Honda recalls 108,000 Odyssey minivans for sliding doors that won’t stay shut
Owners should receive recall notifications by mail in December.
If a door doesn't securely latch, it could present a big ol' safety hazard. That's the thinking behind Honda's latest recall.
Honda has issued a recall for 107,774 examples of the 2018-2019 Odyssey minivan. This covers every new Odyssey the automaker has produced, from Jan. 19, 2017 to April 16, 2018. Honda discovered the issue and remedied it on the production line on April 17, so vehicles carrying build dates after that aren't affected.
The problem stems from the van's power sliding doors. The rear latch assemblies are evidently prone to sticking, which might prevent the doors' latches from hooking securely to the strikers that hold the closed doors in place. If everything isn't secure, there's a chance the sliding door could open while the vehicle is in operation, which obviously increases the risk of injury to any occupants inside.
Remedying the issue is thankfully pretty straightforward. Upon returning the vehicle to the dealership, technicians will inspect and replace the rear latch assemblies for both sliding doors. In the event that replacement parts aren't available, Honda says it will give owners the option to disable the power sliding feature until those parts become available. The doors can still be operated manually.
Usually, Honda will offer to reimburse any owners who already paid to have the issue fixed prior to the recall announcement, but that's not the case this time. Honda notes that all vehicles presenting this issue would have the repair covered for free under the new-car warranty, so nobody should have paid out of pocket for the repair. Dealers have already been notified of the recall, but owners won't receive notifications via first-class mail until late December.
