AC / heater problem
7.8
pretty badTypical Repair Cost:
$714.00
Average Mileage:
24,164 miles
Number of complaints:
19 complaints
Most common solutions:
- replace condenser (16 reports)
- not sure (3 reports)
Helpful Websites About 2005 Honda Odyssey A/C condenser prone to damage by road debris
2008Sep 09
Odyssey LX 3.2L V6
- Automatic transmission
- 37,500 miles
I'm a new member Honda's Hole in the Odyssey Air Conditioner Condenser Club. In a nut-shell, had I only known that simple vinyl widow screening affixed with wire ties and stretched across that opening below the front bumper exposing the condenser to road debris would have prevented this stupid thing from occurring. It feels like I've been victimized by criminals! I bought this van off the showroom floor in good faith - paid in full on the same day! I mean, Honda realizes that this is going on, they know, what a crime! They send out those stupid "discount" postcard coupons for services that aren't really necessary, well except for their "state of the art" oil changes. Why couldn't they have sent out a warning to Odyssey owners about this: - "Hey, Odyssey owners are coming in in record numbers with holes in their AC condensers and we've determined that its caused by microscopic road pebbles, or bumble bees, or moths or maybe even air rushing through the "fins". Please, do something to prevent it by safeguarding the open area and save yourself time, money, and aggravation because we were too dumb to realize that this would be a problem. And your warranty doesn't cover this, ha-ha! But hey, they sold thousands of these mini vans, why should they care about this - they got YOUR money already! If you look at it from a business perspective this is a boon for their parts and service departments. YES, I believe that this should have been covered under the warranty, its a tragic DESIGN FLAW. Making things worse in this was how I got treated by my own insurance company after Honda suggested I go to them and make a comprehensive claim. Yeah right. I got dorked BIG TIME by Nationwide's over zealous adjuster who took SIX DAYS to visit to the Honda dealer to "investigate" the hole in my condenser, and then kind of sort a made an ass out of me. She bent over backwards and ensured that my claim fell just below my $500 deductible, She authorized the rental car, but she overlooked the cost of the original diagnosis ($100) and the cost to recharge the AC, estimating the repair at $359 recommending an "after market part". She then suggested that I bring my van to a "Blue Ribbon Shop" where I could get it repaired cheaper. Problem was, the shop is located in a real bad part of Philadelphia, far from home. run by ESL refugees from the third world. I had the van at Honda for over a week and I wasn't moving it to another location. I intentionally permitted Honda to do the work - let this be a Honda all the way thing! My intention is to pursue legal action against Honda by joining others involved in a class action suit www.hondalawsuit.com. I think that we'll all prevail in this case. I asked Honda for the damaged/ruined condenser and they gave it to me......the class action lawyer said that retrieving the condenser was a very good move on my part. To prevent future problems (and $$$$) I also ordered a grille guard from www.mrgrille.com. This isn't going to happen to me ever again. Now I find myself wanting to stop everyone I see driving a Honda Odyssey to warn them about this!
2008Jun 19
Odyssey EX 3.5L
- Automatic transmission
- 47,535 miles
Our A/C quit on a road trip and I took it into a Honda dealer in the closest large city. It cost me $155 to have them identify the fact that an object had punctured the A/C condenser. They estimated $450 as the cost of a new condenser and then labor, A/C recharging costing another $300-$350. What a pain! Similar to other complaints that I have read, this was certainly a poor design problem on Honda's part. The dealer offered stainless grill guards at a cost of $274 to protect the condenser. I am going for a new after market condenser that costs approximately $250. It'll save me a few hundred dollars but at least it isn't Honda that getting it.
2007May 23
Odyssey
- Automatic transmission
- 39,500 miles
The third time replacing the condenser we took it to our own mechanic, not the dealer. He installed an after market condenser that was much more heavy duty & reliable. No problems since.
I will never buy another Honda product after the way their warranty department treated me.
2006Aug 15
Odyssey
- Automatic transmission
- 26,500 miles
Factory denied claim. They said to call our insurance company even after they fixed it the first time under warranty.
2005Jul 20
Odyssey
- Automatic transmission
- 6,700 miles
The factory covered it this time. The next three times it happened they did NOT cover it.
2006Aug 08
Odyssey
- Automatic transmission
- 20,000 miles
Never had the air go on a car before. Honda paid to have it fixed but I had to call them and take the car back two times before it was fixed in September of 06.
