10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 1 / 3
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 1 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 70,478 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
My eighteen year old daughter was driving our family back to elko, Nevada 54 miles out of wendover Utah our car made a sound as if we had a flat tire or had hit something we pulled to the side of the road. Nothing, my husband then put the car into drive no movement reverse no problem. Our van was towed to slc, Utah to the dealership we purchased the car from, the next day we were informed that we needed a new transmission at the cost of $5600. My van has only 99,000 miles on it and it is a Honda! this happened three days ago I have call into the Honda corporation waiting to hear what they have to say and what they are willing to do. My main concern what could have happened had our family been in city traffic!
- Elko, NV, USA
Transmission failed while on vacation in the mountains @105,200 miles, just passed extended warranty. Lost money on cabin that we could never get to. Failed while merging onto interstate, wouldn't shift. Had to replace transmission with Honda paying goodwill, and we paid $2146.
- Hortense, GA, USA
4 weeks ago the transmission in our 2002 Honda Odyssey with @73000 began slipping occasionally. Gas mileage suffered. Slipping of transmission has increased. Car will lose power at high speeds and low speeds for 10-15 seconds 2X - 3X in a 15 mile drive. Dangerous if I'm in fast lane or can't pull away from light. Don't ever accelerate hard, fear of slippage. Took car to dealer and was told transmission needs replacing. Cost $6100. Called dealer service manager and asked for assistance. He called Honda factory rep and reduced cost to $3440.
- Silver Spring, MD, USA
Premature failure of automatic transmission in 2002 Honda Odyssey - vehicle began shifting poorly and sometimes not at all, check engine light on, flashing prndl indicator light - local Honda service dept. Diagnosed fault code P0780 and recommends replacing transmission!
- Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Purchased 2002 Odyssey in Dec. 2001. I paid over $31,000 including a 6yr 75,000 warranty. When I received the recall notice back in 2004 the Odyssey only had 13, 460 miles on it and because it was shy 1300 miles, the dealer refused to install a new transmission they only installed some jet kit. They performed a transmission flush at 17180 miles than again at 29435 because I complained that it was shifting hard. That was 2 transmission flushes in less than 2 years, when their maintenance specifications supposedly is to be replaced at 45,000 miles than again at 75, 000. And the Honda corporation does not want to admit that there is a design flaw, come on there is over 500 people on the NHTSA site just looking to have a $35000 piece of scrap metal parked at the home for no reason because we just have money to throw away like that, I use to have pride of Honda ownership, now all I feel is ripped off. I have 5 kids and in their lifetime I do not think that I have spent $35000 dollars on them and they won't leave me stranded at 63, 600 miles with out a means of transportation for them. What a rip off, of that $35, 000 that I have invested in their corporation, they do not even have the common courtesy to pick up the cost themselves. What cowards, people work hard for their money and we are transporting kids, I have 5 kids, 4 are under the age of 6, including a set of twins. What are they waiting for? for someone to lose the life of a child or two. This is ridiculous, that so many people are experiencing the same issue and yet they are only willing to put the cost of 50%. haven't we already invested enough not to mention the stress of driving a car in fear of loosing your life! the vehicle failed to accelerate from 2nd to 3rd gear. The consumer was informed the transmission had failed. Updated 11/18/08.
- Kissimmee, FL, USA
Transmission failure on 2002 Honda Odyssey. The Honda service plan for this vehicle has been strictly followed with service being performed by the Honda dealer. At 90,000 miles my van started experiencing transmission problems with no indicated faults (slipping when shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear). The dealer quoted me $3,000 to replace the transmission with a rebuilt transmission. Per what I have read this same problem is surfacing in most Honda vans. In ten months the private party re-sale value on the van has gone from $10,500 to $7,500. It is my complaint that Honda is well aware of this defective and dangerous problem but has not offered to properly address it.
