NHTSA Owner Complaint Log
This page lists owner-reported complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2018 Honda Odyssey. Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA and do not by themselves prove a defect or defect rate.
Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026
I called Honda services when I received the recall letter from the mail and they kept on telling me that the parts has not come in yet, so call back later. So, I did do that I called back around 2-3 times and they kept on telling me the same thing that the parts have not come in yet and call back later and would not let me make an appointment. I called them the month of March and April and they still would not let me make an appointment.
A water leak above the tailgate control module flooded it to the point that it operated erratically and would raise and lower the tailgate randomly or not work at all. I plan on replacing the module myself but will retain the old one. Anytime the entry or exit points on a vehicle open randomly cannot be a safe condition. The dealer charges $130 for any inspection or diagnostic so no I am not paying them to tell me something is broken. The vehicle currently is showing a "Power Tailgate Problem" and a yellow box with "TAILGATE" in it on the dash display and is currently unresponsive to any input that would operate it: remote, tailgate buttons, and driver button. The power locking system is still operable. The Odyessy forums clearly describe multiple occurrences of this failure and the culprit is a water leak in rear window or rear section of roof trim strip on the drivers side. My module did have water in it when I opened the plastic case it is contained in. Cleaning and drying it restored operation for about 3 days. Thanks for your help!
Power Tailgate is not functioning and the trunk opens on its own. Yes, available for inspection. The trunk opening on its own puts the safety of everyone in the car at risk. I had the same issue 9 months ago, the dealer charged me $1200 to fix it. The dealer inspected it and stated it was due to a water leak that damaged the control module for the Power Tailgate. Nothing prior, a "Power Tailgate Problem" warning appeared on the dashboard, and the Power Tailgate stopped working.
Hello, my name is [XXX] . I have a 2018 Honda Odyssey that I bought brand new 6 years ago from Open Road Honda in Edison, New Jersey. We received a notification of the tailgate malfunctioning out of the blue yesterday evening. It was raining the whole day yesterday. Upon checking the internet, we found this to be an issue faced by multiple Honda Odyssey owners and a dedicated thread discussing this in the Honda Odyssey Forum. Link to it is here: [XXX] After doing a little bit more research, we found a potential problem to be a malfunction due to water going into power tailgate module and this could be caused by some welding defects from Honda. We decided to remove the fusebox cover in the back left of the car (driver side) and found that there was water inside. We have sent the car to our mechanic to resolve the issue. Please see pictures and video attached for your review. This also has the VIN number for our car. But, since this seems to be a manufacturing defect and it is going to cost a lot to fix, we would appreciate Honda taking action on this. We would like to take this to a dealership for issue resolution with Honda facilitating and paying for the repairs since it is a manufacturing defect. Please advise us on next steps. Thanks, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
There is an electrical drain causing the battery to drain to the point where it will not start. Alternator was replaced, then the issue persisted. Most recent problem include the power tailgate opening on its own. Rear power tailgate issue. The rear tailgate will attempt to open while driving, but the warning sound chimes and alerts to the problem. If the vehicle is left unlocked the tailgate will open itself. The power tailgate button in the driver seat does not work. The close button on the bottom of the door is illuminated (has power) but will not close the door. The soft rubber button above the license plate will engage the motor to lift the tailgate, but not to close it. Others have filed complaints about a water leak impacting the rear control board and causing it to fail. Leak may be from the fin on the roof or related to the cracking and rotting seal on the bottom of the rear windshield.
See service Honda Service Bulletin 20-100 Dated 2-11-2021.The fuel Injectors part Number 16010 (6EA) has failed and my dashboard display , displays most of the sensors that means there is an actual problem, or a false reading. As a Honda owner, I cannot determine if it is an actual fault or a false reading. I had Rusty Wallace Honda dealer check the car using OBD device and the equipment indicates a code 219A, which indicates bad fuel injectors. Now after the check additional and different sensors are displayed with problems than were displayed prior to this check. The trouble shooting and after displaying the code 219A indicated a catastrophic failure. Rusty Wallace has verbalized the results and that I should continue driving the vehicle, that this would not damage the engine or the car. I am not a certified mechanic, but my younger days were devoted to back street work repairing and driving vehicles. Anytime that you starve or flood a cyclinder you had serious problems. I need this vehicle as a daily driver.
