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:
$2,500
Average Mileage:
94,950 miles
Total Complaints:
354 complaints
Most Common Solutions:
recall should be issued, replaced @ Honda's expense (188 reports)
replace transmission (53 reports)
not sure (45 reports)
replaced transmission (32 reports)
replaced transmission, split cost with Honda (14 reports)
Honda refused to repair under warranty, had to pay (9 reports)
just was really surprised to feel the transmission giving out at such a low mileage>>>didn't think I was covered, also, thought I was a anomoly>>.that the car was jus a fluke til another Honda Acccord owner on my route had complained about the same thing on his Accord(2001) then he said there were thousands upon thousands of Honda Accord owners of these yrs with the same exact problem>>>then I thought Honda has a problem and they should fix it>>>a Honda Accord transmission should last well over 150,000>>>and not fail at less than a hundred thousand>>>It's funny I kept telling myself this isn't right>>the transmission shouldn't be failing this early>>Honda has a moral right to fix this problem>>>>110 percent Honda's problem>>>Honda needs 2 do the right thing>>>
Dear Honda, or should I say Dear Mr. Takanobu Ito (Honda CEO)
I'm sure Mr. Ito will not read this but what the hell, I am a 24 year old college grad I have been extremely loyal to Honda. I have had 3 Honda's since I turned 16 i am not one to race cars or treat them poorly. I prefer to take great care of my car as I look at a vehicle as an investment. With that being said, I have a few things I would like to get off my chest. We Americans opened our country to you in 1956 to allow you to sell motor vehicles in our country. US Americans are the biggest consumers of HONDA made vehicles. Last year Honda's total revenue was $82,902,262 dollars (source; forbes fin.apps) now honda why cant you recall our transmission? Okay lets look at the numbers, there are only 500 or so complaints on this site. Say honda recalls the transmission on this year an say 5000 people go forward with the recall, how much would that cost you a near fraction of what you guys make. I am on a fixed budget and I just graduated from college. I now have a $35,000 debt due to school and I can barely survive. I now find out that my transmission is going out and I have to spend $3000 dollars to fix this. How am I suppose to afford this Mr. Ito? With your country in a state of despair, us as American's have come together as a country to send money, relief, and everything else we can to help you. DO YOUR JOB AND PAY IT FORWARD BECAUSE THIS IS BULLSHIT. THE BIGGEST KICKER OF ALL HONDA, IF YOU DO NOT RECALL THESE TRANSMISSIONS I WILL MAKE IT A MISSION OF MINE TO PROMOTE WORD OF MOUTH ADVERTISING AGAINST YOUR COMPANY. EVERYONE HERE KNOWS YOU MAKE CARS TO GO OUT AT A CERTAIN MILEAGE SO YOU CAN MAKE MONEY OFF THE REPAIRS. I HOPE TO SEE IMPROVEMENTS IN YOUR COMPANY.
If you would like to reach me personally, you can contact me at: thebaykid@yahoo.com
I think it's really sad that Honda will not just recall the 2002 transmission and fix the problem. There has been multiple people with the same problems. I did call the company and they are researching the problem to see if they will help with the cost of the repair. I'm not sure when I will hear from them. I have had multiple Hondas in the past, as does my family, and they have never not backed their car. What does it take for Honda to recall it? Someone's life?
Wooooooowhoooooooo where do I start?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the worst car I've had, I bought it after my previous car was demolished in a car accident, and I expected the best from Honda since my father owned a Honda and lasted for a long time and no trouble with the transmission. The car itself is a really nice looking car but when it comes to the transmission its the total opposite. It started skipping and jerking at an early time in miles, and it just got worst, to the point where it won't even pass emissions testing and I can't afford to be paying for freaking transmissions after paying thousands for the freaking car itself. Worst of all, when I called the Honda department the freaking people would just make up excuses and supposed reasons for them not to take the claim. I was dumb enough to stop there and not take it to the management.
I will never buy another Honda after this experience the customer service was bad enough to kill it for me. There are a lot more companies out there that want our business. A company like this that don't take customers in consideration or are careless and won't take ownership of their faults don't deserve our business.
