1998 HONDA ACCORD Complaints

REC'D RECALL 98V018000 FOR POWER TRAIN: TRANSMISSION,AUTOMATIC: IGNITION INTERLOCK SYSTEM, AFTER CAR HIT A NEIGHBORS HOUSE, THE VEHICLE POPPED OUT OF GEAR. *BF THE CONSUMER REQUESTED REIMBURSEMENT. *SC THE CONSUMER RECEIVED A RECALL LETTER AFTER THE INCIDENT HAPPENED. *JB

AT 66,000 MILES THE TRANSMISSION BEGAN TO SLIP AND SHIFT GEARS ROUGHLY. WHEN I PUT THE CAR IN REVERSE IT WOULD "CLUNK". THEN AS I ACCELERATED I WOULD HAVE TO LET OFF THE GAS SO IT COULD SHIFT EACH GEAR. I TOOK IT TO A MIDAS SHOP FOR A TRANSMISSION SERVICE - NEW FILTER/FLUSH, ETC. THEY WOULD NOT DO ANYTHING BECAUSE IT WAS LEAKING FLUID. ANOTHER MECHANIC TOLD ME I NEEDED TWO NEW AXLES AND AXLE SEALS TO FIX THE LEAK. BY THAT TIME THE CHECK ENGINE INDICATO WAS ON SO I WANTED HONDA TO LOOK AT IT SINCE I HAD RESEARCHED THE PROBLEM AND FOUND MANY INSTANCES OF TRANSMISSION FAILURE AT LOW MILES. HONDA CARS OF COLUMBIA, SC SAID I NEEDED A NEW TRANSMISSION. THE COMPUTER DIAGNOSTIC CODE WAS PO740 TORQUE CONVERTER FAILURE. A HONDA ACCORD WITH ONLY 66,000 MILES SHOULD NOT NEED A NEW TRANSMISSION. I AM AWARE THAT HONDA RECALLED 2000 AND 2001 TRANSMISSIONS BUT NOT 1998,1999 OR 2002 EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE THE SAME TRANSMISSIONS. HONDA CUSTOMER RELATIONS' GOOD WILL ASSISTANCE SAID THEY WOULD NOT REPLACE IT SINCE I DID NOT PURCHASE THE CAR FROM A CERTIFIED HONDA DEALER OR PURCHASE AN EXTENDED WARRANTY. THE FACT THAT THEY HAVE "GOOD WILL ASSISTANCE" SHOWS THAT THEY KNOW THEY HAVE PROBLEMS WITH THEIR CARS. THEY HAVE REPLACED OTHER OWNERS TRANSMISSIONS, WHY NOT MINE?*AK

1998 HONDA ACCORD W/ 8 WAY POWER SEAT. HAVE HAD TWO WELD FAILURES OF FRONT TORQUE TUBE TO LIFT LEVERS. FIRST FAILURE WAS LEFT HAND CORNER TWO YEARS AGO. REPAIRED THIS BREAK MYSELF WITH TIG WELD, THE DEALER WOULD NOT WARRANT THIS REPAIR BECAUSE THE VEHICLE WAS BEYOND HONDA'S 36MO/36K WARRANTY. SECOND FAILURE OCCURRED ON CENTER LIFT LEVER THIS PAST NOVEMBER, 2004. MY SEAT FREELY AND LOOSELY ROCKS BACK AND FORTH THE NORMAL FRONT SEAT TILT TRAVEL. I ASKED MY LOCAL HONDA DEALER ABOUT THE REPLACEMENT MENTIONED BY HONDA IN DEFECT SUMMARY NHTSA ACTION NUMBER PE02072. I WAS TOLD MY ACCORD HAD TOO MANY MILES (140,000). MY REPLACEMENT COST FOR THIS OVER $300.00 OR DISASSEMBLE THE FRAME AND REDO ALL THE "COLD" WELDS. THE WELDS ON THIS SEAT FRAME ARE DEFECTIVE. NONE OF THEM APPEAR TO HAVE PROPER PENETRATION. THIS IS A SAFETY DEFECT, SIMILAR TO A DEFECTIVE SAFETY BELT. I HAVE NOT SEEN ANY COOPERATION FROM MY HONDA DEALER CONTRARY TO HONDA'S STATEMENT, THEY ARE NOT PROVIDING "...NO-COST REINFORCEMENT FOR THE SEAT...". *AK

I PARKED MY CAR IN MY DRIVEWAY FRIDAY NIGHT AND TOOK THE KEYS OUT OF THE IGNITION THE CAR WAS STILL IN DRIVE. THE CAR ROLLED DOWN MY DRIVEWAY, INTO THE YARD, AND HIT A TREE WITH NO ONE IN THE VEHICLE. SINCE THERE WAS NO KEY IN THE IGNITION THE AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. I DID SOME RESEARCH AND REALIZED THAT THERE HAD BEEN A RECALL ON MY CAR FOR THIS VERY REASON, BUT I HAD NOT BEEN NOTIFIED ABOUT THIS RECALL. I CONTACTED HONDA AND THEY SAID THAT I HAD NOT BEEN NOTIFIED BECAUSE THE CAR STILL HAD THE PREVIOUS OWNERS INFO IN THEIR SYSTEM. I BOUGHT THE CAR FROM A HONDA DEALERSHIP, YET THEY SAID THAT IT WAS MY RESPONSIBILITY TO CONTACT THEM TO CHANGE THE INFORMATION OVER TO ALLOW THEM TO CONTACT ME WITH RECALL INFORMATION. IS THERE ANYTHING THAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT THIS. WOULD HONDA NOT HAVE SOME RESPONSIBILITY IN THE ACCIDENT?*AK

