2002 Honda Odyssey problems & reliability
959 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2002 Honda Odyssey, alongside 10 safety recall campaigns. Last verified Aug 7, 2026. Complaints are unverified reports submitted by owners to the federal Office of Defects Investigation.
Each complaint is counted once (by NHTSA case number), even when it names several vehicles.
32 complaints report injuries (42 injured).
Federal crash records (FARS 2020–2023): 2002 Honda Odyssey vehicles were involved in 46 fatal crashes with 32 occupant deaths. Involvement counts are not adjusted for how many are on the road and do not imply fault or a vehicle defect.
Most reported problems
| Component | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Power Train | 607 | 63% |
| Air Bags | 98 | 10% |
| Structure | 55 | 6% |
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 42 | 4% |
| Electrical System | 35 | 4% |
| Vehicle Speed Control | 33 | 3% |
| Engine | 26 | 3% |
| Latches/locks/linkages | 24 | 3% |
| Unknown OR Other | 24 | 3% |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic | 23 | 2% |
Component groups as classified by NHTSA. A complaint can name more than one component, so shares may sum to more than 100%.
Common symptoms owners describe
Keyword analysis of complaint narratives; one complaint can describe several symptoms.
Mileage when problems occurred
Half of the failures with a reported odometer reading occurred by 85,000 miles (middle 50% between 60,000 and 111,722 miles), based on 735 complaints that included mileage.
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“The van completely shuts down no matter where I am. When I try to turn it back on the green key light DOES NOT appear on the dash. The van will still crank but will not turn over. Until the green key light appears on the left side of the dash. I have to sit anywhere from 5 minutes up until 8 hours one day. It does…”
Electrical System · filed Apr 7, 2025
“I was involved in a traffic collision on December 15, 2023. The California DMV requires a brake and light inspection for a salvage retention reregistration of my car. After going to two brake and light shops they will not perform a brake and light inspection due to a recall P30 04V-176. I went to a Honda dealer to get…”
Structure · filed Jan 4, 2025
“The contact owns a 2002 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated while driving approximately 20 MPH, the power seat lifted inadvertently while accelerating and when the brake pedal was depressed, the front corner of the seat went back down. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the…”
Seats · filed Dec 19, 2024
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Federal defect investigations
- Desiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture
Engineering Analysis EA21002 · opened Sep 17, 2021 · open
- Air Bag Inflator Rupture
Engineering Analysis EA15001 · opened Feb 24, 2015 · open · led to recall 22V945
- Air Bag Inflator Rupture
Preliminary Evaluation PE14016 · opened Jun 11, 2014 · closed Mar 2, 2015 · led to recall 15V226000
Technical service bulletins
321 manufacturer communications (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 2002 Honda Odyssey. The 10 most recent:
Service Bulletin - Warranty Extension: Customer Support Program For Front Passenger's Airbag Inflator.
A18-051 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jun 30, 2026
Service Bulletin - Case v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc., Case No. BC 424169 (Third Clutch Transmission Settlement - $25 Credit Vouchers).
A21-054 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued May 28, 2021
"Service Bulletin - There are several A/C leak detection tools available. -Refrigerant Gas Leak Detector -Ultrasonic Leak Detector -Leak Dye"
A07-030 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jan 23, 2021
Service Bulletin - This bulletin is a notification of a class action settlement relating to airbag inflators. American Honda is offering a Customer Support Program (Warranty Extension) to cover any manufacturing defects…
A20-014 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Mar 10, 2020
Service Bulletin - This bulletin is a notification of a class action settlement relating to airbag inflators. American Honda is offering a Customer Support Program (Warranty Extension) to cover any manufacturing defects…
A20-009 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Mar 10, 2020
Service Bulletin - PCM replacement for erratic or harsh shifting.
A04-060 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued May 7, 2019
Service bulletin - This bulletin has been cancelled because the collection is now complete. If you did the collection in this Service Bulletin on or before October 26, 2018 (RO date), use the Warranty Claim Information…
A18-077 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Oct 26, 2018
Service bulletin - This bulletin is a notification of a class action settlement relating to airbag inflators. American Honda is offering a Customer Support Program (Warranty Extension) to cover any manufacturing defects…
A18-051 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jun 1, 2018
Service bulletin - This bulletin is a notification of a class action settlement relating to airbag inflators. American Honda is offering a Customer Support Program (Warranty Extension) to cover any manufacturing defects…
A18-049 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued May 25, 2018
Service bulletin - This bulletin is a notification of a class action settlement relating to airbag inflators. American Honda is offering a Customer Support Program (Warranty Extension) to cover any manufacturing defects…
A18-046 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued May 24, 2018
TSBs are repair guidance manufacturers send to dealers — they are not recalls and repairs are not automatically free. Full documents are available on NHTSA’s site.
Safety recalls
The 2002 Honda Odyssey has 10 NHTSA recall campaigns — recall repairs are free at franchised dealers regardless of the vehicle’s age.
Check whether your specific vehicle is affected
Recall campaigns often cover only certain VIN ranges. Enter your VIN on the official NHTSA site to confirm whether your vehicle is included and whether the repair is still open.
Check VIN on NHTSA →Buying a used 2002 Honda Odyssey?
- · Decode the seller’s VIN with our free VIN decoder to confirm the exact year, engine and trim.
- · Check for unrepaired recalls by VIN on NHTSA’s official lookup — recall repairs are free.
- · Owners most often reported problems around 85,000 miles — budget accordingly if the car is approaching that mileage.