I own a 1992 Dodge Caravan that has 150,000 miles on it and I have not had any transmission troubles. I tow a small camper with it, and it has a tranny cooler installed. I am planning to purchase another minivan and I am considering a 2001 Honda Odyssey with about 50,000 miles on it. When is the expected lifespan of the Odyssey? If it is well maintained that is. I figure I got lucky with the Caravan, but it had the tranny cooler in it from the start. Are Honda Odyssey known to last 150,000 or more before the tranny goes? Any information from owners appreciated.
I hate to say this, but in your situation you should stay far, far away from pre-02 Odysseys. And even with an 02-04 Odyssey, don't tow.
So, no. Odysseys aren't known for going even 30K miles before the tranny goes, not until the 05 models.
Honda really, really blew it with the auto transmissions hooked to V6 engines from model year 98 through 04, on both Accord and Odyssey (less so on 03-04 Accords). I say that being a diehard Honda owner from way back, and an 02 Odyssey owner. I'm holding my breath that we caught my tranny in time with the recall, before any permanent damage was done--but I won't be surprised if we didn't.
I also don't plan EVER to pay for ANY tranny repairs on my van. I've been a Honda customer for too long, and a customer of my dealership service department for too long (20 years), to allow Honda to pull this crap on me. I put my faith in them, and they blew it. If my tranny causes problems 150K miles from now, I won't pay. Honda will. I am resolved on that.
Some, not all. My '01 Ody has more than 41,000 miles on it and NO transmission problems so far. : : Honda really, really blew it with the auto transmissions hooked to V6 : engines from model year 98 through 04, on both Accord and Odyssey (less : so on 03-04 Accords). I say that being a diehard Honda owner from way : back, and an 02 Odyssey owner. I'm holding my breath that we caught my : tranny in time with the recall, before any permanent damage was : done--but I won't be surprised if we didn't. : : I also don't plan EVER to pay for ANY tranny repairs on my van. I've : been a Honda customer for too long, and a customer of my dealership : service department for too long (20 years), to allow Honda to pull this : crap on me. I put my faith in them, and they blew it. If my tranny : causes problems 150K miles from now, I won't pay. Honda will. I am : resolved on that.
You shouldn't say pre 02..... because the 98 and earlier Odysseys are great, other than being underpowered when fully loaded. They have drivetrain similar to 94-97 accords, and the 98's even have vtec to help a little with the power problem.
I can't say about the towing part, but my neighbor had a '98 with well over 400,000 Km on it when he sold it last summer. That's over 250,000 Miles. He never had anything out of the ordinary done to it. I believe he got a good buck for it too, (like 3 x)compared to a Caravan of that mileage (disposable transportation). :-(
On 3/27/2005 3:44 PM snow spake these words of knowledge:
Because even when there's an acknowledged problem, it only affects a small percentage of vehicles; even the huge Chrysler transmission problem affected only a small percentage of those vehicles - but they're the ones you hear about.
I have 89000 miles on my '01 Odyssey EX, and nary a hiccup; although I paid the $800 for the extended (to 100,000 miles) warranty, in my case it will simply have been for peace of mind. I got it because of the large number (not percentage, mind you) of complaints I had read concerning the automatic doors. Again, in my case, no problems whatsoever.
You can buy a Dodge and drive it a quarter of a million miles without problems; you can buy a Honda and have thousands of dollars in repairs and replacements before 10,000 miles. But in both cases, the odds are pretty high against it. This is as true specifically for minivans as it is for the general line of vehicles. As they say, your mileage may vary. Good luck.
Have you any experiences with Honda approving and paying for repairs outside of warranty period. I have a major concern that has happened just outside (one month out of a 3 year warranty). I am waiting on a decision from Honda but the dealer seems to think that there is a good chance of the repair being covered as 'good will' and 'repeat customer management'. I will probably stick with a honda for my next car regardless - but I would appreciate not having to pay around $2k for a poor quality part that should not have broken.
I have had no problems with my Honda apart from this part that broke 35 days outside of the new car warranty period .I was never offered an extended warranty when the vehicle reached the end of the period. I thought about it just after I bought the car but I didn't do anything about it, out of sight out of mind - i certainly would have bought this if I thought about it around the end of the warranty period or was reminded about it.
I have. Extensively. But then, I and my family are loyal Honda owners, and loyal customers of one dealership--for many years now.
You're going in the right direction.
Word has it that the dealership service manager has latitude in OK'ing repairs under a certain dollar amount, for regular customers. He can make the gray area swing either way. After not paying $300 for a new idle air control valve last week (34K miles but 6 months outside of warranty time), I believe that.
One reason I'm the Honda customer I am today is because of some experiences I had years ago. My then-fiance needed a car; we were both in college, and I was on my second 79 Civic. Honda had recently replaced the gas tank on my car (despite it having over 100,000 miles and me being the umpteenth owner), because the tank and its straps were designed badly and the design encouraged rust-through on the tank
Based on this great service from American Honda (through the dealer, but it was an American Honda decision), my wife bought a 79 Civic that came up for sale. A few months later, her gas tank exhibits the same problems. I say, no problem, Honda fixes that. We take it to a dealer--a different dealer, near her house--and explain the problem, tell them that it's covered under a Honda goodwill warranty and that they should check with Honda on this. This is on a Friday.
At 4:15pm, she calls me crying; it seems the dealer told her that her car was ready, it would be $200. "What about the Honda warranty where they buy the $160 gas tank and I pay only for labor?", she asked. "Oh," they say. "We never called Honda on that. If you want to wait until Monday to get your car, we can call them then. Or you can get it now and pay us the full $200."
I calm her down and call the Honda zone office nearby. Remember, this is
4:15pm on a Friday. I explain the story to the guy at Honda, and he says "That's crap. Hold on." He puts me on hold for about 5 minutes, then comes back and says, "Go and pick up your car, it'll cost you the $40 for labor. It's handled." We go and get the car, and the service manager is miffed at us. "Went over our heads, didn't you?" she said. Absolutely.
I've got several stories like that. American Honda takes care of its customers.
And that's why I know I'll never pay for any transmission repair in my current van--because Honda knows they screwed up, and they *will* take care of a customer who is loyal to Honda and who is loyal to the dealership service department.
We have an 02 Odyessy and pull a small Starcraft with a 10' box. We haven't had any problems towing. We have the trans cooler and heavy duty power steering cooler. We did have a recall last summer on the transmission and the inspection showed that there was scorching due to the design not to the towing. The whole transmission was replaced...in addition they recently under recall install an "improved power train module". The transmission problems are regardless of towing. We are upgrading to a 12' box w/electric brakes a I feel comfortable pulling it with the Odyssey.
I had 30K miles on mine, and it showed absolutely no scorching (I actually took the pictures myself, as this was my tech's first time and he's not a camera person, so I set up the camera).
Honda said that the scorching was generally due to miles. If you had high miles, I'd agree with you. If you had low miles, watch out...
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