1997 Honda Prelude: complete transmission failure

Filed May 9, 2010 · Transmission · 150,000 miles · NE

My 1997 honda prelude automatic transmission died out. When I looked on the forums, honda is very well aware of the failure by design of their honda preludes.

Filed Mar 27, 2008 · Transmission · 50,300 miles · MI

I have a 1997 prelude that has had 1 transmission failure in nov. Of 2005 & it was rebuilt. It current is failing the same way the first transmission failed. It is making noise & starting to slip when it is cold. $1700 to fix the 1st transmission by a trans shop. I am joining a class action law suit if it is not taken care of from honda. This car only has 65,000 miles on it!

Filed Feb 16, 2008 · Transmission · 180,000 miles · OH

My 1997 honda prelude sports shift auto transmission failed and now it needs to be towed.

Filed Jan 30, 2008 · Transmission · 169,841 miles · CA

I recently bought my honda prelude back in november 18, 2007 from a used dealership. The car came with 167k miles and now I'm at 169k. The main reason why I am filing a complaint, is the automatic transmission is going out. I take my car to work, school, drive my mom to work, and even my younger brother to school. This is the only car we have. The transmission slips and jerks at low rpms from 1k-3k in 1st-2nd gear. I've done research on 97-01 honda preludes and the automatic transmission has the most fails. If my automatic transmission goes out I wouldn't have the funds to replace it while I'm still paying for insurance and monthly payments. I believe that honda should replace the transmission without cost even with cars without the extended warranty. Also I hear that the 99-01 automatic transmissions were stronger than the 97-98 years and were also given an extended warranty for the 99-01 years with under 100k miles.

Filed Jul 26, 2004 · Transmission · NJ

1997 honda prelude transmission failure. Honda refuses to assist consumers with faulty transmission problems inherent in the vehicles. Trans will slip out of gear, or not engage when entering freeway, causing a dangerous and life threatening condition. When someone gets killed because of these transmissions, american honda will then be forced to recall these horrible cars.

Filed Apr 5, 2004 · Transmission · 99,793 miles · NC

The transmission slips when shifting gears. When shifting from 1st to 2nd, the car will rev up like it's in neutral then suddenly jerk into 2nd. The same thing happens for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gears. On several occasions, when I came to a complete stop the car would shudder violently then the engine would cut out. This happen several times while I was trying to cross an intersection, and the car could not be stopped while in drive because the engine kept cutting out. I had to stay in neutral then shift to drive real quick and hope the engine didn't stall in order to cross the road. This has proven to be very dangerous, and potentially life threatening. The honda dealership says it's $3600 for a new transmission, and I don't have a guarantee that the new won't fail either. Honda should pay to fix this obvious defect.

Filed Nov 25, 2003 · Transmission · 45,000 miles · CA

Transmission failed prematurely... Car slows down significantly during gear shift in the automatic transmission. This causes the drivers following the vehicle to brake unexpectedly.

Filed Nov 16, 2003 · Transmission · 52,540 miles · IL

My 1997 prelude ss had a transmission issue and it decided to go on me, in the middle of the road, while traffic was behind me. So, I decided to contact honda and make them see the issue, instead I received a no answer, which was a pretty lame excuse to not replace a transmission failure in all 97-99 honda prelude cars, so, the service manager decided to retry the honda USA number, and they got me through and replaced the transmission under a non-transmission warranty. So, my point is that honda must comply with a transmission warranty on all these cars, and not just the newer models, because it is unfair to have a transmission which will eventually fail, again and again and again. So, with all this said, I want to make sure something will be done regarding this issue. Thanks.

Filed Jul 29, 2003 · Transmission · 66,000 miles · VA

1997 honda prelude sport shift transmission failure. Car has only 60,000 miles and the transmission is failing. Car is beginning to jerk forward when slowing down to a complete stop in traffic or at a stop light.

Filed Jul 8, 2003 · Transmission · NY

Automatic transmission began shifting extremely harshly. Auto transmission failed prematurely.the transmission will slip into neutral while shifting from gear to gear. While under any kind of acceleration, the transmission will slip into neutral and the engine will climb rpms before the transmission engages, causing it to slam into gear. Also the transmission will cause the car to stall at a stop, causing the car to shutter and die in certain situations.

Filed Mar 26, 2003 · Transmission · 99,500 miles · CA

I have a 1997 honda prelude sport-shift automatic. Like most owners of this type of vehicle, the transmission went out. The gears begin to slip and will not engage. The dealer wanted $4000 to get a rebuilt transmission. I had it replaced, but then about 20,000 miles later, it went out again. This time the first gear did not engage. I am basically afraid to drive my car around anymore. I do not want to get it rebuilt again because of the fact that it may as well break again. However, the 2000-01 honda preludes with this type of transmission get an extended warranty and I find it very unfair that the same exact car with the same exact transmission gets an extended warranty, but the 1997-99 preludes do not. If honda knows of the faulty transmissions, why not replace all of the transmissions instead of the later year ones? I used to love honda vehicles, until I learned of many others with this same exact problem.

Filed Mar 5, 2003 · Transmission · 80,000 miles · PA

My car suddenly started shifting oddly and got more violent as time passed. This was dangerous because after reversing out of my driveway, the car would jerk and basically have a big clang. The car also died out when I was driving. After I replaced the transmission at 80000 miles, it is now starting to shift hard again.