I found my Honda’s the acceleration from low speed to high speed had some kind of un-smooth transition. After the speed is up, everything will be ok. I had been driving manual shift car and military vehicle before I drove auto transmission car. I thought all the auto transmission will act like that, so I have never thought anything wrong with my Honda.Until recently, when My wife drove the car on a local street, suddenly the engine check light was popped up (maybe need oil change) and the D4 is flashing. She thought something wrong with the D4 transmission, so she shifted it down to D3 at the stop sign. My Honda was shaken, my wife was shocked. After the shake, the car was still drivable. She went to local Jiffy Lube to change oil on next day. The mechanic told my wife that my Honda had a code PO780 for transmission problem, which need to bring to a dealer to fix it. She let me know the following day when I called her from Iraq. Since time zone difference, I had one of my friends to help her find out what was wrong with the car. Later, my friend told my wife that for some Honda vehicles were produced during that time period had transmission problems. Honda Company gave a time frame to fix all Honda Accord’s transmission. Right now, the time window was closed, if I want to fix my Honda. I have to pay from my pocket which may cost me about $3000 (my car’s market value is less than $7000) or go to some other auto shop to get some second hand transmission which can’t grantee to fix my Honda. I like my Honda very much. Because of its low mileage, I thought I could drive this car at least for another 10 years. But now this thing happend to me. I felt very disappointed.
- Forest L.,
Glendora, CA, US
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I woke up this morning to take my kids to school and I noticed that my car was making a weird noise after being started up. Once I warmed the car up as I put it into reverse the car was jerking and would not go forward without a jerk. As I proceeded to drive the car kept pulling and jerking. This is a pain in the ass because I get everything done and fixed on my car this is the second time for this.
I purchased a used 2002 Honda Accord EX ecstatic. Previous car was an 01 Honda Civic (manual). Mother has owned various Hondas and Toyotas as well. However, after noticing slipping and jerking while in motion and taking off from a stop I took it in for diagnostic. Two mechanics said that the transmission was failing and referred to either rebuild or replace. However, Honda said that merely the transmission fluid needed to be flushed. Meanwhile, Google lead me here where I've found multiple Hondas within the 2000 and up to be problematic with TRANSMISSIONS. Sorry I have been told basically all my life and it makes perfect sense to me that if I have to replace the motor and/or transmission then it is time for another car and it does typically lead to more replacements and issues and repairs far out weigh the down payment for another car. But the financial burden of a car note it balanced with dependability in some cases. I continued to drive the car and it got increasingly worse. Initially when I found this website this car was around #13 for the worst car to ever own. I have seen it climb to #9 and here is my AUTOBEEF.
I have been told that Honda Accord vehicles were the best operating vehicles on the market. I went with the advice and brought one. After 95,000 miles later, the transmission is slipping out of first going into second. The problem is getting so bad that I told my wife not to drive it any more until it it fixed. I believe that Honda should RECALL the 2001 - 2004 models for transmission failure and replace the transmission by paying at least 75% of the cost.
The transmission broke at an unbelievably low amount of miles. When talking with transmission dealers and they asked for the mileage they said it was unheard of. This problem randomly started in the middle of the highway and I seriously thought I was going to get in an accident.
Really devastated and disappointed with Honda Accord. I bought Honda Accord EX 4 cylinder in 2002 and one owner and well maintained car, no accidents at all. First, I noticed the gear slipping problem in less than 100K miles, when I speak with my friends circle (Honda Accord owners) and all of them had same transmission problems. When it start jerking in 125 K, I took the car to the mechanic and he told me a mjor problem in transmission. Transmission repair guys has charged close to $4K for rebuilting the transmission and for changing timing belt. I am very skeptical how long this car will run with rebuilt transmission. I believe Honda cheated the consumers and I lost confidence in Honda. I never buy Honda anymore.
Same problems as other slip and jerk between 1st and 2nd. Hope car last till Thursday when new Toyota comes in. Also air bag light is on, may be computer or right side sensor, Honda's response to bad. I have no idea if air bags will deploy if I am in an accident. Also for the plastic junk they use around leather seats is cracking ready for duck tape. Have driven Honda's sine 1995 never again.
Having the same issues as a lot of people on here. The check engine & TCS lights came on and the D4 light was blinking. Even with the trouble codes the car was running fine, so I took it to the dealer who ran the code which came up P0780 which the dealer called the transmission death code. They quoted me $2800.00 to replace the transmission.
I decided to drive it to another shop and have them look at it. I was told the code is a solenoid failure problem in most cases so they cleaned the solenoid screens for $150.00 and now the car runs better than it has in a few years. No more revs between 1st and 2nd gear and the mileage has increased as well.
