Vehicle was parked. Driver used front dash auto open button to open side door on driver's side. 6 year old child in the back seat had gotten out of her car seat and as the door was opening her leg slipped into the open space between the door and the retractor bar. The door did not register that there was an object and continued to press on her leg until driver was able to exit vehicle and pull sliding door handle to reverse direction to free up the child's leg. Leg was painful but no serious injury on this occasion.

- Shoreline, WA, USA

The contact owns a 2003 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated that he was able to remove the key from the ignition switch without having the vehicle in park. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure who did not offer any assistance since the vehicle was not included in any recalls. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 60,000 and the current mileage was 70,618. Updated 11/13/12 the consumer stated twice when the failure occurred, the consumer was just stepping out of the vehicle and managed to pull the emergency brake. The third time the consumer was not near the vehicle when it rolled into a wall, no damaged was caused. Updated 11/27/2012

- Kent , WA, USA

Indeed I can remove the ignition key from my 2003 Honda Odyssey van in any gear. If on a slope, the vehicle will roll away.

- Sebastian, FL, USA

After turned off ignition and stepped out of car while in store car rolled away across parking lot damaging another vehicle. This is in response to the article read on your site about the 2003 Honda Odyssey rolling away after car has been turned off and keys are removed from ignition.

- Highlands Ranch, CO, USA

I can take my key out of the ignition while in drive. Because of the setup of the shifter, and the short space between gears, it's not apparent that the car's not in park, and fairly common for me to remove the key while in drive. I've not had this problem with other cars. Several times I've taken the key out and the car started rolling a little before I stepped on the brake and put the key back in and shifted to park. About 4 or 5 weeks ago I parked at a strip mall in front of a store, and when I came back out my car was backed up against the car on the other side of the aisle, having rolled back about 15 feet. Fortunately there was no damage. Another time my wife went shopping and came out and the car had been in drive the whole time (about an hour) but fortunately the parking lot was flat.

- Yorba Linda, CA, USA

I parked my van on my sloped driveway, setting the emergency brake. As I was getting out, the van started rolling backward. As I was trying to stop it, I tripped and my left leg was run over by the front left tire. I had an open fracture of my fibula and crush injuries on my shin area (and multiple bruises and pulled muscles elsewhere). I realized later that the van was still in "drive". I had been able to get my keys out without putting it in "park". [I have tested it since then and I still can remove my keys while the van is in "drive" or "neutral"] on testing the emergency brake, I found that it would not hold unless it was pushed all the way to the maximum position. Even though it sounded and "felt" engaged, it did not hold.

- Temecula, CA, USA

While I was driving my engine light came on and soon after my tcs light came on. I was on the highway and when I slowed down to get off on an exit and tried to go up in gear my van stalled and would not go past 25 to 30 mph. I took it to an auto place to check the engine light and these codes came up P0740 torque converter clutch circuit malfunction and P0730 incorrect gear ratio.

- Winston-Salem, NC, USA

The contact owns a 2003 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated that the vehicle could be shut off and the key could be removed from the ignition without the vehicle being in park. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer, but was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 136,000.

- Lees Summit, MO, USA

Transmission failed while traveling 40mph at 130000 miles. It was replaced. There was a class action lawsuit regarding 2003 transmissions, but the window had closed, so I had to pay for it fully. November 20, 2011, while driving 45mph, dash lights flash, radio loses power. When I turn the ignition off, the car is dead. Restarts almost immediately, after lots of clicking in the dash. At varying speeds the dash lights will flash, and the clock and radio go dead briefly. Sometimes the door lock and the sliding door buttons don't work, but if I wait 2 minutes, I hear the clicking in the dash, and suddenly there is power. Left it at the dealership to be checked out over 4 days, and they say nothing is wrong. To be traveling at 40+ and have the car go dead is a hazard to me and my family, as well as everyone else driving while I am driving. It is currently at another shop to be evaluated.

- Roswell, GA, USA

There is a problem with ignition with the key. Key does not turn and stuck some times. You have to wiggle it to start. When try to stop the key don't turn all the way down and stuck in it. Unable to pull the key from chamber. Very frustrated. Called Honda for this issue. Honda said there is no recall related to this issue. Unable to take key out few times and constant problem. I read few complain on the internet about this issue.

