I can't believe it!!! So my rebuilt transmission from December 2009 lasted 54,000 before going belly up again. Hard shift to 3rd. Starting to race at a stop sign. Honda Dealer said a re-manufactured transmission would be $5,080 (3,800 + special shipping). The Dealer had a transmission on the shelf that his Transmission Specialist had rebuilt for $3400 installed. The Aamco quote for the rebuild was $2,445 but that does not include hard parts, if needed. I tried to get it done under the warranty, because it just shouldn't be failing again! No go. But, I know the Aamco person doing the re-build this time (very good mechanic). Okay, so $1,350 in extra parts to make it last a long time per my friend. Hmmm, now the on-the-shelf one at the Dealer sounds like a better deal, but its a wash with the Aamco $450 to re-install if I change my mind. With tax it should be about $4,175 now! Crap. I still cant replace the HP for that cost (at least I paid it off in February 2012).

Aamco called me to say that they found evidence of radiator fluid in the transmission (housing). And that if I want this transmission to last I need to replace the radiator either with external radiator or replace the existing. Another $600. I believe my total will be close to $5,000 now. I'll add the radiator compliant separate. My guess is that was the problem that screwed up the original transmission and the 1st rebuilt one. This sucks!

I bought my HP because three people at work had them and raved about low repair history for Honda. I needed a new family car that I could depend on not having to fix and that could also get us skiing. I bought it with 59,000 from a private party. At 87,000 the transmission started to go out. Yes, it had fluid. The Honda Dealer also confirmed that some sort of 3rd gear "kit" had already been installed. The kit was only thing that could find out about back in 09. Aamco rebuilt the transmission and with the extra parts (of course) ended up costing a$100 more than the dealer. How frustrating! I like the HP a lot, but still... Ended up with a "free" 36/36 warranty.

Well my son drives a 2003 Honda Pilot which he purchased used with 70,000 miles on it-- now has 150,000 miles. Has not had lots of problems with the vehicle but has had to deal with a couple of recalls. He is living and working in the Boston area now-- from Oregon. Has been having some serious issues with car-- Honda dealership told him that it needs a new transmission at a cost of $ 6,000 ! They told him that it would be silly for him. to replace the transmission....hmmmmm . Wondering if they are just trying to get him to purchase a new vehicle. I have priced transmission replacement at various Honda dealerships here in Oregon and they quoted varying charges BUT were willing to price match!!! I believe that the Ma Honda dealership is NOT being totally honest with son--gee I wonder if they realize that he needs a reliable vehicle to drive back home to Oregon after he completes temporary work assignment.... can get transmission replaced in Oregon for $ 4,000 !!!

This is the third Honda Vehicle I have owned, and up until then never had an issue of this magnatude.

Without warning, the transmisson light came on, A/T Temp. There was no loss of fluid, but the transmission

just burnt up in it. After looking online i see ALOT of other customers have had the same issue out

of their 2003 honda pilot. I contacted HONDA.COM and because i never bought the vehicle new They would not help at all. The vehicle has 136,000 miles on it, and the person/supervisor at Honda stated they look at different things when seeing if they will help owners of hondas, like mileage, and if i bought the car new or Original Owner and keeping up with normal maintenance. All of these things are true But since i am not the original owner, its kinda like Honda Corporation is Prejudice against Pre-owned honda Vehicle Buyers.

My Honda pilot has cost me tons of money to fix every now and then. The latest dilemma is I brought my two kids,their grandma and my wife for Christmas shopping with my little military pay at loydminister Alberta from CFB Cold Lake .We had the Christmas shopping done and ready to go home ,my Honda pilot didn't start. I got stranded with 79 yr old grandma two kids and my wife in a very freezing cold weather.i had to towed away my Honda and go and rent a hotel for the night at cost of $107.00 and the next day which was Sunday there were no car rental place that opened so in order for us to get back to CFB Cold Lake I had to take a taxi which cost me $230.00. Now I'm all pay is done I'm now don't know how I'm going to spent the rest of the Christmas holidays with my kids . I also have four more days work and I have to take taxi to and from to work on top that.

What I'm intending to do now is I instructed the towing company to drop my vehicle to Honda loydminister and get it fixed by the recall.,since it is already listed as recall numbers S73 and S74.. Please help.

Transmission began slipping out of 2nd gear occasionally. The problem worsened and our local mechanic had it rebuilt.

