8.1
pretty bad- Typical Repair Cost:
- $880
- Average Mileage:
- 40,500 miles
- Total Complaints:
- 29 complaints
Most common solutions:
- replace condenser (23 reports)
- not sure (6 reports)
This problem may be covered under warranty. Ask your Honda dealer.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
THIS IS A SCAM! I AM FURIOUS! HERE IS MY STORY........
I have a 2005 Honda Odyssey and just recently my air conditioner stopped working so I brought it to my local dealership to have it checked out. The service department told me it would be $100 to diagnose the problem but if it is a warranty issue you won't be charged. Wouldn't you think it would be a warranty issue, I sure did.
About an hour later the service man came to me to tell me that a rock has hit my AC condenser and it would cost $647.00 to fix it because it is not covered under warranty. The impression that I was given was this is a FREAK thing that has happened. I declined the repair and was very upset because I ended up paying the $100 diagnostic fee.
I decide to google my AC condenser and to my surprise pops up this forum with hundreds of people with the same story. One man stated in his post that the service man told him he should play the lottery meanwhile another man in service told him he gets about 5 of these a week. Sounds like a rehearsed story "a rock has hit your AC condenser putting a hole in it" What did Honda do, hold seminars for all of the service centers in the country and teach them to say the same thing? After reading other people's stories, what they have stated is that this is a manufacturer defect, the grill has too much space in between by the license plate so debris is able to get in.
So I contact Honda Customer Relations and they told me that they would not repair. I filed a complaint with the NHTSA. Spoke to an attorney regarding a class action lawsuit. Emailed my local TV station, and working on contacting the newspaper.
This is the link to the posts that I found if you want check it out: http://www.topix.net/forum/autos/honda-odyssey/TJBOPFUR3SVARKHCJ/p8
- Kathy C., Deer Park, NY, US
Car was 25 months old with 31K miles. Owned, not leased. Turned on A/C first warm day in May and - no cold air. Took it to dealer and was told that condenser had hole probably caused by rock. Would not cover under warranty and wanted $1100 to repair. Suggested I could claim under my auto insurance physical damage and pay $500 deductible. Took car to local garage and had repair done for $510 and no insurance claim. Can't believe they engineered a car with the condenser in an exposed location where it could be damaged by a rock off the road. Have been driving 37 years and never had this happen to any of my other vehicles nor had I heard of this from other drivers. See on your site that others had similar experience with Honda. Sounds like they are trying to deny warranty claims to pad their reliability statistics. I will not buy another Honda. In fact, just leased a Ford Escape for my daughter instead of a CRV.
- alevine4, Roslyn Heights, NY, US
My complaint is like all of the other owners with this problem. A simple, cheap screen installed in the grill would prevent this problem all together. This is something that Honda owners are footing the bill for, and completely preventable in the design of the van. This is a design flaw at our expense.
- Ronnie W., Little Rock, AR, US
Obviously, Honda has sent information to all dealer service personnel to treat this issue the same way. A call to the Corporate Customer Service line was also very quickly answered with the party line that this is a normal "road hazard" and is not covered under the warranty. This is simply ridiculous! Our new Toyota Sienna has a mesh covering in this same area that is virtually wide open on the Odyssey. If Honda put a $5-$10 grill covering that area, there would be very few, if any, problems. This problem is occurring on other Honda models as well, but I was hard pressed to find vehicles of other makes experiencing this problem.
- Ed W., Quantico, VA, US
I was told it was under warranty, after they fixed it, they called my wife to tell me it wasn't under warranty. I'm not totally sure how much they are going to stick me.
- Ken A., Yuma, AZ, US
Just had the AC condenser replaced for $800 on my 2005 Odyssey. It was not covered under warranty since a pebble hit it and caused enough damage to leak out all the freon. This is a big problem with the Honda grill design. It does not give enough protection from a simple pebble. The mileage on my Odyssey is under 3000 miles. How could something like this happen to a car this new.
- wj, Elmhurst, NY, US
A/C compressor broke, dealer says not covered under warranty. I got the same story others have got, that it was probably caused by a stone hitting the compressor. Cost for a new compressor= $700. I put in a complaint w/American Honda as I know this is an issue that many Hondas have had and I do not feel that the customer should have to pay for something that is obviously caused by a defect in the design. I'm waiting to hear back from Honda. 8/22/06
- mc, Lake Worth, FL, US
My A/C condenser was hit by a tiny stone and freon leaked. Dealership informed me that such a damage is not covered under warranty, and the cost is $945. The real culprit is a flawed design. There is no griil in Honda to protect condenser from damage. It makes your condenser very succeptable to such damage, and a repair is costly. There are numerous complaints about this issue for Accords.
- Leon I., Bethesda, MD, US
My 2005 Honda Odyssey AC went off couple months ago (in August). I didn't report the problem at then thinking this may be just my bad luck(hit bey debries). But last week, the AC went off "AGAIN", i am really mad and upset because i'm loyal hoanda car owner(CIVIC, ACCORD, ODYSSEY). I always think they make the best and reliable cars. This car has changed my perception about Honda. From now on, i'll never buy Honda/Acura car again.
- madhondaodysseyown, Jackson, NJ, US