general problems of the 2020 Honda Odyssey - part 2

Vehicle’s “engine idle stop” feature malfunctions unless it is turned off manually. This is an energy conservation feature which turns off the engine when stopped. However, when lifting the brake, the engine does not turn back on at times, sometimes fully stalling the vehicle. At times, numerous lights have come onto the dashboard after this happens. At other times, the vehicle has completely turned off, leaving the safety of the driver and passengers at risk, particularly at stop lights, stop signs, and when in stop and go traffic. I’m continually worried someone is going to rear-end us when they see our brake light go off at an intersection. Vehicle has been brought to Honda dealership who stated they did not know the cause and replaced the battery. Problem was not solved and continues to happen.

While driving down the interstate the van went in neutral and a message appeared on the screen that it was in neutral, pull over when it is safe. The lights on the dash dimmed and no other message or warnings appeared. As I pulled off the interstate I was unable to use the brakes. We tried to put the van back in drive but was not successful. We were able to get the vehicle in park and come to a stop. I turned it off and back on. No other messages appeared. The vehicle drove as expected and brakes worked.

The sliding doesn't close all the way or it will open on it own. I will warning when I am driving about the sliding doors.

While driving the infotainment system will go completely out. When this happens you lose all additional safety features (back up camera, lane notifications, etc). This also becomes a distraction to the driver as when the system goes out it make a loud noise or will have a continued crackling noise which is highly distracting to the driver. I have seen a number of complaints online about this issue and have experienced the outages almost daily while driving the vehicle.

I have had 2 major issues, the idle stop feature has multiple times caused my car to stall. It has even happened on the highway during traffic where the car went into idle-stop mode and would not restart the engine. Last week it happened again on a major road and the only way to restart the car is shift to park in the middle of a busy 4 lane road, turn off the car completely and then attempt a restart. The other issue was with the rear sliding door, my 3 year old son closed the automatic sliding door by pressing the button and his hand was crushed/ stuck until I was able to reopen it. I have called Honda who told me I could have it looked at but it would cost me for the diagnostic and repair if needed due to the fact that it was one month past their 3 year warranty period.

Auto engine idle shut off issue and yes it is available for inspection. Upon exiting stop/start events(auto shut off at stop signs/lights/parking lots), engine does not restart. Instead, it shifts into park, lights up all instruments on display panel, and requires a manual restart. Vehicle is dead until restarted, posing a hazard to occupants/oncoming traffic. This has happened to me 3 times over the last two weeks. Didn't document date of 1st incident. 2nd incident was 3/22/23. 3rd incident was 3/25/2023. Immediately taken to dealer service center for repair. Dealer told us they couldn’t replicate the issue, that there are no codes, and no service advisories. We were told there was nothing they could do and to just turn off the feature when driving. The only one to inspect the vehicle was the dealer service center. No warning at all. Car just doesn't start and driver is left sitting and helpless in active traffic until the car can be restarted.

My backup camera is displaying system failure. It is not working. Makes backing up less safe I contacted a dealer and was told my vehicle is not in the recall there was no inspection. It was working when I left the house. And stopped work before I got home. No other warning or other symptoms of the problem.

On 18 January 2023 the tailgate on our 2020 Odyssey refused to open. Neither the inside switch nor the outside switch does anything. I crawled in the back and checked the fuses and both are good. I also discovered that the emergency tailgate release did not function. Took it to the dealer, greenway Honda in florence, alabama, an hour from home, and they weren't able to find the fault with a cursory check and a reboot of whatever computer system is applicable. They said they need to keep it for at least a half day and "really tear into it. " but we could not leave the vehicle at that time, having no transportation home. Eventual diagnosis determined the tailgate control module, the tailgate closure motor, and the tailgate latch had all failed. Parts were on backorder and no estimate on availability. After I contacted Honda corporate the parts suddenly became available at the dealership within a few days. Repairs were effected on 27 February at greenway Honda, florence, alabama. We were without the full use of our vehicle for approximately six weeks. Occupants could become trapped in the vehicle if the front doors were disabled in a collision and electrical power was lost, rendering the sliding doors and the tailgate inoperative. The emergency release lever also would not function and this could trap occupants completely. Examination of the tailgate electronic control module shows water infiltration which conceivably shorted the closure motor and jammed the latch, making it impossible to open the tailgate. Photos of the failed electronic module were provided to the dealership and to Honda corporate. The failed parts are in my possession and are available for inspection.

Stopped at red light. System to stop the engine to save fuel engaged. When light turned green the car would not restart, stranding the vehicle at the intersection.

Infotainment system stopped working while car was on. It just shut off with no warning. I had no backup camera, phone, usb, radio. This drained my battery and caused my van to not start. I was stranded with my children and had to call a tow. Moments prior to the battery dying, the lights on the dash were flashing, my tail lights were on and flashing and would not shut off. Towed to the dealer and battery was charged and everything is working.

Start stop system malfunctions during auto stop/restart. Van will stall or fully turn off instead of restart when brake released and accelerator pressed. Problem is intermittent and increasing in frequency. This results in unexpected stalls/stops in traffic, putting driver and passengers (as well as other vehicles) at risk. Message displayed is “collision mitigation system problem” or the van stops itself and tells the driver to “shift to park”. Van may or may not immediately respond to starting push button. Dealership cannot identify problem, but numerous other customers report similar complaints.

I became aware of a news article and videos of a documented security problem with Hondas where someone can use a device to unlock any Honda made in last 10 years and also remotely start the vehicle without leaving any trace of the intrusion. This poses many obvious security and safety risks to a Honda vehicle owner. Example, someone could gain access to a locked vehicle and steal contents. Or they could enter and hide in the back and attack someone. Or they could unlock the car and use the built in garage door opener to gain access to a home. Or they could even start a car remotely in a garage and cause a fire or carbon monoxide poisoning to people inside the home if the garage door remained closed. I am seeking help to get Honda to address this issue immediately and provide remedy to owners for this defect. Https://gizmodo. Com/new-key-fob-hack-can-unlock-and-start-hondas-remotely-1849165737.

The auto idle stop automatically turns on when the van engine is started. I was stopped at a stop sign while trying to cross a dual lane highway (55 mph speed limit). Was not aware that the auto idle stop had shut off the engine. When I had an opportunity to cross the highway I let of the brake and pressed the accelerator and the engine was attempting to start and felt like we were going to be struck by cross traffic before the engine started and we were able to cross. I am aware that this feature can be turned off. But it has to be turned off each time the vehicle is started. Needs to be a way to permanently disable this feature.

The Honda idle stop feature is the issue. My wife drives this car and on at least 20 occasions, the car shut off when she was stopped at a stop light when idle stop was enabled. The car shuts off when she tried to accelerate once the traffic light turns green. The car then has to be restarted. This is a safety issue because cars behind us could easily rear-end our vehicle since the stop light has turned green and cars are moving. Honda claims that they cannot replicate the issue but it is clearly a large issue with the idle stop feature. It seems as if the vehicle does not have enough power to get the engine back to normal mode and therefore it shuts off. Most of the time that air conditioning is running so perhaps the extra load from that contributes. Regardless, this is something that needs to be fixed quickly.

Unknown my 3 year old’s hand was crushed in the sliding door. The door closed completely, latched and locked (beeped). The door did not recognize resistance when closing and did not reopen. Medical treatment is forthcoming. The picture attached was taken approximately an hour and a half after the incident.

Reverse backup camera works only intermittently. Several youtube videos report the same complaint over many years. Dealership unable to duplicate even though I present them my own video with infotainment center warning “camera system failure”.

Non-working touchscreen monitor (navigation, radio, heat/ac adjustments, everything on screen off and won’t turn on. The usb outlets, backup camera, rear tv are also all non-working. Issue with doors, van beeps twice when walking away from vehicle, like one is not shut properly even after you open and shut all doors again. Also rear sliding doors don’t shut sometimes and act like there is something in the way of it closing and reopening. Available anytime on Friday for inspection. Safety issue only with backup camera. Prefer the convenience of having one to see behind me better. Mirrors ok but camera better. Problem was fixed twice at Honda dealership in jonesboro ar. They said it was a recall. The solution to the recall only fixed it temporarily though. The same above issues continue to reoccur even after repair. Scheduled and went into Honda for the third time for the same issue and the dealership sent me away. This time they said they wouldn’t be able to fix again until someone (an engineer) from corporate could come out and look at my car. This hasn’t occurred and it’s been over two months. They said they have a new service manager and they are looking into it. I’ve called a number of times and I am just told their new and their trying to figure out who to contact. Issues started out with popping and crackling noise in speakers. Then the touchscreen monitor would say no audio connection. The rear tv would go on and off too. Then the touchscreen just died and nothing works now. It doesn’t even turn on. Just black screen. So I have a non-working touchscreen, navigation, radio, back up camera, heat/air adjustments, all components on the touchscreen are non-working. Usb ports are non-working. Rear tv is non-working.

New ex-l model van with about 800 miles on it began to permeate the cabin with a gaseous odor coming from the air vents in recirculate mode and could be smelled from the outside of the vehicle as well. Initially smelled it when at idle after a 150 mile one-way trip. The vehicle had to be turned off to make the smell stop. It started again upon return and got stronger when the a/c was put in fresh air mode.

I was trying to come to a stop and my car wouldn't stop. The car was shaking and I almost hit the car in front of me. Thankfully there wasn't a car to the right of me so I swerved and pulled my emergency brake. There was a light on that said brake system in orange. Thank god my twins were not with me when this happened. It's a 2020 Honda odessey with less than 8000 miles. I bought I brand new! I had it towed to the dealer and they said they haven't found anything to fix. They did keep it another 24 hours to drive it around some more to see if it happens again. I'm worried sick to drive this again with my children in it! what if next time I am not so lucky to avoid an accident?!? I saw others post the same thing on this exact vehicle.

The infotainment system continually goes blank, while driving leaving the backup camera disabled and without navigation. I returned the van a week after purchase and did not get it back for a month. Despite the recall was never completed. It has been back to the dealer 6 times for the same issue with no improvement. Currently the problem still exist and the dealer will not honor the uncompleted recall issue. The dealer insists the recall was completed yet the original issue was never resolved and is saying I will need to cover all costs.

20v-438 is for a camera recall. However the two dealerships in my town both have said they will not have parts for 2 months.

The infotainment screen repeatedly freezes up. It can happen while parked as well as when driving or using the rear view camera to back up - which is the biggest safety hazard. This is very much a distraction for the driver. The only remedy is to turn the vehicle completely off, open the driver's door to shut the system off, and then restart the vehicle.