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:
16 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
10 / 0
Average Mileage:
78,762 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.
Transmission stopped working will entering on-ramp onto a major freeway (I-45 N) and I had to push the car off on to the median during rush hour traffic. Horrible incident and could have been ugly if it happened on the freeway!
The contact owns a 2003 Honda Accord. The contact started the ignition and as the accelerator pedal was depressed, the vehicle unexpectedly increased acceleration to 70 mph. The brake was engaged repeatedly and the gear was shifted into neutral however, the vehicle continued to accelerate. The speed was reduced as the vehicle accelerated up an incline then the contact shifted into park. The engine began to roar loudly with a rapid increase in engine rpms. The engine was turned off and the vehicle came to a complete stop. A certified mechanic arrived on the scene to inspect the vehicle. The mechanic found that the accelerator pedal had become stop in open throttle position. The vehicle was able to resume as normal. The manufacturer was notified of the acceleration failure and the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for diagnosis. The dealer however was unable to duplicate the problem. In addition, an investigator inspected the vehicle and detected that the air filter plastic box was fractured, which caused fragments to remain stuck in the throttle. They also informed the contact that the air filter was improperly installed by a mechanic when performing a previous oil change. The approximate failure mileage was unavailable.
While pulling out of parking space with vehicle in reverse the vehicle suddenly accelerated causing me to crash into another vehicle parked in the same lot.I am an assistant service manager for a Toyota dealership and I am totally aware of sudden acceleration problems re recent Toyota problems, my mats were not involved [as were some found with the Toyota problems] and I am 100% sure that my, foot was on the brake and not the gas pedal. There were no injuries, however the rear of my car has quite a, bit of damage.. I noticed a slight similar problem the week before but that did not continue so I discounted it. When the vehicle leaves the collision shop, I will have my technician fully check this problem out, as he is very familiar with this condition re: Previously mentioned Toyota problems of the same nature.
I was traveling at 60 mph on us 30 when my Honda Accord suddenly jerked and slipped into low gear. I was nearly rearended and was definitely in shock. I continued homeward and it did the same thing 3 more times. I had slowed my speed to 40 mph but the engine sounded like I was going too fast for the gear I was in so slowed down even more....put my flashers on and crept home. Since it is after hours I must wait until tomorrow to contact the dealership. However I have found that many people have had the same problem with Honda Accord.
Noticed when accelerating gently, car more quickly accelerated than usual to the next gear. Then the rpms shot up very high and very slowly and dropped suddenly when car achieved 35 mph, causing car and me to lurch and sling me backward into the seat. The next day, at 117,699 miles, I drove vehicle to my dealership, economy Honda on chapman rd, in chattanooga tn. They drove it, and agreed it was the transmission. They had replaced my first transmission in September 2008 under extended warranty at 67,618 miles because it did the same thing. Later I found out the first one was recalled anyway in 2004. American Honda communicated with economy Honda for a deal: Me to pay $2650.08 instead of $3886.50 to replace this current transmission, which has not even made it to its first fluid change (not until about 17,000 more miles). This is a two-fold issue. The first being that this can quickly and unexpectedly turn into a deadly issue, and the second being that a large corporation is being abusive to its consumers. Many people do not have the option of repairing, trading in, or leasing a new vehicle. How many people are locked in with Honda, and have pushed their vehicles to the limit even though this transmission issue is going on because they can not afford to make their vehicle safe" if I drive my Honda, is someone going to rear-end me on the highway and kill me and my children because my transmission is failing and my car won't maintain proper speed because of a faulty job that Honda did on my second transmission" Honda told me it was safe enough to drive home until they figured out how much to charge me, so it will be just fine, I'm sure.
- Rossville, GA, USA
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Transmission down shifts from 4th gear to 1st gear abruptly and will not re-engage 4th gear until I turn the car off and back on. This occurred today on my way home on the highway. After turning the car off and back on, it happen 2 more times before I got off the highway and went home on 1st gear locally. I came real close to being rear ended a truck due to the sudden downshift of the transmission.