Rear tail gate will not open even manually due to water getting inside of control module due to faulty design which causes water to go into the module and fry it would open and close randomly when it would rain now it has stopped working all together no indicator on dash anymore I guess this last rain finished it off terrible design very disappointing with Honda this is a major issue that needs to be fixed
After rain, the next day, I get error tailgate problem on my dashboard. I can no longer open it using my remote or from the front panel of my van. I saw many complaints of similar issue out there. This should have been a recall due to manufacture failure.
Power tail gate doesnt work. Water got into the car and leaked onto the power tail gate control circuit causing it to no longer work.
At around 25 miles per hour the vehicle has a transmission issue where the vehicle seems to hesitate, then downshift causing the vehicle to lurch forward. This happens regularly and started sometime before I acquired the vehicle with 48k miles. Honda dealer had no fix to the problem.
The contact owns a 2018 Honda Odyssey. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V858000 (Fuel System, Gasoline); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that while accelerating at an undisclosed speed, an abnormal sound was coming from the vehicle. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 83,255. Parts distribution disconnect.
The transmission has been acting weird - not shifting appropriately and jerking when shifting for about 2500 miles previous to this. The car has had routine maintenance and all recall work completed at dealership. At 86000 the transmission needs to be replaced. In addition, when it would get really wet or go through a car wash the transmission wouldn't function properly and not go into reverse at all.
The 2018 Honda Odyssey with 59,000 miles downshifts on its own when we are driving. This has happened about half a dozen times. It is disconcerting because the vehicle slows down. No one has hit us from behind. The Odyssey was at the dealer for a transmission fluid change recently. A multipoint inspection was done with no mention of the transmission or any other problems. There have been no warning lamps, messages, etc. displayed on the instrument panel. There are no service bulletins or recalls at this time.
All warning lights related to the Honda Sensing driver assist features come on and the assist features are inoperative. Vehicle still drives fine but even normal cruise control is no longer an option. Some warning notifications pop back up while driving even after dismissed which is rather distracting.
The tailgate module has been fixed three times by Honda, along with the tailgate being resealed by honda, however, the car continues to leak water through a seal in the drivers side upper rarea. The electrical components and fuse boxes have been full of water causing the vehicle to turn on automatically, have every light illuminated, tailgate open on its own, tailgate won’t close, no turn signals, no power to infotainment center, infotainment permanently displaying back up camera while in drive mode. The tailgate has been resealed by Honda (balise Honda of West Warwick) in March of 2024 and vehicle will be back there this week due to same issue. Battery needed replaced due to all the electronics misfiring and automatically turning on- car has left my family, my children stranded multiple times due to electrical issues misfiring and depleting battery.
It was the gear shift, changing from drivre mode to neutral, or from drive mode to completely shut off while I was driving on the the freeway and had to slow down because the vehicles in front of me were slowing down too, because of traffic conditions, the car problem has been confirmed by the manufacturer, there's even a law suit in process here in California for this matter. The car is right now in the dealership for repair, there was no light on in the dashboard warning. This started like to weeks ago, first time just went from driving mode to neutral. Second time shut off and turn on again, third time yesterday, from driving mode changed to neutral and finally completely shut down. I feel unsafe for my wife driving this car and for the kids .
