2018 Honda Odyssey · symptom sheet
Transmission shudders, slips or shifts hard
- 68owner reports
- 41,000median miles
- $9,300median quote
- 1involved a crash
Newest report Aug 27, 2026 · checked Oct 2, 2026
165 of the 992 complaints on this car are about the transmission and drivetrain. 68 of those describe transmission shudder.
Narrower sheets: Transmission jerks, lurches or bangs into gear (38 reports) · Transmission hesitates when accelerating (36 reports)
Tick what matches of 68 reports
Transmission shudder on other Odyssey years
Report counts are for each model year on its own, so a newer car has had less time to collect them. Model years with too few reports of it for a sheet: 2015, 2016, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026.
What this problem usually is
This is the biggest drivetrain group on the site: a transmission that shudders, slips, hesitates or bangs into gear. It's the everyday version of transmission trouble, where the car still drives but doesn't drive right, and it has three narrower sheets of its own for jerking, hesitation and slipping.
What got replaced
Owners who name the part that was replaced mention the transmission (4 reports).
Recalls and investigations
One recall on the transmission and drivetrain covers the 2018 model year. A recall on the same system isn't always the same failure, so read the defect text.
Loose battery terminal connections or a degraded battery may cause the Transmission Control Unit (TCU) to unexpectedly reboot. Upon rebooting, the TCU may shift the transmission to the "Park" position, possibly damaging the parking rod.
All 16 recalls on the 2018 Honda Odyssey, with the owner complaints on each recalled system
What owners paid
5 of the 68 reports quote a price. Each dot is one quote. The middle half runs $283 to $11,000.
When it happens
The middle half of failures fell between 17,000 and 65,000 miles, from the 30 reports that gave a mileage.
Is this a known problem?
The manufacturer has sent NHTSA 1 service bulletin or notice for the 2018 Honda Odyssey that deal with this problem. Newest first.
Federal rules make a manufacturer send NHTSA a copy of any notice about a defect that goes to more than one dealer or owner. Most of these are service bulletins, the repair instructions manufacturers send to dealers. NHTSA generally leaves safety recall bulletins out of this file, and recalls are listed separately.
The transmission has intermittent harsh or jerky upshifts with steady acceleration, or the MIL comes on with DTC P0716.
What owners wrote
“The transmission is very jerky and has completely lost power before. It has refused to shift and stalled in the middle of the road. It is very scary.”
Filed Aug 19, 2025
“As reported previously to Honda the vehicle jerks when accelerating at high speeds.It was recommended to die a transmission flush which was performed and did not resolve the issue.slow acceleration at times is also a safety issue especially on highways.”
Filed Jul 7, 2025
“Transmission failure. We had issues with acceleration and hesitation. When brought to the dealership they didnât find anything wrong, but then the transmission ended up failing completely.”
Filed Jun 3, 2025
“At around 25 miles per hour the vehicle has a transmission issue where the vehicle seems to hesitate, then downshift causing the vehicle to lurch forward. This happens regularly and started sometime before I acquired the vehicle with 48k miles. Honda dealer had no fix to the problem.”
Filed May 23, 2024 · 48,000 miles
Should you keep driving it?
This page can't tell you that. 1 of 68 reports involved a crash. Owners who file are the ones who had a bad experience, and nobody checks their reports. If the problem affects steering, braking, power or a fire risk, treat it as a safety fault and have it inspected before a long or high-speed drive.
File your own report with NHTSA. Complaint counts are how a problem gets an investigation. How reports land on this sheet.
Guide Paid for this repair before a recall covered it? How recall reimbursement works
Other problems on this car
- Infotainment, screen or backup camera fails 136 reports
- Engine stalls or loses power while driving 134 reports
- Adaptive cruise or lane keeping misbehaves 121 reports
- Forward collision warning goes off or the camera drops out 115 reports
- Brakes on its own (automatic emergency braking) 104 reports
- Engine failure, knocking or rod bearing 85 reports
- Sliding door won't open, close or latch 61 reports
- Battery dies or the car will not start 51 reports
- Check engine light or misfire 45 reports
- Fuel pump failure 41 reports
- Brakes grind, pulse or wear early 41 reports
- Doors, latches or locks fail 40 reports
- Tailgate or liftgate will not open or close 39 reports
- Water leaks into the cabin 38 reports
- Multiple warning lights come on at once 33 reports
- Airbag warning light or recall 25 reports