- Lincoln, NE, USA
My husband, 2 year old daughter and myself were driving to Maine from New Jersey after purchasing our used 2002 Honda Odyssey just the previous month at 102000 miles. Only an hour into the trip after passing through the toll plaza and getting onto the NY thruway the van had no control. I pushed the brake and the van accelerated, I pushed the gas and the van lurched to a stop as if someone pulled the emergency brake. I lost control of the steering and there was no shoulder to pull over to since there was construction. Cars, and 18 wheelers were flying past me and I was in the left lane. After putting my hazards on and driving no more then 5 miles an hour I was able to get over to the shoulder. At this time all the dash lights started flashing and smoke started pouring out of the hood. We got it towed to the nearest Honda dealership, and they told us the transmission was fried and the dealer that sold it to us had overfilled the transmission fluid by 3 quarts. They said we would need a new transmission. Our warranty shipped a rebuilt transmission. Now after only putting around 2000 miles on it and only 2 months later we are starting to have the same problems. It bucks when it shifts, it brakes when I accelerate and the whole car shakes when I shift. I have a 2 year old daughter and I am scared for our lives to drive in this, as most of our extended families live 1 hour or more so that requires us to drive on major highways. This is definitely a major safety concern!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Bethlehem, PA, USA
2002 Honda Odyssey ex transmission issues. I have a Odyssey with continuous issue regarding the transmission. I bought this car thinking that I was putting my family is a safe reliable vehicle and I would soon find out I was very wrong. The dealership will do nothing to assist. I had a 2 week warranty from the dealership. The vehicle spent 10 days with them trying to address this issue. Without choice I send my family out in this vehicle everyday. Every day my wife tells me how the car will start to buck and vibrate at random times while driving. I suggest to her to change her driving habits and these changes seam to make things worse at times. According to Honda they will put another faulty transmission in my vehicle with money out of my pocket. I guess my only option is to sell this vehicle and make this someone else's problem. This is a serious injustice that Honda is able to put these vehicles on us roads. I called Honda America and they claim that they will pay 50% of parts so I am on the hook for $2000+ for something that will just fail again. I have just recently read an article that concerning an incident that due to a malfunctioning transmission a Maine family were in a horrific accident due to the transmission dislodging from the engine compartment and causing the car to flip. I have read all the reviews on this issue and all of the owner comments and I am dumbfounded that they the transmission issue has not been corrected in 8 years and they continue to malfunctioning transmission in these vehicles. They should not be allowed to sell these vehicles in the us. I have read that the amount of affected people concerning this issue has topped 500,000. They should be forced to recall all the vehicles just as Toyota has for the deteriorating frames. Atleast that is a visual issue and one that you could be addressed. This transmission thing we have no idea if or when you could be in a serious accident.
- Epsom, NH, USA
2002 Honda Odyssey ex defective replacement transmission. Consumer states that the transmission was replaced three different times. The consumer stated the first transmission was the subject of a national recall. The consumer stated right before the transmission failed, the tachometer became irregular and the speed slowed down. The transmission was diagnosed as having internal failure.
- Findlay, OH, USA
2002 Honda Odyssey with 65,000 miles was hesitating and the revving very high before shifting gears. In addition, the check engine light and tcs light came on along with the "D" gearshift green light was flashing. Brought it to dealer and they stated that the transmission flares on downshift to second, shifts hard, and bangs into gear. Also the front engine mount is bad. The dealer stated I need a new transmission for $4200. Called american Honda and expressed my dissatisfaction with the problem. They stated it is out of warranty but they began a case number and my case was reviewed by a case manager. American Honda has offered to pay for 50% of the repairs to maintain customer loyalty.
- Harrisburg, PA, USA
Transmission on 2002 Honda Odyssey with 49,000 miles is slipping at speeds between 30 and 40 mph. Dealer recommends that transmission be replaced at a cost of $3000. The oil cooler return line was modified per NHTSA 04V176000 in 2004 via recall to Honda or failure to do so could result in a crash. This car has few highway miles and likely less loading on the higher gears. No statement is made on adequacy of replacement by Honda.
- Rocky River, OH, USA
We own a 2002 Honda Odyssey. Need I say more? the transmission has problems shifting between the 2nd and 3rd gears, shaking the van. This happens while accelerating and decelerating. This is a concern as my wife is the main driver of the vehicle, transporting herself and our children around to their many activities.
