NHTSA Complaint #11640068 — 2021 HONDA ODYSSEY

On 1/31/25 our rear tailgate automatically opened upon parking the car in our garage. Later that day, the tailgate would no operate properly and had to be manually opened. The key fob was functional and could operate all other doors in the car, except the tail gate. Later that day, while the car was parked in our garage, the tailgate started operating by itself, without pressing any buttons on the remote control key fob. It would open and close by itself and repeat the entire sequence over and over again. Upon turning on the car, the display identified a Power Tailgate Problem. The problem was reproduced by the Olathe Kansas Honda dealership. We took it to the dealership today and they diagnosed the problem, stating it is a Gate Control Unit failure (error code P1378 and P1379). Dealer confirmed what we experienced. We documented the safety problem via video. We were able to temporarily fix the issue by disconnecting the car battery overnight and reconnecting it the following morning. Safety concerns - This is a concerning issue as the tail gate could open by itself while driving, and/or could open by itself when you have the car parked in public, allowing theft of any items left inside. It could also open while someone is driving along a parking lot and cause an accident. There was no warning light prior to the malfunction of the tail gate control unit. We have found online that there may be a class action lawsuit regarding this issue.