I bought my 2008 accord used at 69000+ miles, drove it home and on a cold start heard a rattle in engine. Took it back to the dealer the next day and they had to put a new timing chain, and oil pump in it. They also did the program for the oil consumption issue. They told me I was good to go. That was Sept 9th 2011, on Oct 12, 2011 my cars oil light flashed we thought this may have been a glitch but my husband decided to check the oil the next morning before leaving for our 50 mile drive to work and there was no oil on the dipstick. I called the Honda dealer and told them of the issue and they wanted to see the car ASAP. It is now in the shop getting the engine town down to get picture to send to Honda so they can decide how to fix. Thank god for the certified pre owned or I would be screwed... This is my 5th Honda so I am a little nervous that maybe since 2002 which was the year of my last accord the quality has changed??? They are also looking at a braking issue, when you hit the brakes the front end of the car feels like it is floating around, the headlight issue (known problem but my dealer said that should not happen), and a rear strut sound that is not normal. Hoping for the best outcome.. I have not even made my first payment yet and this car has been in the shop 3 times????

From all the comments I have read, I have the same exact problem. I am an owner of a 2008 Accord V6, and I am extremely unsatisfied. After running the oil consumption test over a dozen times, Honda Services and American Honda were no help to me. How does a low emissions car burn over half a quart every 1000 miles??? that's ridiculous. I have a Toyota Tundra that does not even burn that much ever after 5000 miles!!! what is going on HONDA!! Makes me upset because I could have gotten another TOYOTA or even a HYUNDAI!! I had a SATURN and even it had less problems. WTH?!! and the answer I get from honda is that burning oil isn't a problem?? are you kidding me?? case action law suit sounds necessary at this point.

Unsatisfied Honda Customer,

Khanh

P.S. - F. you honda. I believed but not anymore...

I am also having the same issue with my 2008 Honda Accord EXL. The car has 78,000 miles. The excessive oil consumption started around 65,000 miles The oil change before the last I checked my fluids in my car and found the oil level to me 1.5 qts low. At my next oil change I asked the service manager about this but he just said that it is normal for the car to burn 1qt every 1000 miles like the rest of you stated. I am assuming Honda Corp as directed them to say this.Went on vacation and red light came on and I checked dipstick no oil showed. I took to a dealer 600 miles from our home. Dealer gave me answer as other dealer. I put 2500 miles on car and red light came on and again no oil on dipstick. Now they tell me I need a software update. I bought the extended warranty when new to 80,000 miles. I hope Honda takes care of problem. If any has info on how to get this taken care of please post. Thanks

I have a 2008 Honda Accord EX Sedan 3.2 V6 and it is burning about 1 quart of oil every 2-3k miles. At my last oil change, the person changing the oil said that when he checked the oil BEFORE the oil change, the oil wasn't even on the stick. He checked for leaks, but did not find any. He also pointed out the oil residue on my tail pipes, it was significant. I called the dealer and asked if there were any recalls on my Honda and they said no. The person also told me that Honda considers it within "normal specs" to burn 1 quart every 1k miles. I told him that was absolutely absurd, new cars should burn oil!!! I had a '92 Honda Accord EX that leaked oil (as it got much older) and I didn't need that much oil!!

I spoke to a mechanic and he stated that it may be the piston rings. I may get the explanation wrong, but I guess the piston rings are supposed to keep the gas and oil separate and maintain a certain pressure within the piston. If that certain amount of pressure isn't maintained, then the oil will (leak?) and burn off.

To say that I am disappointing in Honda is an understatement. I have owned a '79, '87 and '92 Honda with no major problems. I don't believe that one bad year at Honda defines the quality, but their lack of attention to the problem and customer service does.

Purchased the car used from a dealer in Nov 2010, carfax was clean. In January the car started having difficulty shifting. The RPMs would go up but the car wouldn't shifte gears and then it would sudddenly shift and the RPMs would go back to normal. The ride was very rough when this occured. Took the car to Honda and they said it just needed oil. I was surprised that after just 2 months the car would be low in oil but whatever. 3 months later, same shifting problem started. I checked the oil and had to add several quarts. In May, same symptoms again. Oil changed May 19th prior to a 600 mile trip, car ran fine. Week of June 19th the car started with the same symptoms again. Once again the oil was extremely low despite the "Oil Life Indicator" saying 80% and no other warning lights indicating a problem. Took the car back to Honda and the service tech told me the ame as most other reports I've seen on line - IT IS NOT ABNORMAL TO USE 1 QUART OF OIL FOR EVERY 1000 MILES. That is bull..., I have had 2 other accords and my daughter owns the same car and none of those EVER required the addition of oil between oil changes every 3000-5000miles. They now want me to bring the car in every 500 miles to track the oil usage. I guess it's a start but obviously honda has a problem!!!!!

