Just this week on the radio I heard-

This press release:
Posted on Thu, Apr. 15, 2004

Honda Recalls 600,000 Minivans, SUVs in United States, Canada

Kyodo News International, Tokyo Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News


Apr. 15--NEW YORK - American Honda Motor Co. said Wednesday it will recall some 600,000 minivans and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) it sold in the United States and Canada due to potential transmission defects.

Subject to free inspection and repair are 2002-2004 Honda Odyssey minivans, 2003-2004 Honda Pilot SUVs and 2001-2002 Acura MDX SUVs.

Insufficient lubrication of the transmission gear in those vehicles could lead to heat buildup and may eventually break the gear, the North American unit of Honda Motor Co. said.

The automaker has confirmed 10 cases in which the transmission failed, but none of them caused deaths or injuries, it said.
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I called my dealer to ask if my 2001 Odyssey was included since I have jerkiness and hesitation on starting up from a stop that is new. The dealer says he doesn't know anything, they have nothing, they don't have any list, and I should wait to hear from Honda. Comforting.

I take my Honda in for the jerkiness and they cannot reproduce the problem on test drive. Fine. I take it home and in one day my wife says it is no better and still present. Does any of this sound familiar? The symptoms are just like the hesitation (no stalling) that some CVT owners have experienced. There were no computer code errors found. Motor mounts were checked. No charges for any troubleshooting.

My plan is to clean out the K&N filter (8 months old) I have and fill up with premium 92 octane gas and test drive again.

600,000 Hondas from 2001 to 2004 is a big recall!!

 

For comparison, that's about 10x the number of MINIs sold to date in the U.S.

 

Goes on to show that defects can and do occur in other makes as well.

 

My friend's 2000 Odyssey is on its fourth transmission. One more and she's qualified for lemon law. A coworker's sister who works for Honda was able to lemon law her Odyssey due to transmission failure. I think Honda makes reliable cars but their trucks are still iffy. Should've have learned from their relationship with Isuzu.
-BruinToo

 

Sounds like they have a fix, though. So you'll get a "new and improved" transmission. Chances are they'll extend the warranty on the replacement part.

I'd hate to be the engineer responsible for the original design!

Japanese companies tend to take pretty good care of their customers. I used to own a Japanese minivan which they had to recall several times for overheating issues. After a couple recalls, they decided to compensate and reassure owners with a significant warranty extension. When the problem persisted, they decided to voluntarily buy back every single vehicle.