2011 Honda Odyssey

EITHER THE BRAKE ROTORS WARP OR THE PADS DEPOSIT SOMETHING ONTO THE ROTORS. THE CAR HABITUALLY GOES THROUGH BRAKES, A SINGLE LONG DESCENT WILL CAUSE BRAND NEW BRAKES TO JUTTER BACK AND FORTH VIOLENTLY, WHICH IS UNNERVING FEELS LIKE IT DECREASES BRAKE EFFECTIVENESS. EVEN IN LIGHT USE THE ROTORS HAVE TO BE SURFACED AND PADS ARE REPLACE TWICE A YEAR. THIS IS MENTIONED VERY FREQUENTLY ONLINE IN FORUMS, AND WHEN BROUGHT UP TO A DEALERSHIP THEY DENY ANY CHRONIC BRAKE PROBLEMS. THEY INSIST DRIVERS MUST BE "RIDING THE BRAKES".

WHEN BRAKING THE VEHICLE SHAKES AND THE BRAKES VIBRATE TO THE POINT THAT THE VEHICLE FEELS UNSAFE. THIS HAS BEEN A CONTINUAL PROBLEM. BRAKES HAVE BEEN INSPECTED AND WE ARE TOLD THAT THE ROTORS ARE WARPED AND NEED TO BE REPLACED. THIS HAS BEEN DONE THREE TIMES AND NOW, AT 96,000 MILES WE ARE BEING TOLD THAT THE BRAKES/ROTORS NEED TO BE REDONE AGAIN. I WROTE TO HONDA IN 2017 AND NEVER RECEIVED A REPLY. THE HONDA DEALER SAYS IT IS NOT A SAFETY ISSUE. SUPPOSEDLY A NEWER VERSION OF ROTOR WAS ISSUED AND INSTALLED THE LAST TIME, BUT THE PROBLEM IS BACK. FROM A DRIVER'S PERSPECTIVE THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE AND HONDA SHOULD MAKE IT RIGHT. THEIR BRAKE COMPONENTS ARE UNDERSIZED OR NOT ENGINEERED PROPERLY FOR THE SIZE OF THE VEHICLE. THE VIBRATION IS NOT FELT ANYTIME THAT THE BRAKES ARE APPLIED, BUT MORE SIGNIFICANTLY WITH HIGHER SPEEDS AND QUICKER STOPS.

TODAY, AT HONDA DEALERSHIP, WAS INFORMED THAT THE REASON OUR VEHICLE SHAKES AND VIBRATES ROUGHLY AT HIGH SPEEDS (WHEN BRAKING) IS DUE TO WARPED ROTORS. WAS TOLD HONDA HAS DISCONTINUED MAKING THOSE ROTORS AND WOULD NEED THEM REPLACED WITH NEW ROTORS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE LARGER. KNOWN ISSUE, BUT NOT COVERED, COST APPROX $800 TOTAL WITH NEW PADS, ETC. VERY FRUSTRATED THAT A PART HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED AND DEEMED UNSAFE T BE USED AGAIN, BUT NO RECALL OR REIMBURSEMENT FOR THIS.

THE WHOLE VAN STARTED VIBRATING AD SHAKING LIKE THE VAN WAS GOING TO COME APART.I CHECKED ON THE NHTSA REPORTS AND A LOT OF THIS IS HAPPENING. SOME DEALERS ARE SAYING DIFFERENT THINGS AND HONDA IS NOT DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT.IT SEEMS LIKE THE DISKS ARE TO SMALL FOR THE WEIGHT. 1 PERSON HAD RACING DISK AND BRAKES PUT ON AND NO PROBLEM.OTHER PEOPLE HAD THE BRAKES REDONE BY HONDA AND ABOUT A FEW THOUSAND MILES THE SAME THING HAPPENED. CHECK TO SEE WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ON YOUR WEB SIGHT. ( NOT SAFE FOR US ) . I KNEW A WHILE BACK HONDA ALWAYS HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE ROTORS.BUT, I THOUGHT THEY FIXED THAT BY NOW. PLEASE DO SOMETHING. I JUST TURNED 40,000 MILES. AFTER 6 YEARS. ALL OTHER SERVICE HAS BEEN GOOD.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 HONDA ODYSSEY. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 5 MPH AND PULLING INTO A PARKING SPACE, THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED AND THE BRAKES FAILED TO WORK. THE VEHICLE CRASHED INTO SOME GARDENING BLOCKS AROUND A TREE. THERE WERE NO WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED. THERE WERE NO INJURIES AND A POLICE REPORT WAS NOT FILED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO MCLEAN'S AUTO BODY IN GOLETA, CALIFORNIA. FROM THERE, THE TECHNICIAN TOOK THE VEHICLE TO AN UNKNOWN DEALER WHERE THE SEAT BELT WAS REPLACED. THE FAILURE RECURRED WHILE DRIVING AT AN UNKNOWN SPEED AND THE VEHICLE REAR ENDED THE PRECEDING VEHICLE. A POLICE REPORT WAS NOT FILED AND THERE WERE NO INJURIES. THE CONTACT'S VEHICLE WAS SLIGHTLY DAMAGED, BUT WAS NOT TOWED. THE FAILURE WAS NOT REPORTED TO A DEALER OR THE MANUFACTURER. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 16V933000 (SEATS). THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 100,000. PARTS DISTRIBUTION DISCONNECT.

