars causing the accidents, it's the people behind the wheel. "Part of the reason is the driver," says Rader. "Smaller cars tend to be less expensive and driven by younger, higher-risk drivers. And they think they can zip around in traffic."

When auto insurers see those more frequent and more expensive claims attached to certain vehicles, they rate car insurance policies for those vehicles accordingly. Thus, when you buy a smaller car that has a history of high insurance losses, you're essentially paying for the blunders of other drivers of that vehicle model. Past insurance loss experience tracked by the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), a division of IIHS, gives some insight into where these smaller vehicles are resulting in bigger insurance losses (the most recent data comes from 2004 to 2006 model vehicles):

- The Honda Civic is "worse than average" for personal injury protection losses and medical payments. That means passenger injuries are costly for this car. - The Honda Civic Coupe fares even worse: It is "worse than average" for bodily injury and "substantially worse than average" for collision, personal injury protection and medical payment losses. - The Honda CR-V, classified as a small SUV, performs at "average" for all loss categories except comprehensive losses, where it is "substantially better than average." Comprehensive coverage includes payments for theft, fire, vandalism and natural disasters. - The Toyota Sienna minivan is "better" or "substantially better than average" across all loss categories, meaning insurers are paying out less in claims for Sienna drivers. (Very large station wagons and minivans, like the Sienna, Honda Odyssey and Chrysler Town & Country, show no below average losses at all.) - Ford F-150 pickups perform "substantially better than average" for personal injury protection and medical payment claims. Their only "worse" category is comprehensive claims, probably because the F-150 ranks at No. 4 on the "most stolen vehicles" list compiled by the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

So while your big F-150 may catch the eye of car thieves, your passengers are safer from injury in an accident.

"There's a big safety downside to moving to a smaller car because you're putting yourself at more risk of injury," confirms Rader. "It all boils down to the laws of physics: People think about safety features like air bags, but no matter how many air bags you stuff into a smaller car, it's not going to be as safe as a larger, heavier vehicle."

Whatever vehicle you drive, the vehicle model is only one of many factors that go into the price of your policy: Your own driving record, claims history and your location affect your premium significantly.

About the Author

Amy Danise is an editor for Insure.com. Visit Insure.com for a comprehensive array of comparative auto, life and health quotes, including a vast library of originally authored insurance articles and decision-making tools that are not available from any other single source. Insure.com is dedicated to providing impartial insurance information to consumers. Visitors can obtain instant insurance quotes from more than 200 leading insurers, achieve maximum savings and have the freedom to buy from any company shown.

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