2002 Honda Odyssey LX

Summary:

Never buying a Honda again

Faults:

The check engine light came on today on the way home from Walmart. The owner's manual said it could be anything from a loose gas cap to emission problems. The transmission does shudder at lower rpms, but runs smoothly above 55mph.

One of the electric sliding doors sometimes doesn't want to shut & needs gentle assistance while closing.

So far it hasn't broken down on the side of the road. After reading the other comments, I'm scared now. When will mine break down? I'm not feeling too confident any more.

General Comments:

It is comfortable and hauls a family of 5 around nicely. Handles well & drives smoothly.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 22nd November, 2009

23rd Nov 2009, 11:03

This van has a 139000 miles on it and is 7 years old, and you're complaining about minor mechanical issues??? Once any vehicle hits 100000 miles you can expect some issues. Please be realistic with your exceptions.

12th Apr 2016, 15:55

You pay more for Toyota and Honda. What is wrong with having higher expectations? If you claim to be the kings of reliability and fail, you are going to be criticized; even after 100,000 miles and seven years.

12th Apr 2016, 19:33

Absolutely right. Any Honda or Toyota should be able to go for at least 400K-500K miles without any mechanical problems whatsoever!

14th Apr 2016, 23:41

"may beg to differ" with what?

2002 Honda Odyssey LX

Faults:

Bad transmission just like everyone else around 80k miles.

General Comments:

This van is crap and Honda knows it. They had a class action law suit against them, THEN they decided to help people fix it.

My transmission started having issues around 80k, but b/c I was so busy, I didn't think about it much. I waited until after 100k, so Honda now says they would only cover part of it.

After a lot of complaining to the "SALES" dept, I pretended to be interested in buying another car and got the sales manager on my side. Then, they decided to cover 1/2 the transmission. I paid $2600 to have this known issue fixed.

I paid a premium for the Honda name and look what happens. I'll never buy Honda again. I'll save my $2000 premium to save for repairs.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 20th January, 2009

2002 Honda Odyssey EX 6 cylinder

Summary:

Overall good vehicle. but many have had serious problems

Faults:

Transmission needed replaced, front engine mount needed replacing.

General Comments:

At 60k miles the transmission D light flashed. The vehicle never left me stranded luckily. I took it into the dealer who informed me the tranny needed replacing. They told me to call Honda Motor Corp. to complain about having to replace the transmission to see what they would do. I did and Honda Corp. took care of the total cost.

Now at 101k I have the car in for the normal timing belt/water pump tensioner & plug replacement as required per normal maintenance, and of course while in there the dealer finds (give you one guess!),... front motor mount cracked - $450 to fix. ouch. So in addition to spending over $1k on timing belt & plugs, add $450 to it. Could I have waited or not done it - yes, but what would be the ramifications? I didn't want to find out the hard way, so I said to go ahead.

I haven't had anything else done to the car other than oil changes, new brakes at 70k and tires when needed, so I can't complain I guess. But one person on a forum claims Honda Corp paid for their motor mounts to be replaced for their car which had 3 broken. This sounds like a deficiency since so many people have them breaking, but if I don't have to get it done for another 100k miles, then I won't complain. We'll see.

But just wanted people to know that the transmission problem should be covered by Honda, because transmissions don't go out under 100k miles if they are a Honda. I'm sorry, but they are expected to last at least that without needing much, and that is my history with Honda's (I've owned 4 over the last 22 years).

Please, everyone, if you are having issues with the vehicle - complain to Honda in writing and call them as I did, so they can take care of reoccurring issues. We need the Co. to step up and keep the name good. If they don't, that's their failing and we will buy other brands in the future.

Thanks for telling your experiences for our good, I appreciate it. I didn't buy a Toyota in 02 because of what I read online about engine sludge problems that Toyota wouldn't back. They stuck it to their customers.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 6th January, 2009

24th Aug 2015, 15:59

Actually, Toyota DID cover those issues when they realized what had happened. They extended the recommended service mileage too far, which caused the problems. Took awhile before they understood what was going on I guess. At one time we had a Sienna that had a Toyota replaced engine. Don't know how many were replaced, but it was lots. A high price to pay for them. They had service intervals at 7500 miles from the factory. The engines wouldn't do it.