CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2001 Honda Accord suffers from widespread transmission failure, subframe rust, & problems with the airbag system (SRS). 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. Transmission failure problems have been a huge problem for Honda Accords & other models all through the early 2000s model years. Honda eventually extended the transmission warranty to 93 months/109k miles for the 2000-2001 Accords as settlement for a class action lawsuit, but that period is over & owners of Accords with transmission problems are out of luck.
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.
The SRS warning light likes to come on due to a defective seat belt sensor -- typically the driver's side. This sensor is covered under Honda's lifetime seat belt warranty, but some dealers charge a $100+ "diagnostic fee" or tell customers the entire SRS unit ($800) is bad. Also make sure your 2001 Accord has been checked for the airbag recall: excessive pressure may cause metal fragments during airbag deployment.
7.4
pretty bad
Typical Repair Cost:
$2,430
Average Mileage:
107,250 miles
Total Complaints:
50 complaints
Most Common Solutions:
new or rebuilt transmission (18 reports)
not sure (16 reports)
get a new transmission from American Honda (ha ha) (12 reports)
Starting shifting hard going from 1st to 2nd gear. Honda recommended a complete transmission rebuild (Honda would have given 25% discount, but still incredibly expensive). I decided to nurse it along for several more years and about 90k miles. I got frequent transmission fluid changes (NOT flush, which I was told would have ruined the transmission), and I accelerated very slowly and treated it gently. It only really acted up if I was in stop-and-go traffic for a long time.
They say a Honda will go forever but that is a lie because mine only had 98,000 miles and was service regularly through Honda. I had the 30,000, 60,000 and 90,000 mile service done and anything else that Honda said needed to be done. I don't think is should have went out at 98,000. It cost me 4400.00 dollars to get it fixed through Honda. Thank for the rant.
MY HONDA ACCORD 2001 COUPE STARTED TO ACT REALLY WEIRD A FEW MONTHS AGO SHIFTING WISE. I TOLD SOME MEMBERS OF MY FAMILY, BUT THEY SAID THE CAR WAS FINE. I WASN'T BUYING IT, SO I DECIDED TO DO A TRANSMISSION FLUID FLUSH WHICH WAS A REALLY BAD IDEA. AFTER THAT, SHIFTING FROM 1ST TO 2ND WAS REALLY ROUGH. SO I TOOK IT TO A TRANSMISSION SHOP AND SURE ENOUGH, I HAVE A SLIPPINg TRANSMISSION.
I AM SO PISSED OFF I'M STRESSING OVER THIS BECAUSE I'M A COLLEGE STUDENT. I HAVE OTHER STUFF TO PAY AND I DON'T HAVE THE MONEY TO PUT A NEW TRANSMISSION, OR REBUILT IT. I THOUGHT HONDA MADE RELIABLE VEHICLES.
AT THIS POINT I'M JUST GONNA DRIVE IT LIKE THIS. SEE HOW LONG MY CAR LASTS. I SHOULD HAVE DONE MY RESEARCH BEFORE BUYING THIS CAR. I ALSO CALLED HONDA ABOUT THE GOODWILL REPAIR AND THEY SAID THAT THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO.
SHAME ON YOU HONDA. BEWARE OF THE COUPE MODELS FROM 2000 TO 2004 OR SO BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is my mom's car, and its starting to roughly shift from gears 1 to 2 and sometimes even from 2 to 3. My mom took it to her mechanic, and he said that the transmission will have to be rebuilt or replaced soon. The car we had before this one was a 1993 Honda Accord and never had any transmission problems. Very disappointed with Honda's newer transmissions.
I got the transmission rebuilt, has less the. 100miles on it. When reinstalled, it acted the same damn way as it did before the rebuild. I have replaced all the solenoids more then once. The D4 light comes on intermittently, I installed an aftermarket external tranny filter to help the transmission life last longer. We have disconnected it & double checked it, the results were clean 100%. I have taken it to a Honda dealership
& they said they checked everything & test drove it twice & it shifted fine both times.
WTF........ PLEASE HELP! ANY SUGGESTIONS OR IDEAS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED
- Warren H.,
Albany, OR, US
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If Honda knew there was a problem with the transmission why did they not replace it or recall it years ago. They just decided to extend the warranty from 36 to 92 months. Its just plain wrong.
Update from Mar 20, 2015: Hi guys, finally had to have the transmission replaced, bought a rebuilt one at Autozone. This transmission has a 36 month unlimited mileage warranty. While they were at it also went ahead a replaced the main seal. The valve covers were leaking so had the seals replaced and the valves adjusted. Also had the timing belt and water pump replaced along with the rack and pinion, which also requires a front end alignment from Firestone. Had to have the engine and transmission mounts replaced. Basically had to have everything replaced except the engine. Everything including labor was $4500.00 I have a great Honda Certified mechanic that is a very honest man that tells you exactly what your car needs and does not take advantage of you!! I just wanted to let you guts know what had to be done to fix this problem that Honda should have fixed!!
Extremely disappointed especially since my husband convinced me that Hondas were dependable cars...after all; he owned several Preludes which didn't give him a bit of trouble. I decided to get rid of my Pontiac Grand Am due to a faulty head gasket.
I had my eye set on a certain body style of Accord. I got my 2001 in the silver color I had wanted. what a sharp car (especially after I had the spoiler added). When I saw the fluid on the pavement in the parking lot at work I was in denial; "not my car, it;s too new, must have been the car that parked there before me"! I once dated a guy who turned the mileage over three times on his 1974 Pontiac Firebird before the"tranny" blew. I can't even make it to one hundred thousand miles.
