7.0

pretty bad
Typical Repair Cost:
No data
Average Mileage:
23,300 miles
Total Complaints:
6 complaints

Most Common Solutions:

  1. not sure (5 reports)
  2. service bulletin 19-124 (1 reports)
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2018 Honda Odyssey transmission problems

transmission problem

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2018 Honda Odyssey Owner Comments

problem #6

Jan 012019

Odyssey EX-L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 5,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The jerk hard upshift occurs during normal city acceleration around 20-25 Mph. And only when outside temperature is warm or hot.

Does not happen when outside temperatures are around 40-60 Fahrenheit. All fluid levels are normal, dealer checks and changes oils every 5k miles. Suspicion is viscosity.

And no, this is not a normal operation of the vehicle.

- Alexandr N., Houston, TX, US

problem #5

Apr 012019

Odyssey

  • Automatic transmission
  • 8,200 miles

I purchased my 2018 Odyssey new in February 2018. It now has 9200 miles on it. Not sure when problem started, but it jerks when shifting around 24 mph when driving slowly in town. Doesn't happen all the time and I even have a hard time making it jerk when I want it to. I finally took it to the dealer several weeks ago, but of course they could not replicate the problem. Had oil changed, tires rotated, etc., and they sent me home. It was really bad yesterday when it was raining on and off all day - I don't know if this has anything to do with problem. I'm concerned there's a very big transmission problem and I'm going to get stranded one day. Help!

- Cheryl L., Munster, US

problem #4

May 152021

Odyssey EX-L V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 46,180 miles

Delayed shifting between 1, 2 and 3rd gears. Slow start from complete stop at signals. Makes noise upon acceleration and it moves sluggishly.

- Khaja Azhar H., Chicago, IL, US

problem #3

Sep 062021

Odyssey

  • CVT transmission
  • 50,334 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I bought the van used with just over 60k km. Within the week of purchase, felt the transmission jerk. I brought it to the dealer and had the sales agent, and had two separate red seal techs and a customer service rep (only one who felt it), all ride with me on separate occasions. All they did was a transmission relearn and/or tell me that is how the vehicle should operate. Called Honda Canada, they were useless. Now, every time i accelerate from a stop, it jerks and my wife and i notice its always at 39 km/hr. This has been an on going problem that I know isn't being taken seriously, UNTIL someone in my family dies. At which point no amount of money can cover! They can try...

- William C., Winnipeg, MB, Canada

problem #2

Jun 012018

Odyssey Exl W/navy & Res 3.2L V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 19,000 miles

We purchased a brand new 2018 Honda Odyssey with nav & res in Feb 2018 with only 12 miles on it. Since the first oil change I complained that it shifts weird. The problem was they never documented my complaints. But they would verbally tell me they drove it in their parking lot and never felt any issues. Make sure they write down everything before you sign for any service visit!!

Fast forward to Spring 2019 the problem still persisted among many other issues (which we are convinced we have a lemon). Lately it's been happening so bad, that you brace yourself in the van. It feels like an impact collision and airbags might deploy. We've been to the dealer several times. The service manager and the technician and the service advisor have all felt this problem.

The service manager went out with one of the technician and did what they call an ilel re-learn where they drive it for 5 minutes and reset the transmission computer so it will tell the car to learn how to re shift again. The manager came back and said it didn't take. He told me they would a set up a rental to have my car for a week so they could try and get to the root of the problem or replace the transmission. He never called me because he never set up a rental. Infuriating as 2 more weeks go by.

I decided to find an attorney that specialized in lemon law. Now the jerking hard shifting is now out of control that it happens on acceleration and deceleration. It happens from 18 to 65 miles per hour. By the way, it started out only happening at really low speeds of 18 to 30 miles per hour. Also, I want to mention there were never any error codes that came up when they tried to diagnose what the actual problem was with the transmission.

