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.

7.9

pretty bad
Typical Repair Cost:
$1,260
Average Mileage:
67,500 miles
Total Complaints:
394 complaints

Most Common Solutions:

  1. not sure (229 reports)
  2. per Honda consuming 1qt per 1k miles normal (42 reports)
  3. I heard that Honda replaced worn rings and engine short block (21 reports)
  4. call American Honda corporation to complain (14 reports)
  5. rebuilt the engine (14 reports)
  6. replace engine (13 reports)
2008 Honda Accord engine problems

engine problem

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2008 Honda Accord Owner Comments (Page 14 of 20)

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problem #134

Nov 032010

Accord LX 2.4L I4

  • Automatic transmission
  • 50,000 miles

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

I bought a Honda accord thinking that reliability wouldn't be a concern. Well, being someone who changed the oil in my car myself, I got more and more concerned every time I changed the oil in my car. There were no leaks, there was no smoke coming out of the exhaust, but yet, every 4k to 5k miles, when I changed the oil, I was missing about two quarts. Where the hell was the oil going? I saw the complaints here, and didn't want to fight the battle, so I took the proactive step and got rid of the car before some serious damage occurred to the engine.

So, what did I get to replace the Accord? I figured all car manufacturers make a dud here and there, so I got a 2005 Civic that won't stop overheating and is currently sitting at a service shop. Oh, and it has had its head gasket (honda service rates head gasket at 8 hours labor), radiator, thermostat, radiator fan switch, replaced. All this not 20,000 miles after I paid about $700 to have the timing belt replaced (it has less than 120k miles on it). I am pretty much done with Honda for the foreseeable future.

- Warren W., Oxford, NC, US

problem #133

Oct 272010

Accord LX 4 cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 55,000 miles

My car started using oil by 40,000 miles. I kept bringing it back to the dealer to document the oil use, and by 55,000 miles they agreed to replace the short engine block. I liked the car a little better after receiving a $5,000 repair job for free, but it started leaking again the following summer. They replaced several seals, it's leaking again, and they now say that it's normal for a car to go through a quart of oil every thousand miles (!) and that being down a quart after 10,000 miles is acceptable. I had a Fiat that did better than that. I'm not replacing this car with a Honda.

- Peggy E., Wallingford, CT, US

problem #132

Oct 072011

Accord LX 4 cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 112,000 miles

Just need to know is someone addressing this problem. I still owe money on the car!!!

- Denise H., Madison, GA, US

problem #131

Feb 012012

Accord V4

  • Automatic transmission
  • 40,000 miles

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

This is just ridiculous that I am adding a quart of oil every 600 miles to my car! I have had the two recalled things fixed and still burning oil. I just set the odometer and every 600 miles shove a quart in. I am not going to bother with the oil consumption test. Why should I? I will be the one paying for anything they find, right? I mean now my car is out of warranty so I am screwed. My last Honda I bought used with already 120k miles on it. I ran the crap out of it and got over 250k never even checked the oil between. Unreal. Hope this is a class action. Guess I have to keep the car because it's cheaper to add a quart of oil twice a month than buying another vehicle and I cannot dump this car on some poor unsuspectiong person. UNBELIEVABLE, HONDA!

- Holly G., Mount Airy, MD, US

problem #130

Sep 152011

Accord LX 2.4L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 67,000 miles

Since I have become a car owner I've been one of those change your oil every 3,000 mile types. I do all of my own maintenance and what I do works. I had 250,000 miles on my Toyota Pick-Up when I sold it. 230,000 miles on my Dodge Intrepid when I sold it. I never checked the oil on either vehicle because I knew at 3,000 miles I would change the oil. So, when my check oil light came on in my Honda - this was the first time it had happened to me in 32 years of driving.

I checked the oil at 2,500 miles after the last change and couldn't even see oil on the dipstick. I added a quart and a half and the oil barely touched the tip. These cars only hold 4.5 quarts. I was told by the guy who sold me the car that if I did oil changes before 10,000 miles - I would be wasting oil. If I had waited until 10,000 miles to change the oil the engine would have seized.

