2002 Honda Odyssey LX from North America - Comments

Power sliding doors sometimes get confused on opening and closing. They will stop midway through operation. Dealer Honda of Oxnard lubes the rubber door seal and cleans the track portion of the door. Now we request this to be done on each 5000 mile service.

The transmission just failed last week at 37800 miles. The car would not respond in 3rd gear, the engine just revved up. Letting up on gas would let it shift up into 4th gear and continue normally. With it setting the engine malfunction error light. This happened twice and dealer HONDA of Oxnard checked it out and verified problem to be the transmission. Which they are replacing on warranty. The transmission fluid was full did not smell burned and all the services had been performed at the Honda dealer.

This Van has lead a sheltered life, with the services being done as they were due, The mileage is a little high for less than 2.5 years old, but mostly highway miles and long vacation trips. I'm the guy you would want to buy a used vehicle from (never have I neglected servicing the car when it was due). The tires still have 50% tread left and the MPG has averaged 18 city and 24 highway since new. From this you can see we treat the vehicle easy. I was dismayed went the transmission failed. Hey it's a Honda this shouldn't happen ever.

Honda is taking care of this problem this time, but, my thoughts are what happens next time? Some of the other people with transmission failures mentioned $5000. repairs. There goes the resale value. At least I have a responsive Honda dealer trying to do the right thing.

Owner of 2002 Odyssey:Transmission update: Dealer replaced Transmission with remanufactured one. At no cost to me ($5400.00) job. I now have 1000 miles on new trans everything seems normal. My problem is getting American Honda to stand behind this replaced unit with an extended warranty on the trans. The dealer has been more than fair, but the parent company are dragging out giving any kind of extension on the warranty. Sad day when American Honda leaves you hanging in the wind and their dealers try to take up the slack! When I paid $32,000 for this van I expected more than 2.5 years of life out of it. I am noticing a lot of used Honda Odyssey's on the dealers used car lots Guess the word is getting out.

Sincerely,

A Saddened Honda Owner.

I have a 2002 EX with just over 36,000 miles. When I called for the service appointment to have the transmission looked at it had just under 36,000 and the dealer said it would not be a problem. We will see this Wednesday, 7/28 how good they are going to be about this.

The problem is the transmission. I drive the car to/from work, around the city generally at highway speeds and to/from vacations to New Orleans and Alabama from Ohio. No towing, no heavy hauling. The symptoms that occur when driving on flat roads and at a stead speed of 25, 35, 45 or even 55 mph, and approach a slight incline (that's all we have here in central Ohio!) it hesitates while it decides whether it is going to down shift or not.

So far I have had good luck with all the Honda's I have owned and all the dealers I have bought them from. But this is the first major problem I have had and worse yet at such low miles. Will let you know how it works out later this week.

Before my 2002 Honda Odyssey reached 30,000 miles I reported a problem with the transmission to the dealer. The dealer serviced it, but could not pinpoint the problem. I have taken it back two more times and received the same response. The transmission problems have grown significantly worse and now I can't wait for the lease to end so I can get a new car. I'm very worried about being stranded somewhere without transportation. I have about 5 months left on the lease and I hope it survives that long. My husband and I will never buy a Honda again.

Hello everyone,

we have a 2002 honda odyssey and the dealer replaced our transmission once we had trouble with it also. no charge. now we are having major troubles with the emissions malfunction light coming on. van is not running well and getting terrible gas milege. error code P1491. The dealer will not tell us if this is under warranty or not. We have 50000 miles on the van. He has to do a $75 dollor check 1st. I thought Honda's where better that this. I won't buy another.

I towed an aluminum boat (1) mile one time with my 2002 Odyssey. The rest of the time is mostly highway driving to and from the airport. Well at 35,000 my tranny just went out and is being replaced.

Technically, my warranty ran out in January, but they are covering it. It will be interesting to see what kind of warranty they provide on this tranny.

I have a 2002 Honda Ody EX. About one year ago my tranny problems started. As of two months ago, I am now on my fourth tranny. I have spoken to American Honda and all they will do for me is give me book value on the car. As far as I am concerned they need to do more for me. The car is unsafe and unreliable. Two days ago I put in a complaint to the Better Business Bureau. They do not know who they are messing with. I am taking them all the way and I will make them stand behind their merchandise. I did not pay $35,000 to go back and forth to a Honda dealer every couple of months.

I have a 2002 Odyssey EX with 62K miles on it. The transmission is being replaced by a local dealer.

Word to the wise, if you need your transmission replaced and you are beyond your 32k mile warranty, Honda America will replace it for free in most cases. If your local dealer says you have to pay for labor or shipping, call another one. I called the one closest to my house and the repair would have cost $580. Driving a few miles got me the repair free... and a rental car paid by Honda.

I had a similar experience. 2002 Odyssey LX with 83,000 miles on it and we saw the 'D' light flashing from time to time for the last 16 months or so. Took it into the dealer, who said transmission may be failing, but hadn't reached that point yet. We did some maintenance, came back a few months later with flashing 'D' again. replaced a clutch switch. Saw all these articles on the net about failing transmissions on these cars. Finally went beyond just the flashing 'D' and started shifting roughly and really went downhill in just two days. Barely made it to the dealer. Quoted me $3900. Called Honda's help desk and requested they replace it, and pay for all parts and labor. They took care of the whole thing, really stepped up. Dealer was great (McGrath Honda, Elgin Illinois), let me use a loaner car. Turned a bad situation into a very good experience.

My wife and I have a 2001 Honda Odyssey Van that is currently in the shop getting a second rebuilt transmission. The first transmission was replaced in October 2003 when we were experience problems shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear. The transmission would hold for a long time in second gear and then suddenly shift with a nasty lurch. The dealer told us then that the transmission would need to be replaced and was under warranty. The rebuilt transmission would have the warranty extended to 100,000 miles. Things have gone well till now. The vehicle now has 80,000 miles and on November 19th, 2007 the second transmission failed. The symptoms were different though, the “D2” light and check engine light started flashing, the TCS (traction control system) light was on and would not go off and the van appeared to be stuck in third gear and was very hard to move. We shut the engine off, waited about a minute and restarted. This cleared the computer and the van was able to be driven normally with the transmission starting in first gear as normal. The check engine light was still on however, and we immediately brought it into the dealer. We were informed the next day that the transmission had failed (again) and they would order a rebuilt from the factory. Fortunately it was again covered by the warranty. They gave us a loaner car to use in the mean time. While the dealer is good for taking care of the customers, they are not ready to admit that the Odyssey has a known problem with their transmissions. Each time they have told us this is very rare to replace the transmission and rarer to replace it a second time. Seems these transmissions are only good for about 30,000 or 40,000 miles. I do not believe we will be keeping the vehicle long enough to for it to need a third transmission.

Similar failure, no results...yet. 98k miles and my wife experienced a revving and lurch with engine and TCS light. Now engine light is on full time. No other symptoms (yet). We had the transmission serviced (replaced?) under recall some time ago. Dealer says transmission needs replaced ($4k or more), but will call Honda to see if they can help. No word back yet.

2002 Odyssey EX has 79K miles, transmission seems stuck in second reving high before lurching into third. Honda wants $5,000 to replace with rebuilt. Also I have been having problems with panel lights lighting up while driving for no reason. Would this fall under the lemon law?