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:
2 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
64,888 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.

2003 Honda Accord miscellaneous problems

miscellaneous problem

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2003 Honda Accord Owner Comments (Page 1 of 3)

problem #41

Jul 142022

Accord

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Doors locked from inside and cannot get out unless I put my window down. Safety issue. Second time I replaced my door since I was in a car accident a few years ago. Same problem came back again after replacing the door handle it used to work for years at the driver side until recently. Also doors are unable to unlock from the switch.

- West Babylon, NY, USA

problem #40

Feb 202021

Accord

  • 739,765 miles
I got stuck in the snow and tried to get out just spent my tires a little bit and now I have no reverse.thats all that happened. I was in my front yard

- Jacksonville, AR, USA

problem #39

Jan 012021

Accord

  • 196,000 miles
I was driving the car and the power steering pump went out and a week later my transmission started slipping then all of a sudden my car wouldn't go into gears and the transmission stopped working completely. It will work for 5 min then it completely won't go in any gear. I had to have it towed home. It was on the road on the bypass and I started acting up then it stopped working completely when I went to get off of work and wouldn't go in to gear at all after that. So I had to have it towed home. I had it looked at by a local mechanic and he said the car had a recall on multiple things for me to look into it because it was gonna cost around 2000 to fix everything.

- Mosheim, TN, USA

problem #38

Sep 012012

Accord 6-cyl

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Needs recall on power steering fluid temperature.

- North Hills, CA, USA

problem #37

May 172019

Accord

  • miles
According to anna, who is service representative from Honda of seattle, just giving me an update on my car, so the technician verified the lights and hesitation while driving is due to the transmission failing internally, when we drained the fluid there was debris in the old fluid and it was completely dark, which indicates that there is damage internally. Technician said rebuild of transmission is going to cost me around $6500. My car has had 106500miles.

- Plano, TX, USA

problem #36

Mar 122019

Accord

  • 11,300 miles
I saw that the current owner mentioned that this car fax was clean. That is not true. My daughter was owner #2 of the car. We bought it 10/19/16. About five months later she slid on black ice on route nine in MA and crashed into a cement jersey barrier. The car was declared a total loss. It sounds like you were not made aware of this. You should report it.

- Hudson, MA, USA

problem #35

Oct 252018

Accord

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

They hit me on the back of the car

- Camden, NJ, USA

problem #34

Jun 202018

Accord

  • 82,000 miles
My daughter drives a 2003 Honda Accord. While driving approximately 25 mph, the vehicle accelerated independently. She stomped on the brake pedal and felt soft underfoot.the brakes slowed the car but did not stop the car. My daughter took an immediate right turn into an empty parking lot and pulled the keys from the car. The car coasted to a stop. In addition, when the engine was turned off and restarted, the rpms accelerated while the vehicle was in park. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where the cause of the failure was undetermined.the dealer says that they can not find anything wrong with the car and that mechanics drove the car and were unable to reproduce the problem.

- Lafayette, CO, USA

problem #33

Dec 272001

Accord

  • 0 miles
I received a letter from tk holdings Inc about important legal nitice for owners if vehicles witg tskata airbag inflators

- Monroe, NC, USA

problem #32

Dec 171016

Accord

  • miles
There a interior walter leak

- Riverside, CA, USA

problem #31

Nov 232015

Accord

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

While traveling at 65mph the car suddenly down shifted almost causing a ugly car accident luckly the car behind me had good reflect and was able to swerve out of my way. No check engine light, no signs of tranny slipping prior too just a scary situation to be in.

- Camden, NJ, USA

problem #30

Nov 202015

Accord

  • 103,000 miles
This 03 Honda Accord has a safety recall for transmission 2nd gear issues, this safety recall was fixed in 04 but had the same issue again in 2015 and has now caused the torque converter to fail and stall on the highway, trucks and car speeding up behind us with our kids in the vehicle, this has become dangerous and no one wants to take care of the problem so that nothing happens further, I haven't had the vehicle for no more than a year.