I Love my Honda. But, I'm a little worried that a car with 65,000 miles on it has already burned more oil than every car I've ever owned combined. Is this a sign that the rings are shot? Has anyone failed a smog test with the added oil in the exhaust? What is this doing to my catalytic converter and oxygen sensors? I have two more payments to make on this car until its mine and I had hoped to put another 200,000 miles on the thing as this is what I am accustomed to.

I hope to talk to Honda soon. But from what I have gleaned from the other complaints I'm not terribly optimistic.

- dloomis, Riverside, CA, US

problem #129

Mar 072011

Accord EX-L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 45,000 miles

Like all the other complaints, excessive oil consumption is an understatement. For Honda to say that is ok for the car to use 1 qt of oil for every 1,000 miles is ridiculous. Can you imagine if they told you that when you bought the car? Besides paying for the normal oil changes, add in the cost of the additional oil you have to keep adding. I did the system upgrade, which was completely worthless. What was that supposed to fix? The Honda dealer isn't helpful at all, they will not admit that this IS a problem, nor will the corporate office at Honda. I have owned several Honda's in my life and how Honda is dealing with this issue is down right awful, stand behind your product. I've never been so disappointed and angry.

We started noticing the problem around 45,000 miles and have just shy of 80,000 miles now. You will hear a clanking noise coming from the engine, and to our shock having just a few specks of oil on the dip stick after only 3,500 miles after an oil change. This problem NEEDS to be fixed and Honda needs to step up and recognize this is not going to go away.

I'm glad to see we are not the only Honda owners who have this problem and are fed up.

- Kristi M., Chelsea, MI, US

problem #128

Dec 152010

Accord EXL 2.4L

  • Manual transmission
  • 27,962 miles

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

took a year but they finally fixed it. Add me to the list of disgruntled owners yet luv the car

- ron4400, Parry Sound, Ontario, canada

problem #127

Sep 012011

Accord LX-P

  • Automatic transmission
  • 35,000 miles

Same as all previous posts. Not at all happy with the experience I've had with this vehicle. Attempting to address with Honda Cares. We'll see?!?!?!

- hondaexperiment08, Columbia, MD, US

problem #126

Jan 312011

Accord Coupe 3.5L Exl V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 40,205 miles

I have been facing the excessive oil consumption problem too like everyone else and I went through hell with several Honda Dealerships and also the Honda Corporate offices trying to have them acknowledge my vehicle's problem and fix it under my warranty; no luck though. Your chances of having any Honda Dealership or the Corporate identifying and fixing your problem are one in a million. My advice is the following, contact immediately a lemon law firm, collect three repair invoices from Honda for the specific problem and present them to your attorney stating that the problem still exists after visiting the dealer for 3 times or more. Start your case, and start performing your oil consumption tests in any reputable Car Repair chain, choose a large company that has a good reputation because those invoices will be used by your attorneys. I did the above and i have invoices showing that the car consumes more than 1 quart per 1000 miles, in addition, OIL WAS FOUND ON MY SPARK PLUGS, the plugs were fouled twice within about 10000 miles, my coil was damaged, which means that there is an engine internal leak. Honda in now willing to settle my case and perform any repairs on the vehicle along with reimbursing me for all the damages that occurred from the specific problem. I am waiting for the appointment with the inspector of Honda, i shall update you.

Again DO NOT WASTE your time with Honda, file a Lemon Law Suit immediately, which is free of charge offered by the state protecting the consumer!

Update from Mar 29, 2012: Had to deal with the same problem, unfortunate.

- perilam, Astoria, NY, US

problem #125

Mar 162011

Accord EX-L 2.4L 4 cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 42,253 miles

Going on for several months doing an Oil Consumption test as Honda says it's acceptable to add 1 litre of oil for every 1500km of driving.

Based on a average 8000km oil change schedule, I am adding nearly a total oil change between oil changes!

Did the software upgrade a few months ago to improve mileage and oil use but it didn't do a thing that I can see.

90% of my driving is highway and not city and at only 87,000km I should not have to be adding oil all the time. This is the first car I've owed that requires this much oil and I've owned Hondas most of my life (7 of them) including an '85 Civic that was indestructible and went to 531,000km with no major repairs.

