2008 HONDA ODYSSEY Complaints

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 HONDA ODYSSEY. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE IN PARK, THE TAILGATE WOULD NOT REMAIN OPEN. HE ALSO STATED THAT THE LIFT GATE LOCK COULD NOT BE UNLOCKED WITH THE KEY OR MANUALLY. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO A DEALER OR AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC FOR INSPECTION. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED AND THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS NOT LISTED UNDER RECALL NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 12V062000 (STRUCTURE). THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 100,000.

CAR BRAKES APPLY ABRUPTLY AND WITH GREAT FORCE WITHOUT DRIVER INPUT. OCCURS AT SPEEDS OF APPROXIMATELY 40 MPH AND RPMS BETWEEN 1500-2000. USUALLY HAPPENS AS TRANSMISSION IS IN THE PROCESS OF DOWNSHIFTING FROM 5TH TO 4TH GEAR. WHEN CONDITION OCCURS, VEHICLE WILL SLOW APPROXIMATELY 20-30 MPH FROM ORIGINAL SPEED PRIOR TO BRAKING. THIS CONDITION HAS PRESENTED ITSELF SEVERAL TIMES IN THE PAST YEAR. HONDA DEALER EXAMINED VEHICLE AND FOUND NO DEFECT. *TR

9/27/10: DRIVER'S SIDE HALF AXLE/POWERTRAIN FAILED AT 19,500 MILES AND HAD TO BE REPLACED. 7/15/13 AT 44,550 MILES, BOTH THE REPLACEMENT DRIVER'S SIDE HALF AXLE FAILED AND ALSO THE PASSENGER'S SIDE FAILED FOR THE FIRST TIME. AT THIS RATE IT SEEMS THAT THE HALF-AXLES HAVE TO BE REPLACED EVERY 20-25 K MILES. *TR

WE WERE ACCELERATING ON A MAIN ROAD AND WE GOT UP TO ABOUT 25 MPH AND THE VEHICLE AUTOMATICALLY BRAKED BY ITSELF AND WE CAME TO ALMOST A COMPLETE STOP WITH NO CONTROL. THE BRAKE PEDAL AUTOMATICALLY WENT DOWN LIKE SOMEONE WAS PUSHING THE PEDAL TO BRAKE. FORTUNATELY THERE WAS NO ONE BEHIND US OR WE WOULD HAVE BEEN HIT. THE BRAKE THEN AUTOMATICALLY RELEASED, NO INTERIOR LIGHTS CAME ON TO INDICATE ANY ISSUES, AND THE VEHICLE IS WORKING FINE. THIS HAS HAPPENED TWICE IN A YEAR ON THIS VEHICLE. *TR

AS I WAS DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY GOING 60 MPH MY CAR STARTED TO BRAKE ON ITS OWN AND JERKED THE CAR BACK TO 40 MPH WITHIN SECONDS. *TR

THE LIFTGATE/TAILGATE ON THE HONDA ODYSSEY 2008 EXL DOES NOT STAY UP. IT FALLS DOWN DUE TO THE WEIGHT OF THE LIFTGATE AND HAS THE POTENTIAL TO INJURE THE PERSON USING IT. THIS IS A NON POWERED LIFTGATE. HONDA DID HAVE A RECALL ON THE POWERED LIFTGATES FOR THE 2008 EXL, BUT NOT FOR THE NON POWERED ONES. *TR

MY HUSBAND, MYSELF AND MY 3 CHILDREN (AGES 7, 4, AND 1) WERE COMING HOME FROM THE PHILLIES GAME AT APPROXIMATELY 10:30 PM SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7TH, 2013. UPON ENTERING THE ON RAMP FOR A MAJOR ROADWAY, MY HUSBAND BEGAN ACCELERATING TO APPROXIMATELY 50 MPH. HE HAD HIS FOOT ON THE GAS PEDAL, WHEN THE VAN BRAKED SPONTANEOUSLY. IN A MATTER OF SECONDS, OUR SPEED DECREASED FROM 50 TO 25-30. OUR SEATBELTS ALL LOCKED AS WE WERE LUNGED FORWARD. THERE WAS A CAR DIRECTLY BEHIND US, WHO HAD TO SWERVE INTO ANOTHER LANE TO AVOID REAR ENDING US. IT WAS AS IF SOMEONE SLAMMED ON THE BRAKES, HOWEVER NO ONE DID. THIS HAPPEN 3 OR 4 MORE TIMES WITHIN A 5-7 MINUTE TIME FRAME, SO WE IMMEDIATELY PULLED OVER TO TRY AND FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS HAPPENING. I IMMEDIATELY GOOGLED THIS ISSUE AND FOUND THAT THERE WAS AN ONGOING INVESTIGATION FOR 2007 AND 2008 ODYSSEYS FOR THE SAME ISSUE. I READ THAT THIS HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE VEHICLE STABILITY SYSTEM, SO WE PRESSED THE VSA OFF BUTTON AND DROVE HOME AT A SPEED OF 30 MPH IN CASE IT HAPPENED AGAIN. NO FURTHER SPONTANEOUS BRAKING OCCURRED ONCE THE VSA WAS OFF. I TOOK THE CAR INTO HAMILTON HONDA THIS MORNING AND SPOKE TO SERVICE MANAGER. THEY ARE CURRENTLY EVALUATING THE VAN. I AM WAITING TO HEAR WHAT THEY FIND. *TR

