1,985 of the
17,279 complaints filed about the Honda Odyssey
are about the engine —
100% of everything owners reported.
The worst model year for it is 2018.
My 2024 Honda Odyssey has repeatedly failed to restart after the Auto Idle Stop system shuts the engine off while stopped at a red light or in traffic. Normally, the engine should automatically restart when I release the brake, but on several occasions the vehicle completely shut down and I had to manually restart it. During one incident, the vehicle would not restart for approximately 1–2 minutes despite repeated attempts. This left the vehicle disabled in traffic and created a serious safety concern. The problem has occurred multiple times.
NHTSA complaint #11764011 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The vehicle experiences a sudden and complete engine stall while at a complete stop in traffic (such as a red light) due to a failure of the Auto Idle Stop (AIS) system. The engine shuts down smoothly as intended by the fuel-saving feature, but fails to restart when the brake pedal is released or the accelerator is pressed. The vehicle drops into a total shutdown state, requiring the driver to fully shift into Park, switch the ignition completely off, and manually press the Start button to restart the engine. No warning lights, error codes, or dashboard messages appear before, during, or after the failure. This creates a severe safety hazard by leaving the vehicle unexpectedly stranded and unresponsive in active intersections.
NHTSA complaint #11764114 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The Auto Idle Stop system intermittently fails to restart the engine after the system shuts the engine off while the vehicle is stopped. When this happens, the vehicle remains disabled and I have to completely restart the vehicle before I can continue driving. This has happened twice while stopped in highway traffic. On both occasions, traffic began moving while my vehicle failed to restart, creating an immediate crash risk and nearly resulting in collisions from vehicles behind me. The problem is intermittent. The vehicle has previously been brought to a Honda dealership for this concern, but the failure continues. I have contacted the dealership again and have also contacted the manufacturer regarding the issue. There were no consistent warning signs before the failure. The problem occurs after the Auto Idle Stop system activates. Because the vehicle may fail to restart unexpectedly in active traffic, I am concerned that the condition presents a serious safety risk to the occupants of the vehicle and surrounding motorists. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. This condition appears consistent with NHTSA Engineering Analysis EA25-004 involving Auto Idle Stop no-restart complaints on Honda Odyssey vehicles.
NHTSA complaint #11764217 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The van got stuck in park after backing out of a parking lot. Changed to drive but gear shift back to park. Have to restarted the car twice. People were honking nonstop. This is not safe.
NHTSA complaint #11764254 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
My AIS system kicked in causing the engine to shut off. Unfortunately, the engine did not restart. I was unable to start my car or even shift it to neutral for a helpful bystander to help me push my car off of the road. I was blocking traffic on a busy road and I am very fortunate that I was not rear ended. Eventually, after about half an hour, was able to get the car restarted (even then, lots of “clicking” and hesitation with starting). I then drove the vehicle home. I took it to Honda and they made me aware today that they were unable to get the car to repeat this problem, nothing was wrong, I could pick it up and let them know if it happened again.
NHTSA complaint #11764140 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Vehicle began to misfire on cylinder 3. As the issue continued more cylinders stared to misfire. Next was number 6, then 2 increased up the engine. Air fuel ratio was 1.6. Assuming it was fuel/air/electrical in nature, the spark plugs, and fuel injector were changed and air intake and upper valves were cleaned of carbon build up. All gaskets replaced by new. Discovered and replaced a bad egr valve. Last codes that the car displayed before towing to dealer were many misfire codes and 2 engine/transmission communication errors. Dealer shop discovered air fuel ratio of 1.35 and checked all work before. Discovered fuel pooling and some shiny areas in the engine from scoping it. Decided that if was a bad engine with internal failure and transmission. Quoted me $17000 (about the same value as the vehicle if it was jn very good condition) for a new engine and transmission or $6800 for a used engine alone at risk of replacing transmission as well assuming communication errors do not go way or transmission fails further. I have called honda corporate my reference # 16624114. I requested goodwill repair due to recalls and class action lawsuits related to connecting rods in engines of similar cars and model years. And transmissions recalls for similar cars and model years. Goodwill is unlikely but pending.
NHTSA complaint #11763879 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
My 2025 Odyssey stalls. The engine will turn off when I am stopped and will take at least 2 retries to get the engine to turn over. Once I was at a stop light on an interstate off ramp when it stalled. Once I was at a stop sign when it stalled. Twice I have been unable to start it at a store. I will settle the brake & push the start button & nothing will happen. I will try again. I have to take my foot fully off the brake, wait a few seconds, & try the steps again. It eventually starts, but I'm afraid that someone will hit me and hurt my children or myself as I'm a sitting duck.
NHTSA complaint #11763874 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
My vehicle has failed to restart numerous times at stoplights with the auto start engaged. It also failed once when it was disengaged. It also stalls to start on initial start quite often. Even when it is disengaged, upon stopping my vehicle makes a type of quiver in the engine that sounds like a stall or like it is about to cut off. It usually evens out after 5-10 seconds. I had people drive around me, in heavy traffic, after a major fail at a red light. I had an aggressive drive pass around me quickly at another incident at a smaller redlight intersection. I have had it cut off, with my family, over 50mls away from home. A dealership replaced my battery that was under warranty. I was told there were no other issues and to keep my auto start disengaged while driving. I'm not sure that is my safest option at this point. I am extremely concerned it will happen at an intersection and I will roll into traffic with my family.