- Atlanta, GA, USA

problem #29

Aug 132015

Accord

  • 133,000 miles
Driving at approx 50-55 mph, my car suddenly and abruptly jerked several times, like a sudden hard brake, then let loose. Did this intermittently a few times then no more on this particular day. The next time I drove it, it did one hard sudden jerk, so I pulled over. The car did not move in drive after that, had to be towed, since the front axle broke from the sudden jerking. The jerking or braking, as it seemed, was very frightening as it felt like it would throw me off the road or someone from behind would hit me. The car's tires squealed because it jerked so hard and it would throw my head against the head rest. Very frightening at 55 miles an hour!! I took it in and it was discovered that the clutch was sending debris into the transmission causing it to plug up and the transmission was trying to go into 2 gears at the same time causing it to stop suddenly, then let loose. It does this after about 20-30 minutes of driving when it has warmed up the fluids in the transmission. The transmission has to be rebuilt. This seems like a recall issue, as this is common with this vehicle they said. Could very easily cause death or injury if it happens on icy roads or in traffic!! thankfully I did not have to drive on the freeway and that it is not winter, because it could very easily have thrown me into another car or another car hit me from behind or lost control on an icy roadway and spun into the ditch or worse, been killed!! it very much scared the mechanic when he drove it also.

- Spring Valley, WI, USA

problem #28

Jun 092015

Accord

  • 168,586 miles
In July of 2015, I went outside to start my car and only to find out that my car won't start. After trying for several hours and a day later, I went back to try again, my car finally started. Few days after that incident, it happened again. This time, I was about to leave for work and it won't start until after two days of trying and it finally started. The most resent time was on August 4, 2015 in charlotte, North Carolina while about to leave, I got into my car and start it, it won't start. I sat there trying for two hours before it finally started.

- Concord , NC, USA

problem #27

May 052015

Accord

  • 131,000 miles
I have owned four Honda and have never encountered or heard of issues like this before I bought my 2003 Honda Accord. I take very good care of my cars and do not drive them hard either. I bought my 03 Accord in 2010 and had no idea that I was driving what is tantamount to a ticking time bomb. Roughly a month ago, my tach started slipping and the car started jerking and clunking while I was driving it. The problems do not begin at a set amount of time behind the wheel. It starts I the lower gears and I can tell it is starting when I decrease my speed to a stop, at 10 miles per hour the car "shudders? and ?clunks?. it progressively gets worse and the higher gears become affected. I was on the freeway, on my way home from an appointment in the middle lane. I was traveling at roughly 55 ? 60 miles per hour when the entire car violently jerked. It was enough to throw my head into the steering wheel. I immediately went to exit the highway when I noticed that my car was now in neutral. I babied the car home and checked the fluid. It was fine. The problem has gotten worse and I can no longer drive my car without being willing to be injured or worse. The cost of replacing or repairing the transmission is not a possibility. I now have a car that I cannot fix and cannot drive. It is unconscionable that a car company that is built on its reliability would not acknowledge and fix this problem. Does someone need to die first? I guess that I am unwilling to risk getting behind the wheel of a Honda again. The scariest part of this whole situation was that I was going to put my 16 year old daughter in this car. Something needs to be done"now.

- Tenino, WA, USA

problem #26

May 012015

Accord

  • 134,000 miles
All of a sudden car get stop though engine was running on highway. There is no check engine warning. Auto gears started slipping.

- Owings Mills, MD, USA

problem #25

Mar 232013

Accord

  • 105,000 miles
Vehicle slams into 3rd gear, or slips out of gear, locked up one tie

- Sunrise, FL, USA

problem #24

May 012012

Accord 4-cyl

  • 68,000 miles
The entire paint, not just the clear coat, is coming off of my car. Poor quality paint for Honda. Unacceptable!

- Chagrin Falls, OH, USA

problem #23

Apr 282013

Accord

  • 150,000 miles
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"

- Lilburn, GA, USA

problem #22

Feb 232012

Accord

  • 75,000 miles
For 2 days upon startup in the morning the transmission appeared to slip when shifting from reverse to drive. The third day at the speed of 55 mph I began to accelerate and found that here was no power. I backed off the gas pedal, tried again and got nothing. I downshifted and tried to accelerate once more. I felt the transmission slip into gear. For the next 5 miles it went in and out of gear and then nothing, no transmission at all. The car is now at a Honda dealership. Honda of America had me tow it there and get a damage assessment and the cost of the repair. The dealer diagnosed the transmission failure and gave a repair cost of $4,000. Including tax. Honda of America has offered us $1,000 toward the repair due to our perfect maintenance record on the car. This car had the transmission fixed in the 2004 recall by Honda. This car only has 75,000 miles. Honda of America refuses to acknowledge that this is a problem very specific to this make and hear of the Accord. Honda of America refuses to to acknowledge the thousands of other Honda' with the exact same problem and all seem to have between 70-90 thousand miles!!!!! the Honda dealer told me " I better take the one time offer of $1,000 from Honda of America" leading me to believe I had to make a decision. Upon further investigation I have 30 days to make a decision. I am a former Honda owner and have never had a problem like this and firmly believe I should never have a problem like this with a Honda automobile.

- Carmel, NY, USA

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