2003 HONDA ACCORD Complaints

THE CONSOLE LIGHT WHICH DISPLAYS THE RADIO/CD PLAYER, AND ALL TEMPERATURE CONTROLS (AC, HEAT, DEFROSTER, ETC.) DOES NOT WORK. I UNDERSTAND THE WARRANTY WAS EXTENDED TO SEVEN YEARS OR 100,000 MILES WHICHEVER COMES FIRST. UNFORTUNATELY, I HAVE EXCEEDED THOSE LIMITS. HOWEVER, THIS IS A SAFETY PROBLEM/DEFECT AND SHOULD BE FIXED. THE DEALER QUOTED A PRICE OF $1,000. *TR

I HAVE A 2003 HONDA ACCORD EX V6. ABOUT TWO MONTHS AGO I STARTED FEELING THE CAR WASN'T FEELING RIGHT. AS I WAS DRIVING, IT FELT LIKE THE GEAR SHIFT HAD BEEN KNOCKED DOWN IN TO NEUTRAL, BUT WAS STILL ACTUALLY STILL IN DRIVE. WHEN THIS HAPPENED, THE RPM'S WOULD GO UP AND THE CAR FELT LIKE IT WASN'T GOING ANYWHERE, JUST COASTING, THEN IT SEEMED TO JUST JOLT BACK TO WHERE IT SHOULD BE. THE PROBLEM WASN'T HAPPENING EVERY TIME I DROVE, BUT RECENTLY IT STARTED HAPPENING MORE OFTEN AND FOR LONGER PERIODS OF TIME. I TAKE THE CAR TO ONE PLACE TO HAVE ALL MY WORK DONE ON IT, SO I TOOK IT THERE, BUT THEY FELT THE PROBLEM MIGHT BE INTERNAL AND RECOMMENDED I TAKE IT TO A TRANSMISSION SHOP. THEY DID DIAGNOSTICS ON THE CAR AND DROVE IT. THE RESULT, THE CAR IS GOING INTO TRANSMISSION FAILURE. THE TRANSMISSION FLUID IS BLACK AND BURNED AND HAS DEBRIS IN IT, AND THEY SAID THAT THE CLUTCHES ARE ALSO BURNED. THEY WON'T KNOW THE COMPLETE PICTURE UNTIL THEY TAKE THE TRANSMISSION APART AND GET A GOOD LOOK. IT IS 5 DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS, I DON'T HAVE THE MONEY TO FIX IT OR WE WILL NOT HAVE ANY CHRISTMAS AND NOW I HAVE NO TRANSPORTATION TO DO ANYTHING! SOOOO FRUSTRATED. I THOUGHT HONDA'S WERE SUPPOSE TO BE SUCH GOOD CARS, BUT I HAVE HAD NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS WITH THIS ONE. IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE A TRANSMISSION SHOULD GO OUT AT 113,000 MILES AND I HAVE HAD SO MANY PEOPLE SAY THE SAME THING. NOW THAT MY TRANSMISSION IS GOING OUT, I READ UP ON IT AND FIND OUT THERE WAS A RECALL IN 2004 FOR THE 2003 HONDA ACCORDS. WHY, AM I JUST FINDING OUT ABOUT THIS?? *TR

AT 55 MPH ON HIGHWAY, CAR SUDDENLY SLIPPED OUT OF GEAR AND RPMS SPIKED UP. NO FORWARD POWER. HAD TO COAST ON TO THE SHOULDER AND SHUTOFF AND RESTART THE CAR. PROBLEM CONTINUED ON THAT TRIP BUT SEEMED OK THEREAFTER. BROUGHT TO DEALER BUT NOTHING FOUND. OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS PROBLEM HAS OCCURRED EVERY SO OFTEN UNPREDICTABLY (NO PATTERN) DESPITE CHANGING TRANSMISSION FLUID AND STAYING CURRENT ON MAINTENANCE. INCREASED IN FREQUENCY AT 100K MILES. MOST DAYS THE CAR IS FINE BUT THEN THE PROBLEM WILL OCCUR SUDDENLY. HAS HAPPENED WHEN MERGING ON TO HIGHWAYS, WHEN ALREADY AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS AND SOMETIMES SHORTLY AFTER ACCELERATING FROM A STOP AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT OR STOP SIGN. OCCASIONALLY HAPPENS WHEN YIELDING (I.E. SLOWING DOWN FOR A YIELD SIGN AND THEN TRYING TO ACCELERATE AGAIN). *TR

