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.
3.5
definitely annoying
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
37,623 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.
1998 Honda Accord(four-cylinder sedan) horn works intermittently. Sometimes the horn works at the slightest touch and at other times it does not work at all. Also, ignition switch of the said vehicle was replaced for the second time. The engine of the said vehicle would die and cause the car to stall while driving.
Horn works only on rare occasions, primarily when wheel is turned sharply to either direction. Dealer has stated that this is a known problem, but it will take several hundred dollars to fix, which includes replacing part of the driver air bag assembly. Over time, the problem has worsened, and dealer says it likely the horn will eventually fail completely. Due to financial difficulties, I do not have the money to fix, thus I no longer have a working horn. I am concerned that the air bag may also fail in an accident. I notice that there have been at least 5 other complaints about this problem, yet no investigation or recall has been initiated. This is a serious and known safety defect which needs to be addressed. Many owners of these cars may have non-working horns and not even realize it until it is too late.
1998 Honda Accord ex 4-door: Horn functions intermittently. While driving straight ahead (normal highway driving), horn usually does not work. Isolated the malfunction and found that the steering shaft is only intermittently grounded, and the horn requires that ground in order to function. The horn (and the steering shaft ground) operates perfectly when the key is removed from the ignition switch. It appears that something in the ignition switch is causing the loss of ground. This year and model vehicle has already had two different recalls for different problems with the ignition switch. I know of at least 2 other people with identical symptoms, and one of them has already had an accident that would have been avoided with a working horn. As far as I know, this vehicle has never been in an accident. The failure has not been repaired as of yet.
Car did fine for a while then it went crazy on us. Accelerator petal sticks, brake lights don't work, horn does not work, cruise control does not work, door locks wouldn't work, front left blinker works only sometimes!
- Slaughter, LA, USA
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1998 Honda Accord. The contact states the horn does not blow while the vehicle is being driven. When the vehicle stops the horn will blow. This has been happening for over a year. The contact took the vehicle to the dealership, and they stated it will cost $800 to fix it. The contact stated the vehicle kept stalling and there was a heat at her feet. Took the vehicle to the dealership. This has been happening for almost two years. The dealership told her the catalytic converter was blocked. Neither of these problems have been fixed.
I have owned this car for two years and have had two axles replaced, as well as rotors and breaks replaced twice. The brakes wear, the rotors had to be replaced, the horn does not function properly when pushed. Recently I went to get an inspection sticker and failed because of the emissions part. My check engine light does not work because a bulb is malfunctioning which means there is no sensor, my three way catalytic converter needs to be replaced and there is supposedly a problem with my fuel tank evaporative emission valve. Recently my car has shut off while I was in drive and continued to roll. It has also turned off while I was driving up a hill and would not start for ten minutes. I have invested almost 1500 dollars in repairs for this car and I would like Honda to repair and hopefully reimburse me for past repairs.
When using the horn it would not shut off. Consumer pulled over and removed the horn fuse. Dealership informed the consumer that the horn was sticking to air bag.
Horn works only on rare occasions, primarily when wheel is turned sharply to either direction. Dealer has stated that this is a known problem, but it will take several hundred dollars to fix, which includes replacing part of the driver air bag assembly. Over time, the problem has worsened, and dealer says it it likely the horn will eventually fail completely. Due to financial difficulties, I do not have the money to fix, thus I no longer have a working horn. I am concerned that the air bag may also fail in an accident. I notice that there have been at least 5 other complaints about this problem, yet no investigation or recall has been initiated. This is a serious and known safety defect which needs to be addressed. Many owners of these cars may have non-working horns and not even realize it until it is too late.
The consumer complained about a horn problem. The horn worked intermittently. The consumer was told my a mechanic that the air bag may be the cause of the horn problem. The consumer had to "hit" the steering wheel to get the horn to activate.
Horn works only intermitantly since new, dealer claims nothing wrong and it is now out of warranty then one dealer claims there is a problem but we have to pay to fix this factory defect!
The horn sometimes works and sometimes does not. We have been to the dealer 12 times prior and each time they were able to make it work but there has been three close calls where the horn did not work and a car backing almost hit my car. We had to yell to make the other car stop! today 12/11/02 we had yet another very close call and the dealer finally was able to see there is a fault as the horn did not function when the wheel is turned. They said the vehicle is out of warranty and may cost over $250 to fix! please let me know if this is a safety item and should be fixed free by the manufacturer. Thanks very much!
Horn was working intermittently. Then, it did not operate at all. Dealer/manufacturer were notified. Feel free to provide any further information concerning this matter.
Horn intermittently failed without warning. Dealer replaced airbag mechanism and cable into steering wheel, but problem still occurred. Vehicle brought back to dealer and they replaced steering column at recommendation of Honda, problem solved.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Los Angeles, CA, USA