CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2008 Honda Accord has several serious defects: poor brakes, excessive oil consumption, & uncomfortable seats.
BRAKES: There was a class action lawsuit against Honda in 2010 for premature & excessive brake wear. See our page on Honda's brake problems for more info.
OIL CONSUMPTION: Honda issued a TSB about this in late 2011, claiming it could be fixed through a software update to the VCM (variable cylinder management). There are class action lawsuits pending. See our page about the Accord oil consumption.
UNCOMFORTABLE SEATS: Owners have consistently reported uncomfortable seats with the entire 8th generation (2008-2012) of Honda Accords. Complaints range from back pain to leg circulation problems due to bad lumbar support, cushioning, & seat angle. Complaints aren't limited to only a certain body type -- the seat comfort problems are from a wide spectrum of owner height & weight. The common theme we hear is "we never noticed this during the test drive." Unfortunately for unwary buyers, the seat pain is noticeable after 15-20 minutes.
The rotors on the Honda Accord 2008 & thereafter years definately has a problem. They are faulty, substandard and cheap. I had vibration in the steering at 21,800 and Auto Park Honda in Cary, NC resurfaced the rotors under warranty and now again after an other 15,000 miles in my car same problem. Now I am out of warranty and the dealership maintains "IT MUST BE THEY WAY I BRAKE" I own 5 cars so far and none of them had this problem even at 50,000 miles. According to the dealership rotors need to be resurfaced again and they don't admit that there is a problem with the front rotors. I started asking any Honda Accord 2008 plus owner I come across if they have the same issue? Not surprisingly all of them said yes and all of them have been told by their dealerships " ITS THE WAY YOU BRAKE " What a racket!!!!
Honda should own up to it's product and do a recall to fix it rather than giving a total BS to its customers and stop ripping them off for more money to resurface the rotors. I must have forgotten how to apply brakes properly after bought 2008 Honda Accord???? Shame on Honda!!!
Bought car brand new. Brakes started to pull and then squeak. I noticed that the brakes seem to pull to one side then they seem to skip when I pressed on them. Took it to the dealership and was told the rotors were warped and could not even be machined. Had to replace rotors and fix the brakes at only 17,000 miles. At the wonderful cost of approx. $600.00 to fix the brakes. I've had other cars which didn't ever wear out the rotors up to 100,000 miles. Well this experience happened in Dec. 2009 and now it is less than 4,000 miles on these "NEW BRAKES" and they are starting to pull and make noises again! I was asked by another owner of the same car if I had brake problems on my car. I told him of the repair. He told me to look up on internet how many people are have the same problem with their brakes. I did and came to this web site. There is a problem with the Brake System or Parts, Honda needs to recall this problem before someone gets hurt and HONDA BECOMES THE NEXT TOYOTA WITH ALL THE LAWSUITS AND RECALLS!!!!!!!
Brought my car in yet again because of a shaking in the steering wheel when I applied the brakes. It could be felt and heard throughout the whole car. After reviewing the issue Honda called to tell me my front rotors warped at 30,000 miles however I still had 70% of life left in the front brake pads. I asked them how is this possible. I am aware of the design flaw Honda has with rear brakes and had to have rotors resurfaced and new brake pads put on the rear of the car with less than 20,000 miles. Their answer, it must be my braking habits. So when I went to pick the car up I spoke with the general sales manager in reference to this issue among the MANY others I have and he informed me it was my braking habitat. I told him how funny it is that I dont drive through the city in fact everday drive on an expressway with no stopping until I get to the one toll. And that out of 3 brand new vehicles we have purchased (2 GMC's and 1 Chevy) this Honda is the only vehicle we have had rotors warp and the brake pads be FINE, and the only vehicle this has happened with a car with low mileage, not to mention our "braking habits" didnt affect the rotors warping on brakes needing to be replaced on the other 3 brand new vehicles. Then he went on to tell me he worked in the car rental place for 7 years and has seen alot happen with cars that people did and has come to the conclusion if people can do it to a car it will be done.
