We submitted this letter to the General Manager of Metro Honda, Jeff Proctor, on May 2, 2016 And we have received NO RESPONSE.

My wife and I, with our family of 4 children, have owned the 2001 Honda Odyssey in question, new, since 2001. We have had our last 6 Honda’s ALL serviced at Metro Honda in Montclair. Metro has just now notified us that we need to replace the transmission on this Odyssey, for the 2nd time.

• Our Odyssey now has 119,000 miles on it & the transmission was first replaced by us when it had 76,293 miles in March of 2008. What is the life span of a Honda transmission? It’s only been 42,707 miles since the transmission was replaced and now it needs another one?

The replacement transmission appears to have either been defective, not genuine, re-conditioned, re-furbished or re-manufactured. We have records of all repairs and services performed by Honda. We can provide them to you or to outside parties, if needed. We do not think that we should be liable for the costs/expenses of replacing yet another defective transmission that has a lifespan below industry standards and not in conformance with the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR).

For us to continue buying Honda’s and have them serviced at Metro Honda, we propose that Honda pay for and install a new transmission on this Odyssey at no cost to the owner.

Our son is graduating from college in May and will be purchasing a car for himself. Of course, Honda is his 1st choice. However, we are reluctant to purchase another Honda unless Honda replaces the defective transmission on our Odyssey.

In regards to Customer Loyalty: We have purchased ONLY NEW Honda’s since 1978-NO used Honda’s or other cars. All have been serviced only at Honda Dealerships/Service Centers.

Most recently, our purchases have included:

2012 Civic Blue EX VIN# 19XFB2F81CE302552 Lic# GSGW722

2011 Civic Red EX VIN# 19XFA1F85BE007904 Lic# 6NVU836

2010 Civic Grey EX VIN# 19XFA1F82AE080419 Lic# 6NQT874

2008 Civic Blue EX VIN# 1HGFA16858L064184 Lic# 6DZP259

2001 Odyssey Silver EX VIN# 2HKRL18631H514202 Lic# 4PHU974

1999 Accord White EX VIN# 1HGCG1658XA049289 Lic# 4GOW183

1987 Acura Integra Grey EX purchased at Sierra Honda Monrovia-Nora Beckley

1986 Acura Legend White EX purchased at Sierra Honda Monrovia-Nora Beckley

1985 Accord Blue EX purchased at Sierra Honda Monrovia-Nora Beckley

1981 Civic Wagon Red purchased at Westminster Honda

1978 Civic Wagon Blue Red purchased at Westminster Honda

Total: i.e. 11 Brand New Hondas were purchased by us since 1978

Please contact us before June 2, 2016.

Thank You, Tim O’Brien

My sister has a 2001 Honda Odyssey and the transmission has failed, she only has 80,000 miles on it and can't find a recall to have it fixed. She is on disability and has 3 kids and used all her savings to buy this van and no the transmission has failed. She sent it to Kirks Transmission to have it replaced and they replaced it 3 times already and still not fixed. I truly believe Honda should replace the transmission free of charge and Kirks transmission out of Fall River MA should reimburse her. I don't know who I need to contact about this problem but I'm hoping this is a good start, please let me know if anyone has any ideas of where and what to do next. Thank you so much.

It only has 97,000 miles and had it for 14 years. It was out of the transmission warranty.

The Honda dealer in Orlando FL said it was a messed up transmission but they can fixed it in three days. It took them six days to fixed. Since this happened on our Orlando, FL vacation, the family has to return to TX after Thanksgiving and ended up returning with a rental car.

We abandoned the van to the dealer and sent them the vehicle title. Looked at the complaints and saw that even the new 2015 Odyssey models already have transmission complaints. I always wondered why Honda could not pass Toyota with regards to the car and van sales. It is because of the engine and transmission problems that occurred on Honda and Acura models.

We had been enjoying our 2001 Honda Odyssey for many years before the dreaded transmission failure. We were the original owners of the vehicle, having bought it new in 2002, and kept it in perfect working order, bringing it in for every oil change and checkup. The only other issues that have occurred with the van were two engine sensors that went bad, some tuneup work, and a timing belt change. These were just minor issues.

But then in 2010 while driving down the road, after a stop light, upon acceleration the transmission began slipping. After that it would not go faster than 30 mph. The van had 100,703 miles on it. We ended up bringing it to an independent shop because they had a better price, $2,600, than the Honda dealer.

The independent shop did a great job and rebuilt the tranny with all the current upgrades and cleanings. The Honda dealer was not helpful at all and said that since we had bought the vehicle in Germany on the Airforce base, they could not know whether we raced it or not. We never raced it, since it is a family vehicle. At the time we were not given any help in paying for the repair. I do feel cheated about getting the cold shoulder from the dealer and from the Honda company.

Well now it is 2014 and I am praying that the van's transmission will make it to 200,000 miles. All-in-all we love our Honda vehicle, but will never forget about the bad transmission. This has affected my decision on whether I should even get another Honda vehicle. Happy driving reader!