2006Aug 24
Odyssey LX
- Automatic transmission
- 9,321 miles
Air conditioner stop working. Honda Service claim a "rock" hit the condenser and it wouldn't be covered. Seemed like a fair explanation until I looked at the place on the condenser which had been circled by the mechanic to indicate the leak. The spot looked like it was hit by a very small pebble, similar to if you poked the condenser fins slightly with the sharp end of a pencil once. I looked at my wife's older Civic for comparison and it was filled with similar marks, i.e. normal wear and tear! No leaks on the Civic or any other car I have ever owned for such wear and tear. The Honda Odyssey condenser is definitely fragile. I complained to Honda and asked for "assistance". They ended up paying for the part but not the labor. I worry it will happen again.
2007Sep 11
(reported on)Odyssey EX V6
- Automatic transmission
- 6,648 miles
Road debris hit the condenser coil causing a leak. Not covered by any Honda warranty or extended warranty. It was suggested by Honda that auto insurance could be filed on instead. This is a Honda design problem and issue and should be covered by Honda warranty.
2007Nov 05
(reported on)Odyssey EX-L 3.2L V6
- Automatic transmission
- 24,855 miles
I was surprised to hear other owners with the same problem. My dealer shipped replaced the condenser and stated that the unit was empty with no explanation. They covered the repair under warranty.
2007Oct 08
(reported on)Odyssey EX V6
- Automatic transmission
- 16,500 miles
My 2005 Honda Odyssey AC went off couple months ago
(in August). I didn't report the problem at then
thinking this may be just my bad luck(hit bey
debries). But last week, the AC went off "AGAIN", i
am really mad and upset because i'm loyal hoanda
car owner(CIVIC, ACCORD, ODYSSEY). I always think they make the best and reliable cars.
This car has changed my perception about Honda.
From now on, i'll never buy Honda/Acura car again.
2007Sep 19
(reported on)Odyssey EXL V6
- Automatic transmission
- 24,000 miles
THIS IS A SCAM! I AM FURIOUS! HERE IS MY STORY........
I have a 2005 Honda Odyssey and just recently my air conditioner stopped working so I brought it to my local dealership to have it checked out. The service department told me it would be $100 to diagnose the problem but if it is a warranty issue you won't be charged. Wouldn't you think it would be a warranty issue, I sure did.
About an hour later the service man came to me to tell me that a rock has hit my AC condenser and it would cost $647.00 to fix it because it is not covered under warranty. The impression that I was given was this is a FREAK thing that has happened. I declined the repair and was very upset because I ended up paying the $100 diagnostic fee.
I decide to google my AC condenser and to my surprise pops up this forum with hundreds of people with the same story. One man stated in his post that the service man told him he should play the lottery meanwhile another man in service told him he gets about 5 of these a week. Sounds like a rehearsed story "a rock has hit your AC condenser putting a hole in it" What did Honda do, hold seminars for all of the service centers in the country and teach them to say the same thing? After reading other people's stories, what they have stated is that this is a manufacturer defect, the grill has too much space in between by the license plate so debris is able to get in.
So I contact Honda Customer Relations and they told me that they would not repair. I filed a complaint with the NHTSA. Spoke to an attorney regarding a class action lawsuit. Emailed my local TV station, and working on contacting the newspaper.
This is the link to the posts that I found if you want check it out:
http://www.topix.net/forum/autos/honda-odyssey/TJBOPFUR3SVARKHCJ/p8
2007Sep 11
(reported on)Odyssey EX
- Automatic transmission
- 31,000 miles
Car was 25 months old with 31K miles. Owned, not leased. Turned on A/C first warm day in May and - no cold air. Took it to dealer and was told that condenser had hole probably caused by rock. Would not cover under warranty and wanted $1100 to repair. Suggested I could claim under my auto insurance physical damage and pay $500 deductible. Took car to local garage and had repair done for $510 and no insurance claim. Can't believe they engineered a car with the condenser in an exposed location where it could be damaged by a rock off the road. Have been driving 37 years and never had this happen to any of my other vehicles nor had I heard of this from other drivers. See on your site that others had similar experience with Honda. Sounds like they are trying to deny warranty claims to pad their reliability statistics. I will not buy another Honda. In fact, just leased a Ford Escape for my daughter instead of a CRV.
2007Sep 12
(reported on)Odyssey R&N V6
- Automatic transmission
- 37,641 miles
My complaint is like all of the other owners with this problem. A simple, cheap screen installed in the grill would prevent this problem all together. This is something that Honda owners are footing the bill for, and completely preventable in the design of the van. This is a design flaw at our expense.