NHTSA complaint #11763899 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Sitting at a light, the auto stop system activated and shut the engine off. When the light turned green, I took my foot off the brake and the engine failed to. Start and the entire electrical system shut off. The card was completely dead. I sat there for several minutes and I was able to restart the car.
NHTSA complaint #11763755 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The idle restart function causes the van to shut off completely when at stop lights in heavy traffic. It does not immediately restart and we have to sit in traffic while folk are honking at us to go. It doesn’t do this every time, but has happened 3 times in the last 3 months.
NHTSA complaint #11763323 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
While driving my 2026 Honda Odyssey, I stopped at a red light and the engine shut off through the Auto Idle Stop system. I pressed the Auto Idle Stop OFF button because I wanted the engine running again before proceeding. Instead of restarting the engine, the vehicle completely shut down and became inoperable in traffic. I repeatedly attempted to restart the vehicle, but it remained unresponsive for approximately 20 seconds before it finally restarted. This created a serious safety hazard because I was unable to move the vehicle while positioned in active traffic. This was not normal Auto Idle Stop operation, as the engine should have restarted when I pressed the button. This has happened several times already, where the car will not restart the engine. Requesting that NHTSA investigate possible Auto-Idle Stop/failure-to-restart problems affecting the 2026 Honda Odyssey.
NHTSA complaint #11763518 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The auto idle system shuts off the vehicle completely at a stoplight or intersection and fails to restart when you release the brake. The vehicle is stuck in traffic and doesn’t restart for a few minutes mine had to be jumped started this THIRD time it happened. This created a hazardous safety condition for my family in which kids are always traveling. The dealer has not provided solution. Concerned this can cause a fatality because I can get rear ended.
NHTSA complaint #11763214 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Auto Idle Stop malfunction-- it happened twice during my travel (1)[XXX] , around 7pm. The car stalled and failed to restart at a local street of Hasbrouck Heights, NJ after signal turned green; (2) [XXX] around noon. The same problem happened at a [XXX] of Goshen, NY when a semi track was behind me. I reported to NHTSA immediately after the 2nd incident, but I cannot find a confirmation number before going to my dealer, so I re-file the complaint. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11762534 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The idle stop function failed to restart the vehicle while in traffic at a red light. The vehicle was in traffic on a state highway and was unable to restart without shutting the vehicle off and on again. The problem has happened frequently the past few weeks to where I was able to reproduce and record the incident. The battery light appeared before shutting off the car with the push button on/off.
NHTSA complaint #11762569 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Engine failed to restart after AutoStop function engaged at a red light. We were stranded and had to manually restart the car, which took long enough to figure out that we were stranded in traffic for a bit.
NHTSA complaint #11762344 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I am experiencing a serious and recurring safety issue involving the engine unexpectedly completely shutting off while the vehicle is being driven and separately, the engine intermittently failing to start after the vehicle has been parked. 1.The engine unexpectedly and spontaneously shuts off when the vehicle is stopped or slowing down, including at stop signs, traffic lights, and during traffic slowdowns. These events occur without warning or notice, and the vehicle does not reliably restart immediately. In nearly all instances, the engine has failed to restart for several minutes despite multiple attempts. This creates an extremely dangerous situation. When the engine shuts off unexpectedly in traffic, I am concerned that drivers behind me will not realize that my vehicle is experiencing a malfunction and may collide with my vehicle before I am able to restart it and safely move. These incidents cause me significant fear and stress each time they occur. I am not certain whether the vehicle’s Auto Start/Stop system is involved in these incidents or whether another component or system is malfunctioning. I am requesting that Honda and the dealership fully diagnose the cause rather than assuming that the behavior is normal operation of the Auto Start/Stop system. 2.Separately from the engine shutting off while driving, the vehicle also randomly and spontaneously fails to start after it has been parked. I have documented some of these incidents by video, including instances in which the engine failed to start. in which the engine failed to start despite multiple attempts. 3. As soon as these problems began, I took the vehicle to the service department of the dealership where I purchased it. At this point, the repeated engine shut-off and failure-to-restart conditions remain unresolved. I am requesting a thorough investigation and requesting that Honda identify the underlying cause of these failures and provide a permanent solution as soon as possible.
NHTSA complaint #11762365 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The vehicle suffered an Auto Idle Stop failure at a red light. The engine shut down normally, but failed to automatically restart when the brake was released. There were no dashboard warning lights, and I was forced to manually shift the vehicle into Park to restart the engine in active traffic.
NHTSA complaint #11762202 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
NHTSA Recall 19V-299 / Honda Campaign Z4J. Sudden gear refusal, shifting malfunctions, and stalling. The premature structural failure of my 10-speed transmission is a direct consequence of the known factory software defect that violently shifts the car into Park while moving.
NHTSA complaint #11761878 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The vehicle experienced multiple sudden engine stalls while driving in traffic. Specifically, the engine shut off unexpectedly and the transmission automatically shifted into Park (P) while on the road, leaving the vehicle immobilized and unable to be manually shifted out of P. Restarting the vehicle was extremely difficult, which created a severe safety hazard and nearly caused a rear-end collision. The vehicle was inspected and confirmed by an authorized Honda dealer that the starter failed. The starter has since been replaced. The failed component is available for inspection upon request.
NHTSA complaint #11761926 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.