The problem came to my attention when I heard a rattling sound when I started the Honda Accord Coupe and then again when it was idling. I brought it to a Honda dealer and asked them to check the exhaust. They said I was low on oil and they added what was required. The rattling on idle stopped. About 3,500 kms later, I had the noise on idling and have had the rattling on start up since.

I brought the vehicle to another larger dealer that has turned out to be quite good. They suggested that I register a complaint with Honda which I did. The dealer put the car through the oil consumption test and calibrated the software. I need oil. They suggested I return at 1,500 km for a check. Once they added oil, the car ran better but around 1,500 kms, the oil light flickered and back I went.

I asked the service coordinator if the problem was occurring with other vehicles and he confirmed it was a problem that Honda had no fix for yet and it was not isolated to the 2008 4 cyl Accord Coupe. I called Honda and they said they would extend the warranty and I would receive a letter in 5 weeks. It's been 7 weeks and no letter yet. I'll call back as I am now just past the warranty.

The lease expires in 5 months and I was hoping to buy it but I can't even chance buying another Honda or Accord for that matter.

I'm using my wife's Cadillac for distances which is inconvenient and will buy a GM in a few months. Quite disappointing considering the Japanese vehicles have had a strong reputation. Well, the N American vehicle is making a comeback!

I don't have anything new to add, but wanted to make sure my bad experience was counted. Bad brakes and excessive oil consumption so far, plus my Ipod goes in and out when using the jack in the center console. I love Honda, but I really don't love how they have handled these problems and I will never never buy a first year model again. Shame on me and shame on Honda. (not so much for the design flaws in the first year model, but for how they have handled the obvious design flaws.) I fully intend to trade this car in to the dealership where I bought it. As the prior owner of a 1999 Civic with 212k miles that is still running, it is very disappointing to have to trade in a practically new car.

We heard it all from the dealer, software issues, dipstick problem, it wasnt burning oil, it was burning oil, it was leaking oil, it wasnt leaking oil. Honda Canada would not acknowledge anything or even return a phone call. After two years of this ridiculous oil consumption tests, and a number of temper tantrums and refusals to leave the dealership, they agreed to 'rebuild'' the lower part of the engine to really determine if anything was causing this. After further waiting for Honda Canada's alleged approval for this, we received a call advising they were simply going to replace the entire engine. This only made sense to both dealer and any mechanic who would know it is a bigger job to tear down the lower half than replace the whole thing.

So at this point we have a new engine with 9000 km on it and no oil consumption at this point. Honda will not provide any paperwork on the replacement but promises they will. They also say they will only offer a year warranty on the replacement motor - I am questioning this with them. Push these people if you have this problem - their is a problem and they are liable - ensure you have complete documentation of your complaints on the work orders from DAY 1.

Good luck!

At about 42000 miles my Honda accord 2008 started eating oil. Honda started their 1000 mile consumption tests and they told me it is losing about a quart every 1000 miles and of course as they always say 1000 miles is ok with Honda which is ridicules the car has like 4.5 quarts so that means i need to add a quart every 2-3 weeks on a car that’s 4 years old? They been jerking me around with doing the software update, once I came back to complete the test and the mechanic changed the oil without looking at the level when he was not even supposed to change it. Today completed my 5th oil consumption test and the said the manager will try to call Honda. I will never buy a Honda again and hope someone does do a law suit against them for this problem. I am so sick of going to the dealership for some idiot to tell me its ok that my car s oil change sensor is saying I have 70% till my oil change and my car is almost out of oil and they looking in my face and saying this is normal.

I've had the same conversation with Honda service dept. and the Honda consumer relations they assigned me a case number and told me that it was ok for my car to use up to 1 qt of oil per 1000 miles. So we are doing a oil consumption test and will have to be done twice. once this is done they will determine if there is something they need to do or I will have to check the oil constantly while driving. We take long trips and I will be checking the oil almost every fill up. I agree with the other gentlemen about the Honda reminder that comes on at 20% and you need to have the oil changed. But with that happening you would lock the car up before getting to where it needs to be changed by there own programing in there car. They have alot of problems with this and I've read alot of people having the excat same problem at the same mileage. There fore I think we need to all get together and find a good lawyer to represent us in a class action law suit so they can see we mean business. This is not right what the Honda Cars are doing and Honda knows that it is not ok for a car to use 1qt of oil every 1000 miles. Again no one would purchase a car if they told you that up front. I know i wouldn't. I've asked Honda would you purchase a car if they told you the transmission or anything that requires liquid would have to be checked and probably filled every 1000 miles. They would not answer the question so I guess I have my answer. So Honda needs to stand behind there product they know there's a problem because I read alot of complaints with the same problem. So lets stick together and get Honda to fix there problem.

