I am documenting this for reference.
I have a 1999 Honda Odyssey, bought brand new from the dealer, Rock Honda it was. I was on a waiting list and waited a couple of months to get this van. It was purported to be the best van, efficient engine, and we trusted Honda as a maker of reliable cars.
We were wrong.
In 2003 with 45,000 miles on the van, the transmission went bad. At that time, Honda had not yet realize the extent of their transmission problem and had not extended their warranty. With 45,000 miles, the warranty on my transmission was expired.
A car with 45,000 miles requiring a new transmission was unheard of!
Diamond Bar Honda dealer says, sorry, your warranty is expired. You have to pay about $3000 for a new transmission. The dealer was no help at all. They supposedly made a call to Honda to ask about the warranty. Came back and gave me the same story: the warranty expired on the transmission.
I called myself to complain to Honda Customer Relations (1-800-999-1009 is their current number). After reviewing it with a case manager, they agreed to pay for the part, and I pay the labor. The labor was $471. I give Honda credit for excellent service at that time.
After this, Honda extended their transmission warranty to 100,000 miles on all their Odysseys.
I asked Honda to extend my new transmission warranty 100,000 miles from the time of the new transmission, giving me a warranty to 145,000 miles.
They said, no.
I said, since you are willing to extend new cars to 100,000 miles, it would make sense to cover my new transmission 100,000. It is obviously a defect in design that this transmission goes out so quickly.
They said, no.
Fast forward to now, 2008. My van has 129,000 miles.
My transmission is out again!
Less than 90,000 miles later, my transmission needs to be replaced.
My mechanic (not the dealer) tried to save me money by replacing the automatic transmission lock up solenoid and thought that might help. It didn’t.
Today I called Honda and registered a complaint. Marlene answered the customer service call and assigned me a case number. A case manager is suppose to call me within 2 business days.
I’ll update after I hear from the case manager. If they are as cooperative as last time, I will give Honda a 5 star rating. If not, my next car will be a Toyota.
If you’ve had similar problems, please leave a comment.
Update: Honda covered the transmission replacement, I paid the labor. See my post about that experience here.
Hi. I purchased a previously owned 2002 Odyssey from a Volvo dealer, in 2006. I purchased the extended warrenty. On 3rd of July, on a day trip with my family, approximately 200 miles from home, my transmission died. The Honda dealer in the area would not be able to even look at my car until later the next week and the Volvo dealer that I purchased the car from had all of their key people out on vacation. I had also purchased an extended warranty, that I was 90 miles over. I was stuck, so I had the car towed to an Aamco transmission shop and rented a car to take my family home. I find out, through calling the Honda national service center, that my car had been recalled for transmission work and fixed at a Honda shop. This was undisclosed to me by the Volvo dealership. They said that they cannot warranty work that was repaired by Honda, with Honda parts, like they would a new transmission. Well 3,000.00 later, I didn’t receive any help from Honda National or the Volvo dealer. So, understand your frustration.
If you have any ideas please let me know.
Todd
Yes…buy a Toyota next time ….I have two and have had no problems….
Todd: I had a very good response from Honda Customer Relations (1-800-999-1009) Tell them you want to register a complaint, and they’ll take your info, assign a case number, and they’ll call you back.
Laurie: We had a Toyota Camry, and did not have very good luck with that car. Died after 120,000 miles. Thought it should last much more than that. Then my son had a Toyota Tercel, got into an accident. Now we have a Toyota Echo for him. Hope that will last …
I have 85K on a 02 Ody, my first Japanese car. Tranny just went out. I tell you, I have had more trouble with this Ody than any of my previous American cars – Ford, GM, or Dodge. $4050+ tax to repair. No way.
Jay: You are definitely covered under Honda’s warranty. Make sure they cover 100%!
We had a Dodge caravan before the Odyssey and had a lot of trouble with that too.
I have an 01 Ody, my first transmission went out in Nov/2003 (45K). The dealer first changed the transmission fluid and sent me on my way. Half a mile down the road transmission was slipping so bad I almost didn’t make it back to the dealer. They replaced it free and covered the rental car without a fuss.
