D21X

Sad to find out, but add me to the list of transmission failures. I have an 03 Accord Sedan EXL V6 Auto with the 2-3rd gear flare. I have 132k miles, bought the car at the Honda dealer at 50k miles with the 100k mile warranty. All major maintenance done at the dealer (synthetic oil changes, timing belt, auto trans fluid, alignment).

Got quoted $4,650 for a rebuilt trans and labor. They said they would talk to the Honda rep for the dealership and I got a call back saying they will not offer any assistance because of the mileage.

So, what can I do now? Call American Honda and complain? What has everyone else done? Let me know what you guys think.

BLKFLSH

If my transmission goes out, I will make it clear to them that we all know these transmissions are defective, and that the failure was due to this defect. You should recieve major compensation for it, IMO.

Chiovnidca

It wont hurt to talk to honda about it, but with 130k+ miles on a 7-8 year old car i wouldn't hold my breath.

RedHonda

Yes, I'm having similar problems as well. The 2nd-3rd gear flair. I have about 135k on mine. I was quoted $2500 to fix it with 3 yr 36k mile warranty. I'm thinking of just trading in for an 06.

Kev2010

$2,500 sounds A LOT to replace the transmission.

ed4ward1982

dam, i guess Hondas arrent so reliable after all... i change my wifes 04 v6 tranny fluid every year since about 40k miles with Honda ATF. its at 91k miles now with no shifting problems, her mom's V6 2001 Accord tranny is about shot. it slips from 1st to 2nd.

slydell619

Mine crapped out at 132K. I tried calling Honda of America and they said they could not help. It won't hurt to try. I coughed up the money to get it fixed. I also posted the issue on carcomplaints.com and 2 other websites in case there is ever a class action lawsuit.

D21X

Update:

Honda didn't care same with dealer. Out of luck.

Browsing another forum, here's what i did. Replaced transmission filter. Drained ATF fluid 3 times. Each time with 2 quarts of Redline ATF RACING TYPE-F and 1 quart of Redline Lightweight ATF. Also turned my shift solenoids 3/4 turn.

I live in WI so it is fairly cold out right now. When the engine isn't warm, I manually shift my tranny. So I'll leave it in D3 from a stop. When the tranny shift's into 2nd, I move the lever to 2. Get up to about 2.5-3k, let go of the gas, shift into D3, wait about 1-2 seconds for it to get into 3rd then push the gas pedal, then go to D. Tranny was diagnosed at 132k. I have about 138k and the fluid is still pink, whereas at 132k it was black. When the tranny does get up to operating temp, with light-normal throttle, there is little to no 2-3rd flare. I do plan to change the filter and do a drain and fill every 10k miles. Hope this helps!

Targa250R

I'm not sure where people get off expecting Honda to pay for transmission repairs at 8 years and 130,000+ miles...

At what point do you own the car and its problems?

highknees69

I have the same car, 2003 Accord EX V6 and have had it since new. My tranny started skipping out when shifting between 2nd and 3rd and I had to get a rebuilt unit. Screw the dealership, they quoted my $4k+. I got a rebuilt tranny with a 3 year warranty for around $3k from a recommended 3rd party shop. My dealership is a joke when it comes to pricing repairs.

BTW, the tranmission ship said that it was not bad to get 135k miles out of the unit I had. Not under warranty and not abnormal to see a problem after that many miles. Been running like a champ after it was replaced.

m_shake

Honda won't help you out on this, sorry. Accord v6 and odyssey are pos trannys, at the dealer I work at we do no less then 2 trannys a week sometimes more.

D21X

bought the car in 07 with 50k miles. i now have 138k miles. 90% Highway miles. the point is this is a very common problem on all honda's v6 transmissions. if you did some searching u'll see problems with odyssey, piolt, tl, mdx, rdx etc... i'll never buy a honda with an auto transmission again.

Targa250R

So? You drove all of those miles. Honda didn't. Why should they pay?

You do realize that the 3 year/36,000 mile warranty had long been expired when you bought the car, right? What do they owe you for?

Should Honda fix the body rust for free on my 20-year-old 262,000-mile 1991 CRX? It should have lasted forever, right? At what point do you draw the line?

What is the point, really? The following statement isn't it:

"All," no. '97-05 J-series transmissions, yes. It's also a common problem on '97-01 H-series transmissions and '98-02 F-series transmissions. I replace at least one per month in my line of work.

You're obviously aware of the problem and have accepted the risk that it could happen to you, otherwise you'd have gotten rid of the car by this point.

Listen, I'm sorry your transmission went bad, and I know it sucks to have to pay for car repairs, but it's part of ownership. Sometimes life sucks.