first, let me say that I have held Honda to high standards, but have really been disappointed.w/our 2008 accord lx-p 4-cyl. We bought the car when the new body style came out in JULY of '07. This is s super-sharp car, in SILVER. We got rid of a 7-series BMW to get this car, so it was a big step down, but i was impressed w/what they had done. We almost immediately noticed a problem w/the brakes.Something about the ABS sensors in the front. Took it to the dealership & they fixed w/out any hassle. As I had expected. But you know these things are still a pain in the ass, because of scheduling an appt. around work--whatever. Anyway, we have had a helluva time w/the brakes too (CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT) we put 2 or 3 sets of brakes on the car (FRONT & BACK!) I mean, WTF?? who does rear brakes on a damn car w/20 or 30k miles?? It's not normal, so don't give me that sh*t. i also have an 04' Infiniti FX 35 in MMMMIIINNTTT condition! it has had NO ISSUES. I know how to take care of a damn car man. All I'm saying (this is my wife's car..i just pay for it) please recognize there's an issue, and fix it. I was told by a loyal Honda owner that I made a mistake by purchasing the new model year. He warned that there would be issues. Please fix my wife's car. I absolutely do not want to drive a FORD, CHEVY or anything else really. thanks HONDA..your friends in business, The Cash Family.

is pampered (like the Honda) and has no issues!

We also noticed our oil low as a result of an error code at about 49000 miles. When we took the car into the dealer, and we were told our oil was low, I thought it guff. When the dipstick was pulled and there was but a small drop of oil on it, I about fell over. In fact, I was completely embarrassed because I am quite meticulous about oil changes... I had the Dealer change the oil so we could start with a new slate. Within a short period, the oil was low again, we brought it back, were told what everyone who seems to have the same issue was told, "1 qt/1000 is normal," and entered "oil watch", as if we check it regularly now, the problem will go away... It hasn't. I just contacted a law firm to see if we can categorize this issue under the California Lemon Law. No new vehicle, much less one 3 years old or less, should be burning oil. None. My 2004 Silverado burns ZERO oil.

Update from Nov 28, 2011: The law firm never responded... And I didn't follow up.

So we filed a complaint with the BBB Auto Line to go to enter into 3rd party arbitration that was rejected. What good are they? If the BBB doesn't care, then who does?

We also filed a complaint with American Honda to which we received a call back. Since our issue was not officially documented with our local dealer, even though I was documenting the oil consumption myself, the AH representative - who was by the way very cooperative it seemed - suggested returning to the dealer to have the oil topped off, and the drain plug and oil filler sealed. They wanted to be sure there was no fraud on our part. So that's what we did.

It turned out after about 1400 miles we were 1 quart low. The Service Manager worked with the local representative - we believe - and ordered a short block. Not long after that, we had a new bottom end, rotating assembly and block installed. It's been about a month and so far so good...

I suggest if your vehicle has the same problem, follow the procedure described above. Be persistent, and professional, and keep in contact with the dealer and American Honda. 1 qt / 1000 miles is not an acceptable specification. Think about it: would you buy the car if they told you to expect to burn a quart of oil every 1000 miles? I think not.

I purchased my 2008 Accord with manual transmission with about 19K miles in July of 2009 as a Honda Certified Used Vehicle. Before the first oil change was indicated by the maintenance minder (which would read about 20% oil life LEFT at the time), the red "check oil" lamp would come on whenever I made a sharp turn. This would continue to happen with each successive oil change. I assumed this was because the oil in the oil reservoir would swish around due to momentum. I would immediately go in for an oil change. After about my 3rd premature oil change (the maintenance minder would always read 20% oil life when I'd start seeing the "check oil" lamp light up), I went to First Texas Honda in Austin, Texas and told a Service Manager about the issue. He advised that an oil consumption test would need to be performed. As of today, I've had three oil consumption tests. The first test showed that the engine burnt .8L of oil, the second test showed .4L was burnt, and today's test, .9L of oil.