This has been the worst of them, I'm sad to say.

- timnick, Hampton, NB, canada

problem #124

Aug 102011

Accord LX-S 2.4L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 44,500 miles

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

I have done it all. I have talked with the dealership, and they give me the crap that 1qt per 1000 miles is acceptable, and I'm currently at 1qt for every 1400 miles. I've done the oil consumption test, talked with three representatives with honda, written letters, done software updates, and talked with certified honda mechanics that say this IS a problem, but that all manufacturers stand by their specs of 1qt per 1000miles is acceptable, which is total crap according to mechanics. I have been contacted by a lawyer and since have seen the complaints on this site about this problem increase 50% since I started having my problem. the people that have this problem need to complain so that Honda will fix this problem. It is not acceptable, and they should be ashamed of they way they have treated some of the people that have bought their cars. They are in danger of losing a lot of customers with this. and the software update was worthless. I think it actually made my car burn oil faster.

- djbaumga, Indianapolis, IN, US

problem #123

Oct 012011

Accord EX-L 2.4L 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 60,000 miles

This started happening around 60K miles. Or at least that's when I started noticing the grinding noise produced in the pistons. Engine oil would 'evaporate' somehow! The Honda dealer (Honda Bloomfield in Bloomfield, Michigan) explained that some parameter update in the form of software-recall would fix this issue. Unfortunately it hasn't. Today I looked at the oil level, and it was basically empty. Fortunately, I kept backup engine oil (I got it from the dealer as they suggested that I periodically check the level). ... this is a big frustration for me. I didn't buy a Honda to go through this. At least I would expect a low-engine oil lamp to alert me -- that was not there. ... if this is actually a case of Engine Oil burning (the dealer's tech told me), I don't know how a software update would fix this. This is definitely due to some hardware problem. I will take the car back to the dealer and see what they do. If Honda is not going to address this, then this will definitely be my, my family's, my relatives', friends', last Honda. I have flushed the Honda Odyssey plan down the toilet bowl.

- zryne, Rochester Hills, MI, US

problem #122

Jul 202009

Accord

  • Automatic transmission
  • 24,000 miles

I get my oil changed at my local Honda dealership so I know they're (or should be) putting in the amount needed before the indicator comes on to get an oil change; however, my engine starts to rattle when accelerating at (80% oil remaining) and when I put a quart of oil in the rattling stops until about 50% oil remaining.....so I put another quart in and it is fine until about 30% oil remaining...this has been going on for at least a year.

- Jamie H., Oneonta, NY, US

problem #121

Oct 092011

Accord LX-S 2.4L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 39,000 miles

I am now a part of the very unsatisfied customers for Honda. Their department in California is refusing to accept that this is a deeper problem then just software. I have contacted them and they stick to there specs of 1000 miles per 1qt of oil is acceptable, but when asked to provide me with documentation of this, they could not. They said it is acceptable by, "industry standards" whatever that means. They still have yet to fix the problem and the dealer is saying that honda tells them that this is acceptable. Also, someone at Honda also asked me, "what does the dealer tell you?" ARe you kidding me?!?! They are pushing me around in circles. I currently have consulted a lawyer and they are building a case for this problem and I'm hoping that it turns out like the breaks lawsuit if enough people come forward. Honda has really screwed up and all I ask is that they make it right...and so far they have not.

- djbaumga, Indianapolis, IN, US

problem #120

Dec 202011

Accord EX-L 2.4L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 89,497 miles

Very dissatisfied with this vehicle and Honda's lack of customer service. It took a class action lawsuit to fix the rear brake issue. I am on my 3rd power steering pump and now am having problems with the engine losing oil. No leaks or sign of burning. Also troubled by the lack of warning light (oil pressure or check engine) from lighting up... Now, I am being inconvenienced by taking my car in every 1,000 miles to have the engine oil level checked. You know it's a widespread problem when they have a form prepared specifically for oil consumption. There was a reason I purchased a Honda....to only see Service for preventative maintenance. Goodbye Honda, Hello Chevy!

