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.
The automatic transmission slips terribly between 1st and 2nd gear. I really have to baby it or I feel like the next slip might be the last. Even when not hardly accelerating, the transmission will really clunk into gear.
I have owned Honda's and nothing else since I was 19 years old and am now 40 years old. Honda's used to offer reliability that was unequaled and major car components that were robust enough to drive 300,000 miles without failure. Alas...that is history. I bought a 2001 accord ex about 5 years ago and have had major motor and transmission problems. The motor issues were excessive oil consumption which required valve stem seals and piston rings. Now, the transmission started slipping between gear changes. This will likely require a new transmission which is 100% unacceptable for a Honda with 150,000 miles. Honda cars of the 1980's and 1990's would barely be out of the break-in period at this mileage. Shame on you Honda for forgetting about your core values of reliability and customer service. I am finally throwing in the towel on Honda and am pained to do so..but have no choice. Honda of yesterday would replace these transmissions for free. Bye old friend.
I could not believe that this problem was happening to sooo many Honda owners. I started reading more and more about it in different areas, such as the National Transportation Safety website.
Honda really needs to come through and deal with this issue.
mY PARENTS ARE IN THEIR 80'S. SHOULD A 2001 V6 ACCORD WITH ONLY 50000 MILES NEED A NEW TRANNY? IT WAS REPLACED FOR 4800 I THINK THEY WERE ROBBED. ANY RECALLS ON THIS?
- Will A.,
Jackson, NJ, US
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I bought this car brand new, and it turned out all the 01's came out with a transmission recall, so the first time it broke down, I didn't pay anything, the second time, I paid half, and now the problem is happening again. I am starting to get fed up, and now would like to buy a new car, was told by a mechanic all the the Honda Accord's between 01-05's came out with bad transmission. So, stay away from these years, its to bad because these cars have great engines, and great on gas, but how could they put bad transmissions in such great cars. I will make sure if I buy another Honda, I check to see if their is any recalls on the year of the car. I still love Honda's, but they really need to do better work out there on these cars, besides, the cost of these vehicles is not that cheap.
2001 Accord with 87K and the transmission slipping--not wanting to shift from 1st ans 2nd gear and not responsive to acceleration. Call Honda up to see it if they would cover it with warranty...the rep told me to take it to dealer to have it check...and NO the car is no longer under warranty because it is 10 yrs old. Regardless of how low the mileage or circumstance, it will not be under warranty.
The car was in storage for 4 yrs when I went to overseas with the US Air Force. I have no idea that there was a transmission issue with Honda until my 03 Odyssey and now 01 Accord gave me problems---I am done with Honda. I will never again trust Honda and will advocate my friends and families to go with Toyota or Hyundai. Honda use to be good but it time for me to move on!
My car gives jerk when shift from 1st to 2nd gear. when try to speed up especially on left turn, transmission often slips that is dangerous. This is my first car I bought as used car from my hard earned money. Though this car is not under warranty, Honda company has to replace it's transmission for no charge or atleast atleast with 75% to 50% compensation as goodwill repair.
Never received any information from Honda that my car had a bad transmission in it. I feel like Honda should replace the transmission at no cost to me.
well, i cant drive my car i have missed work and dont know how im gonna pay my bills. my car acts as if it is in nutral it wont accelerate. i have called around and they want about $400 for the part im a single mother and i dont know how to work on cars i have no idea what im gonna do.
Ok, I am back with my transmission failing for the second time!!! How is this possible??!?! I purchased this car from a Honda Dealer. Transmission replaced in 2008 after owning the car for less than one year. NOW, I have to replace it AGAIN three years later!!!
Does Honda stand behind their products??!?! I have owned many cars and NEVER had to have the transmission replaced one! Let alone twice!!
This awful experience leads me to consider other car brands that stand behind their products as I am not sure that Honda cares to anymore.
Also, I have called Honda North America headquarters and was told there was nothing they could or would do! Think I'll hop on to the internet to spread my experience and facebook.
I was a proud owner of a 2001 and a 2005 Honda Accords. There is a ton of history on the transmission problems in Honda and Acura vehicles including class action lawsuits. Honda did not act in good faith notifying it's loyal customers of this problem. I spoke with a representative today after being lead to believe by a couple of other Honda representative that a goodwill repair was possible and he slammed the door in my face! My Accord has always been maintained and has been back to the dealer several ties for maintenance and it has very low mileage (68,700). American Honda doesn't care about it's loyal customers and never acted in good faith by notifying them of faulty transmission identified in 2002. I wanted to speak to this person's supervisor asked told that wouldn't do any good. I have a child in college and a second that just received their license, I really need this car! Why would anyone buy Honda? Extremely disappointed! Honda doesn't care about it's loyal customers!
I PURCHASED MY HONDA ACCORD IN 2004 AND LOVED IT. I WAS NOT HAVING ANY PROBLEMS BUT IN 2006 I WAS LOOKING THROUGH THE OWNERS MANUAL AND CAME UPON A LETTER SAYING THAT THIS MODEL WAS HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THE TRANSMISSION AND THAT HONDA WAS REPLACING THEM FREE OF CHARGE. I THOUGHT WELL SINCE IT IS FREE I WILL CALL THE LOCAL HONDA DEALERSHIP AND ASK AND THEY SAID YES JUST BRING IT IN AND WE WILL REPLACE IT.
I TOOK IT IN AND HAD IT REPLACED. THE DEALERSHIP DID NOT GIVE ME ANY PAPERWORK AND I DID NOT THINK ANYMORE ABOUT IT UNTIL I STARTED HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THIS NEW TRANSMISSION. WHEN I CALLED THE DEALERSHIP BACK AND TOLD THEM WHAT WAS HAPPENING WITH THE NEW TRANSMISSION THEY DID NOT HAVE ANY RECORD OF THE WORK BUT THE SERVICE WRITER DID REMEMBER US CAUSE MY HUSBAND WORKED FOR THE GM DEALERSHIP IN THE SAME TOWN. SHE CALLED THE HONDA CORPORATION AND THEIR RESPONSE WAS THAT A NEW TRANSMISSION WOULD COST ABOUT $2500 AND THEY WOULD PAY FOR 30% AND I COULD PAY THE 70%. YOU CAN IMAGINE WHAT I TOLD THAT LADY..I HAVE EVEN CALLED THE HONDA CORPORATION DIRECTLY AND WAS TOLD THE SAME THING. I AM STILL TRYING TO GET THEM TO FIX THIS CAUSE I DO NOT HAVE THE MONEY TO PAY FOR THIS AND I DO NOT FEEL LIKE IT IS MY FAULT.
AFTER READING ALL THESE POST ABOUT SO MANY 2001 HONDAS HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM I THINK HONDA SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THIS.
Transmission is acting up worse all the time. It's started a couple of years ago.
Bought the car 2004 with 31,000 miles on it. I LOVE MY CAR. But, just had to replace all of the motor mounts and transmission mounts. Had inquired at Honda about the transmission and the recall years ago when it first started acting funny. I'm pissed that this is such a common issues and they aren't fixing it.
We purchased this car new. Honda replaced the transmission in 2006 after much complaining to the local dealer and honda. It had about 40000 miles on it.
Now the automatic transmission is once again failing at 96000 miles. It has trouble shifting between 1st to second. When this happens the check engine light comes on and the D-4 light flashes. Transmission fluid is full, a little dark, and was replaced 1 year ago. Looks like we need to replace the transmission again!
This has been a real pain. Arguing with the dealer and Honda is not my favorite pastime. Honda has built a real bad apple with this transmission.
We special ordered this car and when I called to report the problem... they had a PREVIOUS OWNER listed on the vehicle!!! As a result of this we have never received any recalls on this car nor extended warranties to be honored by HONDA! HOW IS THIS, WHEN IT WAS A SPECIAL ORDER???!!! IT TOOK ME A MONTH TO GET THIS CAR, SO DID SOMEONE ELSE DRIVE IT BEFORE I GOT IT??? Makes no sense at all! I have taken the car to Vic Bailey is Spartanburg, SC several times and they kept telling me that there was nothing wrong with the transmission! Well guess what, THERE IS A BIG PROBLEM, A $4,000 PROBLEM. NOW, because of the mileage accumulated on the vehicle they WILL NOT honor the extended warranty! This is such BS!!
First of all, when I went looking for a car , I somehow ended up in a Toyota dealership. Because of my financial status what they offered me I had no interest in especially because what they kept showing me was the same car in different colors after I told them I did not want that, and if that was all I could get I would not be getting anything. But as we all know , they aswel as other dealerships are not willing to let you go without a sale, so they in a last attempt showed me a car that someone traded in. Which is the the 2001 Honda accord I currently own. By the way I did try to return the car two days later but they would not let me. They told me I signed a "NO CHANGE YOUR MIND CONTRACT" which I had never heard of then, nor since that time. Anyway I like my car but now I'm having trouble with it and I'm not finish paying for it. And if I under right it is a manufacturers defect and I would like some compensation for this problem. Every time I come to a stop my transmission jerks. I keep up with my oil changes and maintenance as needed. I need my car, and am not able to afford another one and without it I would be literally stranded. this is not fair, especially to a person like me who cannot afford anything else not to mention I would still owe for the car even if I don't have it any more.This problem is not do to my neglect or abuse of the vehicle it is a defect in the manufacturing.
my car showed the transmission slip problem over 14 months ago(10/2/009), the Honda dealer talked me into spending $500 on maintenance(without mentioning about the common transmission defect). now 14 months later, the transmission problem came back. It will cost over $2k to rebuild/replace the transmission. Called Honda service and asked for "goodwill repair", no luck and offered no help at all. don't see how Honda values me as a customer. That's a known defect, they should replace all the trans instead of simply extending warranty. The dealer didn't help either after charging me $100+ for reading the code of the check engine light. Will never be a Honda customer again!
I bought my honda because I thought it would be a car that I can keep for a long time that would be reliable. Well I was wrong. Since I've had this car, I have had to replace the timing belt, wheel bearings, fuel pump, and now the transmission is slipping. I have taken good care of this car, recently had new tires put on it, had a tune up done, and had new brakes put on. I was driving to my sisters house yesterday, when the transmission started to slip all of a sudden and the d4 light started flashing. I had it diagnosed and got a code p0780 and p0700, both transmission related. After doing hours of research, I found out that this is a common problem with 00 and 01 accords and other honda/acura models. Honda extended the warranty to 7 years/100,000 miles. I have kept all records that honda has sent me, and found a letter about a class action law suit in california, and that if I noticed a similar problem, to call the number that was provided. upon calling, the person I spoke with told me that my car is out of warranty and there is nothing they can do to help me. Honda wont put out recall on these transmissions because they don't think that it's a safety issue. Well needless to say, I will never buy another Honda ever again, I am highly dissatisfied with this car. I don't know how I am going to fix this, I am a college student and work part-time. HONDA, YOU SUCK!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
The automatic transmission slips terribly between 1st and 2nd gear. I really have to baby it or I feel like the next slip might be the last. Even when not hardly accelerating, the transmission will really clunk into gear.
- Michael S., Oshkosh, WI, US