At 60 mph, the fuel injectors failed on cylinder 1/2/3 (known issue based on TSB [XXX]). The vehicle produced various error codes but did not go into limp mode. We proceeded to the nearest exit on the highway to safely pull off. The engine shortly after turned on limp mode as we neared the exit. We heard an audible ping noise and the engine power changed (could still keep the vehicle moving but shaking in the steering wheel). We were on a straight path of road so the steering wheel shaking was manageable. We had the vehicle towed to nearest Honda Dealership and they completed the TSB putting in new injectors. The fault codes cleared on cylinder 1 & 2 but not 3. They performed compression test and assessed dead cylinder requiring new engine replacement. Technician also noted that #3 injector had locked open and spark plug was soaked with fuel from flooding the engine cylinder. I escalated to Honda Corporate (case # [XXX]) and they looked into the matter believing it wasn't that severe. After 1 month, they closed the claim at the regional manager level, with no earnest money, and said we were on our own for an engine with 74k miles since it was out of 60k warranty. I towed the car to my private certified mechanic (who had done all the oil changes since purchase at 34k miles). He checked with borescope and cylinder wasn't moving while crank turning. He has diagnosed broken piston rod and looking for used engine to try and replace. Honda Asheboro quoted $6,400 for repair. We believe that #3 cylinder hydro-locked when ECU turned off injector and spark plug but couldn't closed the injector properly (known debris in fuel system) causing the piston rod to break and luckily not drop the piston into the crankcase. Car is sitting idle waiting for repair or further review. Will be taking Honda Corporate to small claims court in Stanly County, NC. Other known issues for this model/year is fuel pump and piston bearings (both also TSB's and not recalls). INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Van started having a loud clicking sound and radio would not work. took it in for repair, they said they fixed it. Took it in again because it actually got worse and the screen was rebooting and showing a error. Now have an appointment to take it back in again tomorrow because the fix worked for like 3 days and now it has gotten even worse. Screen keeps shutting down completely and wont boot back on for a few minutes.
The rear lift gate is not opening. The lift gate motor and latch have been replaced. The lift gate module seems to have water/moisture after a rain storm causing the gate to not open. Their is an error on the display saying there is a lift gate error and the car is beeping while driving.
There are mutiple errors shown and the features disabled. Looks like the front camera is defective and is being reported by many people
ADAS system is not working due to internal camera failure.
The vehicle had low voltage indications and electrical issues that would affect many of the electrical systems in the car (power doors, main entertainment system, etc). More concerning, the vehicle would shift into park while driving and then would shut off. This posed a serious hazard when driving quickly. Honda was unable to remedy the issue and could not come up with a definitive cause. Another recall with these same problem was issued for other VIN numbers of the same make, model, and manufacturing year. My VIN was not included in that recall. The recall needs to be expanded to include more VINs as this is an issue in 2018 Honda Odyssey vans and poses a risk to me and my family while driving in its current state. My transmission is now experiencing issues due to shifting into park while driving and needs to be replaced.
the van has been giving me issues with stalling jerking losing power while driving when i found there was a recall honda told me i had to wait til srptember i dont have til september this is my only vehicle gid i hope it does not fail me or my kids
The transmission is unreliable. You push the gas and it hesitates to accelerate or switch to the next gear to speed up. It can shake or rattle the car. Has a trouble at low speeds or shifting to the next gear to increase speed. This makes it dangerous to try to pull out into an intersection because the transmission or gear shifting doesn't always hit and you can get hit or injured. This transmission has been weird since the car was new.