2nd transmission went Oct/2005 78K. Took it to the dealer who couldn’t hear any noise I was complaining about. Took the mechanic on a test drive returned to the dealer. Service came out a few minutes later and send that noise waas the differential gears grinding together. Honda replace it no charge and a rental car without any fuss.
In the process of dealing with my 3rd transmission Nov/2008 129K. Dealer so far giving me two different stories. One I had a 36mo/36K mile warranty on trany #2 other 12mo/12k. Either way I’m at 37mo and 50K. Waiting to hear back from district manager to see if they will cover any of the cost this time around.
Gullable me thought each time they had the problem fixed and wouldn’t have to deal with it again.
Wow! I am gullible too. I am thinking that my transmission now will last for another 80,000 miles, but maybe not…
My dealer wouldn’t give me a rental car both times I had it in. And I had to pay the inflated labor charges.
Let me know if you get it covered this time.
I had hoped a Honda can get me 200,000 before I give up on it.
I have 99 Ody. Tranmission replaced in 2004 luckily under warranty. Now my transmission needs replacing again! Dealer said they tried to get the best price, talking with American Honda, for the replacement. Best price it will cost $2335 plus tax. I’m going to inform everyone about Honda’s transmission issues to warn them!!!!!
Folks,
I’m also on my third transmission.
Honda replaced the first one and now I’m installing the third one; luckly I also bought the factory service manuals and have alot of tools.
Has anyone considered a class action suit against Honda?
Have you heard of anything like that?
Why?…Because Honda did not change any of the designed components in the transmissions or in the ingnition switch. Honda simply replaced the faulty parts with newer (not redesigned) faulty parts to get them over the warrenty periods.
Do you know a lawyer that might be interested?
I garentee everyone would hear about it then.
Thanks
Scott
Wally: Write a letter or insist on talking to the manager at Honda and try to get it covered. My second trans was over the warranty period.
Scott: I thought there was one, and thus they extended the warranty to 109,000 miles. Or was that on their own initiatives based on the number of complaints?
I think if you keep complaining, they’ll cover the part every time, though I had to pay a high labor fee to the dealer.
Update to previous post with regard to 3rd transmission. I have to say I was very pleased with my dealer and honda. They agreed to cover the cost of the transmission (parts) and I would have to cover the labor cost ($630). With 129K miles I thought that was very reasonable. They also said I have a 3 year 36K mile warranty on the new transmission. Honda did stand behind their product which is why I purchased the honda brand.
Dean: Glad to hear it. That’s what they told me about the 3yr/36k miles warranty too. But I am sure it won’t go out within that, most likely after another 60k.
I have an 01 now at 153K miles. First tranny failed at 85K, and now this one is starting to really clunk when shifting into reverse after cold start up. I expect this tranny will die in the next few months. I change fluids and take good car of all vehicles I own. My truck (96 GM) has 140K on it and runs fine. I will not buy another Honda, ever. Sienna next time, or Sequoia.
http://www.hondatransmissionsettlement.com/php/pdf/caht1faq.pdf for class action lawsuit info.
Thanks, Mike, I thought so. But everyone has more trouble after 109,000 miles!
I have a 01 Odyssey, bought it Dec 30, 2008 and on Jan 1, 2009 the check engine light came one. Took it the following day, and the transmission needs to be replaced per Honda $3520…..I am going to followup on the class action suit, and with Honda warranty directly to see what can be done! I am in Chicago. Any suggestions. I want to fix this and sell it, and get a Toyota!! I had Honda’s in the past, and my family has as well, never encountered such a disappointment. What is more discouraging, is the transmission replacement, IS NOT A FIX, it is a BANDAID!! I read complaint after complaint, after fixing the transmission, they need a 2nd and 3rd transmission…..before 150k. Honda’s are usually known to run well into 200k, prior to this. Aren’t we supposed to be building better, quality products! I will see how Honda helps with this, to determine further.
amekami: Try calling the 800 number above in my post. No matter what your warranty is, they should cover it to maintain their reputation. It’s no use to talk to the dealer. My dealer told me that Honda won’t cover it, and they did. So talk to the main office and keep complaining until they cover it.