- Richard W., Brighton, MI, US

problem #119

Oct 042010

Accord EX 3.2L V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 19,260 miles

I have a 08 Accord that has used 5 plus quarts of oil after 30,000 miles. My dealer says that thats with in Honda specs and we all know that that is a bunch of BS. In fact I have been told that Hondas specs say that its alright for their engines to use a quart every 1,000 miles. My dealer tells me I dont have bitch but would set up a meeting with one of Hondas reps. I said lets set it up. 2 Calls to my dealer about when that meeting will take place and all I get is a big run around... something about them having a new rep and he hasnt returned their calls. Im starting to get angry because Honda nor my dealer wants to admit this is a problem. From reading the rest of your complaints I now know Im not alone in this. And tweaking the computer didnt help my oil consumption one bit so when they suggest that you laugh a bit. Has anybody had any luck with getting this fixed? If so Id like to know how you did it. If Honda doesn`t stand behind this product and fix it I will never buy another Honda and will trash them to anyone who will listen. Because that is what they deserve if they think they can put this product out on the market and then say well better luck next time.

- vought, santa rosa, ca, US

problem #118

Jul 252011

Accord EX 2.4L 4 cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 80,000 miles

I have a 2008 Honda Accord that is magical!!!! It can make oil disappear right before your eyes. Apparently ours is not the only one. This is my wife's car. I drive a 95 Chevy Blazer w/ well over 200000 miles that I thought was a piece of sh*t, well it is. But at least it does not burn a drop of oil. I noticed the problem in July 2011 when I checked the oil before leaving on vacation to Florida. It was over a quart and a half low! After checking under the engine to see if maybe it was leaking, nothing, everything was clean. Ever since then and even after the software update it uses one to two quarts of oil every 5000 miles. Now the dealership says we need to come in for an oil consumption test. Guess what idiots!! I've already figured that out for you. IT USES OIL!!! I'm not even going to waste my time. Instead I'm going to tell everyone I know about this so they can avoid the same problem buy not buying any Honda vehicles. This our second and last Accord!!!

- scottbin, Newburgh, IN, US

problem #117

Dec 212011

Accord EX-L 2.4L I4

  • Manual transmission
  • 42,900 miles

My Accord started to make funny noises from the engine, then the oil pressure idiot light came on. Stopped, checked the oil, it was three quarts low. Funny thing is, I have never had a car burn oil before, so this came as quite a surprise. Between the clunky power drivers seat, the poor 2-3 shifts on the manual transmission, and now this, I won't be shopping for a Honda again.

- Matthew P., Upper Marlboro, MD, US

problem #116

Oct 122011

Accord EX-L 2.4L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 72,000 miles

Totally annoyed. Car won't start at least every month or two. Took car in due to excessive consumption of oil. Was also told that 1 quart every 1000 miles was within "normal" limits for Honda. Honda topped off oil on a Wednesday and by Tuesday (6 days later) oil light was on and dipstick was COMPLETELY dry. Finally they agreed to change engine. After 2 weeks (2 weeks!!) in the shop, left with whole new engine. SO glad I got extended warranty. This car has been nothing but trouble. Been driving Hondas my entire life and never had issues until this lemon of a car. Fast forward 2 months later and car wouldn't start again. Currently in the shop. I am DONE with this stinking car!! I need something that is RELIABLE. Some of us have jobs to get to, etc.!!! Will never recommend this car to anyone. Can't wait to sell it once I get it back from the shop, but feel guilty even asking for money for such a piece of $h!+.

- A M., Minneapolis, MN, US

problem #115

Jan 012011

Accord 2.4L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 45,000 miles

Having the same issue with oil consumption on my 2008 accord just like everyone else on this site. This was my first new car, and I am sorely disappointed. Can't believe the amount of service visits I've made with this vehicle. I went through the recall which claimed to fix the oil use problem, but of course it has not changed anything! Also had the brake wear problem and had those replaced when there was only 30,000 miles on the car! I am so frustrated with Honda dealer telling me that brake replacement is normal at this mileage and oil consumption is not out of the ordinary either.

- Janet N., Cottage Grove, WI, US

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