CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2002 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 90,000 miles & with a repair cost of over $2,000. Transmission failure has been a huge problem for the Accord & several other Honda models all through the early 2000s model years. Honda extended the transmission warranty to 93 months/109k miles for the 2000-2001 Accord as a class action lawsuit settlement, but owners of other Accord model years 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.
7.9
pretty bad
Typical Repair Cost:
$2,340
Average Mileage:
99,550 miles
Total Complaints:
190 complaints
Most Common Solutions:
honda should recall 2002 accords to replace defective tranny (79 reports)
honda should replace transmission at no charge (41 reports)
not sure (29 reports)
transmission needs to be replaced (13 reports)
Honda replaced the transmission at no cost (10 reports)
Well how many ways, how many times can you say there is a PROBLEM HERE!!!!!
Pasted from earlier post....I'M CALLING MONDAY AM
Same problem everyone else is having........ Need I say more. My car has 70,000 miles on it......... transmission gone $3000 to fix. I have a 95 Honda accord 160k miles original tranny. This is bullshyt! Three people to call Honda America 800-999-1009, NHTSA to file a safety complaint 888-327-4236, and Stamell & Schager law office for a possible class action lawsuit 212-566-4356. Hopefully if EVERYONE of us does this we will get a recall. I was told by the law office to deal with Honda ONLY, because if the lawsuit goes through like it did on the 2001's, the stipulation in the settlement said they would only repair or repay transmissions that were replaced by Honda. That's all I have to share for now.
I bought a 2002 Accord SE, automatic transmission, that was a lease car initially. I purchased this used in 2005 with appx. 36,000 miles on it. Currently it has about 67,000 miles on it. I was told last year (2008) in August that my transmission was failing. I talked with a reputable repair shop in my area and he confirmed it and told me it would cost the same if I had it rebuilt then or waited for it to drop dead. I have milked it for a year so far. I don't have $2000+ handy. It seems to me that a car with that lower mileage should not have the transmission fail. I bought the Honda because of it's reliability and my previous experience with a Honda Civic.
My 2002 Accord has had the same issues as many respondents. When placed into drive the hesitates and then jerks forward spinning the front tires if you are unaware what is happening. When I shift it into drive now I wait till I feel the jerk then give it gas as it takes off better. My mechanic defiantly says the transmission is going out. When I contacted Honda I asked how is it they have a recall for 2001, 2003 and 2004, but not 2002!!
I have a 2002 Honda Accord LX, 4 cyl automatic trans. When I put the car into drive, reverse from park (or the other way around) it jerks and jumps. Shifting gears while driving is a joke. I have had my car completely looked over and serviced, just short of replacing the transmission. I am extremely angry after reading all of the other complaints. Honda needs to do something about this or risk losing their good name.
I too have taken very good care of my Honda since I bought it new in 2002. Keeping up with the service and taking care of things as necessary. I was a HUGE fan of Honda, loving my car. I have been one of Honda's biggest cheerleaders. I replaced the timing belt at 100,000, and then a couple weeks ago had to replace the catalatic converter at $1300. Now today as I was making a turn in the middle of the street my car hesitated and wouldn't move upon acceleration, it finally started to crawl. Luckily I was close to home, as I tried to put into reverse and drive it clunked into it very hard. It's obvious the transmission is going or gone. What is sad is this car was just recently paid off, and we were going to give it to our daughter next year for graduation and buy a new Honda for me. NOT NOW ! ! ! ! ! In some ways I am sad to have found this site and this news, I couldn't believe that I just happened to buy a car that would be the one that would have this terminal problem. There is no extended future for this car. I am also glad that I ran into this site as I will be informed prior to my visit to Honda Service department tomorrow morning. This has been a very big dissapointment to me, I hope that Honda will be supportive to me tomorrow when I ask them to cover the entire cost of the replacement. If you need people for a class action suit contact me at www.riversmith57@yahoo.com
- riversmith,
Henderson, NV, US
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After reading so many of the other complaints with the same issue as mine, I am even more pissed. My car is very well taken care of, routine oil changes and all. I should not have to pay $3,000 to $4,000 to repair something that was faulty to begin with. It cant be that there this many complaints about the same thing yet, it is our fault? CRAP!!
Same problem everyone else is having........ Need I say more. My car has 70,000 miles on it......... transmission gone $3000 to fix. I have a 95 honda accord 160k miles original tranny. This is bullshyt! Three people to call Honda America 800-999-1009, NHTSA to file a safety complaint 888-327-4236, and Stamell & Schager law office for a possible class action lawsuit 212-566-4356. Hopefully if EVERYONE of us does this we will get a recall. I was told by the law office to deal with Honda ONLY, because if the lawsuit goes through like it did on the 2001's, the stipulation in the settlement said they would only repair or repay transmissions that were replaced by Honda. Thats all I have to share for now.
Hope everyone has a better day than me going round and round with Honda. Like I told the lady on the phone, if I wanted a peice of shyt I would've bought a Hyundai which has 100k warranty so if I was dealing with this like now at 70k it would have been replaced no charge. STAND BEHIND YOUR PRODUCT HONDA. You are definately gaining a very bad reputation. I am looking to by a new car in the next 6 months, and no question it would've been a Honda UNTIL NOW. Pretty soon they won't have any product to stand behind!!!
My father purchased the car for me in 2006 for my 16th birthday. I was so excited! My uncle drives a honda prelude and he was telling me how awesome that it was that I was "rollin" a honda like him. About a month or so ago I noticed that it was not shifting as well as it should from first to second. then about a week ago it got really bad. On my way to work this past Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 it would not shift at all!! my D4 light was blinking, my maintenance light came on, and the check engine light came on. I had my buddy that went to school do a test and they found that there were two cracks in the seals of the transmission fluid cable. the output shaft seal and the axle seal. I took it to BP to get it fixed and that cost $360. They told me it was in perfect condition! I got in my car this morning happy as hell because I thought this was behind me, nope ... still jerking like crazy trying to shift from 1st to 2nd. after I'm in 3rd n' 4th the car is fine. Even when I'm at a stoplight sometimes the car just JUMPS forward! literally just jolts forward!!!! I am 18 years old and I can not afford to pay for a new transmission!!!! nor can my father, he's broker than I am!!! I think I'm just going to say F you HONDA n' go buy an Altima like I have been thinking about unless I can get Honda to fix the transmission or I'm done. that's all I have to say. oh yeah, and F U HONDA!!!!
I started noticing that my car would shift kind of hard in December. I took it in and had the transmission flushed and replaced. Since then, the problem is worse and slipping.
Bought a brand new 2002 Honda Accord EX Coupe V6 @ the end of 2002. At 16,000 miles the transmission completely went out. Honda replaced the transmission with a re-built at the time. This was covered under my warranty, but a big pain in the ass for a new car. Now with 123,000 the transmission is starting to hesitate and shift hard into 1 and 2. Not completely sure what to do about it, but it was admitted to me by Honda at the time that the 2002 Accords had severe transmission issues. No extended warranty was available.
came later with more infos but Honda mist be sued and pushed nd recol all this cars with prob and fix them I am veryvery very disappointed on Honda .The
I have been a Honda owner since 1971, several motorcycles, 3 Accords...I had close to 300k miles on a 88 accord that I would still be driving if it didn't get rearended!!
I never even considered researching HOnda because of the years of reliability I experienced, now this 2002 Accord has major transmission slippage. I worked for Aamco Transmissions for 10 years (1976-86) so when the HOnda dealer tells me there is no problem and they won't fix it----they are full of sh.........
OK, so this is definitely ridiculous, so there is about 194 people so far on this website complaining about this specific make and mode and year and HONDA won't do anything to fix it??? Kind of sad with the reputation they have, they have made me a true none believer of them. I bought my car less then a year ago, always had wanted a Honda since I have had very bad luck with cars and Hondas are supposed to be very reliable cars. Well anyway yesterday my husband calls me at work and tells me that the engine light is on and the TCS light is on. He said he backed up and when he went to switch to D4 the car wouldn't go. Transmission problems????? Are you kidding me????? I bought a freaking Honda because they run to 300K with no problems and the one I buy is Crap. I am so absolutely outraged at this.
I purchased my car in Feb 2007. I ran a Carfax and found that the car had only had one owner. I did not purchase an extended warranty because I figured "hey! it's a Honda". The car had 54K miles on it. I have always noticed the the car shifted a little bit heavier than my cars in the past, but I never thought much of it. All of sudden my check engine and TCS lights came on, and my D4 light was flashing. I took it to the dealership, and of course they told me "you need a new transmission and the price is $3400". I told them no way and I was coming to get the car. Upon hearing this news, I was extremely shocked thinking there was no way a HONDA had transmission problems at 69K miles. That is when I started searching the web and found this website. I am curious as to whether or not any lawsuit or action was ever started to force Honda into recalling these cars. I have not decided what I am going to do yet, but if anyone has had success getting Honda to fix the car, I would love to hear how.