TAILGATE STRUTS FAIL TO HOLD UP THE TAILGATE - 2008 HONDA ODYSSEY EX. DOOR IS VERY HEAVY, VERY HARD TO LIFT UP AND COULD EASILY HIT YOUR HEAD/BODY IF NOT MANUALLY HOLDING UP CAREFULLY. *JB

IN FEBRUARY 2008, I PURCHASED A NEW HONDA ODYSSEY MINIVAN FOR MY FAMILY. IN THE SPRING OF 2010, I BEGAN TO EXPERIENCE THE FOLLOWING PROBLEM: AFTER MAKING A TURN (RIGHT OR LEFT),DURING ACCELERATION, THE ODYSSEY'S BRAKES WILL AUTOMATICALLY ENGAGE, IMMEDIATELY SLOWING THE VAN DOWN. WHEN THIS HAPPENS, THE VEHICLE DECELERATES FROM 55MPH TO 20MPH IN SECONDS, ENGAGING THE SHOULDER HARNESS OF OUR SEAT-BELTS. OVER THE PAST THREE YEARS, THIS HAS HAPPENED AT LEAST SEVEN TO TEN TIMES AT VARIOUS SPEEDS AND IN VARIOUS SEASONS OF THE YEAR. I HAVE RETURNED THE VAN TO HONDA AT LEAST FOUR TIMES. BECAUSE AN INDICATOR LIGHT DOES NOT COME ON AND BECAUSE THEY CANNOT DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM, OUR SERVICE DEPARTMENT AT HONDA TELLS US THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO. IN NOVEMBER 2012, HOWEVER, THE COMPUTER REGISTERED A VSA CODE AFTER ONE OF SEVERAL BRAKING INCIDENTS. HONDA THEN REPLACED THE VSA MODULE IN THE STEERING COLUMN. THAT SEEMED TO HAVE FIXED THE PROBLEM UNTIL TWO WEEKS AGO, WHEN WE HAD YET ANOTHER SUDDEN HALT WHEN PULLING OUT INTO TRAFFIC. WHEN MY WIFE TOOK THE VAN TO HONDA, THE YOUNG SERVICE MAN BLAMED THE VSA MALFUNCTION ON TIRE WEAR AND THEN TRIED TO SELL HER A NEW SET OF TIRES. HONDA DID RE-CALIBRATE THE VSA AGAIN DURING THIS VISIT. TODAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2013 THE BRAKES LOCKED DOWN AGAIN, THIS TIME, WHEN ACCELERATING AT A SLOWER SPEED. IT HAS BEEN VERY FRUSTRATING TO DEAL WITH THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT OF OUR HONDA DEALERSHIP. I HAVE READ ONLINE OF IDENTICAL INCIDENTS. HAVING EXPERIENCED THIS SUDDEN BRAKING, THERE WILL BE SERIOUS ACCIDENTS IF HONDA DOES NOT SEEK TO CORRECT THIS PROBLEM. *JS

EARLY 2011 AFTER HAVING SOME RECALL REPAIRS DONE IN THE PAST LIKE THE BRAKES, LEAKING FROM THE MOON ROOF AND THE POWER STEERING PROBLEMS, STARTED NOTICING THE ENGINE LIGHT COMING OUT FOR 1-2 DAYS AND THEN THE OIL LIGHT, CHECKED OIL LEVEL AND REFILL WAS DONE BUT DIDN'T NOTICE ANY LEAKING. SUBSEQUENT SERVICES TO THE DEALER TOLD THEM ABOUT THE EVENTS BUT DIDN'T PROVIDED ANY CLEAR REPORT AS TO WHAT IS CAUSING THAT. LIFT GATE SHOCKS GAVE UP AFTER A FEW MONTHS AND HAVE THEM REPLACED FROM THE DEALER, AGAIN NO CLEAR EXPLANATIONS WHY THE IT'S TOO SOON FOR UNEXPECTED POSSIBLE WEAR AND TEAR, ALSO IN ADDITION TO TELLING THEM ABOUT THE POWER STEERING SEEMS TO BE CAUSING A PROBLEM AGAIN BECAUSE IT'S BECOMING HEAVY TO TURN THE VEHICLE. THIS HAS BEEN CAUSING A HUGE PROBLEM AND SAFETY CONCERN ESPECIALLY COMING OFF FROM A PARALLEL PARKING BECAUSE IT TAKES A LOT OF MANUEVERING BEFORE I CAN GET OFF FROM THE SPOT AND INVOLVES A GREAT EFFORT ESPECIALLY IN AN INCLINE POSITION. RECENTLY ABOUT A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO, THE SAME ISSUE CAME IN ABOUT THE ENGINE AND THE OIL LIGHT SHOWING UP, OIL LEVEL WAS LOW AGAIN BUT DOESN'T NOTICED ANY LEAKING. I DID SOME SEARCH AND I HAVE SEEN A VIDEO ON YOUTUBE ABOUT THE ERROR CODE P3400 AND P3497 WHICH IS VERY SCARY AND VERY SIGNIFICANT TO THE LIFE SPAN OF THE ENGINE. ALSO, RECALLING ALL THESE ISSUES, I ALSO NOTICED THAT THERE WAS A RECALL ABOUT THE PREVIOUSLY REPLACED LIFT GATE SHOCKS THAT I PAID FOR LAST YEAR. I JUST HOPE THAT THE DEALER WILL BE RESPONSIBLE ENOUGH TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE VEHICLE FLAWS AND PRIORITIZE THE SAFETY OF THE PUBLIC CONSUMER ESPECIALLY THE MINI VAN AS IT NORMALLY HAS CHILDREN AS IT'S DAILY PASSENGER - BEING THE FAMILY VAN.