DRIVING UP TO THE HIGH DESERT AT 70 MPH THE TRANSMISSION DROPPED OUT OF 5TH TO 1ST AND BACK TO GEAR 4 TIMES TELL ONLY SECOND AND FIRST GEARS ONLY WORK. THERE WAS NO WARNING OF A PROBLEM TELL THIS TIME. I COULD OF BEEN IN A SEVER ACCIDENT, IF I WOULD OF LOST CONTROL OF THE CAR AT THIS SPEED OR SOMEONE WAS TO CLOSE TO ME AN HIT ME FROM GOING 70MPG TO 10MPG IN LESS IN A SECOND. THIS CAR ONLY HAS 89K ON IT AND SHOULD NOT BE HAVING A PROBLEM LIKE THIS . THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY PROBLEM WHEN A CAR JUST LOCKS UP AT FREEWAY SPEEDS . HONDA SHOULD DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS. THERE ARE A LOT OF ONLINE FORUMS WITH JUST THIS PROBLEM IF I WOULD OF KNOWN ABOUT THIS I WOULD NOT OF PICKED THIS CAR. I DRIVE A LOT OF MOUNTAIN ROADS AND FREEWAYS. IF THIS WOULD OF HAPPEN ON A MOUNTAIN ROAD GOING UP ARE EVEN DOWN I MAY NOT BE HER RIGHT NOW TO SEND THIS COMPLAINT. I WOULD BE PART OF THE MOUNTAIN SIDE. THIS NEED IMMEDIATE ATTENTION, JUST LIKE WITH FORD HAVING TIER PROBLEMS,TOYOTA HAVING THERE PROBLEM WITH SAFETY ON THE VEHICLES THIS ONE THAT NEED ATTENTION. *TR

VEHICLE TRANSMISSION SHIFTED FROM ~3RD-4TH GEAR WHILE DRIVING AT A CONSTANT 40 MILES PER HOUR IN TRAFFIC TO 1ST GEAR CAUSING VERY RAPID DE ACCELERATION (SUFFICIENT TO CAUSE ITEMS ON REAR DECK TO FLY FORWARD, SEAT BELTS TO LOCK, AND DRIVER TO HIT STEERING WHEEL) AND CAUSING OTHER DRIVERS TO BRAKE TO AVOID COLLISION. DRY PAVEMENT PREVENTED LOSS OF CONTROL. ACTION BY TRAILING DRIVERS (SPACING AND BRAKING) PREVENTED COLLISION. FOLLOWING INCIDENT, TRANSMISSION REMAINED LOCKED IN FIRST GEAR. TRANSMISSION FIRST LOCKED INTO FIRST GEAR (AS ABOVE) ON AUGUST 18, 2012. ON AUGUST 21, 2012 THE DEALER RETURNED THE VEHICLE AFTER ASSERTED THE TRANSMISSION HAD NOT FAILED AND REQUIRED ONLY FLUSHING AND CHANGING TRANSMISSION FLUID (TRANSMISSION FLUID HAD BEEN FLUSHED AND CHANGED IN 2010 AS SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE LESS THAN 12,000 MILES OF THIS FAILURE). DEALER CHARGED MORE THAN $250 FOR THIS SERVICE AND STATED VEHICLE WAS FULLY REPAIRED. SECOND DANGEROUS FAILURE OCCURRED WITHIN 5 MILES. HONDA DEALER REFUSED TO REFUND THE COST OF WORK RESULTING FROM FAULTY DIAGNOSIS WHICH PLACED A DANGEROUS FUNCTIONING TRANSMISSION BACK INTO USE. TRANSMISSION RECALLED IN 2004 AND MODIFIED BY DEALER PURSUANT TO TRANSMISSION LUBRICATION PROBLEMS. HONDA DEALER PROVIDED ALL STATE INSPECTIONS AND PERIODIC MAINTENANCE. HONDA NORTH AMERICA REFUSED TO REPLACE DEFECTIVE AND DANGEROUSLY FUNCTIONING TRANSMISSION. THE DEALER HAS AGREED TO REPLACE THE TRANSMISSION WITH A RE-MANUFACTURED TRANSMISSION FOR $2500. THE OWNER BELIEVES THIS FAILURE IS RELATED TO THE PREVIOUS RECALL. VEHICLE HAS ONLY BEEN USED FOR LIGHT DUTY, HAS NEVER BEEN USED FOR TOWING, AND ALL SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE HAS BEEN PERFORMED BY DEALER. THE MODE OF FAILURE WAS VERY DANGEROUS. A RECALL SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AND TRANSMISSIONS WITH THIS MODE OF FAILURE REPLACED BY MANUFACTURER. INVESTIGATION IS REQUESTED.

