2018 Honda Accord: harsh or hard shifting

Filed Apr 20, 2026 · Transmission · OR

Rough downshifting and upshifting in low gears. Will slam into gears 2-3 often seems as though at slower speeds and cause driver and passengers to lurch forward. Will cause very rough acceleration at times and causes a danger in traffic given the speed becomes unpredictable. Transmission does not know what gear to be in. The ATF type 2.0 fluid change following dealer procedure after complaint has done nothing to change this lurching. This is putting me and other drivers at risk because I cannot control my speed when transmission is slamming in between gears. No warning lamps, undetected by cars TCU.

Filed Mar 18, 2026 · Transmission · ME

Transmission started bucking at 50k miles, the problem has gotten substantially worse at 60k miles. Rough downshifting and upshifting in low gears. Will slam into gears 2-3 often and cause driver and passengers to lurch forward. Will cause very rough acceleration at times and causes a danger in traffic given the speed becomes unpredictable. Transmission does not know what gear to be in even after ATF type 2.0 fluid change following dealer procedure. This is putting me and other drivers at risk because I cannot control my speed when transmission is slamming in between gears. No warning lamps, undetected by cars TCU.

Filed Aug 7, 2025 · Driver assistance, Fuel system · HI

Fuel pump recall. Put in an order with Honda dealer January 2024 for the pump. On February 2025 asked if they submitted the order back in January 2024? They said it was. Now it's August 2025 (20 months since) and waiting. the federal safety agency says if they failed to fix in a timely manner to make a report online. Is 20 months long enough? Driving with a safety recall. Second making a complaint with the 10 speed auto transmission 2nd to 3rd hard shift and 4th to 3rd hard shift. Putting stress on other components can break mounts, the transmission, axles, ect. could also launch the car into the car in front of you, in heavy (slow bumper to bumper) traffic. Wasted my own money and time draining and filling 5 quarts of honda 2.0 transmission fluid. (Also replaced the trans filter behind the warmer housing) Did not fix the issue. Contacted American Honda and they said It's out of warranty and I need to pay for diagnostic and repairs. (I just bought the car in 2023 at 45k miles. Previous owner must of felt it and should of did something while under warranty.) Honda know this issue from the beginning and hiding the issue to save money. Check the Accord forums online. It's most of us if not all the 18-20 10 speed models. Vehicle is 2018 Accord 2.0 10 speed 50k miles. Plus the normal Phantom braking and lane departure which will automatically steer you off the road, so you have to fight the steering wheel.

Filed Oct 18, 2022 · Airbags, Brakes · CA

I got a B1 maintenance not that long ago and they said everything was fine but fast forward like 3 months later, my breaks start clunking and it sounds like it’s metal to metal and I don’t even drive fast like a crazy person or anything and I get a warning that pops up sometimes talking about a supplemental air bags error and that the passenger air bags turned off. My 2018 Honda Accord 2.0t Sport with 41k miles is just acting super super strange. It sucks because I just bought this car like a year ago. Please help me.

Filed Dec 1, 2019 · Engine, Transmission · 150 miles · NY

2018 honda accord 2.0t touring with 10-speed automatic transmission, mileage < 1000. Transmission has rough shifting from 2nd into 3rd gear at low rpms/speed (2,000 RPM / < 14mph) feeling like a manual shift car popping the clutch. This can happen when car is cold or warmed up, car is in the northeast with cold or hot weather. I noticed that the rpms don't drop when it happens which creates the slam into gear feeling judder. Under slightly harder but normal acceieration the car shifts (like a manual car ) as if double clutching from 2-3rd feeling like its skipping a gear but its very quick as you hear the engine revs blip between shifts. I have taken to the dealer who observed the same rough shifting and told by dealer it does shift like this compared to other accord vehicles. Dealer indicated they would only observe the condition since honda has no official tsa out yet. I showed him the acura video for the same engine/trans a clutch fix break-in that's was used to help solve some reported rough shifting and honda dealer would not use it given acura use case. I am on 7,000 miles but under 1yr ownership and the same rough shift condition exist but less severe. Some internet reports state rough shifting goes away above 7k miles as the transmission breaks-in and the software learns the driving behavior but it really has not in my experience. Hard acceleration going above 4500 RPM the car shifts quite normally and smoothly and does not exhibit the low speed rough shifting in any of the normal or sport modes of the car thus surmising there's some form of operational failure occurring by unintentional design in software or mechanical.

