1997 HONDA ODYSSEY — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 20 complaints · 3 recalls
Most-reported system: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM (9 complaints · 45.0%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 2
  • Fires 2
  • Injuries 2
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1996 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution ELECTRICAL SYSTEM appears in 9 of 20 owner complaints (45.0%) in this vehicle snapshot. ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 9 complaints, 45.0% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 9 · 45.0% · 1 fire reports SERVICE BRAKES: 2 complaints, 10.0% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 2 · 10.0% · 1 crash reports VISIBILITY: 2 complaints, 10.0% of reports VISIBILITY 2 · 10.0% · 1 fire reports AIR BAGS: 1 complaints, 5.0% of reports AIR BAGS 1 · 5.0% · 1 crash reports FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: 1 complaints, 5.0% of reports FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 · 5.0% FUEL SYSTEM: 1 complaints, 5.0% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 1 · 5.0% POWER TRAIN: 1 complaints, 5.0% of reports POWER TRAIN 1 · 5.0% SUSPENSION: 1 complaints, 5.0% of reports SUSPENSION 1 · 5.0% TIRES: 1 complaints, 5.0% of reports TIRES 1 · 5.0% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 17 complaints, 85.0% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 17 · 85.0% · 2 crash reports 1 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 9 45.0% 0 crashes · 1 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 2 10.0% 1 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 2 10.0% 0 crashes · 1 fires
AIR BAGS 1 5.0% 1 crashes · 0 fires
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 5.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 1 5.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 1 5.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 1 5.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
TIRES 1 5.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 17 85.0% 2 crashes · 1 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Oct 1997; the first recall shown was reported in May 1999. 1997-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2002-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2021-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Oct 1997 Jul 2021 Recall campaign 99V069000 ◆ Recall campaign 99V069000 Recall campaign 02V120000 ◆ Recall campaign 02V120000 Recall campaign 09E012000 ◆ Recall campaign 09E012000
  • Campaign 02V120000 was reported 952 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1997-Q4 Owner reports 1
1999-Q4 Owner reports 1
2001-Q1 Owner reports 1
2001-Q2 Owner reports 1
2001-Q3 Owner reports 1
2001-Q4 Owner reports 1
2002-Q1 Owner reports 2
2002-Q2 Owner reports 2
2002-Q3 Owner reports 4
2002-Q4 Owner reports 1
2004-Q1 Owner reports 1
2004-Q2 Owner reports 1
2004-Q3 Owner reports 1
2011-Q2 Owner reports 1
2021-Q3 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 99V069000
Recall campaign 1 02V120000
Recall campaign 1 09E012000
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (3)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 02V120000

    Report date
    Component:
    ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
    Consequence:
    WORN CONTACTS COULD CAUSE THE ENGINE TO STALL WITHOUT WARNING, INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE IGNITION SWITCH. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN JUNE 14, 2002. OWNERS WHO TAKE THEIR VEHICLES TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER ON AN AGREED UPON SERVICE DATE AND DO NOT RECEIVE THE FREE REMEDY WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME SHOULD CONTACT HONDA AT 1-800-999-1009 OR ACURA AT 1-800-382-2238.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 09E012000

    Report date
    Component:
    Not available in the source record
    Consequence:
    DECREASED LIGHTING VISIBILITY MAY RESULT IN A VEHICLE CRASH.
    Remedy:
    SABERSPORT WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND OFFER A FULL REFUND FOR THE NONCOMPLIANT COMBINATION LAMPS. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON MAY 11, 2009. OWNERS MAY CONTACT SABERSPORT AT 1-909-598-7589.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  3. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 99V069000

    Report date
    Component:
    SUSPENSION
    Consequence:
    THIS CONDITION WOULD RESULT IN VEHICLE DECELERATION AND A SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER. ALSO STEERING CONTROLLABILITY WOULD BE REDUCED.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE FRONT SUSPENSION LOWER BALL JOINTS.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 20 complaints · page 1 of 1

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources