Well, I purchased my van a year and a half ago. I was pretty excited about purchasing the Odyssey as I had always heard great things about Honda. Boy, was I wrong. First the brakes started making a sound like they were going out after only 6 months. I took it back 2 times before they finally replaced them; now they are making that same noise again. I was told it has to do with the manufacturer and the dealership suggested I drive it out on the freeway at about 60 miles an hour and ride the brake on and off. How am I going to know if the brakes are really going out and why can't they fix this "manufacturing" problem.

It gets better. A couple of months ago I noticed the van was making an awkward noise on the driver side by the front tire whenever I turned left. I thought maybe I had a bubble in a tire or something. I took it to the dealership and they told me they couldn't find anything. This past Friday, I was leaving home to run numerous errands and when I turned left it made a loud popping noise as if the front shock or strut was bad. I immediately took it to the dealership and explained it to the service advisor. We even took it for a drive but couldn't duplicate the noise. We did narrow it down to it happens for the first 5 or so minutes when you first take off then it stops. They checked for leaks etc and told me they couldn't find anything wrong with it and that we would have to probably wait until whatever is making that noise gives out. BIG SIGH.

The service advisors have been very courteous and patient but I am at the piont where I just want to get rid of this thing and I haven't even had it 2 years. Here I thought I would have this van for 5 or 10 years but it doesn't look like it right now. I've even started looking at Toyota online.

Anyone else having the same problems???????

I am a new owner of a low mileage (for it's age, 40K) 2004 Ody. From what I've seen, the 2nd Generation Ody (late vin, transmission supposedly fixed) is probably everything considered, a more reliable vehicle than earlier Ody's, transmission-wise. I sold a 1984 VW Vanagon (that had almost zero problems that were caused by manufacturing defects) to buy this supposedly excellent, reliable vehicle. I know that reading boards devoted to the Ody is not a good cross section of owners, the vast majority of owners, problems or not, do not check in here. However, the problems disturb me deeply. There have been times, even though I've only had it since May, that I want to just sell it and get out while I can. The transmission problems have been a good example. THis is the first vehicle I've ever owned that has an automatic transmission, and I am dreading having problems. It seems like I probably won't, but the possibility hangs over almost all 2nd generation owners heads. I could go on, but you get the idea, I really do wonder how Honda manages to keep up the illusion of a quality vehicle. BTW, a long time ago, I had a Honda 550cc 4 cylinder motorcycle. It too, had transmission problems. Hmmm....


Gene




Well, I purchased my van a year and a half ago. I was pretty excited about purchasing the Odyssey as I had always heard great things about Honda. Boy, was I wrong. First the brakes started making a sound like they were going out after only 6 months. I took it back 2 times before they finally replaced them; now they are making that same noise again. I was told it has to do with the manufacturer and the dealership suggested I drive it out on the freeway at about 60 miles an hour and ride the brake on and off. How am I going to know if the brakes are really going out and why can't they fix this "manufacturing" problem.

It gets better. A couple of months ago I noticed the van was making an awkward noise on the driver side by the front tire whenever I turned left. I thought maybe I had a bubble in a tire or something. I took it to the dealership and they told me they couldn't find anything. This past Friday, I was leaving home to run numerous errands and when I turned left it made a loud popping noise as if the front shock or strut was bad. I immediately took it to the dealership and explained it to the service advisor. We even took it for a drive but couldn't duplicate the noise. We did narrow it down to it happens for the first 5 or so minutes when you first take off then it stops. They checked for leaks etc and told me they couldn't find anything wrong with it and that we would have to probably wait until whatever is making that noise gives out. BIG SIGH.

The service advisors have been very courteous and patient but I am at the piont where I just want to get rid of this thing and I haven't even had it 2 years. Here I thought I would have this van for 5 or 10 years but it doesn't look like it right now. I've even started looking at Toyota online.

Anyone else having the same problems???????

I have the identical problem in a 2005.

Same experience at dealer -- It will be great when the suspension drops out at speed. If I'm still alive - I'll need a really good hungry lawyer.

This last post was a year ago -- did you ever figure out what the issue was?