CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2003 Honda Accord suffers from widespread transmission failure & problems with the stereo backlight failing. 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.
The stereo backlight problem has been an issue since these Accords were only a few years old. Honda eventually issued a recall which covered the repair for 7 years/100k miles, which was nice while it lasted but now that period is over. Honda initially was replacing the entire radio ($800) but eventually began replacing just the PCB which at ~$300 is much cheaper. That sounds like a deal, but keep in mind we're talking about a backlight bulb that costs $2 to fix in most other cars.
8.2
pretty bad
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
4,383 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
On June 23, 2003, I took this vehicle to the Honda dealership in clovis, California. It had a problem with the vehicle shaking when I applied the brakes and a constant slight vibration in the steering wheel. This was done with the vehicle having 5,150 miles on it. The dealership resurfaced the front rotors. On July 17, 2003, I took this vehicle back to the Honda dealership in clovis, California, for the same problem as before. This time I was charged for a balance and rotation which I agreed to. I left the dealership with a slight vibration in the steering wheel and was still experiencing a slight vibration while applying the brakes. This was done with the vehicle having 6, 784 miles on it. On October 17, 2003, I took this vehicle back to the Honda dealership in clovis, California, for the same problem as before. This was done with the vehicle having 11,692 miles on it. The dealership resurfaced both the front and rear rotors. The vehicle now has 16,000 miles on it and it needs to go back into the repair shop once again for rotor warping. I feel there is a defect in the braking system with this new 2003 Honda Accord.
My vehicle has been in the Honda dealer with problems with the front brakes(warped rotors), after having the front rotors resurfaced and pads replaced twice it was found that the front calipers were hanging up.my car just turned 17K miles and it has had problems with the front brakes since in had 8K miles, at that time I was told by the dealer that I was "riding" my brakes and they would only take care of this problem for me at no cost just this "one time". I feel Honda is knows that 03 Accord have brake probles and Honda puts the blame on everone else except themselves. My vehicle has now been in the Honda dealer for two weeks because they are unable to locate new calipers. From talking with other 03 Accord owners and reading information on other websites, I'm not alone with this problem.
There is a popping noise that occurs once upon acceleration from a dead stop and while braking to come to a dead stop. I have taken the car in twice to correct this problem without any luck. First time Honda replaced the master cylinder and the second time they replaced the calipers.
- Vienna, VA, USA
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- Sanger, CA, USA