10/4/2023 (55K miles), the vehicle suddenly lost power at interstate speed and dropped to three cylinders. Warning lights came on disabling all automatic safety systems. I took the vehicle to a parts store and OBD indicated an oil pressure sensor in VTEC Bank 1. After restarting the vehicle I once again had all 6 cylinders, but all safety systems failures were still indicated on the dash. I replaced the battery (5.5 years old) and all systems returned to normal. After a the PGM-FI update for idle stop issues (recall) was performed at the dealer on 1/31/2024, two days later (2/2/2024) the previous event recurred resulting in severe loss of power and all safety systems indicating failure. I replaced the 4 month old battery under warranty believing the battery had failed prematurely. The problem did not resolve after replacing the battery and multiple restarts. I returned the car to the dealer service center on 2/3/2024 running on three cylinders and then suddenly 6 again after a restart part way there. Dealer diagnosed issue as intermittent fault P2652 Rocker Arm Oil Pressure Switch B (Bank 1) and replaced it at my cost but did not charge diagnoses. Operation returned to normal. ***I have driven Honda vehicles for 25 years with very few issues. Something is seriously wrong in their ECU program/electrical system that causes vehicle to suddenly lose power and safety systems due to an intermittent oil pressure sensor fault. I am a Mechanical Engineer with more than 18 years working in mechanical and electrical aerospace systems. Honda needs to identify the root cause of this failure mode and issue yet another recall to address the systemic hardware and software issues. Both times this occurred, I had 4 young kids in the car and could not maintain safe interstate speed or accelerate to get on the highway.
Right Power door will not open or close with buttons or key fob. Must open/close manually. The doors are too hard to open manually for smaller children and even some adults making it a safety concern in case of emergency. This started intermittently a year ago and is now a constant. Tailgate has been opening and closing on its own, even when locked while parked as well as when the idle stop is activated while in drive. This is a concern that someone can get in the vehicle when unattended. It also shuts (and didn't stop) when someone was standing in the opening while removing something when it occurred. This started about a month ago. I was told to take it to a dealer and pay them to diagnose it. The dealers have a wait list and it's also not in my budget. These are real concerns and I feel Honda isn't taking ownership of the dangers.
see attached document
POWER LIFT GATE AND POWER SLIDING MINIVAN DOOR DO NOT WORK LEAK IN BODY CAUSED ELECTRICAL SHORT AND CORROSON OF LIFTGATE POWER CONTROL UNIT. BAD DESIGN SAFETY ISSUE. DANGER OF CHILD ENTRAPMENT. SHOULD BE RECALL AND HONDA SHOULD FIX
2018 Honda Odyssey motorized tailgate has completely stopped working. Will not open. Numerous accounts say this is due to water getting into the rear tailgate control module and have had tremendous amount of rain this week. Have not had it looked at by dealer yet but must be fixed. Warning message appeared twice on dash 10 minutes before the failure.
Warning messages for the following appeared: brake system lane keeping/assist system collision mitigation system problem road departure mitigation system problem auto-high beam problem adaptive cruise control problem None of these safety features now work. Our local dealership told us it was a failure of the multipurpose camera unit. The fix we are told is a $1400 part. The rear camera was just recalled by Honda and repaired within the last month. This failure should not have happened and greatly impacts the safety of the car and it is a common problem when searching Honda message boards.
Our Tailgate is having an issue that triggered a safety issue with my wife driving on a highway then 3 lights popped up and car entered a limp mode. transmission issue, emissions issue, tailgate issue since then car is behaving normally but the tailgate latch is opening when we start the van and not working from fob (unlock) or exterior tailgate button. I have read other owners having an issue where the tailgate control module is getting submerged by water causing the unit to short and cause these issues. A car entering limp mode on the highway poses a threat to our family and others, I hope to see a solution in the near future.
Power tailgate problem. Middle both passenger side door did not latch. Power tailgate cannot open automatically. It happened recently, and happened every year as far as I remember, when raining season, or winter time. It just happened few days ago. Passenger side door did not latch. I was driving with baby in car seat, on freeway, when door latch did not lock properly. My wife had this incident as well, and called Honda dealer, and they may or may not repaired the latch, and we rarely have this incident anymore after my wife called Honda dealer, cause she freaked out door was open loosely while driving. But on left side, occasionally cannot open or closed, not as extreme as before we complained to dealer.
Multiple error lights come on at various times, including but not limited to road departure mitigation warning, vehicle stability assist problem, hill start assist problems, brake hold system problem, power steering system problem. Upon first dealer inspection no problem was identified. On follow up after ongoing recurrence of the issue, dealer found multi purpose camera internal fault along with recalled fuel injector repair requirement. Estimated 2,000 to fix MP camera.
