the first transmission was replaced in our odyssey by Honda at around 50k miles. the second one is starting to go bad and we are told that it needs replacing, but Honda will not pay for it. the new one now has around 50k miles. there was a class action law suit regarding the first one. I don’t want to have to pay $3-5k to have it replaced. what are my options? Obviously there is a problem if the transmissions go bad every 50k miles and given there was a lawsuit the first time around will there have to be another one?
Check with a good auto recycler in your area to see if a later model transmission will work. You could then purchase a used later model transmission with low miles and get out of the 01 model problem. You are, after all, driving a used vehicle. I would also check with a good transmission rebuilder like Aamco to see if they have a fix for the problem.
I would stay away from AAMCO. A good independent transmission shop, in my opinion, is more apt to give you a straight answer.
Options?
You could contact a local independent transmission shop and see if the transmission can be rebuilt. I’d avoid any of the national chain shops, though.
The other option is to trade the Odyssey for something else.
“I would also check with a good transmission rebuilder like Aamco to see if they have a fix for the problem.”
I have to say that this positive opinion of AAMCO is the first one that I have ever seen posted on this forum. By contrast, there are scores of posts from people complaining about the accuracy of the diagnosis, the cost, and the quality of the work that they received from AAMCO.
I only listed AAMCO as a source to call for information. There are a lot of “independent” shops out there that will rip you off in a heartbeat. Independent shops tend, for the most part, to be behind the times when it comes to troubleshooting a problem. I’ve heard of people having problems with national shops including AAMCO also. I don’t, since I’m related to the owner.