After my second oil consumption test, I asked First Texas Honda what they could do for me since it was obvious that something is wrong with the engine. I even referenced this site and pointed out that one person, listed as complaint #59 under "2008 Honda Accord Excessive Oil Consumption", indicated that Honda had actually replaced the cylinders, piston rings, and VTC actuator on her 2008 Accord EX with 58K miles. The Service Manager said that up to 1L of oil being burnt was acceptable, per Honda. If the engine's oil capacity is 4.2L, the maintenance minder indicates that you don’t have to perform an oil change for 5K miles, and your engine is burning 1L of oil per 1K miles, it would mean that there would have absolutely no oil left in the engine during the last thousand miles of driving.

Frustrated, I contacted Honda Automobile Customer Service via the toll free number provided on Honda's Owner Link web site. The case manager who contacted me stuck to the "1L of oil consumption per 1K miles is acceptable" story. I pointed out that it didn’t make much sense for the car's maintenance minder to indicate 20% oil life left and, at the same time have a "low oil" indicator lit at the same time. She referred me to the Accord's owner's manual, which apparently directs owners to check their oil every time they fill up with gas (!!!). I responded that, if I had known that I would be expected to check my engine oil that frequently when I purchased the vehicle (my 4th Accord), that I wouldn't have bought the car. I went on to explain that there is something wrong with my car's engine, that I had come to expect quality products from Honda, and that, rather than help me with the issue, I was being referred to an obscure entry in the owner's manual which any reasonable consumer (or salesperson) would never focus on when going over the vehicle's qualities. I then referenced my two oil consumption tests, pointing out that the amount of oil consumption was not consistent (.8L and .4L, respectively) and that, the possibility of the engine consuming over 1L did not seem unreasonable. The Honda Case Manager said that the dealership was only required to perform 2 oil consumption tests and that, since neither test yielded consumption of over 1L, that Honda wasn't obligated to take any further action. What kind of customer service was this?

About 10 days after my call to Honda Automobile Customer Service, First Texas Honda contacted me, said that a Regional Manager had spoken to them about my case, and that I should bring my car in for an engine compression test. Hopeful that I would finally have some resolution to this issue, I dropped my car off at the dealership this morning. Four hours later, I got a call from the Service Manager. He told me, "Your compression test came back just fine!" When I asked him if they also checked on my oil consumption (it had been just under 1K miles since my last consumption test), he replied, "We had to add .9L of oil". I pointed out that this was more than the .8L and .4L that had been consumed in my previous 2 tests and the Service Manager again told me this was acceptable and that this was the 3rd oil consumption test - more than they were required to perform.

I'm nearly sick to my stomach with frustration. Looking at the data that the dealership itself has collected, it's obvious that the engine's oil consumption is not consistent. It would make sense to at least offer to continue monitoring the issue, but instead, I've been told that only 2 tests are "required" (despite the inconsistency). Is it because Honda is afraid that further tests might yield consumption that's above their 1L threshold? What's the scientific basis for 1L being an acceptable amount of oil consumption for 1K miles of driving? Why isn't .5L the threshold?

Since Honda is unwilling to help out a repeat customer, I will have to sadly and reluctantly steer away from their products (and encourage all of my friends and family to do the same). My next course of action: contact the BBB that the Honda Automobile Customer Service referred me to (in my owner's manual) and post my story on as many online forums as possible. This might not get my engine fixed, but at least it will educate the public as to what can be expected if they run into problems with a Honda.

Just called Honda Corporate and they confimed that consumption of one quart per 1000 miles is considered normal for the vehicle. Wow! I explained that means you will only have 1 1/2 quarts after 3000 miles and BEFORE the oil change light comes on which could cause engine damage over time since by the time the oil change light comes on you may almost no oil. I then called a dealer service dept. and explained how stupid this is. They basically said that the owner is responsible for checking the oil level and topping it off at regualr intervals, and the oil change indicator is more about maintaining the quality, but not the quantity of the oil.

Wow! Honda should put this in bold red print in their owner's manuals.

Update from Nov 14, 2011: So now after all the BS, they now have a recall to update the software to keep the Accord from burning oil. I also found a Honda service bulletin which recommends replacement of the Variable Timing Control to eliminate the 2 second grinding on cold start. This should be covered under the powertrain warranty..

I have been dealing with oil loss in my 2008 accord since probably 15,000 miles now at 44,000..multiple oil checks sometimes 1 qt / 1500 miles etc..last was computer update they said would fix the problem..

Basically they have acknowledged problem and after 3,000 miles driving I have 1.5 quarts of oil loss after the software update on my accord..Obviously their solution is not the answer.. Has anyone started a class action on them..I read where the 2010 were stopped being sold for a similar problem with oil loss..very tired of the constant oil checks at dealership with no solutions