2023 Honda Odyssey: What to check before buying

Auto Idle-Stop often fails to restart the engine at lights or in traffic. Some vans lose all electrical power, coast dead through intersections, or need a full key cycle to restart. Weak batteries and hard cold starts come up too. Another pattern is the center screen blacking out or crackling, which takes GPS, audio, and the backup camera with it. Repairs are slowed by back-ordered screens. Owners also report false automatic braking, failed windshield cameras, wrong speed-limit readings, and rear doors that won't open. Dealers often cannot reproduce the faults. Four injuries are listed.

The emergency braking system slams on the brakes with nothing ahead. It happens on side streets, highways, construction zones, and dark roads, and pressing the gas may not override it. Most reports show no warning light or stored code, so dealers often call it normal or say they cannot fix it. Several filings describe a "Radar Obstructed" message that shuts off emergency braking, adaptive cruise, and collision warning. Owners say the dealer recalibration costs $800 each time. Adaptive cruise can also let the van gain speed downhill, up to 20 mph over the set speed.

Power liftgates and sliding doors keep moving when something is in the way. Two injuries are listed. The sliding door's pinch sensor is said to cover only the outer edge, so a hand on the inner door frame can be crushed and latched in. One power tailgate closed and struck its owner at about 9,000 miles. Water also gets into the cargo area. One report concerns tight sliding-door clearance on a wheelchair-ramp conversion.

Clicking, popping, and clunking noises come through the steering in turns, especially over bumps. One dealer lubricated the steering shaft, but the noise came back 6 months later. An owner notes that a March 2024 steering recall did not include their van. Failed front struts caused clicking on left turns in another case. A few vans had stiff steering with a cracking sound and a burst of warning lights within days of purchase. Wheelchair-converted vans report steering lockups, with Honda and the upfitter blaming each other. Rust on the front wheel hubs also appears.

Sudden engine failures happen at speed. One connecting rod broke through the block at 64000 miles, causing heavy smoke, a burning smell, and lost power on the highway. Another engine seized on a freeway on-ramp at about 25,500 miles. At 35,483 miles, one van shook hard and flashed warnings for power steering, parking brake, stability control, and emissions before being towed. Auto Idle-Stop that stops working is also reported, with owners trading hood-open reset tricks on forums.

The most serious report is a crash in which the van did not stop at a stop sign and rolled into a lake, injuring the driver. The cause is not known. Early brake wear also shows up, with rotors and pads needing replacement at about 9800 miles. Other vans light up warnings all at once for the brake system, brake hold, power steering, stability assist, and collision mitigation.

Rear seat belts lock tight and will not release. In repeated reports, children playing with a belt get it wrapped around their neck, and it keeps tightening until a parent cuts it with scissors. Another second-row belt stayed tensioned on a child and would not unbuckle, so it also had to be cut. These happen in nearly new vans. One owner was quoted over a thousand dollars to replace a belt that had been cut. One injury is listed.

Power loss and stalling come up in heat and stop-and-go traffic, often below half a tank. The van hesitates, jerks, and shuts off, then won't restart until it cools for 20 to 30 minutes. One owner had a fuel pump fault code and links it to a recall. Camshaft bearing wear with metal shavings in the oil appears at 40K miles, and the dealer disputed warranty coverage over where the oil was changed. One transmission shuddered, downshifted at highway speed, ground loudly, and needed replacement at low mileage.