NHTSA Complaint #11589527 — 2018 HONDA ODYSSEY

On April 13th, 2024 our son was driving the family 2018 Honda Odyssey (Approx 83,000 miles) in a nearby city. He was driving at 43 mph when the vehicle shifted from drive to neutral without his shifting it. He tried to brake using the brake pedal but was unable to stop or slow the vehicle. He also tried to accelerate and was unable to accelerate the vehicle. All the lights on the dashboard lit up and he was forced to use the emergency brake to stop the minivan. A good samaritan stopped and assuming that the battery was the problem, tried to help jump-start the vehicle -- but they were unable to start the car. Our son called us, and I drove 20 or so miles to his location. After trying a jump box in the vehicle, we called AAA. After trying a jump start and a new battery, At this point the technician said that the vehicle would need to be towed. The transmission of the minivan appeared to be locked and the towing company was not able to find a means to unlock the transmission. As a result, the front tires were placed on skids, which allowed the minivan to be drawn up onto the bed of the tow vehicle and towed the vehicle 20 miles to the local dealer, which had originally sold us the vehicle and had completed all recent maintenance. On Monday, the Honda service technician assessed it. We were advised that the 2018 Odyssey would require a new engine. After involving American Honda, we learned that the transmission was also affected, and the car would need to have $28,000 of repairs. After a month of discussions with American Honda, they closed our case without a teardown to identify root cause of the event. Our son could easily have been killed by being in a vehicle that could not be controlled while it was moving down the street. He used the only means available to him to stop the vehicle – the emergency parking brake. American Honda has told us that we must pay the $1600 to tear the engine apart to learn the cause. We have more history than can fit here.