2009 HONDA ODYSSEY Complaints

THIS IS THE "FOURTH INCIDENT," THIRD CLAIM. PRIOR CLAIM ODI ID#'S ARE: 10438034 AND 10439310. THE LATEST INCIDENT OCCURRED ON 1/14/12 (12/59PM), 2 MINUTES AFTER I STARTED ENGINE (COLD) IN MY DRIVEWAY AND AS I APPROACHED THE STOP SIGN AT 175 FROM MY DRIVEWAY. I WAS COMING TO AN ALMOST COMPLETE STOP WITH MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE AND THE ENGINE ALMOST AT IDLE. THE ENGINE SUDDENLY STARTED TO RACE AND THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO SURGE FORWARD. SINCE MY FOOT WAS ALREADY ON THE BRAKE, I WAS ABLE TO PRESS HARD TO KEEP IT FROM CONTINUING FORWARD AND I IMMEDIATELY SHIFTED INTO NEUTRAL. THE RACING STOPPED AND THE ENGINE IDLED. AT THE SAME TIME A BICYCLIST CROSSED MY BATH AND WOULD HAVE BEEN RUN OVER HAD I NOT REACTED SO QUICKLY. *TR

A SIX YEAR OLD BOY WAS PLAYING WITH A SEATBELT BUCKLE. HE STUCK HIS FINGER IN THE SQUARE PART OF THE BUCKLE AND THE FINGER WAS STUCK. DESPITE BEST EFFORTS WE WERE UNABLE TO GET HIS FINGER OUT. THE SEATBELT HAD TO BE CUT, THE BOY/BUCKLE HAD TO BE TAKEN TO THE ER WHERE BOLT CUTTERS WERE USED TO REMOVE THE BUCKLE. *TR

REAR BACK HATCH SUSPENSION SHOCKS LEAK AND LOSE PRESSURE. PER HONDA DEALERSHIP COULD BE A ON GOING PROBLEM AND NEEDS REPLACED EVERY COUPLE OF YEARS. PER THE HONDA DEALERSHIP, THEY HAVE SEEN THIS HAPPEN IN VEHICLES THAT ARE A YEAR OLD. *TR

THE REAR POWERED TAILGATE HAS MALFUNCTIONED. THE STRUTS DO NOT HOLD THE DOOR OPEN AND WHEN YOU OPEN THE HATCH WITH THE POWERE BUTTON IT FULLY OPENS THEN JERKS TWO TIMES THEN CLOSES. IF YOU OPEN THE HATCH MANUALLY THE STRUTS DO NOT HOLD THE DOOR AT ALL AND IT SLAMS SHUT. *TR

AS I WAS UNLOADING GROCERIES FROM THE REAR OF MY VAN, THE LIFT GATE SUDDENLY AND UNEXPECTEDLY DROPPED ON ME. I WAS NOT INJURED BUT IF I HAD BEEN A SMALL CHILD OR A WEAK ELDERLY PERSON IT COULD HAVE HAD TRAGIC RESULTS. THE SAME PROBLEM OCCURRED WHEN I TRIED TO OPEN THE GATE A SECOND TIME WHILE STANDING SAFELY AWAY FROM THE VEHICLE. THE PROBLEM SEEMS TO BE WITH THE STAY ASSEMBLY TAILGATE OPENER WHICH KEEPS THE GATE IN THE OPEN POSITION. THERE WAS NO PROBLEM EARLIER IN THE DAY WHEN I LOADED GROCERIES INTO THE VAN HOWEVER.. *TR

THIS IS A SECOND FILING AS A THIRD INCIDENT HAS OCCURRED. THE NEW INCIDENT OCCURRED ON 12/5/2011 (5:45 P.M.) IN MY DRIVEWAY IMMEDIATELY AFTER STARTING THE ENGINE WHICH HAD BEEN OF FOR 40 MINUTES, BUT PRIOR TO THAT DRIVEN FOR 40 MINUTES. ONCE AGAIN THE ENGINE "SUDDENLY AND UNEXPECTEDLY" RACED. MY FOOT WAS NOT ON THE ACCELERATOR. TEXT FROM THE PRIOR FILING (ODI# 10438034) IS FOLLOWS: ON TWO OCCASIONS (11/28/2011 AND 11/30/2011), AFTER DRIVING FOR SEVERAL MINUTES (WARMED UP ENGINE) AND WHILE APPROACHING A STOP LIGHT AT ABOUT 3 MPH (ALMOST STOPPED) AND WHEN THE ENGINE HAD ALREADY COME TO IDLE, THE ENGINE SUDDENLY SURGED (RACED, WITH THE TACHOMETER JUMPING OVER HALFWAY). THE CAR LUNGED FORWARD, BUT I PRESSED HARD ON THE BRAKES AND PUSHED THE SHIFTER INTO NEUTRAL. THEN THE ENGINE IDLED AND RAN FINE UNTIL THE SECOND INCIDENT DURING WHICH THE EXACT SAME EVENT OCCURRED. IN BOTH CASES HAD I NOT ALREADY HAD MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE PREPARING TO STOP, THE CAR WOULD HAVE CRASHED INTO THE CAR THAT WAS STOPPED AT THE STOP LIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. I TOOK THE CAR INTO THE LOCAL HONDA DEALER TODAY, BUT THEY WERE UNABLE TO IDENTIFY ANY PROBLEM. *TR