2007Jun 22
(reported on)Odyssey EX-L V6
- Automatic transmission
- 34,000 miles
Obviously, Honda has sent information to all dealer service personnel to treat this issue the same way. A call to the Corporate Customer Service line was also very quickly answered with the party line that this is a normal "road hazard" and is not covered under the warranty. This is simply ridiculous! Our new Toyota Sienna has a mesh covering in this same area that is virtually wide open on the Odyssey. If Honda put a $5-$10 grill covering that area, there would be very few, if any, problems. This problem is occurring on other Honda models as well, but I was hard pressed to find vehicles of other makes experiencing this problem.
2006Oct 18
(reported on)Odyssey ES V6
- Automatic transmission
- 27,000 miles
I was told it was under warranty, after they fixed it, they called my wife to tell me it wasn't under warranty. I'm not totally sure how much they are going to stick me.
2006Apr 27
(reported on)Odyssey EX
- Automatic transmission
- 2,600 miles
Just had the AC condenser replaced for $800 on my 2005 Odyssey. It was not covered under warranty since a pebble hit it and caused enough damage to leak out all the freon. This is a big problem with the Honda grill design. It does not give enough protection from a simple pebble. The mileage on my Odyssey is under 3000 miles. How could something like this happen to a car this new.
2006Aug 22
(reported on)Odyssey EX
- 15,000 miles
A/C compressor broke, dealer says not covered under warranty. I got the same story others have got, that it was probably caused by a stone hitting the compressor. Cost for a new compressor= $700. I put in a complaint w/American Honda as I know this is an issue that many Hondas have had and I do not feel that the customer should have to pay for something that is obviously caused by a defect in the design. I'm waiting to hear back from Honda. 8/22/06
2005Oct 24
(reported on)Odyssey LX
- 16,775 miles
My A/C condenser was hit by a tiny stone and freon leaked. Dealership informed me that such a damage is not covered under warranty, and the cost is $945. The real culprit is a flawed design. There is no griil in Honda to protect condenser from damage. It makes your condenser very succeptable to such damage, and a repair is costly. There are numerous complaints about this issue for Accords.
We have partnered with JustAnswer to offer online auto repair help and advice from expert professional automotive technicians. You describe your AC / heater problem or ask your question and they try to help you figure it out. The fee is typically $9 to $15, but you can offer to pay more for really tough questions. You will usually receive an answer in 10 minutes or less, and you do not have to pay anything unless you accept the answer.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
2008Nov 03
Odyssey EXL 3.2L V6
Okay, if you found this site, like me you are really pissed that driving down the road one day could suddenly cost you over $1300. Yes, the same thing happened to my leased 2005 Honda Odyssey only 3 weeks before I was to turn the lease in to Honda. Just out of warranty at 36,041 miles BUT when I called the dealership service department I was informed that the ac condenser is not a warranty covered item so it didn't matter it would not have been covered anyway. NICE! I was told by the service manager at my dealership where I get all service done that I would have to pay for the repair before I turned in the lease in a few weeks. I decided to call other service departments of different Honda dealerships in Los Angeles, CA. It paid off I contacted Alvin at Santa Monica Honda he is the service manager there and was helpful. He let me plead my case about how this just should not happen to a 4 year old car. He said it happens "all the time" we went back and forth a bit before he decided to offer me a deal of $570 to fix the a/c condenser. I had to think about that for a day and did more research online and found another forum that had great information. I called American Honda Corp. customer service and told them what happened. They did not want to hear it nor help. Really upset, I asked for a supervisor, I told them it is a known problem that Honda is refusing to address because it is a HUGE money making opportunity for the service centers. Some service centers see 5 or more of these a/c problems a day. Add it up $1300 x 5=$$$$$.
I told them about the pending class action lawsuit and said I wanted this further investigated and I want Honda to pay for the repair. Hmmm. The supervisor then said he could open a case on my behalf and send it to the case manager for review and possibly some assistance would be offered by Honda. They have a "goodwill warranty" that will cover either 100%, 90/10%, 75/25%....of the cost of the repair. I asked what determines the percentage covered and was told it just depends on how the case manager is "feeling" on that day your case is reviewed. Well, my repair was covered 90% paid by Honda and I paid 10% or $130 vs. $1300!!!! This is really unjust for Honda to treat their customers like this for a "known" defective a/c condenser issue. I also joined the class action lawsuit as hundreds of other Honda owners have done. I hope they make Honda pay back all the people they offered NO help to with the repairs. This affects ALL Honda automobiles not just the Odyssey. Most years reporting problems are from 2004- now. The 2009 Honda's just came out but the a/c condenser is in the same exact place as the 2004's and so on. They have not moved the condenser to a safer location in the engine so the problem could happen to any Honda anytime!!!! All I can say is fight Honda and make them pay for the repair! They should do it for ALL customers not just when they �feel� like it.
Kim P.
Los Angeles, CA, USA
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