Filed Jul 18, 2019 · Engine, Fuel system · 11,000 miles · NV

7/17/19. 2018 accord touring 2.0 purchased new in november (has about 11,000 miles now). I was driving 65mph on highway when car made loud clunking noise, began to smoke intensely, and shuddered to a stop and died. I was on bluetooth phone call at the time and the person on the other end heard it and asked what it was. I said I thought the engine was on fire. I was able to pull over just as every possible warning light flashed on dash and profuse smoke poured from sides and under hood. I jumped out and moved away from vehicle, seeing a long stream of liquid from under the car along the road where I had pulled over. Fire rescue came, although the car did not ignite. They and the roadside service man advised me that oil had exploded everywhere, as from a high pressure situation. The car has had one oil change at the dealer, per its maintenance schedule, and otherwise has had nothing done. I did hear a strange noise coming from it the previous evening--loud enough that I checked to see if it had any maintenance warnings, which it did not. It said my oil was at 60% and would need a b1 when it was time. After my car died, it required a tow to the dealership. The dealer said they could not even turn it on and they don't know what is wrong, but they need a specialist to come look at it. I'm concerned about how utterly dangerous the situation was. If it had been later in the day with heavier traffic, my life would have been at even greater risk. It seems really unusual to have such a catastrophic failure for no reason on a new, historically reliable vehicle.

Filed Apr 24, 2019 · Engine, Transmission · 8,700 miles · NC

I have a 2018 honda accord 2.0t touring with the 10-speed automatic transmission. The transmission shifts extremely rough from 2-3 gear, 3-4th and downshifting into pretty much any gear. It's been taken to the dealer several times for this issue and nothing has been resolved. I was told it was just how the transmission shifted on this car, which I immediately disputed because I've driven other exact models that did not exhibit this rough shifting behavior. I also am dissatisfied with the length of time it takes the vehicle to engage reverse from park. It can take up to 3 seconds for reverse to engage at which time it just slams into gear. I've contacted american honda and filed a complaint about the various concerns I have with this vehicle. I also have a paint defect from the factory on the rear trunk lid. Honda instructed me to take it back to the dealership, which is hard with my schedule. If this continues after the next service appointment, I'm going to demand the car be replaced with another vehicle.

Filed Nov 26, 2018 · Engine, Transmission · 1,000 miles · NC

New honda accord 2.0t with 10-speed automatic transmission shifts very rough and slow from 2nd to 3rd gear. This issue has been well documented on honda accord owner forums and acura rdx owner forums (the two vehicles share the same engine and transmission). The vehicle normally shifts hard from 2nd to 3rd, but occasionally it is very slow to engaged 3rd gear and then slams into gear. It's very strange how it feels. It can cause there to be a hesitation when trying to rapidly accelerate out into traffic and feels like it's damaging the transmission. Vehicle has been taken to leith honda of raleigh who advised there's no tsb or campaign from honda to resolve this issue. There is however a video that acura has posted for their service technicians advising them to follow a "clutch break in procedure" to resolve the rough shifting.

Filed Oct 5, 2018 · Engine, Transmission · OH

My brand new 2018 honda accord 2.0t w/ automatic transmission is having issues. It shifts very roughly sometimes, I notice the problem most when the engine is cold, however it still happens frequently when engine is at normal operating temperatures. I understand that its a first year production vehicle and a newly designed transmission but having problems like this with under 700.00 miles is excusable. The problem did not suddenly start, I noticed the problem soon after driving off the dealer lot for the first time. And let me be clear, I understand what "break in periods" are for cars and I have not driven this vehicle aggressively at all yet, the very rough shifts happen at just normal everyday driving.

Filed Mar 26, 2018 · Brakes · 50 miles · NY

Loud clunk is consistently heard and felt every time the brake pedal is released after being depressed. The noise is more pronounced in cold weather and can be heard above the radio and road noise. The loud clunk sound occurs whether or not the car is moving, or the engine is running or the ignition/accessory power is turned on. The noise can be consistently reproduced and emanates from the firewall area under the dash where the brake pedal linkage attaches to the brake booster.