Update from Dec 17, 2014: And I must add that I would still consider a Honda vehicle. They are great overall! I look at vehicles on a one at a time basis. For instance there have been some Fords and Chevys that I have hated or that have had many problems. I would not get those.

Thanks!

OK, I'm at 104,745mile and the 2nd transmission has went out on this van. I had it replaced at the dealer back in December of 2010 at 75,793miles. I called Honda America and explained the situation and I was told that since they had already replaced it once, the statute of limitations had ran out and they are under no obligation to replace again.

So I bought this 2001 Honda Odyssey brand new and had all the recommended maintenance on it. After 2 transmission failures I was only able to get 104,745 miles out of it. This is a real shame because otherwise this was a good van. But Honda put a poorly engineered transmission into this heavy van and will not replace with something that will last. My 99 Accord has over 264,000 miles on it and never had any problems. But I can never recommend their Mini-Vans. What a shame.

First, the car lost 4th gear on the freeway. Got off the fwy, parked the car, and turned it off and on. Car was fine in 1st-3rd but still would not go above 3rd. As I was driving, looking for a nearby repair shop, the car slowly lost all gears but 1st. Unfortunately, my phone was dead and I was in an unfamiliar part of town. I limped into the repair shop, with cars passing me and terrified kids in the back, and was told I needed a new transmission.

By that time, my autistic son was rocking and crying and the other two were scared and hungry. No rental cars, no way to get home, (we'd moved from CA the month before and knew no one), and it was so late they wouldn't be able to get the replacement until the next day. After spending a few hours at the repair shop, finally a mechanic took pity on us and drove us almost an hour to our home.

Fourth transmission failure on a van I've owned since new. First one failed at approx. 55K miles, the second one at 96K miles, the third one at 122K miles and finally the fourth one at approx 155K mi. AHM picked up the cost for the first two (they had an extended warranty up to 105K miles and I had also purchased the 7 year / 100K miles extended warranty). The third transmission cost me $1000 for labor, but AHM paid for the transmission. The warranty on this third transmission installed in the car was 3 years or 36K miles. It failed again under 36K miles, but a few months over the 3 year mark (expired in June '13, and it failed at beginning of Oct '13). It left my family stranded 90 miles north of San Diego late at night.

While clearly the letter of the law is with AHM as the warranty period indeed expired, I think I had windshield wipers that lasted longer that the Honda transmission on this van.

As a side note, this was a good car and we had minimal issues with it other than the disposable transmissions.

AHM should figure out that pushing out a bad designed transmission (based on what I've read) is not a way for getting repeat customers. I had an Accord (which was OK) and I still have my S2000 (which I love), but I will never buy a Honda ever again.

After being on a waiting list and paying 30000$ for this van I am very disappointed in it. It was factory serviced its whole life with me, then one day engine light came on when driving home from vacation, that's when misery started, thaught it was a senser , it was the transmission P0740 code. still in state of shock, asked dealer can they do anything for me, he told me he called Honda rep and they said I got enough use out of it and it was 3500 for rebuild. I told him I was looking to get another 50-75k on the van,he said its 12 years old it served its purpose, I was pissed off,cause I like the van and wanted to keep going , then reading about everyone elses problems with there odyssey and even rebuilts don't last , I asked the dealer if they would consider trade, he said we know about tranny so therefore it does not have much value, well he just answered my question about buying another Honda product, next day went to Nissan dealer they were glad to take van ,and put me in a new lease. With the money I spent on that van over the years I needed it to last longer then it did. it just was not worth putting more money in to it next it needed brakes tires and timing belt again , At 150000miles all maintainance comes full circle and that would have cost even more.the transmission going at this time cost more than the van was worth. I was going to buy another Honda , but not after this nightmare.

We were 5 hours into a 26 hour trip going down the highway at 75 mph when the RPM started winging out. We were right near and exit so we got off and noticed we were "smoking". The relief valves had popped and the fluid was all over the engine. A cop saw us and stopped to help. If you are ever in Cook Co. GA, the K9 officer, I didn't get his name, was really a great guy! As breakdowns go it wasn't that bad. The cop called a wrecker, Cook Co. towing, and Jason was also a great guy. He took us to Tifton, GA and called the transmission shop. Being a Friday night, the van didn't get looked at until Monday. We didn't get it back until Wednesday.... Long stay in a hotel. But Tifton, GA has very nice people. They rebuild the transmission and replaced the torque converter. They also recommended an additional cooling system because they said it was an overheating problem. Anyway, $2500 later, cash, no out of town checks or credit cards, we got the van back and headed for home. We made it about 75 miles from home and the check engine and TCS lights went on. We drove it our mechanic. It needed an O2 sensor valve, another $450. The only warranty was through the shop that did the work and then it was void if we didn't bring it back in two weeks for a check up...... We thought being a national chain we would have a national warranty but no such luck. Hopefully all the parts are replaced and it will continue to move.