Odyssey -- is 'average'... no more

That's what I think anyways ! Now, no disrespect to Odyssey or Honda lovers... Honda has been known to make great vehicles but my experience with the Odyssey 2003 I bought has been nothing but disapointing. I got that vehicle brand new... now only 25k miles on it. From day one it was hard to start... have to try 2-3 times to get it started.... transmission has always 'clunked' when put in reverse... the handles behind the front seats become undone on their own (screws literally come out and handles fall off). Dealer fixes them, they keep falling. Mud guard on front wheels just fell off (screws came off). Rubber trim at back door's 'spoiler' just unglued and was hanging.... it just feels like the trim work was put together in a hurry.

On the positive side, the vehicle is 'roomy' and ride fairly comfortable.

I have taken all of these problems to the dealership and they've tried to help but never seriously got the main issues of tranny and start fixed... They did perform the work on tranny recall but no significant change.

Sad to say but I have no confidence that this vehicle will be reliable as more mileage is added to it... the tranny scares the heck out of me... I know that if it breaks down after warranty, it'll be mucho $ repair.

It's a shame you feel that way. My '01 Ody EX has been awesome.

Could be your interior pieces and exterior accessories (splash guards) were installed on a Friday afternoon. You know how people lose focus on Fridays!

Luckily all of those are minor problems. Come on, can't you screw the handles in properly? And the splash guards?

The hard starting is bothersome, and unacceptable. It can't be that hard to track down the problem. Judging by your comments regarding your dealer I would find another one. There are competent dealer mechanics out there, unfortunately not every Honda dealer has one!

Good luck.

Out of curiosity, are you rough on your interior? Drive rough?

Thanks both for your replies. I don't drive rough nor am I rough on the interior. The problems this ody has basically started from day 1. As an example, I own a Sunbird with 150K miles (bought new) and still have the original clutch and went through only one set of tires. Never had any serious problems with it, other than obvious maintenance.... now the Bird's ABS are letting me down but at 150k miles of canadian driving, it can be expected that delicate electronic parts may fail. The reason I bought an Odyssey was because I believed it to be the best van you can get on the market (superior quality)... the purchase was more than I could reasonably afford but I figured at the time that it was worth the premium. Maybe I just hit a lemon... I don't know.... what I find very frustrating is that a domestic van (more reasonably priced) would probably have been a better purchase in my case and I may have never had to deal with these surprises I got from the Ody. I agree to a certain point that the trim problems are minor... but why should consumers have to cope with these kinds of problems especially when you pay a premium on the vehicle. In addition, the tranny and starting problems are certainly well beyond minor issues.

does anyone know from what year to what year are the odysseys all mechanically identical ? For instance, the gentleman saying he's happy with his 01 ody... is your vehicle identical to mine ?

Forgot to ask, how many recalls has there been on 03 odysseys ? I went to 1 tranny recall (had to do with second gear).... are there more than that ?

does anyone know from what year to what year are the odysseys all mechanically identical ? ?

I own a 2003 Ody, and I agree with you - my wife really wanted a reliable car. This one (built in Atlanta) died on the road after 300 miles. I had just left the honda dealer after receiving no help for a "check engine" light being on. Luckily I was driving alone, so it didn't stain my wife's feeling towards the car. It turned out to be the Cam Angle Sensor. And like yours, one of my Honda mud flaps started to come off, too. Mine has 42K miles on it now.

The 2002-2004 Ody's are mostly alike - slightly softer springs on the 2003 and 2004 - the back end of my 2003 isn't sprung well enough to handle a full sized trailer on the Honda OEM trailer hitch.

The OEM trailer hitch comes with an extra transmission cooler - highly recommended. (I just use the hitch for a bike rack, really).

The tranmission "clunk" you speak of is actually the rear brakes. Honda will install clips on the rear break pads for free if you tell them to do it. They won't volunteer it, though. Newer pads are supposed to fit properly, too, so that they do not clunk.

Today I just fixed a potentially hazardous safety problem on the car - I'll put it in a seperate post. This one worries more than any other experience so far.

Was your Van made in Atlanta? It was a new factory back then.

myownmechanic -- great info.

1) About the clunk. It really 'feels' like it's the tranny but I would actually be relieved if it was 'only' the brakes... I will certainly bring this up with my dealership. Is there a recall or some document that I can quote when I bring it in that you know of ? Is this something that is documented within Honda ?

2) I believe that my van was also manufactured in Atlanta... from what the dealership told me at the time. However where on the car or manual can I confirm that ?... can't seem to find it.