My van has been stalling out constantly and not allowing me to power/move the car forward on several occasions. Most recently, my car has stalled out in two intersections, causing other cars to swerve/slam on the breaks and almost hit my car with my three young children in the car. I especially have trouble getting up any sort of hill. It is also a big problem when I have to stop my car for any amount of time (i.e. stop signs, turning lanes, stop lights) and then try to power my car when it is my turn. The car almost always stalls and has almost caused several accidents.
The vehicle has multiple warning lights and a recall was issued for the MOST connectors upon the initial problem which fixed it temporarily and now it continues to have multiple problems. It shuts off while I'm driving and the steering wheel locks up. It's as if the car is possessed the system screams at you, goes black, turns the music off and on. I have had it at the Honda twice and am taking it again in the morning. I'm afraid to drive my children in it.
My odyssey is running rough and Not accelerating correctly. All lights on the dash come on including emissions and power steering and traction control. I recently spent close to $3,000 doing the timing belt, water pump, spark plugs, and valve adjustment. All maintenance is up to date.
The camera on the Honda van seems to act up when either its hot outside or cold outside. Due to this, the car will show these codes, (LKAS, ACC, Collision Avoidance, Auto High Beam Problem). Due to the camera having these isues, the collision avoidance puts myself and family at risk.
I am having the problem with the Honda fuel injector system causing warning lights to go off. This has been a problem for 3 months and I’ve been told that there is a major supply issue. The problem has gotten so bad that my car keeps going into limp mode bc the transmission warning light is forced on. This is a safety issue.
All of the advanced driver assistance systems have failed: adaptive cruise control, emergency braking, forward collision warning, lane departure warning, lane keeping assistance. Additionally, there is a brake failure fault. The Honda dealership said that the plastic cover over the radar is prone to fogging and that we should clean it. We tried that and it did not work. Still get all of the faults and warnings.
On the way home, the rear door controller was damaged and the rear door opened by itself. So I pull the car to the side of the high way and tried to close the rear but couldn't. I drove my car to my home with the rear door open. It was a crazy experience to me.
A defective/leaking seal in the rear of the vehicle area caused water damage and corrosion on the tailgate control unit. As a result of the control unit failure the blinkers and lights stopped working while driving. In addition rear tailgate does not open. Dealer confirmed the issue, fixed the seal and replaced control unit. Research shows this is a recurring problem on this model vehicle.
Engine developed a tapping noise. Took it to the dealer and they diagnosed bad bearings that would have seized the engine very soon. Looks like a manufacturing defect of the crankshaft.
The vehicle often hesitates to accelerate when pressing the fuel peddle. This mostly happens when backing out of a driveway and placing the gear into drive but also has happened after coming to a full stop and then pulling out. The hesitation lasts about 1-3 seconds and could lead to a collision if I decide to pull out in front of oncoming traffic and anticipate the car to accelerate rather fast. Often, during the hesitation the instinct is to press the gas pedal harder, in which case, when the vehicle does accelerate it will spin the tires, making forward progress even more frustration and dangerous. This happens with both drivers in the family, it is not isolated to just once person's style of driving. This becomes a safety issue if you expect to merge into traffic and the vehicle does not respond. we have adjusted our driving habits in this car to assume it will not accelerate when from a full stop. We have not had a shop verify the condition. No warning lights or messages appear. The car is NOT in ECO mode. Doing a google search for the condition, it does not appear to isolated event.
Dash displays error message "Power Tailgate Problem". Tailgate does not open AT ALL with either of the following methods- key fob, button on dash, or button on tailgate. It is stuck and poses a significant safety issue. What if we had a accident, all doors were stuck, and needed an exit out the back of the vehicle? The tailgate is totally inoperable and Honda needs to fix this issue as it is an extremely common issue and not very cheap to repair.
