2026 Honda Odyssey Engine Problems

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2026 Honda Odyssey owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

My 2026 Honda Odyssey was stopped at a traffic light with Auto Idle Stop engaged. When traffic was ready to move, the engine appeared to restart for about half a second and then shut down. The vehicle then shifted itself into Park and would not resume normal operation. The battery warning light was illuminated. Pressing the engine Start/Stop button caused all of the screens/displays to turn off briefly, but they came back on in the same failed state. The vehicle was disabled in traffic at an intersection. The component or system that failed appears to be the Auto Idle Stop / engine restart system, possibly involving the starter, starter relay, battery/charging system, or engine control software. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. …

I own a 2026 Honda Odyssey Elite. On multiple occasions, the Auto Idle Stop system shut the engine off while stopped at a traffic light. When I released the brake pedal to proceed, the engine failed to restart, leaving the vehicle disabled in traffic. I was forced to shift the vehicle into Park and manually restart the engine using the Start/Stop button. This defect has occurred multiple times. I first reported the issue to my Honda dealership on June 2, 2026. After two visits where the dealer was unable to duplicate the concern, I captured the failure on video. During my third repair visit, the dealership's engineer personally experienced the failure twice while testing the vehicle. Honda Customer Relations opened a case and worked with the dealership. …

While driving my 2026 Honda Odyssey, I stopped at a red light and the engine shut off through the Auto Idle Stop system. I pressed the Auto Idle Stop OFF button because I wanted the engine running again before proceeding. Instead of restarting the engine, the vehicle completely shut down and became inoperable in traffic. I repeatedly attempted to restart the vehicle, but it remained unresponsive for approximately 20 seconds before it finally restarted. This created a serious safety hazard because I was unable to move the vehicle while positioned in active traffic. This was not normal Auto Idle Stop operation, as the engine should have restarted when I pressed the button. This has happened several times already, where the car will not restart the engine. Requesting that NHTSA investigate possible Auto-Idle Stop/failure-to-restart problems affecting the 2026 Honda Odyssey.

1. Idle Stop System Failure: On three separate occasions over the past two months-including today-the vehicle failed to restart after idle stop engaged. The engine remained unresponsive until I shifted into Park and manually restarted it using the start/stop button while pressing the brake pedal. This is not a minor inconvenience; it is a dangerous malfunction that could result in catastrophic consequences in traffic. 2. Uncommanded Loss of Vehicle Settings: Several system settings, including the automatic door lock function when exiting the vehicle with the key, have reset or disappeared without any action on my part. The vehicle has only about 11,900 miles on it. Failures of this magnitude at this mileage are unacceptable and represent a clear threat to driver and passenger safety.

My AIS system kicked in causing the engine to shut off. Unfortunately, the engine did not restart. I was unable to start my car or even shift it to neutral for a helpful bystander to help me push my car off of the road. I was blocking traffic on a busy road and I am very fortunate that I was not rear ended. Eventually, after about half an hour, was able to get the car restarted (even then, lots of "clicking" and hesitation with starting). I then drove the vehicle home. I took it to Honda and they made me aware today that they were unable to get the car to repeat this problem, nothing was wrong, I could pick it up and let them know if it happened again.

While stopped at a red light, the Auto Stop/Start system shut off the engine as designed but then failed to restart it. The vehicle remained stalled in the intersection for several minutes while I attempted to restart the engine manually. This left the vehicle and my family stopped in traffic, creating a potential safety risk from surrounding vehicles. There were no warning lamps or messages prior to this incident or after.

The Auto Idle/stop caused my engine to stall not once but twice in the past few weeks while on a major highway. Light turns green and my car won't start back up. I have to let the car sit for a second then restart the car while traffic is flying past me on this highway. Absolutely ridiculous that my brand new car is having these issues and that I am unable to turn this feature off permanently.

Three times in the past week my van has shut off while I was preparing to move forward at a stop light. My car begins to idle as soon as it's stopped, but when I lift my foot off the brake, instead of turning back on, my van engine shuts all the way off or jerks hard before acceleration. Resulting in me having to hurry and put my car in park & restart the engine. It's very dangerous!

There is some sort of starter issue. It has a way to turn the starter off when I'm idle but multiple times it's taken a long time to start after idling. Today it would not move after I was idle at a light so I had to park and restart the car. Then I went home and was going to go out again and it didn't start. I waited a minute and it started again. I feel unsafe in this vehicle.

Starter went bad at 15,000 miles... I'm part of some online forums and it's a common problem. Honda tech even admitted that it common. Honda knows about the problem, but I don't see any recall for the common problem. What happens when it goes out and the car is out of warranty? I'll be eating the cost. It's something worth looking into...

Engine complaints in other Odyssey years