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Comments
We are about the same age, it would seem. Back in 1968, I had to have the Powerglide overhauled in my 1962 Impala SS. I remember the car had around 60,000 miles on it at the time so it was pretty normal.
I wasn't happy about having to spend a whopping 200.00 at the time but I sure wasn't upset either.
Shortly afterwards, it needed a valve job...remember those? Again, to be expected.
Now, for the Powerglide...it was a "two" speed transmission, low and hi gear and nothing else. I can remember Chevy's "409" engine could be had with a Powerglide, remember the 60's muscle car days? Rust was the enemy of my cars back then, not the transmission.
So, in the 1960's a transmissions life was considered normal at 60k, now "zoom" forward 50 years and look at what the Ody transmission is doing. According to some here, 60k on their Ody would be the norm.
Question? If the Ody is 4300lbs, does it come with a transmission cooler as standard equipment?
I don't think the Ody has a standard transmission cooler. I know when we leased ours back in May the dealer and the Ody brochure both stated that to reach maximum tow capacity you were required to buy the transmission oil cooler or your warranty would be voided if you towed anything with the Odyssey.
The lifetime of the car warranty would get my attention that they were serious about quality.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
As far as I'm concerned, a 2% failure rate is too high but I guess on other makes it may be acceptable. People have come to expect a lot from their Hondas and that's a good thing.
I wouldn't buy a used Ody with 90K on it. Too likely to have a failure.
Perhaps warranty up to 150K would be more practical. That's on cars that people perceive as 200K-200K automobiles before real problems need attention. Or has that tenet gone the wayside.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Don't remember trans fluid changes being a requirement then either. Now I change mine ever 36K or 2 years.
I agree that 150K is an expected mileage before a failure for transmissions with some fluid/filter maintenance on a modern car. No maintenance done; expect earlier failure.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Honda opened up this can of worms by admitting there could be a problem with their transmissions lack of lube, so they extended the warrenty. Now, if you go 150k and your transmission fails because of this lack of 2nd gear lube, the customer is going to feel that they have been cheated. If Honda didn't have this problem and the customer transmission failed at the same 150k, the customer will probably look at this situation differently.
Warranty the transmission for life of the vehicle if the failure is caused by a Honda design flaw.
It is nice of Honda to extend the warranty to 100k, but the vehicle should never ever need a second transmission within the 100k warranty and that is what some people have reported here.
Simple!
my expectation is that the transmission should last as long as the engine when it is regularly maintained like the engine is maintained.
100K? No. 150K? No. 200 to 250K? Yes.
and my expectation is that replacements or wear items related to the transmission should be serviceable and of a cost which doesn't approach anywhere near 1/4-1/5th the total cost of the vehicle (i'm talking about an LX for those that care). For those of you buying LUX trims, your ratio will vary.
We would have liked to have purchased an LX ODY with a manual transmission! We thought the transmissions issues were a thing of the past when they went to the 5-speed A/T.
I'm not aware of any factory warranty or extended warranty past 100K, so I would accept the expert opinion of the factory engineers and the statistical wizards of insurance companies and say that 100K is indeed a normal service life.
"Normal" after all, implies the bulk of the results...you'll have some quitting sooner and some going longer.
Put it this way: Would you pay any serious money for a USED automatic transmission with over 100K on it? I sure wouldn't.
I called Honda North american to complain that transmission problems occuring at 118,000 is entirely too early... expecially for a Honda. Come on.. I thought they were supposed to last. Honda North american did acknowledged that they had a recall on defective transmission on 99 - 2004 Odysseys. Here's where it got interesting.
1)They told me the recall was about delayed shifting .. and not just with the Torque Converter.
2) Howver, they told me if I was under 100K they would still fix it.
3) since i was over 100k, they said that I could apply for assistance and they would pay a percentage or all of it .. perhaps.
4) I just took it to a dealership and they are going to:
a) charge me the warrantee price to put in a new transmission 2200 bucks, but Honda would pay 25% of cost.
5) We plan on getting it fixed and retaining our paperwork and doing further research and possibly getting an attorney to have them reinburse us for our portion.
