Car owners have very varied criteria by which they judge their cars. We did lots of research, saw the negative reviews of the Quest, and decided to try it last when we went to try a selection of current minivans:

Chrysler/Plymouth: OK, but hard to get the big engine and the fold-away seating in a cost effective package.

Odyssey: nice, but every one we had seen had problems, e.g. electric doors malfunctioning, etc.

Toyota: this was the most surprising...we expected to go into the lot and buy one, but the test drive was a very disappointing experience! It felt heavy, underpowered, and the suspension was floppy and oversoft. The one we tried smelled as if someone was frying eggs on the engine.

The Nissan felt like it was saying "Take me home and drive me!" Tight (for a minivan, anyway) suspension, fine engine, comfortable seating, fold-flat seating in back, and we actually liked the instrument pod.

Most people really dislike anything new and/or different, and emotions play a big part in determining the cars they buy. The Quest is just a little different, many folks don't appreciate the handling or the engine; like I said, they probably have different criteria, many of them having to do with familiarity. But I think you made a good choice (or at least the same one we did :-) )

I'm now on my 2nd Quest. Bought an '04 SL back in '03, one of the first off the line. Had EVERY problem in the book, then some. I've finally switched to an '06 SE due primarily to the hefty promotions available from Nissan that brought the price of the SE in below what I paid for the SL.

Anyway, does anybody else experience problems or discomfort from the length of the seat bottoms, i.e., where the edge of the seat bottom hits the underside of the thigh? This kills me on long trips.

Now, perhaps I've been spoiled by seats that amazingly comfortable in my previous and other vehicles such as the seats in my Volvo or my Saab or other European cars. When I comparison-shopped minivans back in '03, the Odyssey's driver's seat was by far the most comfortable of all of them.

The thing is, Nissan can make a comfy seat. While shopping for the '06 I sat in the driver's seat of a 350Z (yum) and an Armada (too ridiculously big, but a VERY supportive seat). When I bought the SE I joked that I'd buy it today if they could get an Armada driver's seat fitted for the same price :-)

Any other experiences?

BTW, the '06 SE is way better than the '04 SL.

I think it is just normal, MPVs get some not so good reviews due to size and some other things as well, but their owners mostly love them.

There was some Mazda hater while ago or don't know if it was a group, there was bunch of bogus bad user reviews on auto.msn.com. Here is the thread from MPVClub http://www.mpvclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4263

If you want to see how bogus reviews look for comparson, check the 2003 Miata here http://autos.msn.com/research/userreviews/reviewlist.aspx?ModelID=10458&search=LowestRated

I did not finish cleaning up the bogus junk for that one as I did try to acomplish for the other models as described in that thred from MPVClub.

Your experiences are similar to my own. Due to negative press, we were able to get a superior van at a bargin price. The automotive press doesn't give minivans the time of day. The limited reviews shower praise on the status quo and very conservatively styled machines. That's not to say anything bad about the Sienna and Odysessy, but they are not as perfect as their dealers who mark them UP would have you believe. Alot of it is hyperbole.

That said, 2004 was a pretty bad year. It's going to take awhile for the stigma of all those recalls to wane away. In the meantime, those open minded enough to judge the Quest for themselves will have an opportunity to get a great deal.

I think most were put off by the center gauge cluster and unique styling of the Quest. Note that the Saturn Ion was initially bombarded in car magazines for its placement of gauges "other than where God intended them." I must admit that I didn't like it at first--but my wife insisted that's the one she wanted and it eventually grew on me. We looked at a Toyota, a Dodge/Chrysler, and even a Kia, but never seriously considered a Honda because of the attitude we received at the local dealership. Apparently the Sienna and Odyssey appeal to more of the mainstream auto enthusiasts/journalists. I've read some of the reports and they bring up some valid complaints, but overall we're happy with ours. We'll still shop around when this one dies, though.