It's now July 2019. We have contacted a lemon law attorney in our state. He served them with a final repair opportunity letter. Per the lemon law they have 5 business days to repair any and all of the issues complained about with that vehicle. I dropped it off on Monday prr the agreed time. but they didn't have a rental for me but they found one of their older Odyssey's I could use. When I got in that rental to use, I pulled out of the parking lot and the pressure light came on. 1 of the tires only had 20 psi not the standard 38. I had to go back and have them fix it. At this point they had a parts service specialist come in from Honda motors to try and figure out what is wrong with my Van. Monday evening the service manager calls me and tells me they only had it out for a little bit and didn't get to do much with my Van. They were going to take it out again the next morning. The following day around noon the service manager calls me to tell me my Van is a ready. He said they drove it out for 3 hours the day before in a little bit more this morning and the problem was fixed. The service managers said the part specialist guy was happy because he finally accomplished the idle re learn procedure at 45 miles per hour for an hour and a 1/2. He did that twice. And of course the 7 or 8 other list of problems we've been having with the vehicles since we purchased it, they didn't investigate or dare to keep the Van longer to try and experience those issues. In the short 3 hours the service part specialist drove it he focused on the transmission problem but never found any of the other problems we've been having with the vehicle.

Since getting the van back, The throttle feels completely different. Almost like it has a loss of power. The hard jerking when shifting gears, you can still feel at times. I felt that hard jerk at 28 miles per hour today, so I decided to come here and let everyone now there is a serious issue with this vehicle. The problem is not fixed, and we are going to proceed with a lawsuit per the lemon law.

Issues repaired under warranty that are still persistent:

*Bluetooth: quality is terrible. In-and-out speaker has been replaced. It has been reset. It has been re calibrated. Tuner also has been replaced. Sometimes it will give an error when trying to connect. Sometimes the screen will say frozen on initializing or the Honda logo before it connects minutes later. Sometimes it will tell you it's not connected but it is connected playing the audio you selected on your Bluetooth device. * Sliding doors: occasionally the door still slides open after closing 3/4 of the way. The sensor's were replaced, the motors were replaced as well as the recall twice. * Navigation will randomly tell you theres a traffic delay of 2 minutes without a destination being entered. *Speakers: High pitch squeal, like nails on a chalk board, no matter if it's radio, Sirius, Bluetooth audio. *Temperature display: it's off by 5-13 °. They changed sensor but problem persisted after idle relearning procedure. *Transmission jerking/ hard shift: Idle re-learn procedure did not take by American Honda Motors certified parts specialist. *Transmission park shift: Var went into N gear after pressing P for park. Van roller backwards in driveway. Thank God I was still in the vehicle or else it might have hurt one of my kids riding her scooter at the end of the drive way!!

I might be forgetting something since the list is long of issues we've had! Feel free to reach out with any questions. I'll try to update as I can.

- Cori S., Madison Heights, MI, US

problem #1

Apr 302018

Odyssey Touring 3.5L V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 11,000 miles

I bought the vehicle with 5,000 miles on it. It had reportedly been used as a demo by the dealer owners daughter. We bought the car in Vero Beach, Fl and drove it back to our NC home when the transmission started jerking when it shifted at 24 MPH. It kept recurring and I called the 1-800 Honda number to report it. At their suggestion we took it to a nearby dealer in southern Virginia.

The tech road tested it and said it was doing exactly what I said it was doing. He explained it was a 9 gear transmission that is supposed to learn your driving habits when you buy it new. I told him about it having 5,000 miles on it when I bought it and it had learned someones else's driving habits. He said he set the default on the transmission back to zero so it could learn my driving habits.

Everything went fine until I took it in for an oil change and a computer update at a different dealer in NC. After the computer update the problem returned at 24 MPH. Now we are back in FL and the problem persists and is progressive getting worse. I took the car in to the dealer I purchased it from for a recall on the side doors and told them about the transmission issue. They claimed they checked it out and found no computer errors reference the transmission.

Now the issue is occurring sometimes in the 30 and 40 MPH ranges. However, If take off at a much faster speed from a dead stop the transmission shifts normally, It just occurs at slower speeds.

- Darryl D., Vero Beach, US

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