Potential Ticking Time Bombs: 2003 Honda Odyssey vs 2012 Hyundai Veloster

Welcome back! Today we have two cars from the Pacific Northwest that run fine now, but both have the potential to go kaboom at some point in the future. Which one is more worth the risk? Determining that is your mission, should you choose to accept it.

Yesterday we were in the Phoenix suburbs looking at two old solid-axle rear-wheel-drive relics. There was lots of love for the old Plymouth Fury, but it didn’t translate into enough votes to pull a win away from that Camaro. And by the way, I thought the RS was the base model Camaro in those days; I didn’t realize there was an even more basic version, hence the mislabeling. As always, I regret the error, and thanks for keeping me honest.

As much as I appreciate an old cop-ish Mopar, I have to side with the Camaro fans here. It wouldn’t be my first choice of GM pony car, but it’s not a bad one either. And yeah, you can say that a Camaro should have a V8, but we’re not talking about an Iron Duke here. That 3800 puts out almost as much power as the V8 in the IROC did when I was in high school. It’s plenty.

Now then: Cars these days are leaps and bounds more reliable and durable than they once were. There was a time when 80,000 miles on an engine or an automatic transmission was a lot, and breakdowns weren’t unheard of even in brand-new cars. Nowadays, you can buy a Camry that already has 200,000 miles on it, and be reasonably confident it will serve you well for a few more years. Once in a while, however, a bad design or a poorly-made component slips through the cracks, and a car develops a bad reputation because of it. Both of today’s cars have the potential for critical components to completely shit the bed at any given moment – in one case it’s the engine, and in the other, the transmission. Let’s check them out and see which one you’d rather roll the dice on.

2003 Honda Odyssey EX – $3,450

Engine/drivetrain: 3.5-liter overhead cam V6, five-speed automatic, FWD

Location: Tacoma, WA

Odometer reading: 172,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives well

Honda’s second-generation Odyssey has a lot going for it. It’s a good size, it’s comfortable, it has a lot of cool features, and it’s pretty reliable – with one glaring exception. The transmission, a five-speed automatic unit, can and often does fail from excessive heat, causing it to slip, lock in second gear, or just plain fail entirely. They’re twenty years old or more, which means most of them that are still on the road should have been rebuilt or replaced by now, but you never know. This van, with 172,000 miles, is overdue for a failure, if it’s still on its original transmission.

It’s being sold by a dealership, so information on its condition is, as always, absent. They do say it comes with a three-month warranty, which should alleviate a little worry about the transmission – if you can get them to honor it. A pre-purchase inspection, either by yourself or a trusted mechanic, is an especially good idea in this case.

It’s in very good shape, which typically means it has been well cared for. Vans take a lot more abuse than other family-type vehicles, and the clean and intact upholstery of this one speaks well of it. It’s an EX, so it has all the power stuff, as well as cruise control and such.

The outside looks clean as well, and I like the color. It’s a handsome style, too, not fussy or overdone like so many vehicles, including Honda’s own, these days. There shouldn’t be any problems with rust in western Washington, but it’s worth a peek underneath just to be sure.

2012 Hyundai Veloster – $2,500

Engine/drivetrain: 1.6-liter dual overhead cam inline 4, six-speed manual, FWD

Location: Tacoma, WA

Odometer reading: 135,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives well

The Hyundai Veloster (or Velociraptor as my wife calls it) is a weird car. It took me a while to realize, when they first came out, that there weren’t two-door and four-door variants; instead they all had three doors. It has a low roofline with a window shape that sort of makes it look like a modern rendition of an AMC Gremlin from certain angles. But aside from all that, it’s a zippy little hatchback with a six-speed stick, and that can’t be all bad – as long as its 1.6 liter “Gamma” engine doesn’t self-destruct, that is.

This Veloster runs fine at the moment, but the seller has had trouble with the engine going into “limp mode” in the past. They mention the knock sensor, by which I assumed they meant the pre-ignition sensor installed on most engines to adjust the timing, but apparently part of Hyundai’s solution to the whole Gamma engine debacle was to add a sensor that can detect a connecting rod bearing failure early on. The addition of this sensor extends the engine’s warranty to 15 years or 150,000 miles, meaning that this one has a couple of years and a little under 15,000 miles to go. Of course, it might be fine – some Gamma engines live to ripe old ages.

It’s nice and clean inside, though I never really liked this style of interior. It looks like the cheap bookshelf stereos that you saw on sale at Best Buy twenty years ago. It probably stays clean-looking longer than piano black, or that Volkswagen soft-touch crap, though.

It’s a bit banged up outside; both sides have some dings and scrapes on the doors. There is also some peeling clear coat and faded black paint on the A-pillars. It’s not bad looking at all for a $2,500 car, though, and I still like this shade of green.

These are both old and cheap cars now, so I guess you can’t expect miracles when it comes to longevity. And you never know; neither one might ever have any problems. Both have a little cushion of warranty, at least, and that’s not something you typically get with cars in this price range. You just have to hope that if they fail, they do so within the warranty period. So are you more likely to gamble on the comfy van, or the weird little hatchback?

(Image credits: sellers)