If you did some searching, you'd see automatic transmission failures across the board with most makes at that sort of mileage, not just Honda.

I've replaced my fair share of '90-97 Accord automatic transmissions too, and I consider those to be some of the most reliable cars ever made. Any car can have problems.

I don't buy any cars with automatic transmissions, no matter the make. In general, the automatic transmission is the weakest point in a vehicle's drivetrain due to its complexity and constant wear in operation. This also makes it difficult and expensive to rebuild.

Manuals are simpler, usually stronger, and are much cheaper and easier to repair.

For what it's worth though, K-series, L-series, and R-series automatics have proven to be near-bulletproof with frequent fluid changes, and the '06+ J-series autos have been okay other than the torque converter shudder which Honda repaired under warranty in most cases...

D21X

it had a honda certified 7yr 100k mile warranty. you don't buy a honda and expect transmission failure at 132k miles especially if it was well taken care of. what you do expect is body rust from a 20yr old 262k mile car. honda should take some accountability when a large percentage of customers have transmission failure, especially when their previous model had a history of transmission failures. we have an 00 Accord SE with transmission failure at 100k. honda did replace it under a recall. according to your philosophy, on that 00 accord, honda didn't drive it and they shouldn't have paid for it......we should have been expected to pay for repairs.....good thing their was a class action lawsuit for that one

I don't have a list of every model that has problems, but I do know that the majority of Honda's V6 auto transmissions have problems. I would love to know which V6 models don't.

Anyways when the car was purchased I was not aware of transmission problems with the newer 03 Accord V6 back in 07. I assumed the new generation fixed all the old problems. Guess I was wrong. I don't expect any of the newer auto trans to get any better either. Getting rid of the car is easier said then done.

Again, I didn't buy a Honda and expect transmission failure at 132k miles. I'm sure all of us would agree to that. If this failure was uncommon, then I would assume fault, but that is not the case. There are several people with the same 2-3 flare at much lower mileage. I'm assuming mine didn't happen early because I do 90% highway miles.

Yes Manual is the way to go! Bottom line, is the 03 Accord V6 Auto Trans is a POS as well as most of Honda's V6 auto transmissions and Honda should have some accountability.

Targa250R

... meaning that your warranty is still expired.

If you wanted further warranty coverage, you should have purchased it.

If you can't accept the warranty terms that you agreed to when buying the vehicle, then you should have bought something else.

When it's been a known and well-publicized issue for nearly a decade, you should probably expect it.

Speculation does not constitute an obligation to deliver on that expectation, unless you're a big bank with cronies at the Fed or something.

How often was the transmission fluid changed?

Everyone I personally know with a Chrysler minivan has had to rebuild or replace the transmission multiple times. Chrysler takes no accountability outside of the warranty period. Why should Honda?

I know many people who have had both engine and transmission problems with Ford pickups. Ford takes no accountability outside of the warranty period. Why should Honda?

Substitute VW and BMW for Chrysler and Ford above, repeat. See a pattern?

There was never a recall on F-series transmissions. It was a warranty extension to 7 years & 9 months or 109,000 miles for 2000 and 2001 models only. Anything well beyond that, Honda denied coverage. Even if something like that were to be applied in your instance, you'd still be well beyond the scope with 132,000 miles.

That's correct.

Beyond that, Honda has extended a lot of goodwill with transmission repairs in the past decade. I've witness a number of owners with affected vehicles that were well out of the warranty period and not covered under any settlement extensions receive complete or partial compensation for trans replacement. Honda did indeed step up to the plate for most of their customers.

With that said, I have never seen Honda reimburse trans repairs or replacement for any vehicle over 120,000 miles. If you think you should be the first, then have at it.

Anything '06 and newer that wasn't affected by the torque converter shudder issue. Thus far, they've been holding up.

You didn't do enough research then. Honda was replacing transmissions in '03-04 models as early as 2004-2005, if not earlier.

The '03+ Accord V6 5-speed trans was much different from the 4-speed used in '02 and older V6 Accords. Unfortunately, the new design brought new problems to the table.

The biggest issue with the 5-speed J-series transmissions was resolved at some point during the 2005 model year.

Only if you're upside-down in a loan, which would represent a poor financial move on your part.

Why not? They don't claim that it runs problem-free forever, nor do they warranty it beyond 100,000 miles. They haven't mislead you in any way.

Sounds like Honda has already taken care of you pretty well in the past, and you should be thankful for that rather than taking it for granted.

I think your expectations are just unrealistic.

As I said originally, expecting compensation for transmission repairs at 8 years and 130,000+ miles is rather bold. At that mileage, no other manufacturer would cover it either. Who pays? You pay.

I'm curious, what do you do for a living?