2002 Honda Accord LX, Special Edition (4 cylinder with a boost). Leased from Bloomfield Honda in 2002, ended up buying the car after lease ended 2005.

Started jerking from 1st-3rd gear in February 2010 at ~93,000 miles. I've been to Bloomfield Honda (ALWAYS have had Honda service do my repairs). Charged $100 to 'find the issue' which basically was 'get your transmission replaced for $3200.' My warranty ran out in August 2009. Suburban Honda of Farmington Hills told me they could replace it (remanufactured) for exactly $2922.54 (what a frickin bargain...)

Am going to try calling the Honda 1-800 number, doubtful I'll get anywhere, since neither dealership offered jack squat to call Honda or even mention a Good Faith repair. Some customer service...no recommendations, no nothing.

My first (and at it's looking now, possibly last) Honda was a 1996 Civic Wagon...great car, bought it at 70,000K and drove it to 160,000K, then resold it again. Never had a single tranny problem with that.

I'm disgusted I am starting to have this problem before 100,000K. It's not bad now, still safely driveable, but apparently I'm seeing on this board that it will only get worse. I'll post an update soon. You'd think with what's going on with Toyota that Honda would get their act together and try to keep a customer.

Hi All,

I'm from United Arab Emirates A grate owner of a HONDA Accord 2002!!!!!!!!!! model. Accord's transmission problem is a very serious issue and happening not only for me, some of my friends and relatives who are using ACCORD 2001 & 2002 models. I'm very sure HONDA dosen't know how to manufacture an automatic transmission more over this problem is a purely MANUFACTURING FAULT. What i found was accord starting from1999 to 2002 models having same problems with automatic transmissions either gear wont shift or shift with a Jerk. I reported to HONDA UAE (Trading Enterprise) and they call me for a test and confirmed its a transmission problem and they quoted 12000 Dirhims!!!!!!!!!!!!!! to replace the tranmission with a new one.

HONDA.............Please look in to this issue.....and save HONDA FAN's. The whole world is accepting its a manufacturing fault HONDA please admit and RECALL these models or do something.

The miles on my car is just 68 + when i first started getting this issue and when checked with the dealer he told this vehicle is not covered under the recall. but it is totally frustrating when a car gives you wired problem with less miles on them. Really when asked about the cost for repair Honda dealer gave me an estimate of $ 2850. I guess Honda will recall all the defective models only when it faces issues like what Toyota is facing today?. I does not have any concern for life of their customer. just cares about its profit. its not just my car that has this transmission issue, most of the 2002 car has the issue. Honda issued a recall for all of its 2000 & 2001 model. but the fact is my car manufactured date was Nov 2001 but still i was denied. I cant fix this issues now, so just hoping that nothing bad happens.

I started having problems with my transmission when I first bought the car and kept complaining to the dealership. Of course I was told nothing was wrong with it. Eventually a couple of years ago took it to the dealer who said I needed a new transmission and it would cost approximately $3,000 to repair. I then conferred with a transmission specialist and he said to just drive it until it stopped and I am still doing that. It is now having serious problems changing gears and slipping very bad. This is my second Honda with transmission problems. NO MORE HONDAS FOR ME AND NO MORE REFERRING MY FRIENDS THE TRANSMISSIONS ARE A PIECE OF JUNK AND HONDA NEEDS TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEM.

Bought this car last September from a Professor at the university. I had got the car thoroughly checked by a very reliable mechanic, who said that apart from the transmission fluid leak, the car was in excellent condition and looked like it was very well maintained. It was at 94,500 miles then. 2,000 miles and 5 months later, the Check Engine indicator lights up, along with the TCS indicator and a flashing D4 light. The TCS and flashing D4 stopped when I turned off the engine, but the CEL stayed. I took the car to a Honda dealer as soon as possible, who fleeced me out of $100 just to read the error codes off the car's computer. He told me its a P0780 (Shift Malfunction) and the only solution is to replace the entier transmission, which would cost $4,000 (!!!). He didn't seemed at all interested in diagnosing the exact cause of the problem...

The only reason I got the Honda against a Nissan or Hyundai was because of its reputation for reliability and long life. In retrospect, I should have paid more attention to that transmission leak. The car has been giving jerks in shifting from gear 1 to 2, atleast for the first 15 minutes after I take it out of the garage. Honda should definitely recall its faulty transmissions for the 2002 Accords as well. If anyone needs people to file for a class action lawsuit, please e-mail me...thanks!

Update from Mar 29, 2010: Honda gave me a goodwill discount on the transmission unit replacement. They shared half of the ~$2800 cost of the repairs, so I would say it worked out to be a pretty good deal. They said they helped me out with the discount since the car has a good service record at the dealership...

Add me to the list of people who are experiencing 2002 Honda Accord transmission issues. Bought the vehicle used. Had the transmission serviced by the shop recommended by Utah Better Business.

Fluid coming out of the tranny was still pink - no metal bits in the fluid - replaced fluid utilized Honda's required special blend. I was good to go.

Vehicle still would lurch forward when you put it in gear or came to a stop. Research on the internet made me sick...I did not do due research prior to buying the car based upon the "glowing and rave" reviews on the Honda brand. Maybe if Honda hears enough kicking and screaming they might try and address us poor souls that are stuck with a $3,000 + repair bill to replace the transmission.

My mechanic advises us to really evaluate if we want to put a $3K investment into a the vehicle. Listening to the stories on the internet, I am not sure that a new transmission will last the years required to recoup the money. Seems like Honda needs to man up and address the problems that folks are seeing with this year's model transmission. They did recall the transmissions on the years previous to the the 2002. My neighbor had her 2001 Accord's transmission replaced three times under warranty.

Hey Honda - are you listening to your customers? Wake up and quit trying to ignore the issue! Yes there is a problem. No it is not caused by improper maintenance or misuse of the vehicle. Look at the data!

Update from Mar 29, 2010: Next steps taken: Entered in a complaint to Better Business Bureau (for the first time in my life.) Honda's response was to have me call their customer service office.

Called Honda and was given a reference number and basically told that I must take the car into one of their service centers for evaluation (even though this had already been done by a reputable mechanic)

When Honda evaluated the vehicle I was told "about your transmission - you need one" and instructed to call back Customer Service Office. The cost I paid to get this valuable information was $107.

Called back the Honda Service Office and after reviewing my information was told that a Honda Service Manager would call me back during the next three days.

In the meantime while having my truck's transmission serviced as part of the routine maintenance at a reputable non-Honda service shop, I inquired about the 2002 Honda transmissions and what they had experienced.

This Transmission Manager told me he has seen many come in...a piece in the transmission (clutch converter) has a tendency to dissinigrate and then pieces of the part are circulated through the transmission tearing it up requiring a completely new install. Nothing could be done on my end as a end user to prevent the failure - it just happens. Ouch!! One useful piece of information gleaned was that it was important during a rebuild to completely replace all the electronic components of the transmission ($800 part cost) - many shops only replace the obvious failed transducers which leads to frequent failures and returns back to the service center. Shop rate for the repairs including parts was around $2,900. Yippee!

I will wait for the call from the Honda Service Manager and hope for the best (but expect the worst).

Just found this wonderful website and began having heart palpitations immediately! I have a 2002 Honda Accord and had just started noticing some transmission slippage in the past few months. I need to point out that I have over 150,000 miles on my car with no real problems to report (yeah, I know....spoke too soon... my doors will probably fall off as I'm driving in a torrential downpour). Just really wondering if all of the 207 cars on the complaint log were manufactured in the US or in Japan? It'll tell you on the sticker on the door jam. When I ordered my car, I was told to wait a little while till the next shipment came in from Japan, that they were "made better". Could this be true? Hmmmm...

I bought my used Accord in May of 2009, almost 10 months ago from a Honda dealer. It's a V6 so I expected it to have power but it didnt really. It felt sluggish and would hesitate and jerk when accelerating to get onto the highway.

A few days ago, my check engine light came on...then the D4 light started blinking.....and the TCS light came on, all within a few seconds. I called Honda and they told me to bring it in that night. I was called the next day saying I needed a new transmission, and I was shocked. The car only has 74k miles. My last car was a 1995 Honda Prelude with 154k miles and it never had any transmission problems in the 3 yeas had it. Honda said it would be $2,600 to get it replaced.

After complaining that I just bought this car . . . the sales manager said he would negotiate a good price for me ($1500-$2000) and would split the cost 50/50 with me. That made me feel better since its not as much but still, why does this car have this problem at such early mileage.

If Honda knew about this problem that seems to be prevalent, they should do the right thing and recall it or at least offer to pay 50% or more of the cost. I am happy Honda offered to pay what they did.....but I am still going to get a second opinion.

Aloha,

This is one angry senior the 2002 Honda Accord I have only had a little over a year transmission jerking and shifting all by it,s self problems. It only has sixty two thousand miles on the car. I was on the highway and the car started shifting and jerking all by it's self.It was so frighting I thought I was going to get hit from behind.I had to put my emergency blinkers on and drive in second gear for miles on the side of road till I reached home the highway has no turn off till you reach the town I live in .I still have 3yrs to pay on the car no car to drive.I know that Honda must be aware of this problem they need to recall theses cars before some gets killed.I will also be part of the class action suit if Honda does not step up and recall these death traps.

Bought 2002 Honda Accord V6 used from local Honda dealer March 2005. The car was "Honda Certified", but had been in an accident (could not find all VIN numbers on body parts). Was told by dealer that this was not true, so I used it to negotiate a "fairly" better price (I'm sure I did not take food off the salesman's table). My 5th Honda (80 civic, 88 civic, 98 civic, 02 civic, 02 accord), but my 1st accord. First problems were the shady paint job done to conceal collision damage. Then came the dashboard light problems (kept replacing dashboard lights). Next, a few years later, transmission problems. I don't know if I am more dissatisfied with Honda, or the dealer. Buyer beware! With my Civics, I could bank on replacing the clutch and timing belt, but with the accord, I don't know what is around the corner. With the recent Toyota problems, it is hard to trust Japanese quality, and I have already excluded American quality, so it looks like my next 5 cars will be German.

My Honda Accord transmission gave me problems from the day I bought the car. Went on several drives with sales person, service manager and district rep during the first 3 months. They all said that is just the way it shifts because it is a "high performance" car. Brought it at other times and was told there was nothing they could do so never reattempted again until 100k. Now they say they won't fix it because I didn't bring it in for servicing with them. Now I'm stuck with this death trap. I hope their will be a class action suit and they are made to pay. So many transmissions shouldn't be failing at such a low milage. I will make sure that joe public knows. Honda has hid from this too long.

I purchased this vehicle new. From the first day I drove it I felt as if the shifting on the vehicle was not properly shifting. The 1st and 2nd gear shift was not correct. I had driven other makes and realized from the get go that the transmission was going to have problems.

I mentioned it to the service fellow at the dealership I purchased the car from and they said it was normal. Well now I have about 46000 miles on the car and the transmission is showing more wear on it. This vehicle has low miles on it. I have always been the driver on the vehicle and it has not been abused in anyway. Unfortunately from the looks of others this is a major problem. If I make it another 10000 miles til my transmission replacement I will be fortunate. Hopefully I will have a new transmission or vehicle by than. It is a shame that Honda doesn't own up to there substandard transmission and RECALL THE TRANSMISSION!