The cost for a replacement solenoids runs about $200.00 and most dealers won't replace it unless you ask. I was told most of the Hondas transmission problems were clogged solenoids screens since they do not have a transmission filter
Through the research I have done, several Honda Accord customers complained of the same issue with the transmission. I would like Honda Corp. to take responsibility and pay for the cost of a new transmission.
I called Hersons Honda in rockville and was told that the repair would cost about 5,000 dollars and that it wasn't covered under the extended warranty because it was more than 7 years past. This is a rediculous amount to charge for a single repair I could buy an entire honda accord for that much money. I have bought my last honda.
YES! ANOTHER TRANSMISSION SLIPPING PROBLEM. SAME SYMPTOMS AS EVERYONE ELSE. PRIOR TO TRANSMISSION FAILURE I WAS GETTING 27 MPG MIXED. AFTER TRANSMISSION FAILURE 22MPG. TRANSMISSION STARTED FAILING LAST YEAR AROUND MAY TO JUNE OF 2010. IT WAS STILL DRIVABLE BUT WOULD SLIP AND JERK MANY TIMES. I ACTUALLY GOT USED TO IT, THOUGH UNSAFE, AND STILL DROVE IT FOR ABOUT A YEAR. PROBLEM GOT WORSE AS TIME WENT BY. I TRIED TO DRIVE A STEEP HILL TO GO HOME AND WOULD ONLY STAY IN 1ST GEAR. THERE WERE STOP LIGHTS GOING UP THE HILL AND WHEN I STOPPED AND HAD TO GAS UP HILL, THE CAR WOULD NOT GO IN GEAR. I WAS PRAYING THAT I WOULD MAKE IT UP THE HILL. I HAD TO GO UP HILL ON 1ST GEAR. I FINALLY GOT FED UP AND TOOK IT TO A MECHANIC TO REBUILD MY TRANSMISSION. IT COST ME $1600 WHICH IS A STEAL COMPARING TO HOW MUCH OTHERS PAID HERE. HONDA I HOPE YOU ARE LISTENING BECAUSE YOU JUST LOST A CUSTOMER!!! I WILL NEVER BUY HONDA AGAIN! I AM SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING BUYING TOYOTA, HYUNDAI OR EVEN FORD OR CHEVY! NO MORE HONDAS!!!
Read several editorials by Honda owners and I have the same problem as everyone else in the shifting of the car. Well, I decided to call American Honda and the customer service rep won't admit that Honda has had a problem with transmission shifting and has refused to escalate it to mgmt. I indicated that I have also a 2005 Honda Accord and I asked if this problem was fixed before 2005 vehicle year. She indicated that Honda cannot answer that question and I asked her if she could provide a number where I could ask the question. She "flatly" refused to escalate or provide any assistance. I am "really" disappointed, as with every other owner of prior year Honda, with the customer care support. All they said is that the car is out of warranty and will no longer be supported with questions or answers.
I don't know if it is a TPS or some type of other electronic problem but someone at Honda needs to step up to the table. If anyone comes up with a solution please post. If they don't, it will definitely affect future sales but maybe they just think they are too big or maybe just don't care about previous and current owners.
Replace a transmission on a Honda at 85,000 miles? I bought Honda expecting at least a couple of hundred thousand miles before any major work. $2,759.00 for a rebuilt transmission and a 12 month warranty. Ouch!!!
Bought new February 1, 2002. Transmission just went out at 146,000 miles. Been keeping a feel on this transmission for the past 4 or 5 years as consumer reports shows the 2002 accord has an above average problem on these transmissions. I was hoping I got one of the lucky good accords. Unfortunately I did not. AAMCO to rebuild transmission at a cost of $2800. Can't complain though, all cars have their problems.
Honda is very negligent in accepting any blame for this epidemic transmission problem. I am paying everything out of pocket, because the transmissions are of course, going out right after the warranty ends.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
just was really surprised to feel the transmission giving out at such a low mileage>>>didn't think I was covered, also, thought I was a anomoly>>.that the car was jus a fluke til another Honda Acccord owner on my route had complained about the same thing on his Accord(2001) then he said there were thousands upon thousands of Honda Accord owners of these yrs with the same exact problem>>>then I thought Honda has a problem and they should fix it>>>a Honda Accord transmission should last well over 150,000>>>and not fail at less than a hundred thousand>>>It's funny I kept telling myself this isn't right>>the transmission shouldn't be failing this early>>Honda has a moral right to fix this problem>>>>110 percent Honda's problem>>>Honda needs 2 do the right thing>>>
- gnu007, Palm Desert, CA, US