Update from Oct 24, 2012: Transmission failed again about 2 years later at 140,000 miles. My local mechanic said his research revealed that hairline cracks in the transmission case can cause loss of pressure. Since he had done the work for the original transmission rebuild 2 years ago he offered to change this one out without charging labor. The dealer is charging $3,360 for a factory rebuilt transmission with a 36,000 mile parts-only warranty which my mechanic will put in without a labor charge. The parts guy at the dealer said that the original problem with these transmissions was a 4th gear oil piping that Honda recalled but the recall didn't completely fix.

This really seems like a Honda problem and I agree with others who suggest Honda should do more to compensate its customers for these faulty transmissions. On a good note, my mechanic is excellent, goes out of his way to offer low cost solutions, and always treats me fairly. The shop is called Triple-A Automotive in Davis, CA if anyone is interested.

The whole idea of buying a Honda was for mechanical reliability and longevity. An otherwise a great SUV but plagued by Tranny problems. Now that I have the issue, I am finding on the web that this is a common Honda Pilot issue. I was hoping to buy another Pilot (Almost did last weekend) but after reading the extant of the Pilot transmission problems, I have decided to go with either Toyota or ford.

Honda will loose reputation if they don't address these kind of issues. I am getting a quotes of $3500 to $4000 to rebuild the tranny.. the KBB value on this car is $4800. I really don't want to buy a new car. I was hoping a Honda will run till 200K miles. I service it regularly and change tranny oils every 30K miles. This is a unacceptable quality issue by Honda

Sam Seelam

Have always maintained Pilot to Honda Specs. Transmission started to have problems at 134,000 miles, beginning with low speed shifting problems. Local mechanic found trans fluid to be scorched. Got vehicle back on road. 7k miles later, trans fluid scorched again. Honda wants $5,600 for rebuild. NOT ACCEPTABLE. Cost of ownership on this vehicle has been atrocious, including motor mounts all coming apart at 110k mikes. Honda (so far) unwilling to step up. I can get nasty. Ironically, I have a `98 Acura TL with 240k miles that is a dream car. Pilot is a lemon. I will WIN!!!!

Had notice periodic "slips" after 140K miles and two separate local transmissions shops suggested not even touching it (e.g., not change fluid, etc.) because it was going to fail at some point due to history of this model.

Lost all gears about 2nd while on interstate and was fortunate to be in town; drove to transmission shop in 2nd gear. Got parts list and was amazed at what all to be replaced; they even showed me the parts and why.

$2950 parts, $1150 labor, and balance taxes, etc. Found out the shop I picked actually does the rebuilds for our local Honda Dealer. Got 12-month or 12K mile warranty.

Honda made defective automatic transmissions in the 2003 model year for the Pilot. These known quality defects should be addressed by Honda paying for the repairs. The cost for the repair is $4200 which is excessive. Owners need a class action lawsuit to punitively punish Honda for bad quality.

Update from Sep 24, 2012: Had the car repaired for $3100 - Honda offered a discount on the repair of abou8t $1200 - Transmission is a defective design so they should have replaced it for free. Purchased my last Honda. I have owned 6 in my lifetime

With such low mileage (70K), gentle use, regular maintenance done on the Pilot, the diagnosed transmission failure is a reflection of the deteriorating quality of Honda cars. Honda USA offered a mere 10% assistance to me with the replacement cost, but it would still cost us over $3 K to get it fixed. This is totally unacceptable to us!!

Update from Jan 27, 2012: Honda should be responsible for all transmission problems that occurred before vehicles reached 100,000 miles.

The transmission totally failed (began dumping copious amounts of black stinky smoke) while we were traveling 70 MPH on Interstate 95 with eight passengers, 400 miles from home. We got towed to a Honda dealer (in North Carolina) who saw the Maryland plates and the five kids and began salivating. The vehicle had just 71,000 miles. The quote was $5000 for replacement with a REBUILT transmission. We were stuck and had to accept, though they eventually reduced it to about $4800.

My wife almost lost control of the Pilot at full speed on I-95. I now know that the problems with Honda's transmissions from this era and even more recently are legendary, but are particularly bad for Pilots and Odysseys.

$4800 ($2900 for a rebuilt transmission) and $1900 labor is really over the top (I grew up in a shop). No transmission should fail after 70,000 miles. But on top of that, Honda GROSSLY overcharges for a rebuilt replacement and the dealers overcharge for the labor. They've taken their own defect, which harms consumers in and of itself, and turned it into a profit center that harm already screwed-over consumers even more.

I have been a loyal Honda customer for years, but will NEVER purchase another Honda or Acura product. Will happily joint a class action, and as an attorney, I think I'd have a lot to add.