- Franklin Sq., NY, USA

This car has a problem with the transmission and there was a test done which gave the diagnostic code PO743. The Honda Odyssey has known issues with the transmission and is not willing to help assist with the repair. I am the original owner and want to know if there is any recourse with Honda. Thank you for your help in this matter.

- Midlothian, VA, USA

The vehicle (2003 Honda Odyssey) has progressively been experiencing what I'll deem "electrical" issues that seem to be severely impacting the automatic sliding doors on the vehicle causing them to open while driving, not open when using the handle or button. Specifically, the automatic sliding doors will not open, will not close or partially close without fully latching. This happens regardless of using the manual door handle or the button located on the dashboard. More importantly, the automatic doors have opened while driving the vehicle with children in the back of the vehicle creating an extremely dangerous and potentially deadly situation. This has occurred approximately 6-10 times over the past year and seems to be getting more frequent. It's happened while driving on the highway, on side streets and during normal operation of the vehicle. In addition, there seems to be an issue with the electrical system that is constantly drawing a small charge from the battery keeping it in a weakened state.

- Waxhaw, NC, USA

The contact owns a 2003 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated that a warning light flashing the letter D illuminated on the instrument panel. The dealer and manufacturer were notified, but offered no assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileages were 81,000.

- New York, NY, USA

Was parking in a parking lot. Turned off the ignition. Got out of the vehicle. Walked around to other side of vehicle to get child out. Car started rolling back. Ran around to driver side, pressed brake. Car allowed me to remove key while still in drive.

- Vail, AZ, USA

The contact owns a 2003 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated the ignition would not turn and the vehicle would not recognize the key when attempting to start the vehicle. The manufacturer was contacted and advised there were no recalls on the vehicle and referred him to the dealer to have a diagnostics test performed. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer nor repaired. The failure and current mileage was 128,848.

- Santa Fe , CA, USA

The contact owns a 2003 Honda Odyssey. While the vehicle was parked it rolled backwards and crashed into another vehicle. The contact stated that she had taken the key out of the ignition but was not sure if she put the vehicle in park. The other vehicle had minor damage and her vehicle was not damaged. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was not repaired. She called the manufacturer and was advised that there were no recalls for the failure. The failure mileage was 144,000.

- New Albany, OH, USA

The top bracket holding the alternator to the engine block failed again for the third time while my wife was driving the van. As a result of the failure of the top bracket, the stress on the main serpentine belt caused the bolt holding the alternator in place to snap off at the engine block. This caused the alternator to become loose and caused a burning smell to come into the cabin of the vehicle. The alternator loose and un-attached poses a potential catastrophic failure with the pully system and the power steering which may cause an accident. I reported the previous incident of the same problem on October 25th, 2010. My concern is that this is a recurring problem that Honda is aware of and not correcting with a recall and addition of a re engineered and strengthened top alternator bracket. I am also very concerned that failure of this part/system while my wife and children are driving the van will cause an accident and injury or death to my family. I have called Honda and their solution or recommendation is to replace the part and use proper torque specifications. This has not worked 2 times so far and my mechanic tried to weld and additional piece of metal to the oem bracket to make the bracket stronger, and this did not work.

- Amawalk, NY, USA

Top alternator mounting bracket failed for the second time in one month. On first failure at night, headlights became very dim while vehicle was operating causing danger to occupants and other motorists. On second failure vehicle was close to home and no immediate hazard to driver or other motorists. Research shows this is a known component failure to Honda and nhtsb.

- Yorktown Heights, NY, USA

You can remove the ignition key from the ignition switch when the vehicle is in gears other than P (park).

- Fulton, MD, USA

2003 Honda Odyssey ignition switch: We can remove the key without putting the vehicle in park problem has existed for at least 1 year. Vehicle does not appear to be covered by a recall for this problem (per Honda recall lookup by VIN), but npr reports that Honda has recalled some 1.4 million vehicles for this problem, including minivans (www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyid=129085652 ) it seems likely that our vehicle model & year should be included in the recall, but is not.

- Lubbock, TX, USA