While driving on I-4 cars begun to accelerate by itself and them decelerate, keep doing this for 30 second, I stopped on the side turn of the car. Again turn on keep going and it happened again., Honda Accord 3.0 V6 2003.
The contact owns a 2003 Honda Accord. The contact stated that while reversing, the vehicle suddenly accelerated without warning. The contact shifted into park and the vehicle continued to accelerate. The vehicle came to a stop when it crashed into a bush area. The contact did not receive any injuries. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and the current mileage was 160,000. Updated 03/06/12 updated 03/13/12
Same problem as everyone else vibration at speeds above 50 miles an hour. Car roughly changes gears at weird times has almost caused a few accidents. I bought car this year from Honda dealer when we noticed it we took it back dealer couldn't feel anything. The longer I wait the worse it's getting I'm scared I'm gonna get hit.
My transmission failed while driving on my way to work the morning of Nov. 16th with no warning whatsoever. Luckily I was not in an accident due to the fact I was unable to control the car because the RPM's were all over the place and the vehicle would only rev but not go any further. Therefore I immediately had to pull over in fear of causing an accident. I have researched the past few days how many other 2003 Honda Accord owners have had the same problem with their transmissions and there should really be a recall done by Honda. The transmission should not be going out at 76,000 miles. My car is currently being repaired at an independent transmission shop with an estimated cost of around $3400. I hope to recover some of that cost from Honda but further action needs to happen to ensure more people with similar year vehicles do not have to experience this as well.
I was having problems shifting gears and it seemed my car couldn't shift into 3rd gear. It's an automatic and when it would reach 3rd gear, the engine would just rev. It would drive fine at first but as soon as the car warmed up, it progressively got worse. I had to have my battery replaced prematurely (after 3 years) last week and I mentioned the gear shifting problem to the Honda dealership. The gear shifting problem happened right around the same time my battery died so I thought it may be related. They told me the gear shifting problem would be fixed when I replaced my battery. They paid for 60% of the cost of the battery. Over the next few days it progressively got worse to where I couldn't even drive and I had to coast into a parking lot because the engine would rev and the car would jerk. It seemed to be dangerous. I then shut off the car and tried to restart it. I wasn't even able to reverse at all - like it had no reverse, just rev. I had to call a tow truck and have it towed to the dealership. I have a 2003 Honda Accord ex V6 with less than 100K miles - right around 97K - and the dealership told me I needed a new transmission and motor mount. A rebuilt transmission is $4500 and a new transmission is $6400. I bought a Honda because it was suppose to be a reliable car that would last years without expensive maintenance repairs. And now it's less than 10 years old and 100K miles on it and I have a huge repair. It seems many others have had the same problems with the 2003 Honda Accord.
While traveling on the freeway the transmission jumped down to first gear, resulting in my car suddenly decelerating to a speed of 20 mph. I was very fortunate to not be rear ended and have since had to replace the transmission. I know this is a known issue with this model and year Honda, however I did go through the original process of the manufacturer recall. I have done research on this model and it seems it is a prevalent problem. Honda will not acknowledge the issue.
Honda service manager said he was "almost killed on the highway" driving my car: First incident: 9/19/2011 (mon evening) car lurching irregularly at highway and town speeds; difficulty getting into gear and trouble reversing. Took it to dealer that night. 9/20/2011 (tues): Dealer reported not being able to detect a problem. Nothing came up on diagnostics. No service light was on. Dealer asked to keep it one more day. 9/21/2011 (wed): Dealer still unable to detect a problem, they drove it around but claimed nothing unusual. Service manager asked if he could drive it home. I ok'd. employer annoyed. Second incident: That night the service manager, drove it home, because it wasn't acting up at the garage, and diagnostics showed nothing. There were no warning lights. He, [xxx], said he "almost went through the windshield on the highway" on his way home. He said repeatedly that he was almost killed. That's right the Honda service manager said he almost was killed!!! which is what could have happened to me or any other Honda Accord owner. If this happened in inclement weather, I'd be dead in a ditch (it's new england so those days are coming). The car lurched at highway speeds and at low speeds. It lurched speeding up and slowing down. If I put the car in neutral, and just applied some gas to the pedal, the tachometer (RPM) needle jumped around all over the place. Only until the service manager got it back to the service garage (9/22) did any service lights come on. How convenient. Their proposed solution: Step one: Replace transmission fluid (material, parts, labor) = $120 step two: Replace transmission solenoid (parts labor, etc) = $500 failing that: Step three: Replace entire transmission. Est. Cost: $4300 total potential cost: Approx $50.... or my life. This is a significant safety issue and a recall is in order and asap. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Coming back from the airport, going home on belt parkway, the transmission stopped functioning properly out of a sudden, without giving any hints before, totally unexpected. It didn't go to the 2nd gear, stuck in 30mph. After anxiously drove back home trembling, found the reverse did not work either. The vehicle had to be turned off and restarted again to gain back the function of reverse. After research the on the web, and read through so many comments of Honda Accord 2003 owner, this seems very much related to the Honda Accord recall incident in 2004. It is believed Honda didn't fix the problem permanently back in 2004. It was a temporary fix trick, and right now many of the Honda Accord 2003 owners are suffering from Honda's failure to fix its defective product.
While driving my 2003 V6 Honda Accord coupe (automatic) the transmission violently jerked the entire vehicle forward and downshifted to a lower gear. This occurred during rush hour and almost caused the vehicle behind me to rear-end my vehicle. I immediately turned on my flashers and made my way to a parking lot. I left the vehicle there overnight and had it towed to a Honda dealership for inspection. They advised me that they could not identify anything wrong with my transmission and everything was working properly during their tests and could not duplicate the problem.
The transmission was slipping, and did not allow me to accelerate in an intersection. Near collision by 2 cars caused an incredibly unsafe and hazardous situation.
The contact owns a 2003 Honda Accord. The contact started the ignition and when shifting into drive, the vehicle suddenly lunged forward. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and they were unable to duplicate the problem. The technician recommended the vehicle be diagnosed by an authorized dealer. On a separate occasion, the vehicle unexpectedly accelerated and failed to slow down. The vehicle traveled onto the sidewalk and crashed into three nearby poles. There was no personal injury. A police report was not filed for the crash. The vehicle was towed to a collision center and the cause on failure had not yet been determined. The manufacturer was made aware of the defect. The failure mileage was 114,000.
The contact owns a 2003 Honda Accord. The contact stated that while driving 30 mph and applying the brakes, the vehicle suddenly accelerated. The contact engaged the emergency brake and shifted into park to stop the unintended acceleration. The vehicle was later taken to the dealer. The dealer was unable to duplicate or locate a failure within the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the failure recurred three times after being inspected by the dealer. The contact called the manufacturer and they advised that they would escalate the issue for further investigation. The contact did not feel safe driving the vehicle. The failure mileage was 102,000.
The contact owns a 2003 Honda Accord. While driving 55 mph and entering the off ramp the vehicle suddenly accelerated. After checking the floor mats and the accelerator pedal there was nothing obstructing the area; however, the vehicle continued to accelerate and the rpms continued to increase excessively. Whenever the brakes were being depressed the vehicle would not slow down until she drove into a service station. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who performed a diagnostic test and found carbon particles around the throttle. They informed him that they could not duplicate the failure or find any problems with the vehicle. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 90,000.
The contact owns a 2003 Honda Accord. The contact was driving approximately 65 mph when the vehicle experienced a sudden decrease in speed. Also, the vehicle would independently accelerate a short distance. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnosis or repairs. The VIN was unavailable. The approximate failure mileage was 81,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Houston, TX, USA