ON TWO OCCASIONS (11/28/2011 AND 11/30/2011), AFTER DRIVING FOR SEVERAL MINUTES (WARMED UP ENGINE) AND WHILE APPROACHING A STOP LIGHT AT ABOUT 3 MPH (ALMOST STOPPED) AND WHEN THE ENGINE HAD ALREADY COME TO IDLE, THE ENGINE SUDDENLY SURGED (RACED, WITH THE TACHOMETER JUMPING OVER HALFWAY). THE CAR LUNGED FORWARD, BUT I PRESSED HARD ON THE BRAKES AND PUSHED THE SHIFTER INTO NEUTRAL. THEN THE ENGINE IDLED AND RAN FINE UNTIL THE SECOND INCIDENT DURING WHICH THE EXACT SAME EVENT OCCURRED. IN BOTH CASES HAD I NOT ALREADY HAD MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE PREPARING TO STOP, THE CAR WOULD HAVE CRASHED INTO THE CAR THAT WAS STOPPED AT THE STOP LIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. I TOOK THE CAR INTO THE LOCAL HONDA DEALER TODAY, BUT THEY WERE UNABLE TO IDENTIFY ANY PROBLEM. *TR

FIRST OCCURRENCE HAPPENED ON 11/24/2011, WHEN I OPEN THE GATE TO GET LUGGAGE, THE AUTOMATIC LIFTGATE OPENED ALL THE WAY UP, BOUNCE COUPLE OF TIMES AND STARTED TO CLOSE. IF I TRIED TO OPEN THE GATE MANUALLY, IT WOULD PULL AND TRIED TO CLOSE. I PULLED THE FUSE TO TRY TO RESET THE LIFTGATE TO NO AVAIL. *KB

BASED ON MY RESEARCH, THERE ARE MANY OTHER COMPLAINTS BY HONDA OWNERS OF PREMATURE BRAKE ROTOR WEAR AND/OR WARPING. THIS CAUSES THE STEERING WHEEL TO SHIMMY OR VIBRATE WHEN APPLYING BREAKS DURING HIGH SPEEDS ESPECIALLY ON THE FREEWAY. I BOUGHT MY ODYSSEY BRAND NEW AND MY DEALER SAID I ONLY HAVE 20% WEAR ON MY BRAKE PADS. BUT THE ROTOR APPARENTLY REQUIRES RESURFACING OR REPLACEMENT TO FIX THE VIBRATION. FOR THE ROTOR TO FAIL AT THIS EARLY STAGE OF WEAR AND TEAR PROCESS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. IT IS MY BELIEF THAT HONDA PUTS SUB-STANDARD BRAKE ROTOR COMPONENTS INTENTIONALLY TO SAVE MONEY. I'M NOT SURE OF THE POTENTIAL SAFETY CONCERN OF THIS PRACTICE BUT LIFE IS PRECIOUS ENOUGH NOT TO TAKE ANY CHANCES. THE BRAKING SYSTEM TO ME IS THE MOST CRUCIAL SAFETY COMPONENT OF ANY VEHICLE. I'VE OWNED MANY CARS BEFORE AND REPLACING THE ROTOR BEFORE THE BREAK PADS WITH ONLY 30K MILES IS TOTALLY SOMETHING NEW TO ME. I WAS SHOCK TO LEARN HOW MUCH RESULTS I GOT BY SEARCHING "HONDA STEERING WHEEL VIBRATION BRAKE ROTORS) ON THE INTERNET. A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE ANGRY ABOUT IT BUT NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE TO BRING THIS UP WITH HONDA FORMALLY. THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE HAS A REVOLVING DOOR POLICY THAT THIS IS JUST PART OF THE NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR AND COMPLETELY NOT COVERED UNDER THEIR WARRANTY. THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE! *TR

TRANSMISSION DOWNSHIFTS ARE EXTREMELY ROUGH, ESPECIALLY FROM 45 MPH. WHEN SLOWING DOWN FROM THIS SPEED AND RE-ACCELERATING FROM 25 MPH (AS IN SLOWING FOR AN INTERSECTION OR TRAFFIC), THE DOWNSHIFTING AND UPSHIFTING ARE BOTH ROUGH - TO THE POINT OF WONDERING WHETHER THE TRANSMISSION WILL FALL OUT, OR NOT. THIS CONDITION HAS EXISTED FROM THE DAY I PURCHASED THE CAR. TOOK IT TO THE DEALER IN FEBRUARY 2010 FOR A HONDA-REQUESTED TRANSMISSION PROGRAMMING UPDATE. THAT DIDN'T DO ANYTHING. *TR