Honda dealer tried to "sell" us the lame brained idea that it is normal for an Accord's transmission to fail at 123,000 miles! Advised that my 2008 Subaru Outback has 360,000 on the original transmission & engine. Wish I'd known about Honda's transmission problems then--might have negotiated a break on the $4200 quote to drop a new off-the-shelf transmission into the car. On the other hand it would have probably failed too. Ended up with an AAMCO rebuild for $3500. Will sell/trade before that warranty expires. No more Honda's in this family.

Bought car brand new. I first complained about transmission failure on 01/07 (the first complaint in this list). Did it again. Driving from Las Cruces, NM to San Antonio, TX, right after I drove 500 miles, the transmission just died on me in the middle of nowhere (Junction City, TX). Towed car to Gunn HONDA IN San Antonio, even without looking at veh. they wanted between $3000. to $3500. for a new transmission plus oil, taxes, etc. Towed car to Houston, TX where a qualified Honda specialist is repairing the veh, as I write this for ( $1800. to $2300.) Unbelievable! At 37,000. the transm. had to be replaced, see complaint # 1 in this list.

Same story as all the rest. Very well maintained 2004 Accord V6 Automatic. At 82,000 miles, the transmission slipped a few times, and then just died. Out of warranty, I called Honda Corp, and they said to bring it to the Dealer for inspection ($120). I did. Like all the other Honda trannys, this had an 'internal mechanical malfunction'. Dealer and corporate said, 'Sorry, out of warranty, $5k please". I pressed asking for some good faith, I mean seriously, I know dozens of friends with similar issues in Odysseys and Acuras with the same transmission era. The 04 Accord Recall did not include mine. Corp. response: "Since you have a non-Honda oil filter (no, not the tranny filter), and used an independent shop for maintenance - we'll give you NOTHING. I'd rather have cash, but it turns out they did give me something:

1. A great reason to never buy another Honda

2. A story to share for any thinking that Honda stands behind their vehicles

3. A reason to post to every Honda website voicing my experience with Corp. and the dealer until such time a recall is in place.

The worst problem, that took place in January, was when I was gong 65 mph on the freeway and my car COMPLETLY shut off on me. I was horrified that I would be hit and crashed into, because nothing worked.The only thing that worked were my breaks. I couln't put the emergency lights on or even use my signals, or excelurate. I merged to the shoulder as quickly as possible and just panicked. I almost got hit by a passing vehicle. When I was pulled over to the side, I tried to get my car to do anything but was unsuccessful. I tried turning the car on and off, pressing on the gas pedal, using my emergency lights, but nothing happened. It wasn't until minutes later, when the car had been off for a while, that it started back up. I happened to be right by the Norm Reeves Honda, in Cerritos where the car was actually purchased from, but the service tech refused to help because it was a Sunday. I as so upset that he wouldn't help me, because he saw I was frantic. After this, I was too scared to drive anywhere, so I decided to go home and it shut off again this time on the street. After that, the same problem has gotten even worse. Yesterday, on February 23 2011, my car shut off while I was driving to work on the streets. I called Palmdale's Honda dealership and made an appointment to come in immediately. I explained all the problems I was experiencing with my vehicle to the tech. He chargged over one hundred dollars just to look at the car. But he never even mentioned that this was a reaccuring problem with 2003 and 2004 Honda's. Upon searching online, I found out that Honda had a recall for cars like mine. The tech told me that I needed a new transmission and it would cost $3,500 to fix. So now I have no car, and it's not even paid off. And my car is sitting in my garage, and I can't drive it.

The car had a few problems going from reverse to drive. I was driving around doing errands and I started to go up a hill homeward and the car started having problems shifting and seemed to go in neutral. I drove it to Honda on Monday and after a $70 diagnostic fee (why wouldn't they know the problem based on the year and model of the car??) was told that there was "total internal clutch failure". This Honda dealership had serviced my car less than 2,000 miles ago and at that time I was told there were no problems. So I am fighting with them to see if Honda will do any goodwill contributions to the repair. I used to love Hondas and always praised their reliability and the fact that they could go forever (my Civic in high school had 400,000 miles). Unless Honda can help me out, I will no longer be a loyal Honda person.

Was driving home and car started to downshift and jerk every time I applied the brakes and would slip when trying to accelerate. Had car towed home and changed the transmission fluid myself the next morning. Car seemed to run fine for a little over a month and problem returned. Was driving on the Florida Turnpike and tried to accelerate around another car, the car shifted into neutral and rev to about 7000rpm. Got to the side of the road, turned off and let rest for a few. When I turned it back on it ran fine. Called the dealer and they said I need to replace transmission without even looking at it (seemed odd.) Talked to Honda Corporate and they got back to me the next day. Asked me what kind of assistance I am looking for. I explained to them that after having these problems with my car I started looking online and found hundreds of these same complaints with my year and model of Honda. Was told they can't just take online chat as fact and again asked what kind of assistance I am looking for. I asked them what they are willing to do for me since it appears that this is a Honda problem and not some fault of mine. They told me that mechanical parts fail and I explained to them that mechanical parts don't fail intermittently from wear. Was told they will get back to me. I will have to say that this is the first Honda I have owned and I bought it used. I don't believe I will ever own another. After looking into the situation, it appears that Honda doesn't really stand behind their products and aren't much of a company. They have the shortest power train warranty on the market. Even their newest vehicles are only warrantied for 60k. Not impressed.

