NHTSA Complaint #11484513 — 2018 HONDA ODYSSEY

On at least 3 occasions, the "Auto Engine Idle Stop" has caused my vehicle to completely die while stopped at a stop light. When the car shuts off/dies, the system prompts you to shift the car in park and restart the car, but on these occasions, the car did not start, leaving me stalled in active traffic. I felt very unsafe to be stalled with no way to operate the vehicle. The dealership checked the battery to ensure it wasn't a battery issue and found it to be completely fine. At the time we did not realize that it could be a problem with the Auto Engine Idle Stop feature, otherwise we would've had them check that system specifically. Further research from other customer forums online prompted us to turn this feature off, but we have to do that every time we start the car. There is no way for us to turn it off permanently. The car gives you no warning that this will happen. When you remove your foot from the break to resume driving, the car shuts off without immediately restarting, leaving you stranded. I am hoping that Honda will issue a recall on affected models. At this point they aren't offering any help other than to tell us to turn it off, but you have to remember to do that every time you start your vehicle.