I bought this car new from the lot expecting to enjoy it for at least 15 years (I guessed I hoped for too much). I'm very upset because I have always believed in this line of cars I even bought last year 2010 honda civic as well. I just hung up with a honda customer service after seeing the number of reports and the only answer I got was, "there is nothing we can do, your warrantee ended in 2008". How is this possible??? Why if this is a problem with this model they refuse to assist their loyal customers??? I guess that will be the end for honda on my end. :- (

okay so I bought this car from the original owner for 2700.00, 2 days later the transmission went, paid for a completely rebuilt transmission along with torque converter, total cost 3200.00. Then had to have catalytic converter replaced. Car never really ran right after as it consistently didn't have much power. In September 2011 driving car and it disengaged and would not go into gear. Had the car towed and turns out the torque converter is no good again. I checked with the Honda dealer that the original owner purchased it from and was told that the torque converter was originally replaced at 60K miles. After searching on the internet this seems to be a common problem with this car that Honda will not acknowledge. I have every intention of asking the NY State Attorney General to investigate this problem. In my opinion this car was a lemon from the moment they purchased it from the dealer. So much for Honda reliability. I for one will never purchase a Honda vehicle again.

I bought my first Honda (Accord LX 5 speed) brand new in 1984, our daughter was born in the front passenger seat (hubby delivered her ;) ) and it had over 300,000 miles before before it "bought the barn" then we got a 1999 Honda Accord LX automatic and had that for about 5 years before a "so call" auto repair company screwed up the timing belt...grrr...

So, we got our Honda baby her 2nd car: the 2001 Honda Civic EX coupe... At about 75,000 miles the transmission gave out... The local Honda Dealerships told us it would cost 3000.00 to 6000.00 DOLLARS to get it fix depending if we rebuilt it or replace it with a brand new one. In addition, there are no recalls for the transmissions...

While we were saving the $$$$$ to get it fix, our son & daughter in law sold one of their cars to our daughter. We finally got the transmission rebuilt at AAMCO for about $2500.00.this summer.

Now we are unable to sell the car because who wants to buy rebuilt transmission Honda Civic EX coupe???

My question to Honda is why did you build a really crappy transmission and why haven't you do recalls for the crappy transmissions?

Honda is suppose have honor to their customers....

Honda you have lost "face" with this customer....

I take my car in for every single scheduled maintenance as well as regular oil changes. While driving in rush hour traffic and changing lanes on a major street the car slipped into idle and would not engage any of the gears. I barely managed to get to the side of the road without causing a major accident. When the tow truck came they checked the transmission fluid, which was present but very black, and said this was a problem they see a lot in that year Honda. Besides costing money I don't have to repair it, not having the car for the week it takes to repair it, I almost got into a severe accident. Contacting Honda for "goodwill assistance" and they will only cover it if I take it to their mechanic who had checked it a month prior during a recall repair. I have no confidence in the Honda repair center.

My Civic (113,000 miles on it) stopped running in the fast lane of the 101 Fwy in L.A. No indication of anything wrong; I depressed the gas pedal to accelarate and the engine only revved. By the grace of God, I made it across 4 lanes of heavy traffic and off the fwy. VERY DISAPPOINTED that the transmission crapped out. I thought Civics were tough little cars with a long life- that's why I bought it. Boy was I WRONG! $3400 for a new transmission at the Honda Dealer. My regulary mechanic told me that these new transmissions tend to fail fairly quickly after replaced. Definitely having second thoughts about buying another Honda.

I have a 2001 LX Civic, I bought it used with over 100,000 miles, but thinking it was a Honda, thought it would last. Something went wrong a few weeks ago with the radiator. The mechanic fixed it. Then the transmission went into failure a few days ago. First the mechanic said it was rack and pinion and he changed it, costing me $600. For some reason, it drove for a bit and then died dead in its tracks in the middle of traffic. I was hysterical. Fortunately there was a tow truck right there and he towed me back to the mechanic. Meantime I learned that rack and pinion problems would not have made the car stop going, evidently the mechanic misunderstood. The mechanic finally decided it was a transmission problem and I researched this and found this website, seeing it is a common problem with 2001 Honda Civics. The car has 188,000 but I see that the way honda made the Civics back then it will go bad again in another few thousand miles, even with a rebuilt transmission. I'd like to know how I can get some money for this Honda or will I just have to dump it.

I just had the engine mount and front end bushings replaced in my wife's '01 Civic that I use to commute to work 40 miles each way. Its been a great car in general and especially on gas lately, so we hoped to keep it until it rusted into the ground. Until tonight...

I was driving home on I-95 and had slowed down for traffic, when I stepped on the gas to re-accelerate, I noticed a loud revving and the "check engine" light was on. Even with the pedal pressed to the floor, the best I could do was 25 mph and noticed a burning smell. Fortunately, I was able to get off the highway and so far have only spent $40 to have it towed to my mechanic. I was puzzled because all I have heard about Civics is that they never die. After reading some of the other accounts here, this seems to be a common problem for this year/model. I know 120,000 miles isn't exactly new, but I sold my '95 Corolla 2 years ago with almost 170,000 and it was still going strong - (only sold it because we had a baby on the way and needed a bigger car). I really had expected more from Honda. If we have to pay $2000+ for a new transmission, might as well get a new car. I'm really disappointed.

As with all the other posters, I was driving to work and the transmission wouldn't shift past the first gear. It was revving very high in first and then it finally shifted. At the next light, it wouldn't engage at all. I turned it off, let it cool, and restarted and still nothing. It didn't matter if it was in D, D2, D3 - it wouldn't engage and the car just sat there.

I ended up having to get it pushed through the intersection and it is currently sitting on the side of the road while I research what to do about it. Considering that this specific issue is the first Google result when I search the generic 'transmission won't engage', I'm not feeling too great about the thousands of $'s I'm going to have to lay out.

From what I can see, it could be the torque converter, but if that has been failing for any length of time, then it could have screwed the whole tranny.

Honda, I was an evangelist for your brand, but after looking deeper into your recent history with tranny failures, and your lack of help with the issue (especially for the lower priced Civic's, which were left out of any and all admissions/settlements/recalls), you have lost my business for life.

Own a 2001 Honda Civic with a transmission that currently only works in reverse shift. No forward movement, and it all happened within a matter of minutes while trying to get moving at a stop light. Had a Ford Escort before. Transmission went at 64,000 miles. Had it rebuilt (don't want to mention names, but it is a very prominent chain of transmission shops). Transmission failed again after $2,000 and 7,000 miles. Honda's problem is almost the same. This was supposed to be a nice little reliable car. But I got only 75,000 miles out of it. Have no desire to visit a transmission shop to get it fixed. This car will be the best looking car in the junk yard. Too bad. So, now my black list includes both Ford and Honda. I was hoping not to face a car salesman at least for another few years. But looks like I have no choice. The biggest question is: Which model is the least lemon among all the lemons that are out there?

I'm not going to rant but rather inform everyone who has had a problem with the 01 Civic transmissions to do something about this problem. CONTACT the office of Defect Investigation (part of the NHTSA) at 888-327-4236 and register your complaint. I'm shocked that I've read so many complaints yet when I spoke to their representative only 2 other people had filed complaints! By the way, these people are like the FDA- they are the ones who take Honda and other automakers to court to issue recalls. So please people, call the number above and formally file complaints about this transmission problem. In the worst case we may get reimbursed for the fix, best case we may save a life over a potentially huge problem.

Then if you're feeling really proactive, once you get a complaint confirmation # with the ODI, call your state Attorney General's office about the issue (they will ask if you have contacted ODI). The only way something will happen is if instead of just griping about it, we do something about it!

I must say I feel better knowing I am not the only one experiencing this problem with the transmission on the honda. I am a first time honda owner the car was given to my daughter and we have kept up on all the maintance and I was very surprised when the transmission went out without warning. Like all the other comments listed my daughter was driving when the car's power just died. I had it taken to a transmission shop for diagnostics an the cost to repair was quoted as $3,000 which I don't have. but with all the advice on this site I will try the goodwill approach. If there's a lawsuit count me in. Honda if you are reading this you need too do the right thing and replace these bad transmssions.