Thanks Joyful! I appreciate your encouragement. My husband and I REALLY need all we can get. We were only going to spend $5k on a minivan. We found this Odyssey, and because Honda has been known to have great quality and value, we spent $6700. And then this happened (we just sold our 01 Ford Taurus within the week). We are REALLY disappointed, and hope to get Honda’s help with this. Considering we are on my husbands income, and I am a stay at home mom. Have a good new year, wishful thinking.
p.s. my car falls in the category of the class action lawsuit for the 01 odyssey, do I just contact the number of the lawyer and see what happens? I don’t know what to do…..or was the money won from this to be used through warranty work covered by Honda? Not sure how it works, if you have any idea, I would appreciate your input. Thanks.
The lawsuit was settled with an extended warranty. It’s no use to contact the lawyer. Even if your mileage exceeded the warranty mileage, just keep complaining to Honda headquarters. Ask for the supervisor. Ask for the supervisor’s supervisor. Write them letters. Start with the call to the 800 number in my post. I found Honda to be very responsive at the headquarter level. The dealer not so much.
My transmission on my 2000 Ody went out yesterday. I took it to a dealer and waiting for a response from some honda rep. Meanwhile I wait for a response and pay to rent a car. My car has 130k on it so I don’t feel like I will get any compensation. I will push given the history. ANY ADDITIONAL INFO FROM YOU WILL BE APPRECIATED……THANKS SO FAR
Hello again. Well, it has been 28 days since my transmission light came on. Of course the original dealer and the local dealer offered no help. And after reading all of these transmission problems, and finding out the warranty was extended to 93 mos / 109k miles (btw, my car is a 2001 Honda Odyssey, with 90k when this happened). I called American Honda Customer service, and spoke them repeatedly for the past 3 weeks, and was told “they couldn’t help me several times” and I refused to accept that answer. I finally told the rep to have a supervisor call me. Then I got a call back a few days later, that they reviewed the case with the supervisor again, and agreed to help in the repair. The estimate was $3520 (transmission $3213 + egr valve $307; and I paid $114 for the diagnosis). Honda had me pay $2000 on transmission and the $307 for the valve). I got some assistance, but this is the LAST Honda I purchase. This is such a problem, and people are ending up with 1-3 transmissions. I have a family (3mos old & 2 yr old girls) and don’t want to get stranded with the problem again. When I get rid of this van, my next won’t be a Honda. For those contacting warranty, keep pushing, don’t accept no for the answer, ask for a supervisor and keep trying to get assistance on the repairs! Good luck.
amekami: I am surprised why if you have less than 109,000 miles that Honda did not cover the transmission entirely?
Depressed Dan: If they refuse to cover it, ask for the supervisor. As amekami says in the comment, keep pushing. They will give you something.
I was upset and suprised to, being that I was only a few months out (and WELL under the 109k miles on the extended warranty, with only 90k). They several times told me they couldn’t help. And finally I took what they offered, only for the 3 yr 36k warranty (if I went to my mechanic for $2000 parts and labor, the most on warranty I would of gotten was 6mos warranty). Needless to say, I am disappointed in Honda, even when I offered to pay $1000 towards the repair from the start! Toyota or anything but a Honda next time for my automotive purchase. So sad, I have always loved Honda and lots of my family members too. Things change.
Thanks for all the feedback and support. I may not have gotten anything, if I didn’t have your help. Thanks, and may God bless you.
I drive a 01 Ody, company vehicle. We repaced the transmission at 65K and has 80K on it now. We are getting away from company vehicles. This blog string convinces me that it would not be a good idea to purchase this vehicle from the company as the probibility is to high of a second or third trany.
The offer is for me to purchase the Ody for $6000. Anyone want to convince me otherwise? The alternative is a 02 LeSabre with 56K for the same price.
Thank you!
