Diagsheet

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 Sep 9, 2026

163 of the 977 complaints on this car are about the transmission and drivetrain. 68 of those describe transmission shudder.

Tick what matches of 68 reports

8
22
9
40
6
2

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.

19V-299Apr 12, 2019
Power Train:Automatic Transmission

Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Odyssey vehicles. 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.

Risk and remedy
Risk: A damaged parking rod can allow the vehicle to roll when parked, increasing the risk of a crash or injury.
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will ensure the battery terminal connections are secure and will update the TCU software, free of charge. Additionally, the parking rod effectiveness will be checked. The recall began May 31, 2019. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are Z4J, Y4K.

What owners paid

5 of the 68 reports quote a price. Each dot is one quote. The middle half runs $283 to $11,000.

$283$9,300$11,000
$0k$2k$4k$6k$8k

When it happens

The middle half of failures fell between 17,000 and 65,000 miles, from the 30 reports that gave a mileage.

418
819
120
621
822
1523
1124
625
926

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 didn’t 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.

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