I was very concerned when I took my car in for a routine oil changed and was informed that it was two quarts low on oil. The gentleman who checked the oil level told me that the level did not even show up on the dipstick. I was required to sign a waiver before they would actually change the oil. There was no leak apparently. I was not aware that there had been problems with this make of Honda. I felt devastated because like many others I had purchased a Honda (our third in the family) because of their reputation for longevity. We have had the car for less than 3 years and make our final payment in two months. This is not what we expected. We have also been disappointed with durability of interior trim. Leather upholstery has not worn well.

In August of 2011 Honda has issued a recall for excessive oil consumption. I ran through 2 quart of oil in 10k miles. Last time I checked the oil, there was nothing on the dipstick, I put in 2 quarts and it barely got to the acceptable lever. I took my car in as I thought it was leaking or burning up the oil because of bad seals or whatever, but as I got to the Honda dealer they right away told me about the recall that involved a system update. After the update the problem was completely fixed. My gas mileage improved by about 100 miles per tank. Car has a much better pick up. There is another recall for transmission as well, if you take your car in, ask for both. Best part, I didn't have to spend a $.

This oil disappearing act is driving me crazy. I went to the Honda dealer, who has done ALL of the maintenance on my car so far and they looked at me like I was nuts. I had barely a drip of oil on my dipstick. The only notice I got was a minor flicker of the oil light. Now I know why my car was making that buzzing noise under the hood. NO friggin oil in the car. Then since I am female.....the wise a$$ at the shop turned the key to the accessories and asked me if that was the buzzing I heard?!?!? Are you kidding me. I was ready to deck him.

I cant wait to go back on Monday with all of the posts from this site printed out to throw in his face. I too am doing the "oil consumption test" but wont be for long. I am getting rid of this piece of junk. SOOOOOO disappointed. I've had 2 other Honda's that I kept for a long time and wanted to pay this one off too.... that's obviously not gonna happen. Too many other problems for a car with so few miles. I drive to often alone at night in the car and dont want to be alone on the highway broken down. Honda YOU should be ASHAMED of yourself and this car.

I currently lease this car (Thank God). Noticed the oil light come on at a stop light. Checked oil dipstick when I arrived at home....nothing on the dipstick. Purchased some oil and added 3 litres just to get it to the add mark. I had 8000 Km's on the motor since the last oil change since Honda won't let me bring it in until the oil life is at 15%, which is usually around 13000 Km's for this car. I went to Honda the next day and just like alot of people here they wanted to do an oil consumption test. I did 5 tests and on the average it used 1.5 litres every 2000 Km's. The last test I checked the dipstick when the engine was cold and it had 1900 Km's on it and the dipstick reading was about 1 inch under the add mark, barely showing on the dipstick. After I took it to Honda they said they only added 3/4 of a Litre? That brought it a little past the add mark when I checked it with him. I said you could easily add another 3/4 to get it to the full mark. He said nothing and walked away. They send this in to honda then to show I don't use as much as I state. Now this is the first honda I ever owned and will never purchase another. I am just glad I lease this car and get to give it back in 7 months. By the way we had a friend purchase the same car 3 weeks later and she is having the same problem at 35000 Km's. My problem is still being reviewed by Honda.

OK, so Ive been having the same problem with excessive oil consumption and I've been doing the same thing which is bringing the vehicle back over and over so they can check and monitor my oil. Initially they told me that is was completely normal for my car to have a dry dipstick after 5000 miles and only wanted to charge me for an oil change. Until I talked to the service manager and sat him down and explained to him that I knew about cars and knew that its not normal for cars to consume this much oil, after which he agreed to start monitoring my oil. After 2100 miles I was down to the lower dot on my dipstick and as i'm bringing it in the service manager tells me they are doing a "recall" software update on my vehicle and the recall is labeled oil consumption. I'm not sure how a software issue can make an engine burn oil and I will ask him when i go pick my vehicle up today. He said that the recall is new and just came out last week i believe. So my recommendation is bring your vehicle in to the dealer and ask for the software to be upgraded. Fingers and toes crossed hoping this will fix my issue, I highly doubt it though, but you never know.

