2003 honda accord, v-6, automatic. First owner, all services (but for last two oil changes (by me) done by honda. At 81,000 miles, transmission often fails to upshift from 2-3d gear, will also downshift abruptly to 2nd gear, can approach engine overspeed and difficulty with control of the car as the front wheels will transiently lock-up in this event. The car was only driven to the dealer after the first time this occurred. Virtually every 2-3 shift not correct, usually with slippage to 4000rpm, would eventually upshift to 3rd, but random timing. Dangerous with approaching cars from behind. Started last week, currently in shop, in germany, as I am in the us military here. Honda na contacted, will review their address of the problem after I have the car repaired. I have read over 300 complaints this model, this year with exactly the same description. This car was subject of 2004 recall for overheating of 2nd gear. That recall performed (an inspection and oil jet we were told.
2003 Honda Accord transmission complaints
Page 20 of 32: complaints 551 to 580 of 924, newest first, as owners wrote them.
While driving a honda accord v6 2003 on a highway at 70 MPH, suddenly tcs indicator came on and the car stopped. There was no warning ever and the car has barely 80,000 miles on it and had been maintained very well and was driving perfectly until this sudden moment. Was lucky to pull over the shoulder without anybody read ending me. Got the car towed to nearest honda dealer and they said there was a leak in the front seal of the transmission and the transmission oil has drained out. They charged $700 for replacing the seal (only $15 in parts value). We were stranded in a town more than 300 miles away from home and spent 3 days waiting for the car to be repaired. Next day, the car started making violent jerks while driving at lower speeds and the engine will rev up and down at the traffic lights. It was dangerous to drive the vehicle on freeways. Took it to the local honda dealer and he said the transmission needs to be replaced and it will cost $4000. While reading online, found that many hundreds of people have reported exact same issue with 2003 honda accord at similar mileage and honda never issued a recall for it even though there is a defect with their transmission system in this model. They are not offering any goodwill repair or compensation and are declining to acknowledge the issue that many people come to them everyday with this same issue with this model of honda accord. Ii will be $4,700 down just for owning a honda accord model which happened to have a faulty transmission system. I am considering filing a lawsuit.
There was only one event that LED up to my 2003 honda accord transmission failure. During some cold days (est. 12-20 days) over the past two winters, the car failed to shift from 2nd to 3rd in the morning. Once warmed up, the car worked fine. I was careful to change the transmission fluid per the manual, and even a few thousand miles early. I always notified my mechanic of this symptom but was told no problem could be found. The transmission failed unexpectedly on a warm summer morning while driving home from work. The transmission previously never slipped during warm weather. The failure was quick, unexpected, happened while driving at a high speed, and could have caused serious injury to myself or others. The failure happened after I pressed the gas pedal, at which point one or more of the following events happened on my way home: 1) accelerate as expected (I.e., no failure); 2) slam into a lower gear and decelerate; or 3) coast at current speed while the engine revs up (which may end with the car slamming into gear and jerking the car forward). To correct this failure, I first was vigilant in replacing transmission fluid and all but begged my mechanic to find the underlying cause. That didn't work. Now the transmission must be replaced. My final corrective action will be to buy only german engineered cars going forward. Hopefully, they have mastered the cause-effect relationship between the gas pedal and reliably going faster.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 honda accord. While driving at approximate speeds of 60 MPH, the vehicle down shifted and abnormally began to accelerate without driver intent. The contact released the accelerator and the vehicle resumed normal operation until there was an unusual increase in engine rpms. The dealer advised the failure was due to defective engine mounts. The vehicle was then taken to a local repair shop where he was advised by an independent mechanic that the failure was due to the transmission. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileages were 92,287. Updated 08/13/10. *lj updated 08/23/10*jb updated 12/02/10 *bf the consumer stated he paid for the repairs at his expense. Updated 12/07/10.
2003 honda accord ex-l, mileage 104,000. Purchased new, single owner/driver. Driving 70 MPH on highway, vehicle slowed to first gear. Luckily was able to pull onto the shoulder of the highway before causing accidents. Car would not move after that. 2003 honda accord ex-l [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 honda accord. While driving at 55 MPH, the vehicle suddenly stalled, surged forward and then started up on its own. The failure occurred every forty seconds while the vehicle was being driven. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealership but the dealer stated that they would not assist in repairs. The transmission was being rebuilt at the time of the complaint. The failure mileage was approximately 119,000. The current mileage was approximately 146,000.
I was driving my 2003 honda accord from ames, ia to minneapolis, mn for a one day trip and the malfunction indicator light came on at the halfway and the engine died a few seconds later. I had to pullover and call my insurance agent. At the end, my car got towed to the sedars honda dealership at mason city, iowa, and they called me saying it was the transmission failure and replacing will cost from $3000 to $3600.
I was driving back to my house, and after a red light stop, my car transmission began to slide. I was on the middle of the street and all other cars began to sounds their horns. I change the transmission to '1' and bring the car to honda, and ask them to send a goodwill request to honda USA.
2003 honda accord ex v6. Current mileage 62,000. Purchased new, single owner/driver. At approx 60,000 miles began with intermittent shifting failure. It will fail to accelerate when it shifts from 2nd to 3rd gear. It varies in time when it will re-engage and it has left me in a dangerous situation several times and there is no warning for this failure. It has been reported numerous times and seems to be a common problem of this year and model. Recently I pulled out onto a roadway and began to accelerate, when the transmission failed to engage when shifting into 3rd gear, enroute traffic caught up to me and my abrupt failure to accelerate/merge with traffic, caused an accident of several of those vehicles that were approaching with wet road conditions to my vehicle that was abruptly stranded and immobile. I was nearly rear ended and had no warning that this failure is going to occur. I believe this to be a serious safety issue and am very concerned. Please advise.
I own a 03 honda accord ex coupe with automatic transmission. I have noticed within the past month, my car shifted oddly while driving. My car shifts "hard" especially on the freeway as if I am driving a manual and I don't know how to shift. The car jerks harshly before it shifts into the next gear. Also, when I am shift into "drive" my car rolls back for a second or two as if I were in reverse.
My 2003 honda accord has had a transmission failure. This occurred while I was driving on the highway. I was going about 55 MPH when the transmission lost second and third. The car shook and the wheels seemed to lock and slowed so quickly I was almost hit by a truck. Honda takes no responsibility however they offered 2200 towards the 5000 repair. They based the amount offered by the age and mileage. I bought a honda because I believed it was a safe car and would last for a long time.they tell me that the transmission need to be replaced and nothing else.I looked on line and there are hundreds if not thousands of complaints about the transmission failure. They don't care about the defect, or the safety of their customers. The offer from american honda was take it or leave it, I believe they have the offers even before the car is inspected. I got a call from american honda before the dealer called me with what was wrong. The service manager told me it would be another day before they knew and the american honda rep called a little while later asking if I heard what they found. He said he would call back but the impression I got was the deal was alreadyset. Plus they charged me 90 to evaluate the car. I was very luck to get out of the way of traffic and pull off the highway. Before someone gets killed they should fix the problem, the car companies can not keep denying problems exist. You should not wait until people die before you get involved.
The first two incidents occurred after exiting the highway. While slowing down, the car jolted forward as if I had been hit in the rear. I brought the vehicle to a honda dealer and they could not replicate the problem and found nothing wrong with the powertrain. In the following week, my car stalled multiple times while stopped at red lights/traffic with the final time occurring on the highway in rush hour traffic. While city driving (stop/go), the RPM's would randomly jump while giving no power to the wheels. Upon returning the car to the honda dealer, I was informed one week later (they had to ship a piece from technical hdqrts in ca) that the internal torque converter was causing the problem and a transmission replacement is required for around $3200. After reading the hundreds of identical complaints with this model and problem, I will be scrapping this car and never purchasing a honda again. This is a serious safety issue caused by faulty engineering work with the transmission that honda apparently refuses to recognize. My small silver lining is that current lease rates on other same class vehicles are outstanding (camry/sonata).
Transmission failure.
The rpms on my 2003 honda accord would race up, but the car would not switch gears. The car would stay in second gear. Complete transmission failure at less than 100,000 miles.