RECALL CAMPAIGN: IGNITION SWITCH FAILURE. RECONNECT ALARM SYSTEM. *BF RECALL CAMPAIGN: THE CONSUMER COMPLAINED THAT SHE WAS CHARGED FOR SERVICE COMPLETED UNDER THE RECALL FOR HER VEHICLE. THE CONSUMER WAS CHARGED FOR THE SERVICE OF RECONNECTING THE ALARM SYSTEM THROUGH THE NEW WORKING PART INSTALLED. A FULL REFUND IS REQUESTED BY THE CONSUMER. THE RECALL ISSUE DEALT WITH THE IGNITION SWITCH INTERLOCK ON THE VEHICLE. *TC

THE HORN FAILED TO WORK INTERMITTENTLY. DEALERSHIP WAS NOTIFIED, BUT DID NOT RESOLVE THE PROBLEM. *AK

MY 1998 HONDA ACCORD'S MAINTENANCE HAS ALWAYS BEEN MAINTAINED REGULARLY AND SERVICED AT HONDA. I ONLY HAVE 49,000 ACTUAL MILES ON MY 98 HONDA. THE VEHICLE WILL LUNGE WHEN GOING FROM REVERSE TO DRIVE. ALSO, WHEN AT A COMPLETE STOP AND THEN BEGIN TO ACCELERATE, THE CAR WILL LUNGE. FURTHERMORE, WHEN ACCELERATING AT A LOW SPEED, THE VEHICLE WILL SEEM AS THOUGH IT IS IN NEUTRAL. IT WILL NOT ACCELERATE. I HAVE TO RELEASE THE GAS PEDAL AND KEEP PRESSING AND RELEASING THE GAS PEDAL UNTIL THE GEAR WILL MOVE. HONDA HAS NOW INFORMED ME THAT I NEED A NEW TRANSMISSION. CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS; A NEW TRANSMISSION ON A VEHICLE WITH ONLY 49,000 MILES? HONDA HAS AGREED TO REPLACE MY TRANSMISSION FOR NO CHARGE OF THE TRANSMISSION, BUT I HAVE TO PAY FOR THE LABOR COSTS. HONDA OBVIOUSLY KNOWS THERE IS A HUGE PROBLEM WITH THESE TRANSMISSIONS, WHY SHOULD I BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LABOR COSTS?I HOPE I'M NOT GOING TO GET THE SAME FAULTY TRANSMISSION REPLACED IN MY HONDA. THIS WEBSITE CONTAINS A LOT OF COMPLAINTS FOR A PROBLEM THAT COULD BE VERY DANGEROUS AND SHOULD BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY. HOPEFULLY, AND IN THE NEAR FUTURE, THERE WILL BE AN INVESTIGATION INTO THIS SERIOUS PROBLEM BEFORE THERE IS FATALITIES. *JB

WITH CLUTCH PRESSED DOWN WHILE CAR IN GEAR THE TRANSMISSION WOULD START TO ENGAGE. PROBLEM WAS OCCASIONAL AT THE BEGINNING, THEN WORSENED TO THE POINT VEHICLE WAS UNDRIVABLE. (1 YEAR PERIOD) TOOK TO LOCAL DEALERSHIP TWICE BUT THEY WERE CLUELESS TO ANY CAUSE. VEHICLE WOULD OFTEN STALL IN STOP AND GO TRAFFIC AND AT ANY LIGHTS. IF CLUTCH WAS PRESSED DOWN FOR MORE THAN 5 SECONDS WHILE IN GEAR THE HYDROLICS WOULD FAIL AND KILL THE ENGINE. SLAVE CYLINDER, CLUTCH HYDROLICS EVENTUALLY FAILED. DEALERSHIP REPLACED SLAVE CYLINDER AND LINE FOR OVER $500, CLUTCH NOW OPERATES FINE. DEALERSHIP HAD TO REPLACE WITH MODIFIED HONDA PARTS SINCE ORIGINAL SLAVE AND LINE REPLACEMENT PARTS WERE DEFECTIVE. CONTACTED AMERICAN HONDA FOR RELIEF DO TO FAULTY DESIGN/PARTS BUT REFUSED DUE TO ULTIMATE FAILURE OCCURRING OUTSIDE WARRANTY PERIOD. *AK

TRANSMISSION FAILED AT 79,000 MILES. CONSUMER THEN PURCHASED A NEW TRANSMISSION. CURRENTLY AT 106,000 MILES TRANSMISSION FAILED AGAIN. *AK

CONSUMER IS HAVING PROBLEMS WITH STARTING HIS CAR. WHEN TAKEN TO GET SERVICED, THEY COULD NOT DETERMINE THE PROBLEM.