Reply to Ken Wendland:
I would recommend anything but the Honda Ody; in the past month I have come across oodles of problems. And people on 1-3 transmissions. You never know how long you have or how far you can go. It is unfortunate. And people keep putting trany’s in, and the fix is just a bandaid to the problem, it keeps happening.
Good luck on your decision.
I don’t know if I would buy another Honda, given that Toyota makes a pretty good van now. At the time, the Ody had the best features by far of any other van.
The LeSabre is not a van, so Ken, it depends on what you need. What’s the Blue Book value? If you are getting a below market price, it might be worth it.
I currently own a 2000 Honda Accord with 116K miles. I was never notified my transmission had a recall on it until it broke down and I brought it into a auto repair shop. I’ve been given an estimate of $2500 to replace the transmission.
Do you think its worth calling Honda Customer Relations to file a complaint? If so, how should I approach the issue? Should I go ahead and have it fixed first at the autoshop? Any advice would be much appreciated.
My wife and I purchased a 2001 Odyssey in June ’01. The first transmission died at about 50K miles. The dealer replaced it under warranty. Then the second transmission went out at 107K miles two years ago. The dealer replaced it for “free” as there is a class action law suit successfully filed in CA that extends the transmission warranties to 109K miles or 93 months (whichever comes first) and provides for reimbursement (if you meet all the criteria in the suit – see http://www.hondatransmissionsettlement.com). I am about to get a third transmission replacement at 125K miles. The dealer is not honoring the class action suit, as I was already awarded a settlement “free” transmission.
I can’t believe that these transmissions only last 25-50K miles. And that came out of the dealers mouth!!! So we are in the process of negotiating. So far he is down to $500, which I might take him up on if he throws in some freebies, like a timing belt, as these things are expensive to replace and the engine/transaxle are going to be taken apart anyway. The Odyssey is great, except for this junk transmission. However I will probably be parting with the Odyssey before the transmission goes out again. Enough is enough.
BTW I also have an ’87 Honda Accord with a 5-speed transmission, and I never have had a problem with it (except for the coffee stains on the interior). It’s got 250K miles on it, and still gets 30mi/gal. It’s the “beater” that keeps on going.
I read that the Odyssey was the first with this type of transmission. We were guinea pigs.
John D: Which dealer do you go to? Sounds like they are being pretty reasonable. But I am surprised that your 2nd transmission lasted only 20k miles. I think they say they can give you a rebuilt transmission when you replace it.
To Joyful:
This is not the dealer that I bought the car from, as I moved from CA (where I bought the car) to Oregon a few years ago. The dealer is Beaverton Honda. Two years ago they replaced the tranny under the class action suit for free. However, as I recently learned (and didn’t think to ask then), the replacement unit had no warranty as it was a free replacement and was a reconditioned unit. This time I am getting a new unit, with a 3yr/36K warranty for my $500. I’m not perfectly happy, but then again a routine service runs about the same these days. I feel a little better knowing that at least it’s under warranty. They said that the design problem has been addressed. However the dealer also acknowledged that Honda’s reputation has suffered, and that the dealers are bearing the brunt of the corporate position. I’m not suprised.
I paid $850 supposedly the labor charge. But I was technically out of warranty. I have a 1999, so my first replacement at 40k miles was before the class action suit.
My complaint was that the mileage from my first replacement at 40k miles to the 2nd replacement at 125k miles is less than 109k.
Honda replaced transmission in ’07 at 88k, under settlement. Told me I have 3yr/36k warranty but received nothing written. Car had same symptoms 18k later, service manager told me they would cover another replacement. called Honda to open a case since that’s what I did before. Arrived to drop off car–service mgr said they had decided to cover nothing. First, he said the warranty expired at 109k, even though I had brought it in w/108k for them to fix. they replaced the IAC valve which didn’t fix anything. Honda said coverage is “at discretion of dealer”, dealer says coverage is thru Honda. Ed. Lopez at AmHonda says warranty expired in Aug 08. He said only people who pay some unknown amount for the replacement got 3yr warranty. Nobody ever mentioned this to me. What a bunch of lowlifes–concealing the rules then changing them to avoid responsibility for this car. It now has 110k and is the worst car I have ever owned–have spent $3k since October on this terrible car. I will buy a Hyundai.