Update from Oct 4, 2011: Ok, so the software update HAS NOT FIXED this problem. I just checked my oil today and I noticed that my dip stick is once again completely bone dry. Seems to be a more serious issue than just software. This is something that I have assumed from the begining since I do know about cars and know that a car that consumes this much oil and has no leaks, there has to have something mechanically wrong. I've always noticed that the exhaust tip was extremely black. A key sign of excessive oil burning in the engine and when I asked then service rep he informed me that this issue was "completely normal". I have not brought my vehicle back to the dealer yet but I am planning on it soon and I will keep you guys updated with any further info.

Update from Oct 17, 2011: OK so, I brought my car back to the dealer and informed them that the excessive oil consumption problem has NOT been fixed. I was supposed to meet with the service manager but I arrived late and he was on his way out the door when I arrived. He told me that I should bring the car back in a few days when he had time to look at it and at that time I asked if they could "top off" my oil as I didn't feel comfortable driving the car with such low oil. They took my car to the back and had it for about an hour and a half. They still would not admit that there was a problem and started that they "think" they see a leak and they added a dye to my oil to see if my engine was leaking. They also informed me that I was only a quart and a half low. I found this very hard to believe as there was only a 1/8 inch of oil on the dipstick. The engine itself only hold 4 1/2 quarts of oil which would mean there is 3 quarts in the pan that is not even being shown on the dipstick. I was told to bring it back in 1000 miles and have the oil checked again. It seems that I am on a oil consumption test again and they are still refusing to admit that my car is burning oil. If I had a leak, and leaked a quart and a half in less 1000 miles there would be oil under my car everywhere that i parked. There isn't. This car design was a lemon and Honda is refusing to admit that. First the brakes now the oil and mutiple other complaints all over this website have been hitting like clock work for me and I'm sure they will be for any other owner of this vehicle. This is very frustrating for a first time new car buyer and a long time faithful buyer of used Hondas. I will be keeping you all updated in the coming weeks.

Update from Dec 4, 2011: New update, I'm at about 40,000 miles now and I brought my car back to the dealer because it was time for an oil change and once again the oil was low! surprise surprise. So when I brought my car in this time they stated not only would they do an oil service but that this time they would do a compression test and a leak down test on my car! (Finally a step towards diagnosing the problem!) Unfortunately I got bad news on my return. My car passed the compression test and typically they will only do a leak down test if it fails the compression test but they did a leak down test on my car as well just to be safe. My car passed the leak down test as well. They said at this time this is as much as they could do and when I asked them how low I was they said my oil mark was at the minimum and that this was fine since it was time for an oil change. At that time I reminded them that I had been topped off 3 times in between oil changes and the amount of oil that I was low was low only after 2000 miles! This didnt seem to matter to them as the only thing they recommended to me was taking it to another dealer for a second opinion. Well i'm not doing it i've had it. I'm not starting the whole process all over again with another dealer! From now on I'm just gonna check my oil and keep track of the oil that I am burning myself. All I can say is please be patient everyone a class action IS in the works. I'm currently speaking with the same law firm that handled the rear brakes lawsuit and they seem to be extremely interested in picking this one up as well. So keep your fingers crossed everyone I think legal help may finally be on the way!

I have the same problem and the same response from the dealer and Honda Corp. as the others with this complaint. I noticed that my car was burning oil at about 38000 miles. The dealer and I have been monitoring the consumption ever since. I have 51000 miles on it now and the last we checked it went through a quart of oil in 1700 miles. Honda just came out with a service bulletin # 11-049 which recommends to the dealer to upgrade HDS Software. It states "the fuel injector timing and VTC timing at cold start may create deposits on the oil control rings that could contribute to increased oil consumption." Not sure where we all go from here but I'm hoping Honda takes care of the problem.

Add me to the list of dissatisfied Honda Accord 2008 owners! I went to the dealer for an oil change and was told that the engine noise I was reporting to them was connected to low oil in the engine. After further discussion, I was told that "it is within specs for a Honda Accord engine to use up a quart every 1,000 miles". My experience with newer vehicles tells me that an oil change should occur every 5,000 miles or so.

