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.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
5 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
7 / 0
Average Mileage:
108,851 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.
Was driving on the highway at approximately 60 mph when the car violently downshifted into 1st gear and slowed to 20 mph. Was able to pull off of the highway onto a city street. After this, the car would not accelerate, although the rpms would increase when the gas pedal was pressed. Shifted through several different gears and no change. Had to have the car towed to a shop where it was diagnosed with transmission failure. The repairs and labor cost $1975. There were absolutely no warning signs that there was a problem with the transmission until it failed on the highway. The car had been to the dealership a month prior and no problems were detected. While under my ownership, the car has been up to date on all regular maintenance and all previous recalls had been addressed. This was a very dangerous situation for me and I believe that Honda needs to address this known issue with this model to prevent injuries or fatalities.
While driving on the freeway at average speed; (65mph), suddenly the car jerked and seemed like it shifted from high gear to way lower gear, I almost got rear ended... very scary situation... pulled over and drove on the street instead. I had this happened a few other times after within the following month... I've had the car checked at the Honda dealer and aamco but they can't replicate the issue, Honda said I need a new transmission because my car has too many miles!!!! 128,000"?" I've checked the service history and the car has been service periodically at Honda dealer with at least 4 times transmission oil flush services... I've read way too many complaints about this issue and I can't believe NHTSA is looking the other way when is very possible one of this days someone will get badly hurt or killed, then you will want to act.... I hope this really gets a real good look before a big law suit is imminent...
On 4/28/13 I was driving on the highway when my vehicle began to violently jerk and almost caused me to crash into a car in front of me. This has happened to me a few months back and Honda checked and replaced the auto trans recall. Now today Honda tells me the transmission is gone and I will need to replace it at $4,000. I just got this car only 11 months ago and not even put 40,000 miles on it now I need a new transmission" this is outrageous and unacceptable to me. I purchased the car with 115,000 miles on it, now its at 150,000 and I need a new trans"
I had just backed out of my driveway and onto the street, put the car in drive (automatic), drove 10 mph down the street. Approximately 4 houses away from mine, the car made a horrible noise. I immediately pulled over, put it in park, and shut it off. I had it towed back to my driveway. A mechanic looked at it, listened to it, and turned the front driver's side wheel. The cv shaft was snapped in two. Not the joint, the forged steel shaft. I have 57,000 original miles on this car. If this happened on the highway, I would have been in an accident. Honda said it is my responsibility to get it fixed. Updated 05/15/13 updated 05/28/2013
Brought 2003 Accord in Oct 2010 with approximately 66K miles on it. In December 2010, I had to return it to the dealer because it was shifting very rough, and I would hear a grinding sound while driving to work(approx. 16 miles, round trip). There was a recall on the issue, however, the dealership manager tried to have me pay $285 for shipping costs of the parts. After some haggling for 2 days, he called me back & said they'd pay for it since it was around the holidays (lucky me!). today, the transmission felt as if it literally fell out the car! while pulling out of my parking spot, it felt as if I ran over something huge! I put the car in reverse & it wouldn't move. I put in gear(automatic) and it made a loud whirring sound, then a grinding sound. I immediately put in park & the noise got louder. I turned the car off & it stopped, looked under the car, nothing. I started car again, put in gear, no movement & loud noise started again. I turned car off & had to get family members to assist in pushing it to a parking spot. Searched for & found dealer invoice from 2010 repair, and it states "warr. Exp. 11sept2013"......halleluah! I'm calling the dealer 7am on Monday, letting them know I'm bringing it in, and I'm not paying a dime!
- Perth Amboy, NJ, USA
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The car suddenly would not accelerate and change into the 3rd gear while driving on a busy road. Had the car towed to an authorized mechanic who diagnosed the issue as transmission failure with the 3rd gear. This is the same issue that caused Honda to issue a recall for their 2003 V6 Accord in 2004. A month prior, on two separate occasions, I was driving between 40mph-45mph when all of a sudden the car would not accelerate and slowed down, while I simultaneously engaged the accelerator. During both incidences the tcs and check engine lights immediately came on. After pulling over and turning the car off and on, the lights did not remain on. This is a very dangerous car with thousands of complaints already noted for the same issue. Honda needs to recall this dangerous car.
While traveling on a 4 lane highway, car was acting like a bucking Bronco. My wife pulled into the right lane and slowed down the car to baout 35 miles per hour. When she got home, I test drove the car around the block and flet the same problem. I contacted holler Honda in winter park, fl to schedule an appointmnet for Saturday. I insisted about the service call and asked if I should drive the car or have it towed. They indicated that it should be safe to drive to their shop. I had the same issues on Saturday driving the car to holler Honda. I received a call about two hours later, informing me that the transmission needed to be replaced. I purchased the Honda Accord in November 2003 and received a recall for fixing the transmission in 2004. Honda was aware of the problem with a faulty transmission but only made a temporary fix. By only performing a temporary fix, this car was a safety hazzard. The transmiision for the Honda Accord 2003 would go before any transmission should have gone. I am fortunate that mw wife was not on a major highway traveling at 65-70 miles per hour and have the transmission fail causing a major crash.
