Other powertrain problem on the 2003 Honda Odyssey
7 crashes 3 fires 3 injuries 13 of the 276 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other powertrain problem gets reported
Owners of the 2003 Honda Odyssey report other powertrain problem at a median of 100,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 78,000 miles and a quarter after 126,000 miles, from 257 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 1st most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 48,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 153,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 105,102 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
8% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 48,000 miles | 78,000 miles | 100,000 miles | 126,000 miles | 153,102 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 7 a crash, 3 a fire and 3 an injury are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $400–$4,500 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 27 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2014, at a median of 10,000 miles, and latest on the 2025 at 155,000 miles.
By volume the 2002 carries the most reports, with 333; the 2003 has 276. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Hello- I do not know where to go to find out information regarding my new vehicle. I am having a problem with the transmission "slipping" or "lurching" when it decelerates. This happens when it is shifting at the speed of 45 MPH. The dealer told me it was "normal operation" that the vehicle knows when I need to slow down more rapidly then downshifts for me --- the driver. I do not believe an automobile can know when I need to slow more rapidly. It is uncomfortable to "lurch" forward due to an excessive downshift when I am braking. While I was at the dealer discussing my problem, the woman next to me- who also has a 2003 odessy - was having the same issue. She was also told this is a "normal operation" of the car. The dealer stated that this should only happen while going down a hill/incline. However, this has happened to me on a straight stretch of road. I am afraid this is a defective transmission and will "slip" or "lurch" and cause serious harm or death. The honda dealer has told me there is nothing they can/will do about this issue. How can I find out if indeed my transmission is having problems?? I do not know where to go for…
Automatic transmission developed a high pitched whine at approximately 34,000 miles, which increases with engine rpms. Since new, transmission also hesitates/slips between 3rd and 4th gears when cold, and car seems to lose power temporarily until 4th gear engages. *jb
While driving between 45 - 60 MPH, the automatic transmission down shifted, even when the gas pedal was depressed. The dealership test drove the van for 8 miles, and checked the transmission fluid, but no repairs were done. *ak on occasion the consumer experienced sudden hesitation when the vehicle reached 45 MPH. *sc *jb
Also reported on the 2003 Honda Odyssey
Complete transmission failure
Other body or interior problem
Other electrical problem
Other engine problem
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 276 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other powertrain problem happen on the 2003 Honda Odyssey?
Across 257 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 100,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 78,000 miles and a quarter after 126,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other powertrain problem on the 2003 Honda Odyssey?
276 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 2.0 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed