(1) normal driving of my 1997 Honda Civic 4 door dx (2) the SRS light is now illuminated and has stayed illuminated for the last year - this means my airbags don't work. - dealer checked it out ($90 charge) and said that my SRS unit is completely dead and can't tell me why - car has never been wrecked - no problems with it other than this defect (pretty huge defect). (3) I've lodged a couple of complaints and never heard anything back on them. Several people post to message boards with same problem - this is an issue that needs to be addressed - I can't afford to buy a new car and am currently riding in a dangerous one because of defective equipment. Cost to fix this is > $1000... please help.

- Houston, TX, USA

I purchased an automatic 1997 Honda Civic ex from costa mesa Honda in costa mesa, ca on March 11, 2000. I purchased the vehicle with 27,000 miles on it. Today (2/6/03) the car has a total of 50,734 miles on it. I have personally only driven 24,000 miles in a total of 3 years. The transmission is toast and needs to be replaced. There have been transmission recalls/ warranty extensions on other Honda makes and models. The '97 Civic unfortunately is not one of them. I have taken my car to a mechanic not affiliated with Honda for a "second" opinion and the mechanic has stated that this should not be happening to such a "young" car with only 50,000 miles. He said that most vehicles don't experience transmission problems until they have reached an excess of 90- 100,000 miles. Based on the information he has gathered from my service records as well as the information provided from other sources, he believes that this is not a problem which I have caused. I feel that Honda should replace/fix the transmission free of charge or for minimal cost to me. They are stating that because I did not purchase an extended warranty (when I purchased my vehicle it still had the normal factory 3 year... 36,000 mile warranty in place). I feel that Honda is ripping me off by not working with me on this issue. Please note that I will never purchase another Honda and I will be sure that no one in my family or any of my close friends ever purchase a Honda. I would hate for other people to go through the same thing I am.

- Irvine, CA, USA