How has Honda set back the entire auto industry!?

I am pissed because up until now I had heard great things about Hondas now with one trip to the dealer I am told that we make lemons and lower acceptable standards because our engines are subpar - ridiculous.

I took my car in for another oil change yesterday after 3,000 miles. This non dealer mechanic said I had 2.5 quarts in the engine and this was not good. I have used 2 quarts in 3,000 miles (not the worst story on this page but still crap). I told my mechanic what the dealer had said and he smiled and shook his head. I asked him if this was normal for a car engine to consume that much and he said no. The engine obviously is not working on an efficient level and this means closer monitoring, more frequent oil changes at more expense and possibly greater chance of engine damage due to low oil that is not caught beforehand. Just unacceptable - how does Honda keep a reputation when they produce this crap and spin it by saying this performance is within "our specs". WTF

Same issue as everyone else. Bought my 08 Accord new, car had excessive oil consumption. Took it into the dealer to see what was going on. I was told they would have to do an oil consumption report. Car was burning around 3 to 3.5 liters of oil per 5000 approx km's. They said that's pretty normal for Hondas, perhaps a touch on the high side (LOL thanks Honda.... DUH!). Anyways they said they would take apart the whole engine, and check it out for the cause. I got a call after two days and they said they were replacing everything in the engine except the head. Perfect! I thought, it should now be fixed. When I picked up the car I of course asked the service manager what was causing it, he replied with "well we didn't find anything wrong with it" hmmmm okkkkay? It's a car, a cause should be able to be found. Anyways while waiting for my car to be brought around I talked to one of the service techs about it and mentioned how it's weird they didn't find anything. He looked at me like I was nuts and said the pistons or cylanders (can't remember which it was) were too small, and was causing the oil to leak and be burnt in the engine (hence no oil leaking signs). He told me apparently they have some kind of metal disks that they put on the top of this part to see any imperfections, and the disks are needed because imperfections are usually so slight. According to him they didn't even have to use this disk to see this part of the engine was to small. I've read earlier in a post about teflon flakes scratching the cylanders and perhaps that made them too small, which could cause oil to leak, OR could this be a bad batch of parts that were put into the first 08 Accords? I never called the service manager on his apparent lie as I didn't want to cause issues in case I needed this issue readdressed and also so not to get the service tech in sh*t. I have however since reported everything to Honda Canada Customer Relations, and their looking at granting me extended warranty incase my car has any other issues with this.

Anyone from CANADA having the same issue, contact Honda Can. Relations. For people in the US there should be a similar thing for you guys. Also anyone in Canada who's not getting any help with this from Honda I'd suggest contacting CAMVAP. They are really helpful and once you file a complaint it's between Honda(not the dealership) CAMVAP and you. The more people that report this is what's going to cause Honda to act. This is the same issue with the rear brakes everyone had. When I first reported it to Honda they said it was totally normal, then a few months later I get a cheque in the mail because Honda finally acknowledged their screw up!

Having the same problem here.

I bought my 08 accord (manual transmission) used last summer with 42K miles on it, and took me until now to discover this, only because I was stretching the oil change this time to 5K miles instead of traditional 3K.....I would get a rattling metal on metal sound as I shifted through the gears in the first 5-10 miles of driving...

Talked to my mechanic, who got on the phone with American Honda directly. Honda standing by their "specs" that it is normal to burn 1 qt per 1000 miles.... Crazy and Unacceptable!

They are doing an Oil Consumption Test for FREE for me (checking oil, documenting how much burned off, and then topping off the oil every 1000 miles for the next 3000 miles, so that I can walk into Honda with something more concrete in my hand, plus they mentioned they've logged a case with Honda on my car's behalf, so it's in "the system", (whatever that means...).

I just hit the first 1000 miles this week, and sure enough I was 1 qt low. For now, the plan is to go to Honda after my 3K miles are up, and show them my mechanics documentation to see how they respond.

I am disappointed that Honda hasn't come clean to acknowledge the problem and do the right thing in fixing this problem for their customers. It goes a long way in brand loyalty....I wonder how the 2008 Camry's are doing???? hmm?

I guess Honda needs to see more complaints first...so here's one more!

