Strut, shock or spring failure on the 2008 Honda Odyssey
2 injuries 2 of the 14 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 strut, shock or spring failure gets reported
Owners of the 2008 Honda Odyssey report strut, shock or spring failure at a median of 70,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 50,000 miles and a quarter after 105,000 miles, from 14 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 105,000 miles. It is the 9th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 45,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 130,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 81,264 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 46,465 miles | 48,913 miles | 70,531 miles | 102,600 miles | 127,729 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, 2 an injury is 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 $500–$2,000 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 12 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2011, at a median of 1,300 miles, and latest on the 1999 at 125,000 miles.
By volume the 2001 carries the most reports, with 30; the 2008 has 14. 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.
On approximately november 5, 2011 my husband went out to our 2008 honda odyssey to retrieve some items. He opened the rear liftgate as usual and while he was retrieving the bags the rear door gave way falling onto his back. The struts that hold the door up failed and can no longer support the weight of the door. Not only is it difficult to lift the door, but my husband and I have since been using a piece of wood to hold up the door when needed. I understand there is a recall of certain 2008-2009 honda odyssey rear liftgate struts for this exact same problem( NHTSA campaign id# 12v062000). However, I was told by the staff and manager at phillipsburg easton honda that this recall does not apply to my vehicle eventhough it has the same exact problem listed in the recall. *tr
The struts on my 2008 honda odyssey ex-l failed this morning. It is not covered by the current recall from feb 16, 2012, since my odyssey does not have a power liftgate. People still have to use the liftgate (powered or not), and it poses a big risk to the person under the liftgate. While supporting the liftgate with my head, I had to pull out my bicycle from the vehicle with both hands. As I moved, the liftgate would hurt me since it was only being kept open by my body. As soon as I moved out, it closed with a big bang. This is a major risk especially to the demographics of the users of the odyssey: moms with young children. This is a common problem as evidenced by this forum thread (11 pages long): http://www.odyclub.com/forums/52-2005-2010-odyssey/40133-tailgate-gas-strut-problems.html related recall: vehicle make / model: honda / odyssey model year(s): 2008-2009 manufacturer: honda (american honda motor co.) mfr's report date: feb 16, 2012 NHTSA campaign id number: 12v062000 NHTSA action number: pe11034 component: structure:body:hatchback/liftgate:support device *js
Rear liftgate struts failed causing liftgate to fall suddenly on person beneath the rear door. Honda has already issued a recall on some 2008 models. When dealer and honda customer support contacted regarding the incident refused to cover repair under recall. Informed about safety concern but no acknowledgment by honda that this is a safety issue with potential for injury. Recall should be expanded to cover more vehicles than acknowledged by honda. Honda should act responsibly to prevent injury to owners of these vehicles and recall and replace all affected vehicles before more injuries occur. *tr
Also reported on the 2008 Honda Odyssey
Other brake problem
Liftgate, tailgate or trunk failure
Other body or interior problem
Other powertrain problem
Other engine problem
Other electrical problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 14 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 strut, shock or spring failure happen on the 2008 Honda Odyssey?
Across 14 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 70,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 50,000 miles and a quarter after 105,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is strut, shock or spring failure on the 2008 Honda Odyssey?
14 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 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