I first noticed issues with my auto tranny in my accord ex v6 at around 50k miles. They had just installed some jet for the recall for hard shifting for this car. At about 80k I noticed it getting worse, so I told my mechanic and he changed the tranny oil for me. It seemed to shift a little better and this was only from 2-3 gear that it would rev up to about 5k and then jerk the car to get into 3rd. It's very embarrassing and I'm afraid it's going to lock up on me on the freeway. I saw that california filed a suit against honda and honda settled. Every state should be filing a suit - I'd be first in line! I too talked to honda and the hq for honda, but since mine has so many miles on it (all freeway), they are blaming that, even tho I have maintenance records showing it's been a problem. They don't want to step up to the plate. I hope some lawyer gets a hold of these complaints and sues them like california did. This is my 2nd honda and I swore by it, but I'll never buy another honda after this. Even from day one I've asked honda about the dimming of the headlights when the car shifts and they said it was normal cuz they car needed all the power to do the shifting, so they wouldn't do anything about it. I've owned several other cars and this was never an issue. I don't know if it's the year of this accord or that it's a v6, but it's very frustrating and honda should be ashamed! If complaints keep happening, you'd think they would fix the issues or investigate it a little harder since they already did one recall on them. I have told all my friends not to buy honda and told them why. Let's spread the word and maybe when their sales go down, they might wonder why and do something about it. I'm now faced with a $4k to rebuild my tranny. Sickens me, especially when the car is only worth $7k cuz I have 140k miles on it now. Email me if you can help sue them...[xxx] . Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
2003 honda accord v6 sedan transmission failure at 66,000 miles. Car revs without power to wheels. Unable to move. Turned car on and off and only by shifting to d1 was I able to get the car off the road and out of traffic. Towed to dealership and told it would be $4600.00 of which honda would pay $2000 as a courtesy. Found over 400 similar reports on carproblems.com and realized this was an engineering problem that needs to be recalled. Please put pressure on honda to make this happen.
On 3/23/2010 the transmission of my 2003 honda accord with 80,500 miles died while in drive, waiting for the traffic light change at a major intersection my check engine light was not on. My car was towed to my local honda dealership. The technician from the dealership ran a diagnostic test and reported that the torque converter was staying engaged causing my car to stall and that I needed my transmission replaced. I took my car to a local shop specializing in transmission work and had it replaced. My old, broken transmission is not available anymore.
I was driving in heavy traffic and the automatic transmission would not shift into 3rd gear, instead it revved up and finally snapped into 3rd gear. I have maintained this car per the owners manual, and have not had any issues until now. I started researching this on google and realize that this is a common issue with the 2003 honda accords. This happening has put me in a place that I don't feel safe driving this automobile due to the fact I drive in heavy traffic on a regular basis and if this happens I could be involved in an accident because of the shifting problems. I will be getting this vehicle fixed in the near future, but wanted to go on record that the 2003 honda accord ex with the 5 speed automatic transmission is not what this manufacturer is known for. It is not safe!
While driving my 2003 honda accord v6 (with approximately 84k miles) at interstate speeds during rush hour traffic, the automatic transmission suddenly locked-up without warning. The vehicle suddenly lurched instantaneous from highway speed to a near complete stop. It was almost as if the transmission shift was moved from drive into park. Without any brake lights to warn the driver behind me, he had to defensively slam on his brakes and swerve to avoid rear-ending my vehicle. This vehicle's maintenance manual does not recommend replacement of the transmission fluid until 100,000 miles yet my mechanic commented that the fluid was completely burnt-up and that I need a new transmission. This 2003 v6 accord had an inspection recall for this transmission particular problem, but no repair work was performed on my vehicle. Please require honda address this problem before someone gets killed!! The day before this occurred my 16 year old daughter was driving this car!! How would she have responded?
I own 2003 honda accord, which I just recently discovered has history of transmissions problems, but did not know that at the time of purchase. I was driving the vehicle on busy highway about 45 miles per hour and without any warning whatsoever the vehicle felt like it had been hit in the rear and then rapidly decelerated. I maintained control of the car and managed to get it off the side of the road, but was quite fortunate that there was no vehicles immediately following me otherwise it could quite likely have resulted in an accident. Since this initial incident, it has occurred, though infrequently until quite recently. I am quite concerned that one of these times I will be less fortunate and will be involved in an accident of one or more vehicles. After the first experience of this nature, I brought the 2003 honda accord in at a local dealership for its most recent oil change. I asked them if they had any other reports of similar incidents that involve a "hit" feeling along with rapid deceleration. They of course said no but would check into it while going through the standard oil change and inspections. After waiting a considerable length of time, the dealership service representative told me that the transmission needed to be replaced, and they would be in contact with honda corporate to see what type of compensation they as a dealership could get. I was just informed yesterday that honda estimates the replacement cost for the transmission to be over $3000 and they have offered to compensate about $1000 leaving the balance an out of pocket expense to myself as the owner. I suspect at this point honda does not fully understand the safety hazard this is causing myself and the passenger of the vehicle. Only to make matters worse, I have my daughter driving also a 2003 honda accord, nearly the identical vehicle, and she just informed me that her accord which she has at college has been building engine rpms and then jerking through gear changes.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 honda accord. While driving approximately 20 MPH, the contact stated that the gear shift fell off and he had to use his finger to shift from one gear to another. The contact was able to drive to an authorized dealer where the shift was replaced. The failure mileage was 53,589. The current mileage was 53,668.
Transmission failure creates safety hazard. Transmission shifts irregularly causing car to jerk violently and then drive to wheels fails leaving car stranded on busy motor way.
While driving at 40mph, my 2003 honda accord ex-v6 (automatic transmission) suddenly jolted as if the car was thrown into a lower gear. I placed the car in neutral, let the engine return to normal RPM rage, then replaced it in drive. About 2 minutes later, the event repeated. I drove the vehicle to the honda dealer in my area who diagnosed a faulty internal torque converter and quote me a price of approx $4000 to repair. The car is not safe to drive and had this event occurred on a crowded road or under other circumstances a collision would have occurred and I am fortunate that my toddler was not in the car at the time. There is a known issue with 2003 honda accord automatic transmission failing. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Transmission comes out of gear when shifting from second to third, leaving the car unable to accelerate. It happens every time the transmission attempts the shift.
I first noticed the car was shifting funny shortly after I purchased it with 67,000mi. This was my first automatic in over a decade, and my first honda ever, so I left it unchecked for a couple thousand miles. With problem persisting, I took it into a honda dealership for a diagnosis. They said the car was fine, and sent me on my way. Now at under 80,000mi the check engine light comes on. I'm now told that the transmission needs to be replaced. Honda is willing to cover a mere 10% of the repair cost bring the total down to $3300. After seeing all of the similar complaints on the same year/model this appears to be a blatant design flaw that honda refuses to acknowledge. When I called honda america I was told that this was an isolated incident. With thousands of online complaints, and likely many more that went unreported, I find their excuse hard to swallow. This was my first and last honda.
My accord started "bucking" violently as I was driving on the highway, I pulled off onto an exit, and parked in a parking lot. I put the car in reverse and the car didn't move. I got the car towed to a dealer, and was told the transmission failed. $4300.00 to fix. I am currently awaiting honda corp's decision on if they'll cover it or not.
On the highway at about fifty-five miles an hour the vehicle suddenly jolted, reducing speed rapidly. After pulling to the side of the road and inspecting the vehicle I returned to the highway and the vehicle operated normally for approximately 5 miles before it again jolted as it downshifted unexpectedly. I limped the vehicle home at very low speeds with it continuing to slip out of, and back into gear. I then had the vehicle towed to a nearby honda dealership where it was determined the cause was automatic-transmission failure. The vehicle, a 2003 honda accord, has had a recall issued for a transmission defect in the past, however it appears the repairs that the transmission underwent did not fix the problem. This seems to be a widespread problem for the 2003 model accord, particularly in vehicles with 60,000-90,000 miles. The dealership quoted an amount of $4041.68 for repairs. Honda america offered a 10% goodwill coverage on the repairs, however my research shows that they have offered widely varying amounts to other customers with this problem. Many other examples of this problem can be found at http://www.carcomplaints.com/honda/accord/2003/transmission/transmission_failure.shtml.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 honda accord. While driving at approximately 60 MPH, the transmission suddenly shifted into low gear and slowed down. The contact pulled over to the side of the road and was able to drive the vehicle to her home at approximately 20 MPH. The vehicle was then taken to a local repair shop where the transmission was rebuilt. The contact called the dealership and was told that the dealer was unaware of any transmission problems with the vehicle. She had not called the manufacturer at the time of the complaint. The failure mileage was approximately 79,000.
Tranmission failure on highway - honda accord -2003
Transmission failure, difficulty shifting into 3rd gear and higher. Gears do not engage, rpms increase, no acceleration.
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