CarComplaints.com Notes: The 1998 Honda Accord suffers from widespread transmission failure, peeling paint, & subframe rust. We recommend avoiding this model year like the plague.
The transmission begins slipping & eventually has to be replaced, typically soon after 100,000 miles & with a repair cost of over $2,000.
Peeling paint has also been a huge issue for these Accords. Most of the complaints are with darker paint colors -- especially green & blue.
Subframe rust near the front passenger side wheel has become a problem recently, due to the poorly positioned A/C drain hose directly above that area. Repair cost to the subframe is over $2,000.
7.9
pretty bad
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
5,455 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
With clutch pressed down while car in gear the transmission would start to engage. Problem was occasional at the beginning, then worsened to the point vehicle was undrivable. (1 year period) took to local dealership twice but they were clueless to any cause. Vehicle would often stall in stop and go traffic and at any lights. If clutch was pressed down for more than 5 seconds while in gear the hydrolics would fail and kill the engine. Slave cylinder, clutch hydrolics eventually failed. Dealership replaced slave cylinder and line for over $500, clutch now operates fine. Dealership had to replace with modified Honda parts since original slave and line replacement parts were defective. Contacted american Honda for relief do to faulty design/parts but refused due to ultimate failure occurring outside warranty period.
Clutch failure on 1998 Honda Accord-replacement part (clutch master cylinder) on emergency national backorder. Told that Honda had experienced "problems" with this part. Are there not enough to handle nationwide demand?
While stopping at traffic light clutch will engage without warning, causing vehicle to "jump" into intersection and stall. This occurred 1-2 times a day. Vehicle has been checked by dealer. This only happens when vehicle is in 1st gear and reverse. The clutch engages and will not shift out of gear until the vehicle has died. The brakes must be applied firmly because of the vehicle moving irradically. The pressure plate master cylinder and slave cylinder have been replaced.
When applying clutch it went to the floor and vehicle jumped light. Clutch stuck to floor, and vehicle was stuck in first gear. Technician told consumer about clutch being faulty. Contacted Honda, and Honda was suppose to call back, but has not responded.
- Vancouver, WA, USA
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Without any warning, my clutch went out my gear shift locked up and the car died in the middle of a very busy thoroughfare in dallas. After the service center received the car they said that the master and slave cylinder were defective.
Clutch master cylinder is erratic, very difficult to engage and chatters at every start, new clutch master installed but the problem remains the same. Nlm
About 4 months after the purchase of the car, the clutch started making some loud squeeks while pressing or releasing the clutch. The squeek got louder as the traffic got heavier. While this was occuring the clutch becomes hard and difficult to control (too much release or too little). I took the car to the nearest dealership (Honda world, westminster) and told them. They said it was the master cylinder and at this moment there was no replacement. I waited about 2 months then finally in August '98 it was replaced. I left for a trip to san francisco and by the time I got to my destination it was already occuring again. While driving in the city and going up steep hills it became difficult to calculate the release in the clutch because it was not smooth- it felt like it was rubbing against something else, I had to use the emergency brake. I took it back to the dealership as soon as I came back. At this moment they told me that it was a defect and they had no solutions and that I could only wait. After waiting for awhile I called american Honda and told my problem. They said they were awared but they could not do anything about it at this time. They promised to call me to keep me inform of the situation which they have been. In one of the phone calls I was told that they had a part but it was only temporary and it would not solve the problem permanently. At this moment other things have come out - the driver's side door lock gives me electrical shocks while locking and unlocking the door and these are not minor shocks. Also sometimes the brakes squeak while pressing - it happened a little bit when I got it but I thought maybe because it was new. I don't want to be stuck with a car with these many problems - it was new and I have followed all the schedule maintance, all the help given it greatly appreciated it, thank you...
Ever since I bought this car (about 3 month now) the clutch makes a squeeky noise whenever its applied. Id have contacted the dealer that I bought the car from, and also contacted the manufacturer (Honda consumer affair) and none of the tell me how long it takes for this problem to be corrected. The both say that its under investigation, I really don't know if it's safe to drive this car because of the squeek in the clutch which the Honda company says is related to clutch master cylinder.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Shoreline, WA, USA