Rose: You should definitely complain to the supervisor, and the supervisor’s supervisor at Honda headquarters. I think Honda headquarters would cover it, though the dealer will not.
If they do business like this, Honda will face another lawsuit.
I researched our van about 4 mos ago, out of curiosity just to see its value, and saw that the trannys were a problem area from the reviews posted at the website. We bought our van new in ’02 and waited on ‘the list’ to pay full retail price at that time. Four months ago, I counted myself blessed to not have had that problem. Well, my time has come. My Odyssey had 128K miles when it started slipping 3 weeks ago. We have driven it on a road trip since then, which added another 2k miles on it, so it’s sitting at 130k for the original transmission. I’ve gotten estimates for $2500-3500. Honestly, do you think that I have any chance of a discount from Honda, given the history? And since we are likely paying full price, are there any opinions on ‘remanufactured Honda’ transmission, as opposed to rebuilding our existing one? Since the original lasted 128K miles, might it be better to rebuild that one? Thanks for any info or enlightenment you may offer!!!
It doesn’t hurt to try to ask Honda. I didn’t know they can rebuild your existing transmission. I think under warranty, they give you a rebuilt one.
I have a 99 Honda Odyssey. It has 104K miles on it. Transmission is going out. I am the second owner. Do you think there is a chance Honda will help with the cost of repair? Thanks.
Paul; since you are within the 109,000 warranty period, I would think Honda should cover it. Do it quickly before your mileage goes up. I was lazy and procrastinated, and I think that it hurt my case.
I bought my ’02 Odyssey used almost 3 years ago with 50K miles on it. It has 87930 miles on it now and today it would not go into 2nd gear smoothly, the RPMs would rev up and then jerk back down. Then when I would come to a stop, it would jerk really badly. I just had the transmission fluids changed out 2-3 months ago for regular maintenance because my sister-n-law’s ’03 tranny went out several months ago. She had to pay almost $3000 at the Honda dealership to get this repaired. (They first quoted her a price of $5000 but she argued with them.) I had no clue that there had been any recalls on my van. Should I contact a dealer first or call the Honda headquarters first?
Becky, you should be under warranty. I would call honda first and open a case. They’ll probably tell you to get a diagnostic from the dealer.
I have an ’03 Oddysey with 85K on it when it broke down very recently- in the middle of the highway! I’ve owned nothing but Hondas( an Acura Legend, an Accord, one Civic, an ’08 Ridgeline and this Oddysey) but my experience with this van is making me reconsider switching to Toyota for all my car needs. Where do I sign up for a (future?) class-action lawsuit?
I bought a ’02 Odyssey (36,600 miles) in 2006 certified preowned from Madison Honda. Had all my servicing done by Madison Honda. Also bought the Honda Care which expired on 11/2008.
Well this past weekend the tranny went slip crazy and the MIL light came on. I dropped it off at Madiosn Honda and they called me yesterday and quoted $5000 to replace the transmission!! WTF!
It only has 76000 miles on it!
I called American Honda as suggested and now waiting on them to look at my case. If Honda doesn’t back their own transmissions I have a plan to write some letters.
Abel, we had a Camry that gave us problems too.
Daryl, let us know what happens.
After reviewing my case, Honda offered me a 60%/40% split on the repairs where I pay the 60%. It was a take it or leave it offer, so of course I took it. My portion comes to $2350 with tax for the transmission and ECU replacement.
Although this is better than nothing, I still feel like Honda should pay for the entire cost of repair. This is in no way the owner’s fault. My vehicle was properly serviced at the same dealership since I bought it there. This is a ripoff.
I believe a class action suit is being pursued by:
Stamell & Schager
1 Liberty Plz
New York, NY 10006-1404
(212) 566-4047
Anyone who paid out of pocket for this transmission issue may want to give them a call. assist.
Daryl: Try again. Write letters to the supervisor and on up. See if you can get some of that $2350 back even though you already paid it.