After reading others problems regarding the oil consumption on their 2008 honda accords, I am very upset. I have had my car back to the dealership 3 times now doing that stupid oil consumption test or whatever. They are still looking for the problem....Well if it's not leaking out of the car...the engine must be using it somewhere...Every trip to the dealership is 60 miles one way. I THOUGHT I bought a reliable car. This is my second honda. Boy am I glad i found this site and will be calling my dealership in the morning and asking them if they are aware of how many 2008 accords this is happening too....

My story is really no different, but here it goes:

Since June of 2010, I've been hearing my engine begin making the worst rattling/clicking/scraping noise upon start-up. This same noise would occur between first and second gear and would stop making that noise once the car heated up.

After a couple days of this happening, I finally asked a buddy mechanic of mine to check out what was up with my car. He checked the oil level and noticed that it had depleted to half of its normal requirement. My oil life indicator showed that my oil life was at 40% (a little over 3,500 miles since last oil change). He then checked for leaks and couldn't find any. I hadn't noticed any leaks from my car prior to my buddy checking things out, nor after I was aware of the oil getting depleted somewhere. He said that the car may be leaking and to just get an oil change. So I did, but didn't mention anything to Honda because it wasn't a recurring thing.

By winter (2010), the noise started happening again. In fact, the red oil light lit up along with the start of the car. So, I texted another mechanic friend about the issue. He mentioned that since it was so cold outside, the oil can sit and get thick and hard if not heated up fully. He mentioned to just make sure that the car was heated up enough before driving it each time. That method worked for a bit, but a few weeks later, the noise started happening more consistently upon startup and between first and second gear until the car had warmed up. So, I took the car by that second mechanic buddy, and he checked the oil levels. He noticed that the oil life was significantly low - more than a quart low! His response was: Dude! Someone is jipping you on your oil changes! So, he topped off the oil and suggested that if this problem occurs again, to take it to Honda. Since my oil life indicator was at 50% at this point, I didn't hear any nasty noises from my engine at the time of my next oil change (10% oil life).

I had Honda change the oil, mentioned the noises, but couldn't show them the noise (my car was warm by the time I arrived at the dealership). They hadn't heard anyone else complain about this same issue, so they just changed the oil and asked me to bring the car in again if the noise persisted.

March 2011 rolls around, and my stupid car starts making the noise again. I informed that second mechanic friend of mine about the noise. He said something is seriously wrong with the engine if this keeps happening. He said that based on my description of the noise and the fact that there is no leaking at all, then something inside the engine is burning the oil. He thought perhaps pistons or valves were burning the oil. He suggested to try putting in Honda Synthetic Oil as it doesn't burn as easily. So, I took it to Honda right away (oil life was at 60% at this point). I told them everything my friend suggested, but they scoffed at the thought that it could be piston or valve issues. So, I had them check for any leaks. They couldn't find any. I asked to have the synthetic oil put in the car and they agreed that would be a good test. Keep in mind that the oil life was at 60% and the engine had already burned off about 1.5 quarts of oil.

The noise again started making the scraping/rattling/cluthy-grinding/metallic noises on May 1, 2011. I took the car to Honda on May 2, 2011 and they couldn't explain any of this. They again checked for leaks and found none. At this point, the engine had burned ALL of the oil (this is two months after my previous oil change with synthetic oil!) - "All" meaning the dipstick wasn't showing any visible oil. At this check up, Honda came back to me and suggested that I bring in the car after 1,000 miles were driven (sound familiar anyone?!). They said that it could be "possible piston ring siezed-burning oil or valve guides/seals worn. [Customer] Will need to do engine overhaul if problem persists." Exact quote from my visit on paper from Honda. They mentioned that this work would be a minimum cost of $3,000 to tear apart the engine to find the issue. That's when I searched online to see if any other individuals were having this same issue. That's when I found this awesome site.

So, I'm in contact currently with the Honda Dealership that I purchased the car from back in 2008. This Honda is a different dealership than where I live, so this is their first time hearing about this issue. I hope that they take things seriously and that Honda does something drastic about this issue for all '08 Honda Accord owners. I fully expect that, even though I'm out of my factory warranty, that Honda fixes this all on their dime. I have taken great care of this car mechanically.

I'll report back once I find out this weekend what will happen when the dealership I purchased the car from checks things out.

If this many people are reporting this issue, I can't imagine how many more aren't reporting this issue.