2016 HONDA ODYSSEY Complaints

This car has a failure/malfunction that is well documented on the internet by other owners and is being willfully ignored by Honda. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. It is a major safety concern. In cool weather, there is no way to open the back hatch of this vehicle. So if the only way to reach passengers trapped in the car was from the back hatch and the weather was cool there would be no way to open the hatch and no way for the passengers to get out or for help to reach them. This failure occurred without warning and we did not detect it until we traveled from Florida to North Carolina where the weather is cooler. The vehicle has not been inspected by Honda, the police, or insurance but we would happily have it inspected. It has not been confirmed by the dealer. We did ask the dealer to look into it but they could not find the problem because we are in Florida and the weather is warm. Honda must know about the issue. I reported it to them and it is all over the internet. I am not the only person with this defect.

My family was recently faced with unnecessary added stress with what appears to be a design flaw in the child safety lock feature on my 2016 Honda Odyssey purchased in 2019 from Ed Napleton Honda in Illinois. I felt the need to bring my concerns to your attention as I’m concerned for not only my son’s safety, but any other families that could face a similar frightening situation. Last weekend, while I was driving the car on the interstate outside of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, despite having turned the child safety locks on, my seven year old was able to squeeze his finger in between the space of the door and the side panel to reach the child safety lock, flip the position to un- locked, and open the sliding door while I was driving 70mph. I was very fortunate that I was able to pull over and call for safety assistance; however, it goes without saying that this situation could’ve ended much differently. Upon returning home, I took video of my older son being able to recreate the situation by manipulating the child safety lock from inside. I have this video if you want to see it. I purchased what I believed to be a vehicle full of adequate safety features. Now, I’m extremely concerned with my ability (or lack thereof) to safely transport my son at this time knowing this design flaw exists. I urge you to escalate this issue for immediate recall consideration to avoid potentially dire consequences.

When driving, the electric systems in the car completely turn off. You lose all dashboard functions, including blinkers, speedometer, radio and information panel. Car starts to slow and gas pedal does not seem to work. Power steering also seems to stop working. Car gradually slows. Hazard lights do continue to work. When you come to a full stop, car starts again and works fine. The problem is extremely dangerous if driving of a freeway or other multi lane, higher speed road. We experienced the problem almost immediately after purchasing the car (used, with 28K miles, from Paragon Honda in NY). We bought the car back to the dealer and they replaced an electrical harness. THe problem did not reoccur again for around 4 months (we only drive around 10K miles per year), when it happened again on a local road. Recently, in April and May the problem occurred two more times, with the last occurrence nearly causing a serious accident as we were driving in the left lane on the LIE at around 60mph. Getting the car to the shoulder with limited brake, steering and acceleration functions, and not having use of the blinker was extremely dangerous. This is a very serious issue. Bringing the car back to the dealer, but given the short duration of the initial fix, I fear there is a fundamental defect in the electric system. Went online to a Honda Odyssey discussion board, and was surprised that there were a number of other similar complaints. If this is a systemic problem, it is a big one.

On two previous occasions, while driving two different Honda Odyssey's I owned on major highways in the mountains of Colorado (Interstate or multi-lane highways which appear to meet interstate highway standards), at a time late in the day where, although summer, heat did not appear to be a factor, I suffered multiple occasions where my brakes would seem to be braking at a much lesser ability than I have been used to. In these instances, the harder the brake was applied, the reaction was almost causing me to lose control of the vehicles due to the extreme vibration/bouncing of the front end, as if both front tires were starting to bounce making it difficult to safely steer the vehicle and stay within my traffic lane. Upon returning home, once out of the more steep mountain driving, both braking and steering operated as expected. I talked to a couple of local garages in the mountains and a couple of Honda dealers locally. The Colorado garages didn't see any problems but said they have heard many such complaints from Honda owners. The local dealers back at home also found no obvious mechanical issues, but quietly confirmed hearing similar complaints and just chalked it up to Honda Van's. I am 70yoa and have never experienced the violent shaking I've had in my two Hondas making me to want to raise this issue to you. I feel a lessor experienced driver would have lost control at a high speed most probably resulting in serious injury or death, and with a high probability that such a loss at a steep grade and speed would easily involve multiple vehicles.

My auto lights on dash keep flashing even though the car is off. This only happens every time I set car alarm and after couple minutes it starts to sound and all the dash board lights flicker car turns on it’s own. I open the front trunk and heard noise from fuse box. The Honda service tech said their is an issue in the control unit. I had heard a recall about an issue on 2018-2020 cars but not my year. This has been the second time this issue comes up. First time the battery ran out of power so the Honda technician change battery after I only had the car less than 2 years. Then a new battery was instal. Since first time this happen I thought it would be battery again but was informed that it’s power control unit that’s causing this self control flickering on its own. I am concerned that while on road the car might suddenly stop and not function if this flickering happens.

LEFT SLIDING DOOR UNLATCHED WHILE DRIVING AT THE SPEED OF 55 MILES PER HOUR. THIS HAS HAPPENED TWICE ON MY CAR.

WE HAVE BEEN GETTING MULTIPLE WARNING LIGHTS (FCW, LDW, CHECK ENGINE) WHICH OCCUR WITH SLUGGISH ENGINE PERFORMANCE. THE ENGINE WILL MISFIRE AND NOT ACCELERATE AS IT TYPICALLY DOES OR SHUDDERS/JITTERS TRYING TO ACCELERATE. DIAGNOSTIC TOOL SHOWS P0303 FOR MISFIRE IN CYLINDER 3. I CHANGED OUT THE SPARK PLUG WHICH WAS VERY FOULED (SAVED IT) AND THIS FIXED IT FOR A FEW WEEKS AND THEN IT RETURNED. CHANGED OUT ALL SPARK PLUGS BUT ISSUES AND CODE ARE BACK AGAIN AFTER A FEW WEEKS.

TRANSMISSION KEEPS SLIPPING. NOT TYPICAL FOR A CAR SO NEW. EVERYTIME WE ACCELERATE, IT SLIPS.

I HAVE AN ISSUE WITH A SECOND ROW SEAT NOT LATCHING PROPERLY AND SLIDING WHILE DRIVING, BUT WHEN I CHECK MY VIN IT DOESN'T SHOW ANY RECALLS OR REPAIRS NEEDED. I KNOW THIS IS AN ISSUE WITH THE HONDA ODYSSEY. THE SEAT HAS STARTED TO BECOME HARDER TO SLIDE FORWARD TO GAIN ACCESS TO KIDS IN THE THIRD ROW WHEN TRYING TO GET OUT OF THE VAN.

HELLO: I HAVE A 2016 HONDA ODYSSEY I AM TRADING IN TODAY. A FEW WEEKS AGO I WAS IN DRIVE WITH MY FOOT ON THE BREAK. THE ENGINE STARTED RACING AND MOVING THE VAN. I PUT THE TRANSMISSION INTO NEUTRAL AND IT RACED TO 4500 RPM. I PLACED IT IN PARK, IT RACED TO 5500 RPM AND WAS NOT STOPPING. I TURNED THE ENGINE OFF. THEN RESTARTED AND THE PROBLEM WAS GONE. I WANT TO REPORT THIS TO YOUR AGENCY. THANK YOU