Honda Oddyssey 2001-2004

[CumminsBu]

I looking to buy a Used Mini Van for the wife. I have heard they have alot of transmission issues, has any one have these problems? Any info would be great.

 

[Jim Fulmer]

The GF has a early 04' and as far as I know it has had no issues. 88K on the clock and running strong, it does have a Vtec, she calls it her high performance minivan.



Jim

 

[KKohagen]

We had a 2003 Odyssey. No problems, there was a recall on the van. We took it in they dropped the transmission pan inspected the supposed worn band. The dealer found no starvation of the ATF. An additional ATF injection Jet kit was installed. This kit injected some of the ATF onto the band. I believe the problem was on high mileage vans that did not have regularly changed ATF.

There were a few units that had an issue. We put on about 120,000 miles on it before trading it in. No problems with the vehicle ever.
We had so little problems with the vehicle that if Honda brought a diesel into the ranks I would be hard put to not buy one, regardless of cost.
If you want more info PM me and I will see what I can dig up from the paper work.

 

[JCasper]

We have an 07 with 14K on it and we love it. No issues to date except for an intermittent auto slider door that doesn't shut all the way. No big deal, it still shuts with a little help.



Go here and you can do some research, OdyClub.com -- The Honda Odyssey Online Community

 

[Mike Ellis]

I have a 2002 Oddy, it has been a great minivan for the wife and kids - far, far, FAR superior to the miserable POS Suburban and Jeep Cherokee that came before it.



They did have transmission issues early on in the 2001-2002 timeframe due to insufficient lubrication of a couple of the gears in the auto transmission. This was solved as mentioned above by installation of extra jets / nozzles to direct ATF to the right spot. When you took the Oddy in for the recall, they looked at the gears to see if there was heat-related discoloration of the metal, and if so they replaced the transmission. If the gears looked OK, they installed the new nozzles and extended the warranty on the transmission to 100K miles.



We had the fix done on ours shortly after the recall began. It was a no-muss, no fuss operation - took it in that morning, had it back that afternoon. In the 80K miles we've put on it, we've had only one transmission issue and that was the recent failure of a sensor. The Oddy transmission will indicate problems by flashing the Drive indicator light, ours started blinking so we took it in and they hooked up the computer and diagnosed the issue quickly. They replaced the sensor and the van was ready just a few hours after we dropped it off.



The Oddy has a great engine, it is the Honda V-TEC and the minivan will really get up and go. It gets about 26 mpg average in highway driving, but around town with the wife's soccer mom type activities it usually returns about 17 mpg.



The handling of the van is extremely good, it has a taut suspension and very good road feel. That unfortunately translates into road noise, the only real complaint I have found on the Oddy. That improved when we went to Cooper tires but it is still an annoyance. Considering that is the only complaint we have, the van must be doing pretty good. By the way the road noise leads some to upgrade the stereo, the stock unit is very nice but doesn't have a huge amount of power.



Our repairs to date:

- transmission nozzle installation (recall)

- Replaced torn motor mount (rip in the isolator)



Other than that, only service has been oil changes and scheduled maintenance.



I'd buy the van again in a heartbeat, about the best vehicle we have ever owned. You can get a very nice used one in the year range you listed for a very good price now, and it will have a long and useful life ahead of it.



Highly recommended.

 

[CumminsBu]

Thanks for all the help. The wife and I landed a 2005 Oddy EXL W RES. The wife is very happy with it and the kids love the RES (DVD Player). I know Honda makes a great product and is far better then the Dodge Caravan we had before.