What happened to customer service and valuing customers and backing up their brand instead of blaming the customer???? One thing is for sure I dont drive with both feet or slam on the brakes at a stop or ride the brake. This guy was no help what so ever!
I still can't believe this problem is so prevalent. I also had to replace front pads around 15K miles, did it myself; but thought it was a fluke ( it actually digged into the rotor a little). My car now ~35K miles shakes so much ( cheap warped rotors) when I brake it feels that the car it's going to split apart.
I don't have the time to deal with dealers, so I'm just waiting for a recall bond to happen. 2 hondas in the past, but NO more. Once they because fat, they also become lazyyyyyyyyyyyyy....enough said
In the 2 1/2 years that I have owned this Honda, I have replaced the rear brakes once and had the rotors machined three times. The front end is wobbling again whenever I brake (at highway speeds and city driving speeds). I called my dealership yesterday and was told that brakes "just wear out" and that my extended warranty would not cover the replacement cost. I am going to get my car repaired one more time by somebody other than the dealership and then sell it. Maybe buy a Ford or a Chevrolet. Something I can depend on.
- Cheryl S.,
Centerville, OH, US
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both my friend and I bought new 2008 Honda accords. Both cars, at low mileage had terrible shimmying problems from warped front rotors. The front rotors on my car are again warped and need to be cut a second time. Now the rear pads are worn down and the rotors are also warped. Shame on Honda, this is ridiculous. Plus the cost for repair is outrageous. Honda wants more money to cut the rotors than the cost for new ones. I used a local machine shop and had them cut for $15 a piece.
Rotors had to be resurfaced because they had a really BAD shimmying problem. Honda mechanic said it will happen again because of the brake system design. Once it's out of warranty, the service charge will be $500! Not what I expected of a Honda. Sorry, but will never buy a Honda again if these cars aren't recalled and made right. Honda needs to step up and do the right thing!
HONDA SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES AFTER GETTING NEW BRAKES ON THE BACK THEY TELL ME BECAUSE OF THE WEATHER CHANGES MY ROTORS WARP. I HAVE TAKEN IT BACK 3 TIMES AND NO CHANGES. TAKING IT BACK AGAIN IN THE MORNING.
So went into the Honda dealer on August 14, 2008 after owning my accord for 8 months and a little over 15k miles with a brake vibration. The dealer told me that because of my driving habits the rotors had warped and that it would cost about 300 dollars to machine them. After a small conniption fit the dealer out of good faith turned my rotors for free. i ended up buying new ones 9 months later and having my friend finish the job correctly.
I traded in a 1992 Accord with 263,000 miles because I was spending tons on repairs that last 3 years I owned the vehicle. I bought a new 2008 Accord because previous Accord basically lasted forever. I was so releived to not have to worry about aggravating repairs for several years. Boy was I wrong. My brakes started to feel odd at less than 3,000 miles. Thought it might be just be new brakes and I wasn't used to them. Took the car to the dealership at 7,500 miles and told them. They looked at the brakes and said they were fine.
Just paid to have the brakes inspected at 26,500 miles. They said my rear rotors are warped and need machining. They said I was lucky because the rear brakes had 50% life left on them and they had 2008 and 2009 Accords coming in at 10,000 miles needing new rear brakes. This is ridiculous. At least this explains the shimmering in the steering wheel since the third month I owned the vehicle. I wish I had never bought this car.
Premature wear of rear pads and rotors requiring complete replacement. Told by dealership they have 2009's coming in with under 9K miles with the same problem. When I was there, another lady was there with a one year old Honda accord with the same problem.
Front brakes just fine, all services done!
Now, I and all others can expect a yearly rear brake and pad replacement cost, not to mention that we are all at risk due to the safety issues associated with NO REAR brakes!
Take a look at the sign posted in the dealership - so much for quality parts!
Clearly some engineering needs to happen to find out why the calipers lock, causing this premature damage and loss of all rear braking.
Called Honda North America. I was told they are not recognizing this as an issue!