I OFFICIALLY PURCHASED A USED 2011 HONDA ODYSSEY FROM A LOCAL HONDA DEALERSHIP ON OCTOBER 5, 2016. BEFORE I LEFT WITH THE NEW VEHICLE, THE DEALERSHIP SERVICE DIVISION REPLACED BOTH THE FRONT AND REAR BRAKE PADS ON THE VEHICLE (SEE ATTACHED PHOTOS FOR SERVICE/REPAIR INVOICE DATED 10/4/2016). ON OCTOBER 7-8, 2016, I DROVE THE CAR ON A STATE HIGHWAY IN SOME MOUNTAINOUS AREAS BOTH ON A UPHILL AND DOWNHILL SLOPE AT ABOUT 30-50 MPH. I NOTICED THAT ESPECIALLY WHEN DRIVING ON A DOWNWARD SLOPE, WHEN I APPLIED THE BRAKES EVEN SLIGHTLY, THE CAR BEGAN TO PERCEPTIBLY SHUDDER. THE GREATER THE SLOPE OF THE ROAD, THE GREATER THE SHUDDERING EFFECT. I RETURNED WITH THE VEHICLE TO THE HONDA DEALERSHIP FOR ANOTHER UNRELATED REASON, BUT INQUIRED ABOUT THE SHUDDERING AND ASKED IF DURING THE DEALERSHIP'S SAFETY INSPECTIONS IF ANY PROBLEMS RELATED TO THE BRAKES HAD BEEN DISCOVERED, SINCE THE PADS WERE BRAND NEW. THE TECHNICIAN AT THE DEALERSHIP INFORMED ME THAT THE ROTORS HAD BEEN WARPED DUE TO EXCESSIVE HEAT FROM BRAKING. AFTER I PRESSED HIM FOR MORE INFORMATION, HE TOLD ME THAT VIRTUALLY EVERY RECENTLY-PRODUCED HONDA ODYSSEY (I.E., MODELS MANUFACTURED IN THE LAST 5-10 YEARS) THAT HE HAD SEEN COME THROUGH THE SERVICE DIVISION EXPERIENCED A SIMILAR WARPING PROBLEM AFTER NEARLY EVERY 30,000-40,000 MILES DRIVEN. IN HIS OPINION, THE ROTORS INSTALLED IN HONDA ODYSSEYS WERE ACTUALLY MUCH TOO SMALL (I.E., THEY DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH SURFACE AREA) TO BE ABLE TO WITHSTAND THE HIGH AMOUNTS OF HEAT CAUSED BY THE LARGE BRAKES REQUIRED FOR THE RELATIVELY LARGER MODEL OF VEHICLE (THE VAN). HE WENT AS FAR AS TO TELL ME THAT HE WAS ACCUSTOMED TO INSTALLING LARGER-THAN-RECOMMENDED ROTORS IN SOME OF HIS CUSTOMERS' VANS TO TRY AND AVOID THE PROBLEM. HE SAID HE WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED IF A RECALL WOULD BE FORTHCOMING ON THE ROTORS. I WOULD LIKE TO REQUEST AN INVESTIGATION ON THESE ROTORS TO INITIATE SUCH A RECALL.

WHEN I BRAKE DRIVING 40MPH OR MORE, THE CAR AND THE STEERING WHEEL WILL SHAKE AND VIBRATE EXTREMELY VIOLENTLY. THIS STARTED WHEN THERE WAS ONLY 30K MILES ON THE CAR SO I TOOK IT TO A DEALER IN TN AND THEY SAID THEY DIDN'T FIND A PROBLEM. THEN AT 42K MILES, I TOOK IT TO ANOTHER DEALER IN VA AND THE FRONT ROTORS AND PADS WERE REPLACED. HOWEVER, THIS DID NOT FIX THE PROBLEM. NOW THE CAR HAS 70K MILES AND THE SHAKING WHEN I BRAKE, WAS GOTTEN WORSE. IT FEELS LIKE THE CAR IS OUT OF CONTROL AND NOT SAFE TO DRIVE, ESPECIALLY WITH PASSENGERS IN THE CAR. THERE SEEMS TO BE A NUMBER OF THE SAME COMPLAINTS ON THIS SITE, SO WHY HASN'T THERE BEEN A RECALL?