6) I talked to an attorney and he said defects in cars have no statute of limitation, so Honda should fix transmission regardless of milage as long as we can prove that the defective part is whats on the recall list.
u want to call honda north american in calf
You seem to have already gone through a situation that I feel I'm entering now. Just turned 50K miles on my 2000 LX and I've noticed a definite shifting problem ( slow or delayed shift ) from 1st to 2nd gear. I've also been to the local Honda dealer twice. The first trip ended in a $85 diagnostic charge with a "NPF" outcome. A short time later, another trip to the dealer and a test drive with the lead Technician and Service Manager resulted in a "that's normal" answer, as the transmission stayed in 1st gear until 3500rpm's, shifted up with a lurch, under very gentle acceleration. They even let me drive one of their Courtesy Shuttles to compare the two and it did the same thing!
I don't understand why Honda, who has already acknowledged problems exist, is doing very litle to correct it.
If I call American Honda, they'll more than likely tell me to take it up with the local dealer, which, at this point, seems to be a loosing battle ...
I've started noticing a delayed shift from 1st to 2nd gear. All the time ... not just when cold as the owners manual indicates.
Tks
Good Luck with your GC ...
I called Honda USA about my concern and was told that my vehicle had newer transmission with the fix already in place. I was told that all 2004 Odys built in 2004 had the newer tranny with the fix in place. However any 2004 Odys built in 2003 need to have the fix added to the tranny.
Since my 2004 Ody was built in June or July of 2004, I am feeing more confident in the long term durability of it.
Previously I owned a 1996 Windstar and it had so many problems(including transmission and finally a knocking engine) that I was glad to get rid of it for the Ody. This new Ody drives like a great handling car and I can see why Car & Driver chose it to be the winner over the new 2004 Sienna design, the Quest, with the Grand Caravan and Freestar an embarrassing last place.
Thankfully I am not a car salesman, because I would walk you out the door and laugh out loud.
Please tell me a car, household appliance, bicycle, lawn mower, airplane....that says they will give you a lifetime warranty and I will show you a company that is out of business before you can call them for your free service.
I get it! Sears might go out of business replacing all of the Craftsman tools that the Honda Ody mechanics wear out replacing the transmissions.
The real scary thing is how expensive a tranny is these days. How can it cost 5K for a reman tranny, when you can buy a brand new LX for 25K MSRP?
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Your analogy is so far off base it's hilarous.
Now, I was not comparing the Honda Ody to the Craftsman tools, one has a proven track record of making "Quality" products for its customers and is willing to stand behind their products.
Show us Honda's service records that state what you are saying about the 2% transmission failure rate. I have yet to see Honda's repair records, have you? Will they share them with the people at Edmunds?
Again, I am not "anti" Honda, I just don't like to see people lead astray by comments like....Relax, it won't happen to you!
For the people that paid MSRP or more this is little comfort.
I'm not the one who stated the 2% number. I've read that number several times in these forums.
I won't argue with combative people.
You just don't seem to be able to discuss things from a open, rational standpoint and that's where you lost me.
Hope this finds you well.
A little humor is always good....and YES, if I were to buy a new minivan, the 2005 Ody LX or EX would be my first choice.
Maybe the 2005 Ody will have a better track record when it comes to the transmission issue.
Chrysler minivan transmissions have been VERY reliable since 2001 and I am quite confident that Honda has fixed the Odyssey transmission problems.
Well, my Ody is back in the shop again today. I t isleaking fluid again. I will let you know what the diagnosis is when I get it. I will be calling Amercian Honda and I will be demanding a high trade value for this vehicle as I am sick and tired of bringing it in for service.
Based on reading Edmund's Town Hall for some time and many years of reading CR, I find the credibility of data found in Edmunds to be much higher than the biased information contained in CR.
I have more confidence in the reliability of my 2002 Chrysler T&C LX transmission than I would have with a 2002 Honda Odyssey transmission.
Most of my research reveals around 100K miles, which led to recalls for all three brands.
Transmissions are a very costly item, and they should last more than 100K miles.
Funny how this wasn't widely reported and at first denied by Honda???
And now people are paying above MSRP for new Odyssey. Come on stop drinking the "Honda Kool Aid"