Oh...don't even get me going on my current painful process of trying to deal with both Honda and the Honda Dealership (Ontario Penske) about my warped out front rotors...I first felt vibrations while braking then followed by my steering column vibrating while braking. This was followed by my car "drifting" to the left while driving on the freeways. Took it into the Dealership only to find out that my rotors were warped. Imagine my great surprise when they told me that - you gotta be kidding.me..rotors are warped at 20,000 miles??? The Dealership actually accused me of driving up and down hills and being hard on my brakes...again..you're kidding me, right??? I have leased my vehicle so the only driving I do is to and fro to work and all are freeways. Honda has refused to do anything about it, stating that it is not covered under their power train warranty. I was pissed but resigned to having them replace my front brakes and resurfacing the rotors. That very same day when I got my car back, I now have a loud squealing sound coming from the front end of the car not to mention when the car is at a stop, the front end "smokes'!!! Looking at the rotors these darn things are heavily glazing over. I am so mad and disappointed with Honda that they know they have issues with their brakes and rotors but yet nothing has been done about it! Shame on you Honda!!! Please remove all your ridiculous Ads on TV telling us that you are here to HELP US...Quit lying to us!!! That's false advertisement.
In summary, for the love of god…….stay away from buying this vehicle. My parents have owned Honda Accords for many years with very few problems, so I decided to buy my first Accord. One of the main reasons I sold my truck was because of constant brake problems. So what happens? I buy a brand new car with even worse brake problems. At about 5,000 miles I started feeling a vibration when I braked. I thought to myself, no way could this be the brakes acting up already, so I just lived with it. So last week I took a 600 mile trip, and on more than one occasion, I was terrified that I could not stop due to the vibration of the car during braking. I ripped the wheels off last night, and as an added bonus to the warped rotor problem, also noticed (like all the other people on this site as well as the many Honda forums) that there was almost zero wear on the front pads, while the rear pads are already worn half down. You have got to be kidding me! This car is going to cost me a fortune over its lifetime in rotors and pads, not to mention the trips to the repair shop. I can only submit one complaint at a time, so I will not even go into all the other problems with this vehicle (ergonomic issues, poor design of parts, inferior materials, rattles, etc.).
This was the second time. I was pissed. They replaced the rotors already and now they had to cut them again after 20,000 miles. They also put new pads on- all under warranty because I was getting nasty!!
I had my Honda accord coupe for about 3 months when i was hearing the brakes squeal. I thought I just had to wear in the brake pads because the car was new. Then i was getting off the highway and when I applied the brakes the steering wheel started vibrating and the brakes were vibrating and making noise. I took my car into the dealership and they re-surfaced the rotors, and replaced the brake pads. They told me that the coating from the factory wears off really hot and warped the rotors. My brakes still squeal, and if it rains they grind when i drive. I am VERY disappointed in my Honda. I bought it because everyone said how great Honda is. I am not sure why everyone feels that way. My service dept are very good. Nice and courtious when I take my car to the shop. No complaints on customer service, just the product they sell.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
The rotors on the Honda Accord 2008 & thereafter years definately has a problem. They are faulty, substandard and cheap. I had vibration in the steering at 21,800 and Auto Park Honda in Cary, NC resurfaced the rotors under warranty and now again after an other 15,000 miles in my car same problem. Now I am out of warranty and the dealership maintains "IT MUST BE THEY WAY I BRAKE" I own 5 cars so far and none of them had this problem even at 50,000 miles. According to the dealership rotors need to be resurfaced again and they don't admit that there is a problem with the front rotors. I started asking any Honda Accord 2008 plus owner I come across if they have the same issue? Not surprisingly all of them said yes and all of them have been told by their dealerships " ITS THE WAY YOU BRAKE " What a racket!!!!
Honda should own up to it's product and do a recall to fix it rather than giving a total BS to its customers and stop ripping them off for more money to resurface the rotors. I must have forgotten how to apply brakes properly after bought 2008 Honda Accord???? Shame on Honda!!!
- Farhan N., Cary, NC, US