- Sharon, MA, USA
I have a 2002 Odyssey with 101,000 miles and the transmission just failed. Dealer is saying $4,600 to replace it with a rebuilt one, plus $396 for two cracked engine mounts (caused by the violent shaking of the van due to the faulty transmission). They said that there was the recall in 2004 and I had the van inspected at that time and they found nothing wrong. They seem to imply that since they inspected the van at 30,000 miles, they're off the hook. I have filed a complaint with american Honda and am waiting for a response.
- Reisterstown, MD, USA
Transmission has failed after 74,000 miles. Have been without vehicle for almost a week because Honda America is 'investigating'. quoted $3859 by dealer to replace.
- Stone Mountain, GA, USA
The transmission on my 2002 Honda Odyssey with only 83,000 miles failed and needed to be replaced by the local Honda dealer. There were no previous problems. The transmission had maintenance service by a Honda dealer. The check engine light came on, the transmission started making noises and slipping. I brought it to the Honda dealer the next day and was told that the codes indicated I need a new transmission!!! a costly proposition. I am aware of numerous other problems with Honda Odyssey transmissions. The earlier recall should be extended to additional model years.
- Minneapolis, MN, USA
Transmission failure.
- Southampton, 00, USA
At 49000 miles, when pulling into traffic and accelerating, vehicle would fail to accelerate from 2nd to 3rd gear. Engine would rev, but would act as if it was in neutral, would not continue to accelerate. Would have to ease of gas and allow vehicle to downshift before accelerating again. Almost caused accident due to pulling out into traffic and not being able to pick up speed. Had to have transmission replaced. Vehicle ran okay, though still would experience rough downshifting from time to time, for 3.5 years, now having same trouble and having to replace transmission again. Situation is dangerous and is going to result in an accident if not for us, then for someone else with the same vehicle and similar problems.
- Christiansburg, VA, USA
Our 2002 Honda Odyssey's transmission started downshifting on it's own when the mileage was at 70,500. This deceleration usually occurs when going into second gear, but has also happened at higher speeds. It occurs several or more times everytime we drive the car (which is everyday). We have three children who travel in this van daily, and after reading all the reports on the internet, we are extremely concerned for their safety. In one recent incident a semi truck was traveling at a high rate of speed behind us. As I attempted to switch lanes to avoid being rear ended, our Honda decelerated, and when I pushed harder on the accelerator, it did not respond. Luckily a car in the next lane slowed down to let us over, and we were able to avoid a serious accident. We have taken our Honda into the dealer five times in the last year for this problem. They stated they were "unable to reproduce the problem" when they drove the van. The vehicle has completely broken down on two occasions, and they replaced the battery and alternator (8-07), alternator belt -due to broken bracket (6-08). Right before it broke down on these occasions, the check engine light and other dash lights were flashing, and the speedometer needle was bouncing all over the place. It was brought back to the dealer on 8-21-08 due to another breakdown as described above. They claim it needs a new battery, alternator belt, and two new alternator brackets. Honda is obviously buying themselves time by fixing the "minor issues" in hopes that we will be another customer who crawls to the 100,000 mile mark when our warranty expires and we're informed our transmission mysteriously needs to be replaced. Unfortunately, if we keep this vehicle we'll be paying for it since it is no longer covered under the warranty. Action needs to be taken to hold Honda accountable for this defect before people are seriously injured or killed.`
- Wind Lake, WI, USA
Transmission seems to disengage after slowing down and then accelerating and does the same thing going around a turn or through a traffic light. Car has 63,000 miles on it and to knowledge no one has worked on the transmission and supposedly it was supposed have a modification done on it at some time or another but not to my knowledge so I took it to my Honda dealer and they tell me it will cost $3983 to rebuild the transmission, now from what I have read on the internet about his all Honda are having the same problem so why isn't Honda required to repair these if they are all going bad, just looking on the internet I must have seem hundreds of complaints about Honda transmissions.
- Grafton, OH, USA
- Naperville, IL, USA