Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (battery, alternator, wiring, ignition, instrument cluster, infotainment).
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).
Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2008 Honda Odyssey on April 13,2024. The sale was a private sell. The contact stated at the time of purhcase the odometer was recorded at 129,000. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the contact attempted to use the vehicle as a trade in. The contact was informed that the CARFAX report last recored the odometer reading on April 6, 2024, at 230,000.
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.
I have spent over $4000 in repair costs and my car just shut down completely and will not start. I have had to have my car towed three times once to Honda dealership and twice to a repair shop. All this msoney spent and car still doesn't work right, now it just stopped working completely. All lights on dashboard start flickering then car starts stopping itself while all lights go crazy. Car starts stalling itself while I'm driving making it extremly unpridictable and unsafe. Car has gotten so hot that it melted a new battery that needed to be replaced along with alternator. Still after all this still not working right all the electricals go crazy brakes, locks and everything else now car has completely stopped. Yet no one can find out what's wrong. It has happened on road and on highway very unpridictable. …
Turning onto highway, heard a loud bang, checked my dash, no warning lights illuminated, thought it was a rock or road debris that hit the vehicle. Continued toward our destination at 55 MPH, about a mile down the road the ABS lighted up, then the vsa, then the TPMS, then the seatbelt light, then the radio went out, the gauges were next, finally the battery light came on, I let the vehicle come to a halt using very little brakes. As soon as I stopped the engine died and no lights would come on, had to manually unlock and manually open the door. Called the Honda dealership, said it would be towed in that day 24 sept 2016, there was no accident, but for this to happen with no warning whatsoever, is of concern to me. I don't know if this is a hardware or software glitch, we had the vehicle in for maintenance just this past week, timing belt, rear brakes, oil change. …
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. …
While stationary in a parking lot, while opening the passenger side sliding door the entire door jumped out of the channel, almost falling on top of myself and others and damaging the side of the car and rendering the door useless. The bearings for the door appear to be factory originals and are made of a cheap plastic that has broken. This appears to be dangerous and common for odyssees. I have never had a car ever have a door jump out of a track like this and I have had astro vans since the 1980s, and still currently own a 2002 that has never had such an issue. Sliding doors should not be able to spring out of tracks this way or use such easily broken, unreliable parts.
The alarm went on at around 2 am and kept on going. Switched if off using key fob. Checked all doors and windows and nothing was open. After about ten minutes it started going off again by itself. As I was watching at that time, there was no reason for the alarm to go off. The same thing repeated over several nights and this became an issue for us and neighbor's. From then on, I have started taking out the horn fuse when parking. As this happened a few months ago, I have given an approximate date below. I am having this checked by a dealer, though I doubt they can find the cause as this occurs randomly. This has however become a major headache.
The battery drains overnight making it so the vehicle has to be jumped the next morning. When jumping the vehicle, a bit of steam is emitted from the front right side of the engine compartment accompanied by a loud "jet engine" or "tv static" sound. Once jumped, the car will start throughout the day. However, something overnight is causing the battery to drain. The website carcomplaints.com has the issue listed with very similar incidents to what I just explained. This needs to be investigated. Always, [redacted]
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 Honda Odyssey. While driving various speeds in the rain, water leaked through the roof and dripped onto the a-post, front driver's side air bag, and electrical components. The failure caused the electrical system to shut down, and the power doors and windows did not work. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The dealer and manufacturer were not notified. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 131,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked in her garage and ignited into flames. The vehicle was destroyed and there were no injuries. The contact stated that the fire department stated that the cause of fire was due to an electrical malfunction with the sliding door. The manufacturer was notified but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was 76,000...updated 05/29/13 updated 06/12/2013
Related recalls
Electrical system › Software
American Honda Motor Company (Honda) is recalling certain model year 2007-2008 Honda Odyssey vehicles manufactured August 8, 2006, through September 8, 2008. Due to a combination of system components and software, the Vehicle Safety Assist System (VSA) may apply the brakes unexpectedly.
Remedy: Parts to remedy these vehicles will not be available until the spring of 2014. Honda will send owners an interim letter notifying them of the issue and instruct them how to prevent unintended braking.
Electrical complaints in other Odyssey years
Frequently asked questions
How common are electrical problems on the 2008 Honda Odyssey?
NHTSA has 33 complaints about the electrical system of the 2008 Honda Odyssey, 7% of the model year's 499 complaints. The component named most often is instrument panel › speedometer/odometer (1 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2008 Honda Odyssey electrical problems?
Yes — NHTSA recall 13V-500 (software, Nov 1, 2013). Recall repairs are free at authorized dealers.
At what mileage do 2008 Honda Odyssey electrical problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 100,000 miles, and 12% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 0 crashes, 2 fires and 0 injuries to electrical system 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.