Rear tail gate hatch Anytime it rains the hatch will open and faults out which ultimately causing it to not close or open tailgate fault shows up on the dash and does not function anymore do to water collecting in electrical module that controls hatch due to faulty design
The battery in our van weakened and needed to be replaced. Upon replacement with brand new battery, a ton of new warnings began. These included problems with: Adaptive cruise control; lane assist; collision avoidance; auto high beam, and maybe another. Doing some research online, I found that many other Odyssey owners experienced similar issues associated with battery replacement. Local Honda dealer told me the MOST recall repair may take care of it. It did not. Was told the internal front multipurpose camera just happened to coincidentally go out at the same time as the battery. Honda wants $1500 to replace the camera. Honda USA declined to help. In the meantime, our vehicle has none of the safety features available; and regular cruise control is not an option if the camera is not replaced. I believe Honda knows this is an issue and should be help responsible for replacing defective cameras.
In the afternoon hours of [XXX]; my wife, 2 children and I were traveling away from Pageland, SC on [XXX] . My wife was driving the vehicle and hit a pothole on right side of our lane. This caused both driver and passenger side curtain airbags to deploy. Upon exiting the vehicle no visible damage was found other than a leaky passenger side front tire. This incident jeopardized the safety of everyone in our vehicle due to the powder or smoke that comes out causing a visual obstruction of the road, and the sudden unexpected deployment that scared my wife at the exit of a curve. Thankfully, she kept control of the vehicle and did not collide or wreck in to anything. I still called for the North Carolina Highway Patrol due to the incident that happened. The Trooper explained to us that he could not do a wreck report because, there was no collision. He did however do something different and provided us with a copy of it. Due to this, the insurance company totaled the vehicle and forced us to find a different vehicle. I am unsure if this vehicle was inspected afterwards by anyone other than the insurance company. Prior to this incident there were no warning lights or messages stating there was a problem. After the incident, several messages popped on the screen referencing several safety systems on the vehicle and the tire pressure system on the passenger side front tire. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The power tailgate control module failed due to water leaking through holes in the seam. The power tailgate problem light came on when the issues began. I was unable to open the tailgate using the button by the driver's controls, the remote fob, or the exterior button on the tailgate. The only way to open the tailgate was the manual release on the interior tailgate. There was constant beeping while driving forward or in reverse. We removed the power tailgate control module, and there was obvious corrosion around the entire part. We applied seam sealer on the driver side roof rail and installed a new ptg control module. The new module began having similar issues approximately 2 weeks later. We removed it, and could see obvious corrosion beginning on one side of the ptg control module. We applied seam sealer above the rear tailgate window and attempted to clean the affected areas on the ptg control module in hopes that it will work again. The power function of the tailgate is not working, but the power tailgate problem light is not on and there is no beeping. I am now able to open the tailgate manually using the exterior button on the tailgate. Driver's control button, remote fob button, and button on the tailgate to close it do not work.
See attached document for complaint.
Power Tailgate failure, from water leaking into the vehicle. The power tailgate would open and close on its own, even when driving down the road. This is a SERIOUS safety issue if you have children in the vehicle. First sign of failure was a message of tailgate problem on the information center of the dash. That is when the intermittent opening and closing began, as well as battery going dead. Took to Honda to be serviced(Walker Honda in Alexandria, Louisiana). Was informed that water did indeed leak into the van from someplace, they did not know from where. Was told van needed a new battery as well as a module replacement for the power tailgate and a Water test to see where the water was leaking in. Total cost of around $1600 Was then informed that the entire wiring harness might also need to be replaced because water corroded or damaged the contacts on the harness that affect MANY other parts of the van, including some safety systems. That was an estimated cost of $7000 but was told the technician could possibly just clean off the wiring harness contacts and try to drive it that way and see if it fixes the problem. Van has little over 130,000 miles on it and Power Tailgate is rarely used as we have no children and don't haul much, except groceries.