Other powertrain problem on the 2012 Honda Odyssey
1 fire 1 of the 15 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 2012 Honda Odyssey report other powertrain problem at a median of 15,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 500 miles and a quarter after 70,000 miles, from 13 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 6th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 100 miles at the tenth percentile to 85,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 83,350 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.
54% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 miles | 460 miles | 14,050 miles | 71,000 miles | 83,400 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, 1 a fire 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 $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 2012 has 15. 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.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 honda odyssey. The contact stated that the transmission would emit a shuttering sound while driving approximately 20 MPH. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and the contact was informed that the vehicle was performing to specifications. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 500.
2012 honda odyssey has a shuttering at various speeds. This seems most prevalent around 40+ miles per hour, however, it can happen at varying speeds. I have set an appointment with honda dealer (lehigh valley honda for tuesday, january 31. I was informed by the service consultant that this is a known issue, but that there is no fix for this at this time. I filed a complaint with honda motor corporation regarding this issue. This van is approximately two weeks old and experiencing this shuttering problem. You can feel the vibrations in the steering wheel and in the drivers seat. Additionally, you can hear it as long as you are in a quiet environment. Please investigate as other consumers seem to be experiencing this same issue regarding model years 2011 & 2012. Thank you. *tr
Our brand new 2012 honda odyssey touring elite judders between 25-40 MPH between shifts. The judder can be anywhere from mild and very transient to rough bucking that lasts for over 2 seconds before it smooths out. Under mild or heavy acceleration, I have not not noticed the judder. It seems to only happen under moderate acceleration. It also seems to occur more violently while going uphill. It happens at least 90% of the time during the shift between 2nd and 3rd gears under moderate (typical) acceleration. This judder results in a loss of expected acceleration and decreased control of the vehicle. While researching this problem, it became obvious that I am not the only person experiencing this issue and feel that honda must recall these vehicles to permanently repair the underlying issue. This issue affects more than just the 2012 model year. *tt
Also reported on the 2012 Honda Odyssey
Other brake problem
Other body or interior problem
Other engine problem
Other electrical problem
Other steering problem
Misfire or rough idle
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 15 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 2012 Honda Odyssey?
Across 13 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 15,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 500 miles and a quarter after 70,000 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 2012 Honda Odyssey?
15 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