The transmission on my 2004 Accord went without warning during rush hour on a busy highway (Interstate 84 in the town of Southeast, NY) and I was lucky to be able to pull off to the shoulder. I had to have it transported to Mount Kisco Honda who informs me that the transmission is shot and will have to be replaced at a cost of over $4,000 and it will take more than a week to get the parts and make the repair. I later learned that there was a recall of this Accord model year (2004) for transmission problems that I was never notified of. Very aggravating. I will never buy a Honda again. Building cars with transmission problems is inexcusable and dangerous.

I noticed that it had started to take a moment to switch from reverse to drive, but did not think too much of it. Then one day, I was driving home and went up a hill and felt the car start to jerk a little. When I reached the top of the hill I had zero acceleration. The engine continued to rev up to 5000 rpm, but the car continued to slow down. I eventually had to pull off, let the car sit for a moment, then drive home going 40 mph with it in 3rd. The transmission fluid had a burning smell when I checked it. I had been looking for a new vehicle anyways, so I just traded it in before the whole transmission blew. I am highly disappointed that this seems to be a common problem with Accords and yet you never hear anything about it. I got a Toyota this time and after this, may never go back to Honda again.

My car just suddenly stopped accelerating, seemingly shifted to neutral on its own as it just revved up as I stepped on the gas. I kept thinking, how could this happen to my Honda! They are supposed to be reliable as heck! After getting it towed to a mechanic and getting home, I searched the internet to see if there have been any similar reports of transmission failures on a Honda Accord. It is so bad to find out that there have been many cases. One website, hondaproblems.com, mentioned a recall and class action lawsuits for transmission problems. I go to my local dealer routinely for maintenance and they never mentioned anything about a recall. My hope is to get some help in paying the repair bills as from what I read, it could cost as much as $5000 to get this fixed! And it may soon just break again!

My first visit to the dealer was unproductive, they did not admit a problem with the transmission and said they would diagnose the problem and get back to me. I went on the web to research any problems other Honda owners had had only to find that that there was a plethora of information on this particular defect and that my car had a recall issued by Honda in 2004 which I was not privy to.

The situation is ongoing and I feel that Honda has deliberately pulled the wool over owners eyes of these vehicles to prevent expensive repairs at their cost.

Honda can't make a car that goes more than 80 thousand miles without a total failure of the transmission? This car had excellent care taken of it, oil changes, fluids always checked, etc. Had trans fluid drained/replaced at about 60k but I did not keep proof. Fluid was clean, not burned, same as now. Car began jerking downshifting, then began revving without acceleration (as when clutch would be pushed in auto trans car). Had to push it to side of road. Each time I turned off for a minute and started it, I could go a bit before it would fail again. Basically I limped home at idle speed. Called Honda, they said I had to bring it in...many miles from me. Also said Honda might make goodwill adjustment, no guarantees. No quotes on cost as they must see it first and THEY MUST DO THE REPAIR. From you website, I know, and from little things I've dealt with this dealership previously, they want top dollar for everything. My opinion is that Honda would fix this problem if I towed it in, charge me at least 150% more than a private shop, then offer me a small goodwill discount. Not for me. Seems the entire scheme is geared to extract money for incompetence. If the trans didn't fail, they'd make no money. But since it was inferior and was their fault, they get to make money. Profit from their inferior product. They seem to have it figured. Why isn't there a 100,000 mile power train warranty like other cars? Because they make money from this "system?" I want Honda to know that their reputation has taken a real hit with me and those I talk to, and many ask my advice. Personally, I don't think I will buy a Honda again. This is the first car I've owner that had a tranny failure, and it was one that was supposedly made to last. Well, this customer's satisfaction lasted about 80k miles and has now departed with the transmission. I think Honda KNEW they had a problem and ignored it, then turned it into a profit thing. Are they that greedy and money-grubbing?

Summary:

NO INDICATION OF AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION ISSUES. AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FAILURE OCCURRED ON INTERSTATE AT 70 MPH, PRESSED ON ACCELERATOR PEDAL AND WOULD NOT ACCELERATE. WAS ON INNERMOST LANE, HAD TO CROSS 3 INTERSTATE RIGHT LANES DURING COMMUTING HOUR WITH NO ACCELERATION (WAS LIKE DRIVING IN NEUTRAL). ABLE TO GET TO NEXT EXIT. WAS ON A DOWNSLOPE SO ABLE TO COAST DOWN. AT THE BASE OF THE HILL, STOPPED. COULD NOT DRIVE THE VEHICLE ANYMORE, PRESS THE PEDAL IN D AND R AND WOULD NOT MOVE CALLED TOW TRUCK TO TOW ME TO HONDA DEALERSHIP 40 MILES AWAY CONSIDERED AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FAILURE. THIS IS THE FIRST OCCURRENCE OF TRANSMISSION FAILURE WITH THIS VEHICLE. HONDA SERVICE REPAIR HAD TO REPLACE ALL AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION PARTS. DEALERSHIP REQUESTED HONDA CORP DISTRICT MANAGER TO PAY FOR LABOR AND PARTS. DENIED . OPEN A COMPLAINT CASE WITH HONDA CORP. DENIED AGAIN. WAS A LOYAL CUSTOMER FOR 10 YEARS, 3 ACCORDS AND 1 CIVIC. ALL SERVICING WAS DONE BY HONDA DEALERSHIP

I was driving on the freeway at approximately 50MPH, and I decided to speed up a little. I stepped on the gas, the engine increased revolutions, but the car did not speed up. Instead, it down shifted gears, which has the same dangerous effect as stepping on the brakes. The whole situation was scary and dangerous. Since then it's happening more and more. I am sure the transmission is failing. Will take the car to dealer and find out what my options are. Please advise me on what to do.

Thanks, Oscar