2003 Honda Odyssey Minivan

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

A "me too" transmission failure

by surferboi on Oct 3, 2011
Vehicle: 2003 Honda Odyssey EX-L 4dr Minivan w/Entertainment (3.5L 6cyl 5A)

Add me to the long list of people who have experienced transmission failure. My check engine and traction control lights came on last week while I was on the highway to the airport. I figured I'd take it in when I got back. Transmission started slipping and died less than 50 miles later, just this morning on the way back from a short trip to the airport. 135K miles on the car and it has been running like a champ. And now I get online and see that I'm not the only one. I was always a little suspect about the speed at which they were making these models. Now I guess we are seeing the effect.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Trans failure

by pwinth on Sep 16, 2011
Vehicle: 2003 Honda Odyssey EX-L 4dr Minivan w/Entertainment (3.5L 6cyl 5A)

Loved my 2003 Honda Odyssey till transmission suddenly failed going 70mph on the freeway with my children in the back seat. Trans suddenly downshifted to 2nd/1st then continued to wildly shift back and forth, just through good luck no horrible accident. For $100, dealer tells me trans is cooked. Found out via Internet this is a very common problem, in fact most people don't get as much use as we did. We took good care and was in beautiful condition prior to this incident. New trans -> $4800, Honda America refuses to help, they say warranty is 36,000 miles and I should be happy I got 160,000 miles. If I'd have known of this potential issue, I'd have sold it pronto while value was $5k.

Disappointed honda owner

by nohondamom on Jan 6, 2011
Vehicle: 2003 Honda Odyssey EX-L 4dr Minivan w/Entertainment (3.5L 6cyl 5A)

Purchased a 2003 Honda Odyssey in Fall 2002. I started having trouble with it after 100,000 miles. All maintenance were kept up. Transmission was the major problem. I had to replace it twice within 1 month (had to pay about $1500, while Honda covered the rest). Then a year later I was told the transmission was leaking. Shift Solenoids A and B Gaskets had to be replaced, luckily it was still under warranty. Now Jan 2011, I found out my transmission has a leak again with other major issues. I'm told the cost of repair is not worth it. The car is almost 180,000mile. Extremely disappointed that it could not make it to 200,000miles.Told it should last well over 200,000.Will not buy Honda again!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

So far so good

by Caseyd on Sep 21, 2010
Vehicle: 2003 Honda Odyssey EX-L 4dr Minivan w/Entertainment (3.5L 6cyl 5A)

We bought this 4 years ago when it had 67k miles on it. It now has 110k miles on it. It was a certified Honda so we had coverage until 100k mile, this replaced the motor mount for free. Motor mounts going bad is normal wear for a FWD car at 100k miles. It has leather seats that are EXTREMELY comfortable Road noise is worst than other vans. If you apply 'undercoat' to the wheel wells and buy good tires it will be silent. Bad quality tires make it worse. I have flushed the transmission fluid at 75k miles and changed it at 100k miles. No transmission problems yet. I get 26 mpg driving from Denver to Utah over 11,000 foot mountain passes with the cruise set, fully loaded Love it!

Hindsight is 20/20

by Ms+Zee on Feb 22, 2010
Vehicle: 2003 Honda Odyssey EX-L 4dr Minivan w/Entertainment (3.5L 6cyl 5A)

Purchased this vehicle @ 80K miles 9 mos. ago w/ 12K mile extended warranty. 93K miles tranny starts slipping between 2nd and 3rd gear. Then 1st and 2nd gear. No more extended warranty and Honda dealer says it's nothing they can do. This is absolutely ridiculous $4000 to have my tranny rebuilt and $6300 for brand new. I paid $10,000 for the car.

Lemon

by jr on Oct 11, 2009
Vehicle: 2003 Honda Odyssey EX-L 4dr Minivan w/Entertainment (3.5L 6cyl 5A)

Most car companies have lemons even if it's once in a blue moon. I bought my new Odyssey on a blue moon. The very least a company can do about a lemon after not being able to fix the problem is to replace it. Honda had my van in their shop for a month and still couldn't figure it out. The dealer had the nerve to blame me for the problem stating I put diesel by mistake and saying that he has proof. That accusation ended my claim. After three years of nothing but problems and one near accident when the engine just died on a freeway with my 1 year old and 3 year old inside. I decided to get a Sienna. I called the corporation and told them about the near mishap but did not get any sympathy.