Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (doors, hood, frame, rust, paint and trim).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2008 Honda Odyssey owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
The passenger side door of my 2008 Honda Odyssey fell off when attempting to close it and nearly fell onto my child. The automatic sliding door was closing and around halfway closed it fell off of the track and started opening back up unprompted, thus damaging the rear right quarter panel as well. This is a major safety issue as it nearly crushed my [redacted] daughter, but thankfully was caught in time. A man parked near us in the parking lot helped us pick the door back up and said the same thing happened to him, also in a 2008 Honda Odyssey! Prior to the incident, the door would occasionally hesitate to open when button was pressed.
The contact owns a 2008 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated that when opening the rear driving sliding door, the door detached. The door ended up falling to the ground onto the contact's foot causing permanent injury. Medical attention was needed. The dealer was contacted who stated they were no recall on the vehicle. The vehicle had not been repaired. The contact stated they noticed that the door was attached by two small arms on the front end of the door (none on the rear end of the door) and a wheel with the track. There was nothing else there to hold the door. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and opened a case regarding the matter. The approximate failure mileage was unknown.
My doors wasn't latching or shutting all the way. The power doors and windows wouldn't work sometimes. Then the back sliding door fell off. Engaged the automatic door and damaged the side of the van. I seen there were recalls but none for my Vin I don't know what to do.
Me and my 3 children pulled into my driveway. As my 6 year old daughter got out of the van (like every other day) she went to pull close the drivers side back sliding door. Without any warning, the door fell off. Completely off!! Thank god she was not smashed by the door, because I learned after, it is not light! When I called the dealership, they suggested I drive it up to get looked at!!! Drive, without a door and 3 kids!? No way!! Also, their response when I told them the door fell off (I was shocked) was "oh yea, that happens sometimes with minivans"! If I knew that, I wouldn't have gotten one! How is that safe at all?!? And they estimated around $400 to fix it!! After calling my step dad over, we figured out what part was needed and got the piece ourselves. It worked for a while and about 6 months later, both sliding doors now won't latch all the way. …
The automatic sliding door on the drivers side, when opened, became detached from the rails both top & bottom falling completely off, hanging only by the cable. Badly scrapping the side of the van the entire length of the door. Apparently Honda has been aware of this design defect for many years, but unlike Toyota who had similar problems, Honda has not yet issued a recall. Aside from the obvious malfunctioning of the door this could have caused serious if not fatal injuries to a small child. The open button on the dashboard panel was hit while the vehicle was parked in a driveway(not running). The door made a grinding sound, opened, fell off it's tracks and continued to open scraping all the way down the side of the van and hanging by only the cable when it stopped. …
Van side sliding doors have rear locking latch acuator that fails. Under power close, the rear of the door will pull in, latch, then unlatch and release the rear of the door. With power to doors off (fuse #13 removed) the door rear latch will not engage at all. The door with a failed rear latch will allow the door to slide open completely on acceleration, slam forward but not latch on braking, and will also slide open around a corner. This happened to me while I had 2 children in the center seat, at the sliding door openings. Dealer wants $511 plus tax, and there is a rebuild service for the rear latch on ebay for around $90, proving it is a chronic, wide spread problem. As a side note, if the 7.5 amp fuse is left installed in slot 13 for sliding door power, the battery will discharge over night. …
Rear door's struts does not work. The hatchback rear door slams shut and does not hold. There was a recall regarding strut defect in 2012. The recalled odysseys were manufactured in alabama factory where our car was manufactured. Just wonder why our vehicle is not on the recall list. Thank you for your time. Structure:body:hatchback/liftgate:hinge and attachments recall for 2008 Honda Odyssey recall announced February 16 2012 NHTSA reference #12V062000 number affected 45,747 summary: Honda is recalling certain model year 2008-2009 Odyssey vehicles, the gas-filled struts that help to raise and support the liftgate of vehicles equipped with a power liftgate system May be prone to early life failures due to a manufacturing flaw. The flaw can result in a leak of the pressurized gas, leading to reduced strut performance. …
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated that the front driver's door failed to open. The contact rolled the window down and attempted to open the door from the outside handle while within the vehicle, but the door still failed to open. The contact had to use the front passenger door to exit and enter the vehicle. The contact also stated that the lock would turn when the key was inserted into the door, but the door would not open. The contact attempted to remove the driver's side interior door panel, but was unsuccessful. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer (pearson Honda, 14001 hull street rd, midlothian, va, 23112), but they were unable to remove the panel and asked for permission to possibly damage the panel, but at the expense of the contact. The contact did not authorize the repair. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. …
We own a 2008 Honda Odyssey ex that should have been included in the recall for this safety issue, as it has been discovered that the power lift gate can fail as the struts are leaking pressurized gas. The reason the recall come to our attention in the first place is because the power lift gate on our vehicle has failed and has injured an employee. Upon our own research, we entered our VIN number into your database to check for any recall notifications, and the website stated our VIN number was invalid. However, when searching on your website for recalls for the 2008 Honda Odyssey, it is clear that a recall has been issued on 2/16/2012 with a NHTSA recall number of 12v-062. We then contacted the where we had purchased our vehicle. They denied any recall for the power lift gate issue and failed to help us resolve this major safety issue.
I had just taken my children to a water park. Upon returning to my vehicle at the park's closing, I opened the driver's side passenger sliding door with no problem. When I tried to close it, it would not close completely, and when I gave it another hard pull, it came completely off. The center side roller had come completely off track. I was able to hold the door up with some difficulty, but was unable to get the side roller back in track. Thankfully, I was able to remove the side roller apparatus from the door, get the upper roller somewhat back on track, and get the door closed. Otherwise, we would have been stranded. As heavy as that door was, it could have really hurt my child if it had fallen inward on her, and I was very fortunate that it did not hurt me. Vehicle was obviously stationary in a parking lot when this occurred.
Related recalls
Structure › Body › Hatchback/liftgate › Support device/strut
Honda is recalling certain model year 2008-2009 odyssey vehicles, the gas-filled struts that help to raise and support the liftgate of vehicles equipped with a power liftgate system May be prone to early life failures due to a manufacturing flaw.
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace both power liftgate gas struts free of charge. The safety recall began on March 12, 2012. Owners May contact Honda customer service at 1-800-999-1009.
NHTSA investigations
Stabilus Rear Liftgate Struts Failing
Please see the attached closing resume summary.It has been attached to this document as a PDF.
Body complaints in other Odyssey years
Frequently asked questions
How common are body problems on the 2008 Honda Odyssey?
NHTSA has 123 complaints about the body & structure of the 2008 Honda Odyssey, 25% of the model year's 499 complaints. The component named most often is body (75 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2008 Honda Odyssey body problems?
Yes — NHTSA recall 12V-062 (support device/strut, Feb 16, 2012). Recall repairs are free at authorized dealers.
At what mileage do 2008 Honda Odyssey body problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 70,000 miles, and 8% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 1 crash, 0 fires and 30 injuries to body & structure problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.