I recently purchased a brand new 2009 Honda Civic EX with an automatic transmission and I put 200 miles on it. Last night the transmission faded out of gear when I went around a corner. I hit the gas and the car acted like it was in neutral. The check engine light came on. I shifted to neutral and back to drive and the car started moving again. The check engine light is still on. The transmission fluid level looks fine. I plan on taking the car to be serviced at the dealership today (it's still under manufacturer's warranty of course). Has anyone heard of the new Civics having transmission/engine problems this early? Any ideas what the problem could be? It's really disappointing to buy a brand new car that develops mechanical problems so quickly. It seems like a bad omen.

 

That sucks... Let us know what they find when you service it.

 

I just dropped the car off. The Honda service manager said it's the first 09 Civic he's seen for mechanical problems. They were nice enough to give me a loaner but I'm upset that my car is already in the shop. I've had it less than 2 weeks and I haven't even made the first loan payment.

 

I know your feeling. I would be pissed as well. Well if it's something major they need to provide you with a new car, not a rebuilt new car. When did they seem to think they would know something?

 

Sounds like a sicranoids are missing. This happened to my 00 accord on turns as well. They needed to get a remanufactored tranny. but like 06balcksi said no way get a brand new car, they must have the exact same one there on the lot.

 

Unfortunately my state has some of the strictest lemon laws in the nation. Even if the transmission has to be replaced the lemon laws here won't help me. Honda may choose to let me trade for another new car but they are not legally required to do it. I seriously hope I don't need a new transmission.

 

I would fight it tooth and nail if they try to give you a hard time.

 

your avatar is going to end up giving me a seizure.

 

This is the first I've heard of the new civics with this problem, but it doesn't surprise me with Honda's history with auto trannys.

G/L OP with the new ride!

 

I heard back from the service manager. The diagnostics revealed multiple tranny error codes. The service manager said the results were sent to Honda U.S. and they expect a response by tomorrow. He said there is a good chance the transmission will need to be replaced. REPLACED!

I voiced my concerns about the car being a lemon and said I shouldn't have these problems after 200 miles on a brand new 09. The service manager said Honda will do everything they can to fix the problems. In his experience he's never seen Honda furnish a brand new car f but he admitted he'd never seen anything "this bad."

I have an appointment with the general manager scheduled for early this evening. Any suggestions?

 

You sure you weren't doing neutral drops in that thing?

Well the only you can do is allow them to fix it (you aren't getting another car from them). Hopefully it was just a bad batch and you won't have any more problems with the car. I feel ya though, I would be if something like that happened to my brand new car.

 

Also let them take your their time in getting it in. I the lemon law is for like 20 days in the shop you can get another car brand new. Tell him that you read the owners manual and tell him to call the district advisors and that they have to take the car back. Dont let them fix it your the valued customer, especially since it only has 200 miles.

 

FIY: In my state I cannot get a new car under the lemon law unless 1.) the car has been in the shop for 40+ days fixing the same problem, or 2.) if the service center makes 5 attempts to fix 1 problem and is still unsuccessful.

* * * * * * * * * *
Just got back from a meeting with the general manager and the service manager.

The service manager updated me on the diagnostics. They flushed the transmission to look for metal and didn't find any. After all that they drove the car again and it had the same problem. They've identified that the car sometimes will shift to neutral instead of shifting from 1st to 2nd. The error codes suggest a problem with the solenoid(s) and potentially a greater electrical/computer problem. At this point they are waiting to hear back from Honda corporate for a plan of action. The service manager believes that they will have to either replace the faulty solenoid(s) (which would take days) or replace the whole transmission (which would take weeks). The service manager told me that he believes Honda will lean towards the latter, considering the additional electrical/computer error codes. We'll find out for sure tomorrow. Unfortunately, Honda's warranty does not guarantee new parts. There is a chance I could end up with a refurbished transmission.