I haven't decided what to do yet, my car is still running but our mechanic advised us to get rid of it.Too bad they don't make Pontiacs anymore.
In 2006 Honda issued an extended warranty on the transmission due to the many complaints/failures. Shortly thereafter we started experiencing slipping/missing gears and took it to Klein Honda in Everett where we purchased it. They ran the diagnostic and told us that it wasn't bad enough to warrant a replacement. Since then it has slowly gotten worse to the point where it is becoming a safety issue because we never really know if it is going to catch and actually go or when it will just decide to stall. Now of course it is past the extended warranty and the dealer refuses to fix it.
This 2001 Honda accord with 4spd automatic transmission shifts hard (lurches ahead or decelerates rapidly) when shifting from 1st to 2nd or 2nd to first. The problem varies in severity depending on driving conditions. Didn't catch it on a short test drive. However after an afternoon of city driving, I had several instances of severely hard up and down shifts. One of the biggest problems is that for some reason Honda has been able to keep chronic transmission problems from showing up on KBB and MSN consumer web sites. I did some research on the car before I bought it and it wasn't until I found a honda forum that I had any knowledge that there were any issues with honda transmissions. I wouldn't have bought the car if I had known. Estimate from Honda was up to $4000 to replace with a new transmission (75% of the cars value).
when this problem with the transmission started it was not too bad, now it is so annoying that I'm afraid that the transmission will go any day even though I only use it to go back and forth to a part time job which is only about fifteen minutes from home. I went to two transmission repair shops and both gave me estimates around $1,800 dollars. I also went to my local Honda dealership which told me that Honda terminated the transmission program about almost three years ago, which was for transmissions which had l00,000 or less. My transmission only has at this time 82,000 miles. I'm sure that their are many more owners with the same problem, and I can't believe Honda wont stand by the cars.
My Accord's transmission jerks at about 20-30 mph - basically when shifting gears. OK, this is what my mechanic said about the problem - it is common with the Accord - the original model was designed for stick, if you treat it like you are driving a stick - ie back off the gas when it is about ready to shift - you will have less problems with jerking. My wife doesn't like this idea and wants it fixed. She took it to the dealer. They want more than I want to pay. Online repair costs average $2500.
I bought the car in 2010 and took it to the Bommarito Honda Dealer in Mo. they said it just shifts hard not a problem so now 2 years later same problem but now the check engine light is on and now after a 99 dollar diagnostic tells me its a shift solenoid they say I need another transmission I am pissed but not gonna get their 5000 transmission gonna get a rebuilt or different transmission
When accelerating from a stop light, stop sign, etc. my car is shifting hard. It was time to have the transmission fluid flushed anyways, so I did. $150 later, my car is still acting the same (it did nothing except empty my wallet some).
It is $110 alone for Honda to run the diagnostic test. Has anyone else had this problem? Any suggestions as to what it may be? Is it serious and does it need taken care of now before something more costly happens?
Don't buy any Honda Accords. This is my third transmission for this Honda Accord. Honda's response is it's out of warranty. It sure is, but if they put in their maintenance schedule you would have to replace the transmission every 50-60k miles they wouldn't sell any of these. Avoid Honda like the plague.
First transmission failure at 34k - i should have known then to get rid of it as fast as I could. Unfortunately I had heard that Honda's were reliable. I guess I need to get my hearing checked because the one I got has been terrible.
Will never buy a Honda again. Went to the dealer today for a quote to fix a transmission which Honda knows is a defective design. The quoted repair cost was $4,050.00 of which Honda would pay $1,000.00 as a goodwill gesture. I told the dealer I was insulted. The car only has 96,000 miles. I am going with a rebuilt unit from a company that has addressed the problems and incorporated these improvements into the re-manufactured units. Honda should have done the same. I will tell everyone I know NOT to buy Honda. I even have a Honda mower which is a piece of junk too.
I bought the Accord for its reliability and it has been great up until this problem which is a big one. Honda should back up the quality of their products and recall other Accord years.
Bought the car used in EXCELLENT condition from an OCD woman who had all recommended service done to the car and then some, which, btw, was garaged and driven sparingly. It looks brand spanking new. But, all that sparkles is not gold. After my family mechanic inspected the car on the lift and through a test drive, Carfax gave the thumbs up, etc, I went ahead and bought the car with utmost confidence in the probability that I wouldn't have to worry about much nor spend much because, hey, it's a HONDA. Nope. After driving it for a while, especially after cold starts, I began to notice that the car shifted hard from first to second and acted nothing like a V6 should. On hills it would jerk like an epileptic and struggle to gain speed. I looked up the symptoms and turned up a cache of info online that was like a neon sign pointing straight to hell. The 01 Accord V6s are prone to transmission failure and what I was experiencing was a warning sign. I took it to the dealership, they did a diagnostic, and said I'd need a new transmission. The service manager put in a call to Honda for a Goodwill repair because of the car's excellent condition and service record. Now it's a waiting game. I'm not holding my breath but I'm not going to freak either because it is JUST a car, after all, but I'm only 27 years old and I can't afford this with my measly freelancer's income. So much for grad school. Anyone who can help me, please reach out. Thanks!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Starting shifting hard going from 1st to 2nd gear. Honda recommended a complete transmission rebuild (Honda would have given 25% discount, but still incredibly expensive). I decided to nurse it along for several more years and about 90k miles. I got frequent transmission fluid changes (NOT flush, which I was told would have ruined the transmission), and I accelerated very slowly and treated it gently. It only really acted up if I was in stop-and-go traffic for a long time.
- Todd F., Hadley, US