Honda Odyssey Overview | Warning Signs | Honda Class Action Lawsuit | Odyssey Transmission Solution
The Honda Odyssey transmission problems began with the 1999 model year. Hondas were traditionally compact vehicles with 4 cylinders but in 1999 Honda began producing vehicles with larger and more powerful V6 engines while at the same time breaking out of the compact mold doubling the weight of the vehicle.
However, when they upgraded to the V6 engines Honda did not upgrade the technology in the transmission to compensate for the added horsepower and weight. The result was that thousands of Honda transmissions began to fail prematurely, resulting in Honda owners having to pay thousands of dollars to install a new transmission.
Honda Odyssey owners were not happy because they had bought their cars based on a reputation of reliability. Now the transmissions were failing in record numbers and Honda would not help. Honda owners went to court.
In December of 2006 a class action settlement against Honda was approved, which gave Honda Odyssey owners of 1999-2001 model years an extended warranty on the transmission until 109,000 miles or 7 years and 9 months. Honda Odysseys built in 2001-2009 were not included in this lawsuit, but they were (and still are) experiencing the same issues.
For newer Honda Odyssey models, a recall was announced to revise the oil cooler return line to increase lubrication to the second gear. This recall was supposed to fix the Honda Odyssey transmission issue that had previously occurred in the 1999-2001 models, however in many cases it did not.
The time period for Honda owners to take place in the suit is now expired; the extended warranty is no longer available even if an owner was included in the class.
Honda now says that they are handling transmission problems on a case by case basis as to how much of the bill they will pay when a Honda Odyssey transmission fails. In some cases the car owner is at the mercy of the dealership, forced to pay thousands of dollars to repair the faulty transmission.
Honda Odyssey Overview | Warning Signs | Honda Class Action Lawsuit | Odyssey Transmission Solution