I WAS DRIVING IN A SIDE STREET FOR LIKE 35 TO 40MPH. AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN MY CAR SHIFT TO LOWER GEAR VIOLENTLY HEN WHEN I'M ABOUT TO PARK I SHIFTED IT TO REVERSE BUT MY CAR WILL NOT MOVE. FOR LIKE A YEAR ONLY I REPLACED MY TRANSMISSION FLUID AND CHECK IT EVERYTHING LOOKS FINE. AND I TALKED TO ONE OF THE DEALER CLOSE TO MY PLACE THEY TOLD ME ITS NOT COVERED WITH WARRANTY ANYMORE. PLUS I'M UNEMPLOYED BASE FROM SOME OF THE FORUM THAT I READ THEY SAID THAT IT WILL COST ABOUT $2500 TO $3500 NEW TRANSMISSION. HOW CAN I AFFORD THAT.. PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME OR GIVE ME SOME ADVICE TO DEAL WITH IT. *TR

THE TRANSMISSION STARTED SLIPPING AND THE TRANSMISSION/TRANSMISSION FLUID STARTED OVERHEATING AND BOILING. THE CAR STARTED SMOKING AND WE HAD TO PULL OVER. WHEN TOWED TO A MECHANIC THEY SAID THE TRANSMISSION WAS BAD AND WAS SLIPPING. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 HONDA ACCORD. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE TRANSMISSION JERKED AND HESITATED WHILE DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS. THE CONTACT ALSO STATED THAT THE TRANSMISSION WOULD DOWNSHIFT SPORADICALLY. IN ADDITION, THE TRANSMISSION WOULD ENGAGE FROM FOURTH TO THIRD GEAR AND FROM THIRD TO SECOND GEAR WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE HAD NOT BEEN INSPECTED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT IN 2004 THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER FOR REPAIRS UNDER NHTSA RECALL CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER: 04V176000 (POWER TRAIN: AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION). THE DEALER REPLACED THE OIL JET KIT ON THE VEHICLE, BUT DID NOT REPAIR THE TRANSMISSION. THE FAILURE AND THE CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 142,000.

RETURNING FROM RICHMOND CAR DOWNSHIFTED BY IT SELF INTO 2ND GEAR AT A SPEED OF ABOUT 65 MPH CAUSING THE CAR TO DIVE VIOLENTLY AS IF APPLYING THE BRAKES HARD. IT DID THIS ABOUT 5 OR 6 TIMES THEN LOCKED IN 2ND GEAR . I MOVED TO THE RIGHT LANE AND DROVE THE CAR AT A SPEED OF 45 MPH STUCK IN 2ND GEAR TO MY LOCAL HONDA DEALER. THANK GOODNESS THERE WAS NOT A LOT TRAFFIC ON THE ROAD WHEN THIS HAPPENED OR I MIGHT HAVE BEEN HIT FROM BEHIND. *TR

ONLY 125K MILES ON THE CAR. I NOTICED THE TRANSMISSION SLIPPING WHEN GOING INTO/OUT OF SECOND GEAR. I TOOK IT FOR A DRIVE LATER TO SEE IF I COULD REPLICATE THE PROBLEM AND COULD NOT. TWO DAYS LATER, WHILE GETTING OFF OF THE INTERSTATE AND TURNING ONTO THE SURFACE STREETS, THE TRANSMISSION SUDDENLY START JOLTING AND DOWNSHIFTING EVEN THOUGH I WAS PRESSING ON THE GAS. IT CONTINUED TO DO SO ALL THE WAY TO THE DEALER. I COULD NOT GET IT TO GO PAST SECOND GEAR. WAS TOLD THAT I NEED A NEW TRANSMISSION AT A COST OF $4,000. HAVE SINCE SEEN THAT THIS MAKE AND MODEL IS HAVING ALL KINDS OF PROBLEMS. THERE ARE WEBSITES ADDRESSING THE PROBLEMS AND APPARENTLY A FACEBOOK PAGE. I ALSO LEARNED AFTER THE FACT THAT THERE HAD BEEN A RECALL IN 2004 RELATED TO THE SECOND GEAR BUT THEY PATCHED IT WITH SOME CHEESY KIT AND APPARENTLY PRAYED THAT THE S -T WOULD HIT THE FAN AFTER EVERYONE'S WARRANTY EXPIRED -- WHICH IT HAS. THE NHTSA NEEDS TO RECALL THESE VEHICLES AND REQUIRE HONDA TO MAKE GOOD ON THEM. *TR