1999 Honda Odyssey EX from North America - Comments

I have been a Honda Loyalist ever since I started driving. My first car was a Honda and 4 out of 5 cars I have owned since 1985 have been Honda's, Prelude, Civic, Accord and finally the Odyssey which we purchased new in 1999. This car has totally changed our view of Honda quality.

Since year 2000 and till date, we have had to deal with the following issues:

1) The power sliding doors failed at least 3 times.

2) The transmission failed.

3) The rear air conditioner failed.

4) The back-lit of the central control console failed twice (replaced under warranty) but now broke again after warranty expired.

5) Most annoying problem is that the Check Engine light comes on all the time. We brought it to the dealer and they said they cannot find any thing wrong so warranty does not apply and they need to charge us $100 diagnostic fee. After going through this routine a few times, we stopped bringing it to the dealer any more and just let the light stay on.

The van was supposed to be a reliable one for my wife to hauling kids around, but my wife has complained about the rampant problems this car has exhibited. Thinking about you drive the car with the mysterious check engine light now and the central control console totally dark at night. And during the summer, kids yell it is hot at the back of the car. Simply speaking, I just can not belive the fact that Honda would release such poor quality car to the marketplace.

It seems that the Odyssey has obvious overall quality control issues. You either get one that may still live up to Honda’s quality reputation or you will just get a lemon. However, the probability of getting a lemon seems way to high so overall it is risky to invest buying one in my view. At least, I would not buy another Honda Odyssey and will revert to buying a Toyota Sienna for a change.

I purchased my 1999 Honda Odyssey when it had 99,000 miles on it. We have had transmission annoyances since we purchased it, but cannot seem to replay the issue when we bringit to the dealer so they wouldn't fix it.

Now it is out of warranty and it is periodically not starting or shutting down while driving. We at first thought it was missensing the dealer key, but after reading reviews it seems it may be the ERG valve.

It shutdown while on a highway and while trying to put it into neutral I accidentally hit reverse and need a whole new transmission.

However, this has been a very reliable car and is just now starting to have some issues. But hey these are computerized motors now and my Honda's computer has 142,000 miles on it.

I own a 1980 Honda Civic and I love Honda's and always will. I am just disappointed in the time it took for Honda to recognize its transmission mistakes.