IF YOU BUY A 98-02 ACCORD GET THE MANUAL TRANSMISSION!!! I bought this Accord at a Lexus dealer with 45k on it and no more than 5 days of driving it, the trans was slipping between gears. Had the problem fixed for free under the 90 day warranty. They said they brought it to the Honda dealer for an overhaul which I find hard to believe since I didn't get any paperwork from Honda. Anyways, the car shifted good now and I went on my way. Two years later at 75k miles the same thing starts all over again. Slips between gears. More noticeable when the car is cold. At this point I have realized that the 98-02 Accord auto trans are time bombs waiting to explode. Decided to put a used trans in and sell the car. Bought a used one for $700 and payed $500 to the shop for R&R. And what do you know!? The used trans was a piece of crap too! I spent more time and money replacing all the sensors and solenoids on the used trans as well a new ECU. Still slipped between gears. The scrap yard I bought the trans from has a 90 day warranty but they wanted the part fist and said they'd call me when another came in. Needless to say I am now screwed because I can't just rip the trans out and have no car while I wait for this scrap yard. Besides the trans problems this Accord has been a great car with no other problems. Should of bought the manual shift and I would be doing a clutch and flywheel instead of replacing a whole transmission.

first gear started slipping really bad, and the harder i accelerated from a stop the harder it would pull back and then jump, so i took it a little easier on the initial amount of gas i would give it (meaning i slowed my ass down and wasn't in such a hurry to speed off) and it actually stopped doing it, didn't have any problems with it slipping until just recently (2 years after the first time it started doing that) and its most likely because i let myself get carried away with my led foot and the need for speed.....

The transmission started slipping between 1st and 2nd gear mainly. The faster I accelerate the worse it slips. The first thing that I thought to check was the fluid level but it was fine. I took it to my mechanic and he told me that Hondas around 98 or so had alot of transmission problems and more than likely need a rebuild. He said that flushing would likely cause it to totally fail and recommended just running it like it is until it gets worse or completely goes out. I have now been driving it for over 2 years and it hasn't gotten any better or worse. I dread taking it in for a rebuild and have many other things I would rather spend $1000+ on but otherwise really enjoy the car and it has relatively low miles on it for a Honda. Does anyone have any other reasons or easy fixes that could save me some $$$?

My transmission has been acting goofy for the last 5 years or at about 80k. I was told it needed to be replaced by Honda Dealers for about 3grand. I decided to wait and see. I've had my transmission fluid replaced a year ago and that did help somewhat. It struggles to shift from first to second on a regular basis and to speed up when I need it too going on the highway..there is a pause then a sudden increase in power. It also refuses to get into gear from park on occasion which is a major pain in the butt. I refuse to get a new transmission as the car is on in mileage now..about 120k. I know this is common with my year and make and is crap that Honda won't address this issue. I hope to trade it in before it goes totally kaput. From what I'm seeing on this site it will take several transmissions to repair again and again. I am not happy.

My name is Jeremy Hines, 21year-old blues guitarist with yet another transmission problem from a Honda Accord EX 4cyl. This started happening on Friday the 13th as I proceeded to accelerate from a stoplight close to home. It felt like my tranny went into neutral, the rpms went to 5,500 and jerked me foreward kinda hard all the sudden. This continued and I realized the slipping and catching seemed to be in my 3rd gear. All I know is I'm unemployed AND without a car... I bought this Accord because of Honda's reputation for dependability and the fact that it only had 90k miles on it. I thought, "Hey, for a 98', that's not bad for mileage... and this car's almost immaculate! Well sh*t I'LL TAKE IT!!!!!! WHOOOOPS! And on top of it all, the 4k my grandparents gave me to buy the car was my father's. He died only a year prior to me buying the car. SO NOW it's the dead of winter, I'm unemployed, my car money's gone. That was it for me!

since 2004 just a few month after I bought for my wife a 1998 Honda accord vtec 3.0 it start slip and kick in the 1st to 2nd shift, I went to the Honda dealer in San Diego, ca. to ask for an opinion and they told me about to replace a new transmission that means alot of money. I just think to wait until it broke. more than six years been gone and the car still working as those days.

When I got this car in 98 it was only 50,000 miles on it and now its 130,000 and on this end of the year 2009 me and my familiy took a trip for about 4,000 miles in this car and I really love it. very fast on the road, great driving at 100 mph, really good shape In the two door coupe version.

the transmission failure still but i learn to deal with it, just giving it time at the moment to accelerate.

never push the gas so fast... and still waiting until transmission get broken

I just bought this car from my mechanic and drove it to another city to go to school. I noticed a problem with it a few months later and then took it to get checked than found out that my car slips while driving. I noticed this issue beforehand but was really trying to have confidence in this car and ignored it.The original issue for me taking the car in was because there was fluid leaking on the ground. A mechanic told me that fluids were mixing and this had something to do with the radiator.They test drove my car to also let me know that there is slipping and that my engine light was on. The engine light is always turning on by the way. If I find out that the slipping is cause by the transmission I dont think I would want to repair it. There should be a class action lawsuit. I bought the car believing in the reputation of the brand.

I bought the car from a friend, and my mom came halfway from Houston to meet me with the car. I began to drive it and not 5 minutes after I'd had it the check engine light came on, when I got home and turned the car on it jerked, and then the next morning it did the same thing. When I drove it, it revved up really high and then jerked forward and this even happened while driving as it was trying to go from 2nd to 3rd gear.

I was so upset, and then I found out that this problem is very common with these cars, if you are going to buy a used car do not buy a 98 Honda Accord it is a sorry excuse for a vehicle.

Honda is a rip off when it comes to repairs. I bought the car at the place that has done all of the repairs on this car. They then informed me that the transmission work has never been done. I have only had them repair my car for the last 10 years. Do not wait for someone to tell you the transmission needs service. Take it upon yourself to get transmission service taken care of. If they really cared about their customers, this would be a part of the regular maintenance - this is what they are supposed to do. They want $3,000 to do the repairs. I will take it to someone I can count on for half of this amount. No more Hondas for me!

There's no way that's easy to explain whats happening to this car. Okay, so when you first start driving, in drive, it goes then pulls back, makes a humming noise, then jolts forward again as normal. its starting to happen everytime i pull out of somewhere, in park, at a stop sign. its getting worse i think.

not only that, ive had to replace te radiator, it cracked, one year old rotors, going. and the temperature gauge, solenoid switch, a/c and heat don't work, fan motor went when i first got the car, and the electrical is all messed up lights on/off things like that, and some timing thing in the engine [not the belt] that i had to replace. i just dont know what to do anymore. im the third owner, through the family, it has had routine tune-ups, oil changes, the whole she-bang. Honda are just too expensive to maintain.

anyone have any ideas? or should i just sell it to someone who wants the problems?

I just read many complaints and not surprisingly had exactly the same problem with this car. This is the third time I'm going to have to fix my transmission and I have 150k miles on it. The first time I rebuilt it, 2 years later same problem so I got another used transmission from a 60k miles car. 2 years later check engine light goes on and guess what, transmission is the problem again. I called american honda and got some guy who did seem like he was falling asleep on the job talking like he was either high and didn't care about anything or he was just tired after a big party from the night before. Anyway he told me there is no recall on this part and acted surprised when I told him I have read and heard from my mechanic that this was too common of a problem. This might possibly be the most complained about problem in any car or manufacturer. Definitely not getting another honda again! If there is such a widespread problem the manufacturer should realize it and save their customers by recalling the part.