There are a lot of reasons why we buy the cars we buy, but if you’re looking at a minivan, I am telling you that once you see the built-in vacuum in the 2014 Honda Odyssey you’ll be sold.
I’m a bit of a neat freak and when my kids were younger it drove me nuts how messy they could make a car. It’s like all kids turn into Pig-Pen and a cloud of debris just magically appears on the seats, the carpet, the doors, the windows, and even the roof. Oh, admit it, you’ve seen an unidentifiable smudge on the roof above your kid’s head and wondered, “How’d she do that?” just like every other parent.
This means hauling out the vacuum, or being too lazy to do it and dealing with the mashed, ground-in consequences later. Unless, of course, you are looking at minivans and you opt for the 2014 Honda Odyssey Touring Elite. It is the single coolest unnecessary but totally necessary car accessory ever. Ever.
I really thought it was going to be silly when I saw it on the gigantic list of features. That list starts with all kinds of things to keep you safe like lots of airbags, cameras, and audible and visual alerts when you’re about to smack into someone you don’t see.
Next come the convenience features like a cool box to keep drinks cold, a bag hook for trash bags accessible by second-row occupants, more cup holders than you can shake a stick at, and an entertainment system that features split-screen capability to increase the odds of keeping the whole car entertained. And then, there’s the vacuum.
It’s actually called HondaVAC because cool features need cool names, and it’s tucked away in a side rear compartment. You just put the car in accessory mode, open the little hatch to pull out the super-long hose, pick one of two attachments, and you’re keeping your car from becoming a biohazard zone.
I expected it to be an afterthought, something that worked only so-so, but it really worked! It’s possible I threw various cereals on the carpet to test and that it sucked up Cheerios, Corn Flakes, and Boo-Berry with equal vigor. It even handled finer stuff like a bunch of sawdust from a board I hauled to the dump.
My kids are older now, and most of the time do not leave a trail of debris when they’re leaving the car, but if you’ve got little ones and are looking at a minivan, trust me. The vacuum in the 2014 Honda Odyssey Touring Elite is the best car accessory ever!