The general manager said I could keep the loaner throughout repairs, which is good because I need transportation to/from work. And I'm paying for a car that's sitting in the shop. I wanted to know what my options were in a situation like this. The GM told me that it is against their dealership policy and against Honda policy to furnish a brand new car, no matter how many problems my new car develops. I told them that a car with a faulty tranny this early is obviously a lemon and I wanted the reliable vehicle I'd been promised. Neither one of us raised our voices or became irate but I was basically told that if I was set and determined to get a brand new car I would have to seek legal action. The GM told me that Honda would not give me another new car unless they were forced by the courts to do so. He also said, "We would lose money selling a car with a replaced transmission. Why would we want to do that?" To which I answered, "Why would I want a brand new car with a replaced transmission? Why wouldn't you want me to leave here as a happy and satisfied customer?"

He had no answer.




Modified by Boston at 3:56 PM 10/1/2008

 

Boston, did you get the car at Honda Cars of Boston, over in Everett? They have been rather shady lately. Brand new cars with excessive scratches, etc. I would not be surprised.

 

Sorry to hear about the bad luck. Keep us up to date.

 

I had almost the same situation as you, but with a brand new 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe. It only has 1600 miles and I owned it for 4 months. The transmission broken and the dealer replaced the transmission with a remanufactured transmission under warranty. I thought it was a lemon car , but it looks like it is very hard to fight for it. I am still doing some research...

 

I finally heard back from the service manager and general manager of the dealership. They want to replace the transmission. The good news: it'll be a brand new transmission, not a remanufactured one. The bad news: they refuse to give me another car instead. The estimated time frame for the repair is 1-2 weeks. My next step is to contact Honda corporate and try to make some headway there. I want a brand new car, not some lemon. In the meanwhile, the service manager will order the transmission and move forward with the repair.

 

1 ur cars not a lemon
2 its only a bad tranny welcome to honda
3 one easy fix problem does not make ur car a lemon
4 no way will u ever get a new car

 

i haven't had a problem with my car i have a 09 as well and i raced the living sh**t out of it

 

Damn usually it's the Odyssey's and Accord's. Hope the 09's are problematic.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Boston &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I finally heard back from the service manager and general manager of the dealership. They want to replace the transmission. The good news: it'll be a brand new transmission, not a remanufactured one. The bad news: they refuse to give me another car instead. The estimated time frame for the repair is 1-2 weeks. My next step is to contact Honda corporate and try to make some headway there. I want a brand new car, not some lemon. In the meanwhile, the service manager will order the transmission and move forward with the repair. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Keep all ther records and call the honda claims office at 1800 999 1009 place a claim on your car (its free) tell them that you have had your car in for service on the transmission and its been in the shop for a long time and that you are paying for it. (dont mention the loaner) They will offer you like 2 oil changes and the first scheduled maintence to be paid by American Honda or like the appoarch i'm taking a months payments paid my american honda.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MessGSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">1 ur cars not a lemon
2 its only a bad tranny welcome to honda
3 one easy fix problem does not make ur car a lemon
4 no way will u ever get a new car </TD></TR></TABLE>

I've seen brand new cars with problems such as this, its not the end of the world. Manufacturing defects/mistakes can, do, and will happen. These cars are too new to have enough to make many reman transmissions such as the older odysseys and accords which were common. A brand new car that has been fixed right, is still a brand new car, and the new trans will have zero miles instead of 200 so you're already +1 there.

 

I wonder if the Japanese built Honda's as a whole have a better MTBF.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by zeke1312 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I wonder if the Japanese built Honda's as a whole have a better MTBF.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Who knows, but I doubt it would be much better considering that plenty of the recalls pertain to Japanese-made Hondas.

 

The service manager called today with an update. The new transmission still hasn't arrived. He doesn't know when it'll come. Maybe this week. Maybe not.

I'm going to take hondaracer4vtec's advice and call the Honda claims office. A free oil change or two might make me feel a little better.

In response to Echo and Zeke, the transmission on my car was built in Japan. The rest of it was built and assembled in Ohio. How does that affect the mean time between failures?