I own the 2002 Honda accord and have had problems with the transmission for the last year. It first started with a blinking D4 light and the car would not shift into overdrive. The next problem came when the engine started revving up as I was siting at a light. The transmission is also starting to slip and when the weather is cold it gets even worse. The odd thing is that if I stop and turn the car off and back on it seems to correct the problem for a few days. I've noticed that a number of people have had almost the same serious of problems occur. I was told by Honda that I needed to replace the transmission at a cost somewhere between $3,000 and $4,000. Lets not mention the number of brakes this car has required in 5 years ( five and three sets of rotors). What a joke. I said I would never buy a ford after all the problems I had with a 1998 temo gls. Well I guess I can add Honda to my list.
Please call National Highway and Safety Administration at 888-327-4236 to complain so something could be done! We all bought Honda's because of the Quality, not to pay an arm and leg to fix their mistake! Lets work together to make them recall these transmissions!
My 2002 Honda Accord was purchased brand new with 50 miles on it in
November 2001. I am currently at 150,000 miles. Scheduled routine
maintenance have always been completed, and I have had no problems with
the car until recently. I started noticing a slight hesitation upon starting off
several months ago. The check engine light came on. I thought I might have
gotten bad gas and put in gas treatments for several trips. The check engine
light would not turn off and the hesitation continued. I had a diagnostic done
and it reported that the EGR valve needed to be checked or replaced. I had
the valve replaced. The car appeared to work fine for the next several
months. Earlier last week as I started off to work, the car would not shift into
the next gear. The check engine light came on and the drive gear on the
dashboard started blinking. I immediately stopped, put the car in gear and
shut the engine off. I turned it back on and the car hesitated for a few
seconds before going into the correct gears. The check engine light remained
on. I went to have a diagnostic done and 2 reports ran -- one for an EGR
valve and one about possible transmission failure. The EGR valve had
already been replaced so I took it back to see what the problem was this past
Saturday. The valve was flushed/cleaned and the light went off. I also had my
battery replaced. There was no leak in my transmission and the fluid
level/color was ok. Everything went fine. This morning, the car hesitated
again and would not shift into the next gear. The check engine light came on and the drive gear on the dashboard was blinking. Several cars were behind
me. I tried to accelerate to keep from getting hit, but the car went slower and
slower. I had another diagnostic run this morning -- possible transmission
failure or low transmission fluid. The attendant checked my levels. Everything
was OK. It's the transmission. A recall needs to be done.
Ok, for starters, I have to agree with most on this site that Honda Customer Service toll free line isn't really customer service at all. The Honda dealerships already know the issue by describing the problems over the phone, but balls haven't dropped yet to give you the basics and choose to charge you a Bill just to tell you the obvious... At my job when a customer has an issue, we may find it small or large by scale, but we ALWAYS TAKE CARE OF THE ISSUE. My gripe is that I purchased this 2002 Honda Accord SE, already had shifting issues from the get, they always shot me down saying it just needed an oil change, the indicated maintenance referred by parts manual, or implying that I'm lead footing it. I'll leave it at this. My 1994 Olds Cutlass is still running strong, nearing the 300,000 mi. mark with standard battery replacement and plugs repair, NO TRANNY ISSUES. My 1989 FORD BRONCO, yes, I own a FORD, one of the most NOTORIOUSLY Tran. Fail machines on the road today, is still Worry Free at @ 200,000 miles!!! Basically, I now need a NEW Transmission in the first car I've financed in years, and will definitely be my last Honda (goes for the Honda powered lawn mowers as well folks!) . I'm going to fork out the 4,000.00 to have it taken care of and am letting every living creature I come across know about it. Thanks Honda, Oh, btw- I talked 3 co-workers out of purchasing one of your crappy cars this year alone/they all bought Nissan's, and definitely not stopping there. Class action lawsuit would be nice but reality check, you need 2 down payments handy when purchasing a Honda, one to drive the auto off of the lot, and the other for your immediate repairs. Ciao~
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Well how many ways, how many times can you say there is a PROBLEM HERE!!!!!
Pasted from earlier post....I'M CALLING MONDAY AM
Same problem everyone else is having........ Need I say more. My car has 70,000 miles on it......... transmission gone $3000 to fix. I have a 95 Honda accord 160k miles original tranny. This is bullshyt! Three people to call Honda America 800-999-1009, NHTSA to file a safety complaint 888-327-4236, and Stamell & Schager law office for a possible class action lawsuit 212-566-4356. Hopefully if EVERYONE of us does this we will get a recall. I was told by the law office to deal with Honda ONLY, because if the lawsuit goes through like it did on the 2001's, the stipulation in the settlement said they would only repair or repay transmissions that were replaced by Honda. That's all I have to share for now.
- Bruce B., Hoover, AL, US