Operating the vehicle on a local roadway, the transmission failed causing the vehicle to slow down from 40 to 10 mph immediately - could not engage third gear or higher and reverse.
The transmission pressure switch sensor failed and the drive indicator started flashing.this caused unexpected acceleration/deceleration to my vehicle while driving.apparently there are so many complaints on the internet about regular failures of the transmission pressure switch for the 2003 Honda Accord.this should have been a recall by Honda.
Honda recalled transmission's on 2004, I took my Accord 2003 and they just make up my transmission with oil, but knowingly that this transmission will fail, so I really think that in reality there was not fix.... now I have to pay for something that was already set to failure....
The contact owns a 2003 Honda Accord. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 to 70 mph, the vehicle violently down shifted. The contact was able to coast to the side of the road. After restarting, the vehicle was unable to go over 25 mph. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. After diagnosis, they advised him that the transmission failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and they offered no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000. The current mileage was approximately 154,000. Updaated 6/4/13 the consumer stated the vehicle violently downshifted the high gear to lowest. This caused the vehicle to decelerate from 65-70 mph to 20-25mph, making the vehicle to buck and swerve from left and right. Updated 06/14/2013
NHTSA needs to have Honda issue a recall on all 2003 Honda Accord transmissions based on the number of complaints about the transmission in gears 1-4. when driving my Accord you can feel it at 35mph where the gears 1-4 slips or races. My car has 133K miles and is in mint condition and now I have to put in a new transmission at the cost of $3,700 for a rebuilt? NHTSA, all reports has shown that when this problem exist its can freeze the transmission and cause severe harm to the driver, passengers and innocent people around. My car frozen on taking off from a light and there was almost a car pileup and additional insures. Before this happens to other out there please issue Honda a recall of these 2003 Honda Accord.
While driving on the freeway between 60-70 mph the car began to violently jerk while slowing down and speeding up on its on. I had no control of the vehicle and this was very scary because there were cars all around me and I just knew I was about the cause a bad accident. I got off the freeway and attempted to park my car. I pulled into a driveway put the car in reverse, but the car was stuck and would not move for a few minutes. I took my car to Firestone where I usually have my vehicle serviced and they told me it was the transmission and I was sent to a transmission repair shop. They checked the transmission and found that it needed to be rebuilt which would cost B/T $3200-$$3800 depending on what type of warranty I wanted. They also thought it was very odd that the check engine light did not come on considering the severity of the problem. They recommended that I not drive this car because its a huge safety risk.
Transmission slipped when shifting from third to fourth when accelerating to get on the freeway. Luckily no one was injured but the car behind me almost rear ended me when I lost all power.
When driving the car will not shift from second to third gears. While driving, the car while suddenly downshift to a lower gear with no warning. No check engine light is on. Honda states this is not covered under warranty but this should be since it is a major component of the car and this is something that Honda was aware of when the car was released.
The contact owns a 2003 Honda Accord. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60 mph, the vehicle suddenly down shifted and vehicle speed decreased. The vehicle was later towed to an independent mechanic. After diagnosis, the contact was informed that the transmission failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but offered no assistance. The failure and current mileages were approximately 120,000. The VIN was unavailable.
Car frequently slipped out of 2nd gear when accelerating on the highway. Honda said a new transmission was needed. This is a known defect that Honda tried to band-aid in 2004. They should be forced to issue a complete transmission recall on 2003 Accord V6 vehicles. There are 810 complaints on carcomplaints.com specifically for the transmission. Hundreds of others have no doubt gone unreported. Honda knew there was a problem as early as 2004 and hasn't done the right thing. Please help us.
When leaving a parking lot, the car wouldn't shift into drive. It felt like the brake was on, but it wasn't. after driving in a stop and go situation, I discovered it would shift reluctantly if I took my foot off the accelerator. By doing that and avoiding the freeway, I was able to get the car home. I haven't driven it since. The car is a V6 and I had recently had the power steering hose replaced at a dealership because of leaking and smoke along with the ignition recall repair. Neither the car nor the dealership had given any indication of a problem with the transmission. No warning lights. Are on. I called Honda customer service but the only information I was able to get was that a 2004 transmission recall had expired.
I am the first owner of 2003 Accord, ex. My car has 113,000 miles on it. Its a well maintained car I kept for years. I must say that this car is excellent, however, there are signs that some parts are not functioning really well lately. For the past few months, I noticed my tcs sign on the dashboard comes on and off together with the triangle sign in orange. It started coming on after I turned off the ignition to my first destination and after just like 10-15 minutes and start my engine again, it will come on after driving for next 5-10 minutes. Also, just two weeks ago I noticed that the gear gets stuck on "park" mode and I have to press the handle before it gets released. I am not sure if the gear has something to do with the tcs and triangle showing on the dashboard. Also, I noticed my car has an issue with brakes when driving while raining. I have to step on the brakes a few times when its slippery to be able to come to a full stop. It's so scary that I almost hit the car in front of me a few times. I am lodging my complain so the manufacturer would take a look on this issue as I found all the complaints on tcs issue on 2003 Honda Accord ex online when I was trying to look for a solution on the same issue for my car.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Carrollton, TX, USA