My 02 Honda Odyssey has 130,000 miles on it and had two episodes of the tranny slipping in low gears. It quickly kicked back into gear. Took it to Honda and they could not pull any codes nor could they duplicate a loss of power like I did (not power…but I was pressing down on the gas…engine was reving like crazy…van was losing speed…then is sort of “kicked” back into gear)… The tech said, "Tranny is slipping, will need to be replaced, but you “could” go 20,000 miles like this or it might die next week. A new tranny is not in the budget now and won’t be till October. I have small children…should I take my chances? It seems to run “fine” except for those two freak episodes? Am I being a bad Mom by not getting this replaced right now? What would you do? Thank you for any help!
I’d get a second opinion from someone other than the Honda dealer.
I’d also do a search of Honda transmission failures, and see if there’s a way to get the transmission replaced under warranty.
Depending on the results of the above, I’d think carefully about whether or not I wanted to keep this vehicle.
An automatic transmission fluid change couldn’t hurt, might help. Automatic transmission filters CAN’T be changed on Hondas. If the transmission has to be rebuilt, or replaced, it doesn’t matter WHEN you do it. By continuing to drive it, it won’t be hurt any more (the friction plates will just wear more).
An automatic transmission fluid change couldn’t hurt, might help. Automatic transmission filters CAN’T be changed on Hondas. If the transmission has to be rebuilt, or replaced, it doesn’t matter WHEN you do it. By continuing to drive it, it won’t be hurt any more (the friction plates will just wear more).
Ask the dealer if the tranny replacement could be covered under a ‘goodwill’ warranty. I know a number of people have asked for and received such a replacement for free. Wouldn’t hurt to ask.
If they say no, then see about taking it to a good transmission shop. Also, try the fluid change anyway. It doesn’t cost much, and it might at least alleviate the problem, if only temporarily.
The one you really should talk to about a possible good will warranty is the regional office. If a good will warranty is done, then the regional office is the entity that will be paying for it if approved.
If you approach the dealer about this you have no way of really knowing how hard they’re working to get a good-will performed.
The dealer would prefer you be a paying retail customer on this rather than a good will warranty repair because the transmission markup and the labor reimbursement rate (it’s horrible) to the dealer is much less than over the counter retail.
What you want to do here is be VERY polite with the regional office. Lay it on a little thick about loving your Honda, think it’s a great vehicle, etc. but are a bit disappointed that the transmission became a problem at such a comparatively low mileage.
They have a certain amount of lee-way on these things and maybe you can get a complete new trans out of this deal. The most they can do is say no.
Don’t you mean the LEAST they can do is say no?
Make sure you have a male with you who has at least a little bit of car savvy, just to protect yourself from the service writer who MAY have the ‘aha! a female driver!’ lets take advantage of, attitude.
Exactly. Bad grammarin’ on my part.
One thing to check with you first. Do you keep your left foot on the brake peddle when driving or pulling away? If not then disregard the following. If so even having your foot on the brake peddle enough to light up the brake lights a when pulling away from a stop will tell the computer to not let transmission and fuel work properly. I’ve noticed this with late model Hondas as I’m a left footed braker and it fooled me a few times. Just trying to eliminate all possibilities before expensive tranny work. Honda upped the guaranty on Odessy tranmissions because they had problems.