Originally Posted By: Boss302fan
Have had many Honda/Acura vehicles(CRV and MDX's) and in my opinion the tranny's can be problematic.
By and large, the transmission problems were fixed in the 2003-2004 timeframe. They went from a 3-shaft unit to a 4-shaft design, and many of the problems went away. For example, the 2004+ MDX has the new transmission and transmission problems are rare on the 2004+ 'Xes. I think the Odyssey got the "MDX transmission" in 2007, but I think even the 2004-2006 Odyssey transmissions were upgraded over previous units.
Honda makes it easy to do maintenance, though, with convenient drain plugs. So there's little excuse to go beyond what Honda recommends. Second Johnny's comment on the rear housing fluid only available at the Honda dealer. If it's the same VTM+4 fluid that the MDX/Pilot/Ridgeline uses, it's dealer-only. And about $20-30 for a gallon, which is the only way it's sold to my knowledge.