Complaint volume
908 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2018 Honda Odyssey Complaints
908 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2018 Honda Odyssey, grouped by component category.
908 Total complaints
13 Crash reports
3 Fire reports
16 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are engine, electrical system, power train. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 13 crash reports, 3 fire reports, 16 injury reports, and 1 fatality report. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 243 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 37,613 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to engine, electrical system, power train?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2018 Honda Odyssey?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2018 Honda Odyssey
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2018 Honda Odyssey complaints?
13 Crash
3 Fire
16 Injury
1 Fatality
20 Towed
7 Medical attention
What are the most common 2018 Honda Odyssey complaint categories?
ENGINE 87
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 84
POWER TRAIN 80
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 60
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE 59
STRUCTURE 56
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 32
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 30
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE 22
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE 21
908 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2023 | SEAT BELTS | The driver's seat belt consistently came 'unbuckled'. There were times that I had to pull over to re-insert it into the base. On 14 DEC 2022, I took the van to Honda of Gainesville FL to have this evaluated and repaired. The seat belt was replaced that day for a total of $269.67 (a receipt is available upon request). Last week, I checked the recalls online and Honda is recalling its 2018 Odyssey vans for this same problem. When I called about this, I was told by both the local dealer's staff member and Honda's Recall staff member (888-234-2138) that our VIN was not included in the recall. This is the reason I am writing to you; I believe that our VIN should have been included for this recall and the seat belt replacement covered by Honda. I don't see how it could not be included. Also, we want to notify you of this situation should other Odyssey owners be affected. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | POWER TRAIN | when starting from a stop, occasionally when the accelerator is first pressed, the van doesn't immediately accelerate, there is about a two second hesitation where the car does nothing, and then finally it engages and starts to move forward. This happens occasionally in DRIVE, but I don't think I have ever seen it in reverse. It seems to happen more right after the vehicle is first turned on. I have seen many others complaining in various forums about the same issue. Here's one site: https://www.odyclub.com/threads/2018-odyssey-having-1-3-second-acceleration-lag-from-stopped-or-rolling-on-9-speed-transmission.368250/ This has been happening for a long time, I don't recall when it first started to happen. the date I put below is pretty much a random date | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES | Just bought the car used with 60240 mi at the end of March on a Friday. 30 minutes after leaving the dealership the Auto Idle Stop warning notice appeared on the dash stating this feature was unavailable. It would not engage when idle at a light and as a result, when the gas was pressed to accelerate the car would hesitate and jerk into gear. This happened the entire 1.5-hour ride home, whether for a short pause or longer pause. It was a bit scary because the car would hesitate to move and clearly there were cars behind me. At any point and time, someone could've rear-ended me thinking I was able to accelerate properly. About 1 hour into the ride the brake lights came on flashing red at the bottom of the dash the entire time and would not go out. I immediately called the dealership once I reached my destination to announce the problem. The following Monday I took it back for a look over. In their investigation, they found a tracker attached under the dash and assumed this was interfering with the transmission of messages for the Auto Idle stop to engage. The dealer claimed there were codes, but after removing this attachment the auto idle stop feature engaged and they cleared all the codes. To my surprise, after 4-5 hours of being there, I drove home to find as I neared by destination all error codes returned including the brake lights flashing. I immediately called the dealer again and complained. This time to not further inconvenience me with the back and forth, they came and picked up the car on a Thursday with the intent of troubleshooting it over the course of some days. They had the car from a Thursday to the next Friday for me to arrive after them saying it was good, to find it was still doing it. This time the codes were reviewed with me in the car and the issue was "it was unlearned". After the reset, it started working again. Four days later it's still happening. Engages when it feels like it which causes a rough drive and acceleration. Honda help! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Electrical issues with camera, screen & infotainment system. Terrible crackling noise coming from stereo system. Screen randomly goes black for prolonged periods of time. While in reverse and relying on camera….all of a sudden you do not have visibility. Screen will stay off as well as the music and randomly turn back on. Car has been in shop 5 plus times for this issue and several remedies tried…..nothing seems to work. Whatever remedies have been tried, problem is now worse and more frequent. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | ENGINE | Vehicle intermittently engine does not accelerate when gas pedal is pushed. Seems engine is hesitating and will not react to input from gas pedal. Very dangerous situation when you are merging onto highways or turning on to a road. Has done it for some time now. Cannot replicate when taken to dealer. I have read on Honda Odyssey (Ody Club) that this is a common issue with this vehicle. I am afraid my wife is going to wind up in a nasty accident. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VISIBILITY/WIPER,LANE DEPARTURE | While driving multiple system failure- warning lights then failure of: blind spot alert, lane departure, back up camera, wipers, tailgate function. When able to stop, power locks did not function. Inability to access rear of car via sliding doors would pose serious risk if accident occurred due to system failure. Prior to all systems alert, tailgate warning light had been intermittently appearing for a few days. Dealer service center noted water leak from unsealed section between window and frame in back driver side panel that corroded body console module. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | This issue been going on for a while now. I Have taking it to the dealer for issue. They said was the battery i replace the battery. Still doesn’t fix the issue. Last week we stuck on the hogging in traffic with my family of 5 including children. We came to a stop and it went into idle stop then it when i released brakes the engine didn’t turn back on tell me to shift in park in the middle of the highway. I could have been hit from the rear with this issue especially if you’re stuck in traffic. This issue has been going on a few times thinking it was because of a battery. I replaced my battery twice because that what Honda said is the issue . | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | POWER TRAIN | On March 13, 2023 my Honda Odyssey 2018 would not shift out of "Park". The message,” Stop Driving When Safe. Transmission Problem. See Manual” appeared on my dashboard. I turned off the Odyssey and started it back up. After this I was able to shift into drive. This message never appeared before March 13, 2023. Later as I was driving, the Odyssey shifted into "Neutral" by itself without any action on my part. The vehicle became unresponsive, the Odyssey lost all drive train power as we were driving on a steep decline. I was only able to slow the Odyssey with the foot break. This was an extremely dangerous situation that put the safety of my whole family at risk. I was able to steer the vehicle to the shoulder of the highway out of on coming traffic. The next day, March 14, when I started the Odyssey it would not shift out of "Park" and the same error message about the transmission appeared. We were left stranded on the side of the road with freezing temperatures.The mechanic at the Honda dealership stated he could not get the Odyssey to shift out of Park until it had been running for 45 minutes. The problem was confirmed by the Honda dealership. The Odyssey was inspected by the Honda dealership. He could not determine the exact cause and suggested a new battery. I purchased a new battery, and the Honda technician installed it. I had the old battery tested at AutoZone, the battery passed the test, it was a good battery The Honda Dealership changed the Transmission fluid and updated the software of theOdyssey. After being serviced and repaired by the Honda Dealership, the same transmission problem happened again on March 21 as I was driving my boys to school in the morning, going down a decline, again the Odyssey shifted into "Neutral" by itself without any action on my part. The power train lost all power, I could not shift it into "drive". Again this loss of control put my family's safety at risk. This was the third time my family was left stranded. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | The radio goes out on my van and the van shifts into neutral while I'm driving. This has been going on for months I've had it to the Honda dealership twice this last time thay said the only thing they could come up with is that the alternator is losing power but alternator is on back order until June and still no guarantee this will fix the problem since none of there test showed up anything other then they were able to get it to go into neutral for them while they were driving it. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | I have a 2018 Honda odyssey 9 speed and I am well aware of the many issues people have been complaining of and I am experiencing many of those same issues. My number one issue is my acceleration. I need to step down all the way on the gas pedal to make the car move and once it does my rear tires spin because of the acceleration. I have also had many instances where my car will not accelerate fast enough while turning causing me to sometimes be stopped in on coming traffic. I have had my main screen turn off while driving but did not affect the car however and a handful where I will be stopped at a light and my car shifts to park. I have had the car brought into the dealer 3 times for these issues and all that was done software updates. I did have one instance where my check engine light was on and they replaced the fuel injectors which did not solve the problem. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SEATS | Car was parked at home. Entered car to get something, noticed car smelled of faint smoke. Didn't think much of it. Next day when I went into the car noticed a large burn hole in passenger side seat. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE | 2018 Honda Odyssey - 120,738 miles at time of occurrence Premature failure of the monocular camera (Honda Part Number 36160-THR-A04). This impacted Adaptive Cruise Control, Automatic Breaking, Forward Collision Warning, Lane Departure Warning, Lane Keep Assistance and automatic high beams. This part failed very suddenly when I was on a major highway. No warning lamps prior to failure We kept the part for inspection. The problem was confirmed by a Honda dealer and the part was replaced at my expense ($1,335.88). Reported to American Honda who told me this was no longer under warranty. When i tried to find the part myself, it was on a long back order and I was told by many other dealers that this is a common failure | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | On 2 occasions, the "Auto Engine Idle Stop" has caused my vehicle to completely die while stopped at a stop light. The car did not start, leaving me stalled in active traffic. Eventually the car reset itself and I was able to restart the car. After this happened the first time the battery in the vehicle was replaced. The second time this happened the battery was only 2 years old. The manufacturer should fix this problem with a recall. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | STEERING,POWER TRAIN,SERVICE BRAKES | My Honda Odyssey 2018 has a problem that sometimes, particularly during winter, that a lot of check lights are on, and sometimes the car starts to slide. The check lights may include the check engine light, the power steering light, the power brake light, and the transmission light. An independent mechanic determined that this is addressed by the Honda Service Bulletin 20-100, but Honda service representative denies a warranty coverage as they say the VIN is not in the range even when the Model, Make, and the diagnosis all matches (Honda Service representative: case # [XXX], [XXX]). INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE,LANE DEPARTURE | Blindspot monitoring, emissions system problem, transmission system problem all come on at the same time when vehicle is motion. Unable to manually shift if needed. A lot of vans had recall, however ours is not on the recall list, but we highly believe it should be due to safety concerns due to transmission failure. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES | The contact owns a 2018 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake pedal was depressed, and the vehicle was shaking. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 43,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 43,000 |
| Feb 2023 | ENGINE | My car would not switch gears quick enough which resulted in a brief stalling when trying to cross traffic. This is just the most recent issues when it comes to faulty gear shifting in this vehicle. if it weren’t for other cars slamming on their brakes, it would have been a bad accident. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | As I was driving down the interstate in my 2018 Honda Odyssey, clear of other vehicles or debris, I heard a loud bang and saw glass slide off the back of my car. I could instantly hear the air in the moonroof as if it was open. Fortunately, I had the cloth/hard cover closed so no glass got in my car or on me. For obvious reasons this is extremely dangerous and puts many people in the car and outside the car at risk. The shock of the exploding sunroof while driving on the interstate is not safe but if the cover wasn't closed, it would have covered me and my children in glass shards. One week ago, January 27, 2023, I had my a few recalls repaired on my van. One being, "Safety Recall Campaign: Replace Harness Clips and Moon Roof S/B 20-012". | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | STEERING,SERVICE BRAKES,LANE DEPARTURE | ALL the warning lights came on, including brakes, power steering, lane keeping assistance, lane departure warning, and others, indicating the car should be stopped immediately regardless of traffic or conditions. I do not know if the functions were also impaired or if was simply false alarms. I understand this is typical of this auromobile. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES | The contact owns a 2018 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated that upon opening the driver’s side sliding door, the cable inside the door snapped which rendered the door inoperable. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer to be inspected. Upon investigation, the contact discovered NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V437000 (Latches/Locks/Linkage) which she linked to the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that the vehicle was not under recall or warranty. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 74,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 74,000 |
| Jan 2023 | POWER TRAIN | I was on a road trip with my family and stopped at a gas station. When we were ready to leave I attempted to place the vehicle in drive but it was stuck in park (vehicle has a push button shifter) and multiple warnings started to show up including transmission disabled, blind spot monitoring disabled and one other warning that I can't recall. There were no prior warning signs and we did all of the recommended services. There were prior issues with the transmission not seeming to engage. You would press on the gas and nothing would happen (It almost seemed as if you were just cruising) and then, after a lengthy delay the transmission would suddenly engage. There was also some issues with the transmission slipping. We brought this up several times with different dealers and were always told that they couldn't replicate the issue and that there were no recalls on our vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The auto idle on my van has cause problems for over three years. I have reported this to our Honda dealership numerous times. The car dies when I am stopped and I try to take off. Everything in car shuts off - dashboard, A/C, radio, etc. When it does not all the way die when I try to go from a stop, all my collision mitigation warnings start flashing and a few times my car has braked itself. They have blamed it on my battery twice - once they replaced and the next time they made me pay for the battery. Then, they tried to blame it on the master computer switch because my door locks would just lock and unlock as I would drive down the road. They ordered the chip in February 2022 and finally replaced it in August 2022. The van has started locking and unlocking again, collision mitigation warnings go off for no reason, and auto idle is starting to kill the van again when I try to take off. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | POWER TRAIN | The PowerTrain in my car has been giving me nothing but headaches since I purchased it in January 2022. Multiple times at intersections, the car stalls and starts going backwards, causing me to put the car in park and restart it to go forward. The problem is so severe that it happens almost every time I come to a stop. It's not just inconvenient, it's downright dangerous. I can't even begin to describe the feeling of helplessness when my car starts reversing in the middle of a busy intersection with oncoming traffic heading my way. I have taken my car to the dealer multiple times and they have attempted to fix the issue by replacing the transmission and a camera, but these repairs have not resolved the problem. I even had to have my car towed back to my hometown after it stalled in Dallas. The dealer assures me that the problem has been fixed, but it continues to happen, and it's getting worse. Yesterday, on January 18, 2023, the issue occurred again while driving in slow traffic, nearly causing a collision with the car behind us. My family and I were put in a very dangerous situation, all because of this faulty PowerTrain. I have been to the dealer over 5 times and they have yet to fix the issue. I am beyond frustrated and disappointed with this car and the dealer's inability to resolve the problem. I am a loyal customer, and I expect better from a brand that I trust. This car needs to be recalled, and I demand that the dealer and the manufacturer take responsibility for their faulty product and take immediate action to rectify the situation. I should not have to continue living in fear every time I get behind the wheel of my car, and I should not have to continue to waste my time and money taking it to the dealer for repairs that don't work. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE | GOODMORNING, I bought my car honda Odyssey 2018 model, on August 20th, 2018, from Honda of Clearlake, in League City, TX, the day they opened new location, this car has been giving us trouble since then. when under warranty the sunroof motor became faulty. I agree that they repaired it but took more than a week to get repaired. The car has less than 30000 miles now, last year November when I was driving car started showing up multiple warning lights, and tail gate not closing and locking and took the car dealer service center and without proper multi point inspection they ruled out its poor battery and changed it. Within a week again the same problem started appearing, took the car to dealer service center and took almost more than week to do inspection and stated that, there is a faulty weld and leak on back tail gate hinges in car and water is seeping into electrical system which is on driver side rear in between plastic trim and main body. this caused a short circuit and multiple warning lights turning on. electrical system and carpets were damaged, and they recommended to change whole harness and electrical components which will be more than $6000.00 After a week they stated that it has a faulty caulk on roof were water seeping through, Honda of clear lake service advisor [XXX] agreed that he have come across multiple cars (3 or 4) in same dealer ship with same problems. nobody knows how many dealers service centers had same problem. This is clearly manufacturing defect and Honda corporate don't want to make this issue a recall. they agreed to replace components, but we have to pay the labor which we agreed, but it's been more than a month which they can't repair and give back our car. now I think this leak issue and the issue, I mentioned earlier (faulty sunroof motor) is somehow related. I would request you to probe an enquiry into this issue which, can be an electrical and fire hazard and rule out to be a recall from Honda side. Thanking you INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | POWER TRAIN,LANE DEPARTURE | Own a 2018 Honda Odyssey Touring w/10 Speed Transmission just outside the powertrain warranty. The current Mileage is 115,863 miles. On 1/2/2023, while my wife was driving, she experienced severe jerking and gears slipping in Drive. The car continued to drive, but there was hesitation in gearing. The following day (1/3/2023), hesitation rapidly turned into the complete failure of the van to go into reverse. The car would not engage reverse, started blinking R, and was freewheeling like it was in neutral. Suddenly, the dash indicated transmission system failure + blind spot warning failure. All modes, Drive, Sport, Neutral, and Reverse, were flashing. Wife was able to get the van home, and I immediately took it to the dealership. The following morning, 1/4/2023 (today as of this writing), the dealership notified me the tech observed what he called “a death code,” indicating the transmission must be replaced. $11,000 repair is underway as of this writing. The problem is exactly similar to this reported and others in Odyssey Consumer Forums. It appears to be a Transmission Manufacturing Defect by Honda Car. Answers to questions: 1) Component Malfunction is Transmission System - and ADAS/Blind Spot. 2) Car was slipping and jerking on the motorway in the middle of high-speed traffic and trucks, endangering our safety. 3) Problem was reproduced 100% of the time personally and by the dealership personnel. 4) The dealer indicated a “death code” and that the transmission must be replaced. 5) Transmission system failure + blind spot warning failure, all modes, Drive, Sport, Neutral, and Reverse, were flashing the letter associated with the gear/mode selected. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |