I'd like to start off by saying how much I hate Honda's right now. I will probably never by another Honda ever again. I am the original owner of a 2001 Honda Civic EX and take fairly good care of it. I usually have it maintenance at a dealer as well with just a couple of exceptions. However, the transmission on this car gave up on me today. I came to a stop light and hit the gas pedal when the light turned green and guess what??? Nothing happened. The car wouldn't go. It only has 78K miles on it and is only 7 yrs old!!!! Can you believe this? It was pretty scary since I am 6 months pregnant and had a 3 yr old child with me in the back seat. I thought Honda's are supposed to last forever or at least 150K - 200K & over 10 years. That's why I bought a Honda. This is my first new car purchase. What a disappointment There have been so many problems with this car other than the transmission. Automatic doors and windows have failed on me several times each. Luckily, I purchased a $900 extended warranty to cover these minor repairs. Also, the interior is starting to fall apart. The piece of fabric on the ceiling's interior is starting to peel off and hang down (By the way, this is quite an annoyance every time I look at the rear view mirror). Too bad the extended warranty is NOT going to be able to help me with this transmission problem since it expired 6 months ago. I've had a couple of quotes for a rebuild transmission costing at least $2000. Another unexpected expense this month; thanks to American Honda Corp. I'd like to also mention that my husband also owns a 1998 Honda Accord EX with a transmission problem. We changed his transmission last year for about $2000. Also, about 3-4 years ago, I had recommended my brother-in-law to purchase a new Honda Civic EX as well. And guess what? The car didn't even hit 20K miles and needed a new transmission. Thank goodness for him that the vehicle's transmission was still under warranty. I also found out while talking to different people about this that another brother-in-law had to have his transmission repaired twice on his Odyssey. Based on my experience, Honda is not a brand known for it's reputation, reliability, or workmanship. Apparently, a lot of consumers are having issues with their Honda vehicles as I read through these complaints. You can count on my full cooperation if a class action law suit is ever initiated. I will not be purchasing a Honda again nor would never recommend anyone to purchase a Honda either. Please stay away from Honda's if you don't want to deal with a freakin' headache and an unnecessary $2000+ bill.

Well, without much warning I had tranny failure, it really upsets me that the Valvoline Oil Change center didn't let me know how bad my trans fluid looked (guess I coulda checked it myself... but still, they said they checked everything) NONE the less, started slipping between 1-2 and 2-3 gears, but thought maybe the problem was because of the oil change place since I had the problems after I went there. Then I see the posts saying pretty much if I get my tranny oil changed it wouldn't make a difference anyways, SO I didn't and ddin't have time or money to get it in the shop. Well, NOW I'm up a creek with no paddle, I've already missed one DRILL with my National Guard unit and can't afford to miss anymore, I have about 60 bucks in the bank, and don't know what to do... thought these were supposed to be dependable cars:(

well my lil gas saver just started to cost big bucks. Like many of you it started with the ever loving whine..."ZOOOOOLL"..... noise on start up. then the slip between 2-3 gear, I figure it was a cold day cause it quit after 25 miles or so, but next start up same thing. But after it warmed up no slippage a little further this time, So I decided it was tranny fluid change time again and headed to the autoparts store but returned home immediately, It slowly went into reverse, then slowly went into drive, then slipped between 1-2 then 2-3 and became very unstable slipping and downshifting on its own. Changed fluid, fluid was unremarkable, tried to run it again, it went right into gear both fwd and rev. yippee I thought,so I backed out of driveway to test it and warm it up to change fluid again, cause on fluid change you can only replace 2.9 qts at a time and if this was the problem I would dilute the fluid as much as possible. Started down the road and same thing slipping downshifting but made it home barely, got check lite I think it was pg740 gear ratio or pg730 something like that. Now I'm hoping Bryan can send me some info since he is experienced in replacing the parts needed so I will post progress as things go. hoping for a recall. #219

Jumping on board, same tranny problem, 2nd time I'm trying to post here, On a cold day I could hear a 'zoool' sounding wine and between 2-3 gear it would slip tillit was warm, 30 miles or so, then was alright, wife complained the next day too, then it was slipping going into rev or fwd, replaced fluid and it went into gear 2 or 3 times then would slip and finally complete failure, took about 100 miles all together. will be fixing it myself so Bryan if you got my email please send me info. mark060642000@yahoo.com really bad tim efor this to happen around the holiday and no money to fix at the dealer.

Bought my 2001 Honda in March 2003 with exactly 50,000. Did regular maintenance on it as everyone here does. Problems started with tranny two days ago where it would shift hard or not at all into second and third gears. Was in Pa for Thanksgiving today and got back to jersey and trans went as soon as I got off the highway (thanks god). I had my dog and my boyfriend with me, so I am already annoyed....Tow truck wait time 2 hours....wont tow to an open mechanic if they are not open which they are not because its f*cking Thanksgiving! Now my car is sitting in a church parking lot until i can get it to a Honda dealership tomorrow morning...sigh..let see what Honda says......don't have too much confidence after 215 posts of all negative sh*t

My wife's car all of a sudden died like the rest of you. It had 81000 miles on it. The transmission just quit working. It put out the dtc p0730. I did some research and found that there is a technical service bulletin on this very thing. It says that the probable cause is excessive wear in the second clutch. It also says to just go ahead and replace the tranny. I decided to take the transmission out and rebuild it. Just to let everyone know, I have never been inside a transmission before. I went down to the local community college to there automotive department and got the rebuild procedure. It is not that hard, just very intimidating. By the way when I got to the second clutch it was horrible. All you really need if your a do it yourselfer is a metric socket set up to 32mm, a 6" gear puller, a 15 inch chisel, a feeler gauge, a pick set ( for removing seals), screw drivers, and a set of snap ring pliers, and a couple of home made tools. If you have some or most of this stuff, a garage with a jack and 2 sets of jack stands, you can do this yourself and save a ton of money. My email is mellottbryan@yahoo.com if anyone has questions. I can email pictures and the whole tear down and rebuild procedure as well as set you up with where to find tools and materials.

This is my wife's 2001 Honda Civic. she complained Friday that she thought something was wrong with the car..has no power! We did not get a chance to look at it over the weekend and on Monday morning on the way to work it died on her thankfully not too far from home. The tow truck dude said he thinks it is the transmission; I was like no way -it's a Honda; transmission issues are not in their DNA. Towed it off to the dealer where we bought it in 2001 and the only place we take it in for service. Dude calls us later and says the transmission is toast...! WHAAATTT!!! Long story short; $2800 to fix. I google 2001 Honda civic transmission and for the 1st time I come across carcomplaints.com. We call Honda Corp... it's been 4 days... no call back; we have a case number! We will fix this car and get rid of it and I will preach all I can against Honda...for the rest of my life! Lemme holla at Clark Howard real quick! This is an absolute sham; they know there is an issue and refuse to take responsibility....

To all, the tranny went out on my daughter's 2001 Civic who is way at college. We bought the 2001 Civic LX 4 yrs ago. We've had no issues until now. According to the Honda dealer it needs a new transmission. What gets me is that the only 2 yrs (per Consumers Reports) that Honda has had any "Major Transmission" troubles over the last decade is the 2001-2002 models. All the other areas were still much higher than normal in reliability. This problem should have been dealt with a long time ago.

As it is, the Honda Hybrids from that same year had the tranny warranty extended to 7 yrs/100k miles. Apparently Honda has not made that decision with the Civics.

I'll call Honda and see what they would be willing to do.

Thanks for your input.

Mark

I bought this car for my daughter's birthday last year. My hope was that it would last her a very long time. Well, the car didn't make it to her birthday this year. .The tranny is going out similar to how several of you have described your tranny failures. You would think that Honda would have called these back by now. I am going to call the Honda Corporation tomorrow and discuss my concerns. I wouldn't have bought this car had I known that it was vulnerable to a transmission problem. I am seriously thinking about not repairing this problem and getting another vehicle. Honda will lose a lot of customers if they don't address this problem with integrity.

Add me to the list of transmission failure on the 2001 Honda Civic. I was going to give this car to my daughter and had very little problems with it up until now. Sure, it had a lot of miles, but it ran great and is one of the best mpg Civics out there and besides...Hondas last a long time, don't they? Sad thing is that when I was researching which new Honda to buy for myself I came across this website and saw all the complaints about the 2001. At that point (this was July 2008) I decided I could not give this car to my daughter and was going to trade it in on a new car instead. Like another writer, I felt an impending doom and I wanted to unload it while it was still running well. But life happens and I never got around to it and sure enough 3 months later as I was cresting a hill, the car lurched and sputtered, lost drivetrain for a bit, regained power, lurched again. Thank goodness the car made it over the hill because I would have been in a precarious situation had the transmission totally failed at that point. It limped home dropping out of gear often. Took it to our transmission mechanic who took it for a test drive and it totally failed. The only solution was a rebuilt to the tune of $2896.83.

Simply put, you expect more from Honda. I have a Subaru that has 141k miles on it. My inlaws put 250k miles on their Honda. I just wasn't expecting total failure like that on car that we kept well maintained. I will NOT buy another Honda.

I was driving down I-5 when the transmission failed. No previous warning lights, nothing. I have seen the same thing listed over and over on this same vehicle (2001 Civic) and I think it is ridiculous that Honda has not handled the problem before someone is killed trying to get off a freeway with cars passing at 70 mph.

I had the car towed to the local Honda dealer and I have no idea what it will cost other than the incidents I have read about which average 3000 to 4500 dollars.

Don't buy a 2001 Honda Civic!

Add me to the list. My transmission has been slipping for a while - perhaps a few months, maybe longer, but I'm not enough of a gear head (like, not at all) to know. Last Thursday, transmission totally went out of the thing. I was barely able to drive it the few blocks to my mechanic (thank the Lord it didn't go out during my commute). My local mechanic mentioned similar problems with Accords and Civics in this time frame, and I found this site searching around on Google.

I had my car towed to Bankston Honda in Lewisville, TX this morning after my local mechanic confirmed it was internal transmission trouble. They gave me a quote of around $2700 to replace the transmission. I asked about the 'goodwill' discount, and the service guy said I'd need to contact Honda Customer Service and take that up with them.

Just got off the phone with Honda Customer Service. The rep said there was no such thing as a 'goodwill' discount and when I asked to talk to a supervisor, she said she could open a case file for me and have it researched. She asked me how many Hondas I've owned (2, counting this one), what I was looking for from Honda (I said 50% of the repair cost) and why I felt they should do something (I said I Honda's quality reputation never lead me to expect to have to get my whole transmission replaced at 100k miles, and if I'd wanted that I would've bought from another company).

So ... we'll see. I'll update this as this goes.

I purchased the car brand new in May of 2001. In April of 2005, with 74,851 miles on it, the transmission failed. I had the transmission rebuilt at a cost of $1,895.00. On Oct. 14th, 2008 my transmission failed again at 121,175 miles, and I had it rebuilt again at a cost of $2,133.40. After speaking with the mechanic at the transmission shop I understood that my transmission problems were not normal wear and tear, but instead Honda�s manufacturing defect. I did some research on the internet and found that I was not alone. There are numerous complaints on carcomplaints.com, consumeraffairs.com, and Hondaproblems.com to name a few. It is clear that there is a major manufacturer�s defect that Honda chooses to ignore. I chose to buy a brand new Honda Civic with the intentions of keeping it for at least a good ten years. I previously owned a 1991 Honda Civic which I purchased brand new and had for over ten years with no need for a new transmission even past the 150,000 mile mark. When time came to purchase a new car I decided on the 2001 Honda Civic hoping to get a good 10 years out of the car. BIG MISTAKE!!! I will never consider or recommend another HONDA or an Acura vehicle in my life, not because there is a manufacturing defect, but because of Honda�s blatant disregard and lack of loyalty to their customers. If American Honda Motor Co., Inc did the right thing and reimburse me for at least one of the repairs then I would be more understanding. It is not the first time that there is a manufacturing defect, but the way it is being handled by American Honda Motor Co., Inc is appalling. I will make it a point to share my horrendous experience with my Honda and American Honda Motor Co., Inc. with as many people as possible. I find it hard to believe that Honda is unaware of the issues their customers have been having. I also find it hard to believe that Honda does not know that this transmission failure crisis is their defect, not the customers. I am sure that American Honda Motor Co., Inc expects their transmissions to last more than 75,000 miles. Yet they choose to ignore us, the consumers.

After my transmission was rebuilt for the second time and finding out that this is Honda�s manufacturing defect I contact Honda Customer Service on Oct. 21, 2008 at 7:17pm EST at (800) 999-1009 and inquired about a "goodwill repair". First I spoke with Oralia Perez. She told me that since my car was not regularly serviced at a Honda dealer that I could not be considered for a �goodwill repair.� I informed her that I have had regular maintenance done on my car by NY State licensed and registered mechanics. I also informed her that no one told me that I had to have my car serviced at a Honda dealer for the life of the car in order for Honda to appreciate me as a customer and look into my problems I am facing with my car. She told me that the owner�s manual says to take the car to a Honda dealer to be serviced. She just kept repeating the same thing saying that since I had not had my car regularly serviced at a Honda dealer that my case will not be considered for a �goodwill repair.� She would not even discuss my transmission problems. It was as if I was talking to a machine. All my concerns and issues were falling on deaf ears. I finally asked to speak to a supervisor. After waiting on hold for about ten minutes, Oralia Perez comes back on the phone saying that her supervisor agreed with her and that since I did not have my car regularly serviced at a Honda dealer that I could not be considered for a �goodwill repair.� I again asked to speak to a supervisor because Oralia refused to address my issue and kept referring back to the so called policy that in order to be considered for a �goodwill repair� I would have had to have all regular maintenance done on my car by a Honda dealer. She again ignored my request and said that her supervisor said there was nothing more that they could do for me. I told her that I had my owner�s manual in front of me and asked her for a page number where I can find a statement that says that I must take my car to a to take the car to a Honda dealer for regular service in order to be considered for a �goodwill repair.� She could not give me a page number. I then asked to speak to her supervisor again. Finally at 7:41pm EST Caroline Chaw comes on the phone. She says the same thing. She said that it is Honda�s policy that in order to be considered for a �goodwill repair� I would have had to have all regular maintenance done on my car by a Honda dealer. I informed her that this policy was never disclosed to me, not in the owner�s manual nor at the dealership where I purchased the car. Again she just kept repeating that this was Honda�s policy. I asked to speak to someone above her hoping to get someone who would address my issue with my transmission and not keep repeating a policy that was never conveyed to me, the consumer. She said that there was no one there that was above her and that I would have to call back tomorrow. After insisting a bit she gave me the name of her supervisor, Durwin Gonzalez. I chose not to call him and waste anymore of my time with them and instead write this letter and post as many complaints on as many websites as possible to get my problem heard since Honda won�t listen.

I am extremely frustrated that the people I spoke to at American Honda Motor Co., Inc would not even address my concerns about my transmission problems. Instead they just kept repeating a policy that consumers are not made aware of. I am extremely dissatisfied with my 2001 Honda Civic, with the way American Honda Motor Co., Inc is treating me and the thousand other consumers that are having the same issues, and also with the extreme lack of customer care provided by American Honda Motor Co., Inc. I hope to get rid of this car as soon as possible and never have anything to do with American Honda Motor Co., Inc, its vehicles, or its employee ever again. The only thing I learned from this experience so far is that American Honda Motor Co., Inc has no �goodwill.�

I purchased the car brand new in May of 2001. In April of 2005, with 74,851 miles on it, the transmission failed. I had the transmission rebuilt at a cost of $1,895.00. On Oct. 14th, 2008 my transmission failed again at 121,175 miles, and I had it rebuilt again at a cost of $2,133.40. After speaking with the mechanic at the transmission shop I understood that my transmission problems were not normal wear and tear, but instead Honda�s manufacturing defect. I did some research on the internet and found that I was not alone. There are numerous complaints on carcomplaints.com, consumeraffairs.com, and Hondaproblems.com to name a few. It is clear that there is a major manufacturer�s defect that Honda chooses to ignore. I chose to buy a brand new Honda Civic with the intentions of keeping it for at least a good ten years. I previously owned a 1991 Honda Civic which I purchased brand new and had for over ten years with no need for a new transmission even past the 150,000 mile mark. When time came to purchase a new car I decided on the 2001 Honda Civic hoping to get a good 10 years out of the car. BIG MISTAKE!!! I will never consider or recommend another HONDA or an Acura vehicle in my life, not because there is a manufacturing defect, but because of Honda�s blatant disregard and lack of loyalty to their customers. If American Honda Motor Co., Inc did the right thing and reimburse me for at least one of the repairs then I would be more understanding. It is not the first time that there is a manufacturing defect, but the way it is being handled by American Honda Motor Co., Inc is appalling. I will make it a point to share my horrendous experience with my Honda and American Honda Motor Co., Inc. with as many people as possible. I find it hard to believe that Honda is unaware of the issues their customers have been having. I also find it hard to believe that Honda does not know that this transmission failure crisis is their defect, not the customers. I am sure that American Honda Motor Co., Inc expects their transmissions to last more than 75,000 miles. Yet they choose to ignore us, the consumers.

After my transmission was rebuilt for the second time and finding out that this is Honda�s manufacturing defect I contact Honda Customer Service on Oct. 21, 2008 at 7:17pm EST at (800) 999-1009 and inquired about a "goodwill repair". First I spoke with Oralia Perez. She told me that since my car was not regularly serviced at a Honda dealer that I could not be considered for a �goodwill repair.� I informed her that I have had regular maintenance done on my car by NY State licensed and registered mechanics. I also informed her that no one told me that I had to have my car serviced at a Honda dealer for the life of the car in order for Honda to appreciate me as a customer and look into my problems I am facing with my car. She told me that the owner�s manual says to take the car to a Honda dealer to be serviced. She just kept repeating the same thing saying that since I had not had my car regularly serviced at a Honda dealer that my case will not be considered for a �goodwill repair.� She would not even discuss my transmission problems. It was as if I was talking to a machine. All my concerns and issues were falling on deaf ears. I finally asked to speak to a supervisor. After waiting on hold for about ten minutes, Oralia Perez comes back on the phone saying that her supervisor agreed with her and that since I did not have my car regularly serviced at a Honda dealer that I could not be considered for a �goodwill repair.� I again asked to speak to a supervisor because Oralia refused to address my issue and kept referring back to the so called policy that in order to be considered for a �goodwill repair� I would have had to have all regular maintenance done on my car by a Honda dealer. She again ignored my request and said that her supervisor said there was nothing more that they could do for me. I told her that I had my owner�s manual in front of me and asked her for a page number where I can find a statement that says that I must take my car to a to take the car to a Honda dealer for regular service in order to be considered for a �goodwill repair.� She could not give me a page number. I then asked to speak to her supervisor again. Finally at 7:41pm EST Caroline Chaw comes on the phone. She says the same thing. She said that it is Honda�s policy that in order to be considered for a �goodwill repair� I would have had to have all regular maintenance done on my car by a Honda dealer. I informed her that this policy was never disclosed to me, not in the owner�s manual nor at the dealership where I purchased the car. Again she just kept repeating that this was Honda�s policy. I asked to speak to someone above her hoping to get someone who would address my issue with my transmission and not keep repeating a policy that was never conveyed to me, the consumer. She said that there was no one there that was above her and that I would have to call back tomorrow. After insisting a bit she gave me the name of her supervisor, Durwin Gonzalez. I chose not to call him and waste anymore of my time with them and instead write this letter and post as many complaints on as many websites as possible to get my problem heard since Honda won�t listen.

I am extremely frustrated that the people I spoke to at American Honda Motor Co., Inc would not even address my concerns about my transmission problems. Instead they just kept repeating a policy that consumers are not made aware of. I am extremely dissatisfied with my 2001 Honda Civic, with the way American Honda Motor Co., Inc is treating me and the thousand other consumers that are having the same issues, and also with the extreme lack of customer care provided by American Honda Motor Co., Inc. I hope to get rid of this car as soon as possible and never have anything to do with American Honda Motor Co., Inc, its vehicles, or its employee ever again. The only thing I learned from this experience so far is that American Honda Motor Co., Inc has no �goodwill.�

On September 12, 2008 the transmission on my 2001 Honda Civic EX failed. I had about 120,000 miles on it. I was at a stop light and put my foot on the gas and my car would not move. A kind person behind me in the long line of cars helped to push my car off to the shoulder. I had my car towed to our Honda dealership in Ofallon IL. Their estimate for the repair was $4000. They would replace the transmission. I called several mechanics in our area and they would rebuild the transmission for about $2000. While talking to a mechanic he told me that he has seen many transmission problems with Honda. After reading complaints on this site, I found out about a goodwill repair from Honda. So I called Honda of America and a case manager worked with our Honda dealership in Ofallon. The final cost for the repair was $1768. At the dealership they replaced my transmission not rebuilt it. It was still far more money than I wanted to spend on a car that I thought was reliable, but better than $4000. Honda of America told me that if you take it to a mechanic rather than the dealership, they might reimburse you. You would have to send in the paperwork and a casemanager would review it.

The 200th transmission failure of the Honda Civic 2001 recorded on Car Complaints. Not something that I am proud of!!!

I bought a new Honda Civic in 2001 based in large part on its, supposed, reliability. Last Thursday my transmission failed on my way home from work. I was driving on Route 9 in Massachusetts and the car started to slow down, then I found myself reving the car as if it was in neutral. Obviously, this was pretty dangerous as I was on a highway. I got AAA to tow it to the nearest mechanic who confirmed that the transmission had failed, and that there were no obvious reasons why. He also mentioned that he had a previous customer with a 2001 Civic who had got a �goodwill adjustment� from Honda when she brought it to a dealer (as I had just over 91,000 miles on my car and the Transmission wasn't scheduled to be serviced until 120,000 miles there was reason to expect that they would do the same for me).

I contacted Honda who told me to bring my car to a dealership and that they would deal with it but that there was no guarantee of an adjustment. The Honda dealership phoned me the next day to let me know that there would be no goodwill adjustment. I checked online and found this site, so I phoned customer services to determine why I hadn�t received one. After the Honda representative had gathered all of my information, she phoned me back to say that the regional office had determined that there should be no adjustment in my case. The only explanation that I was given was that I had my car serviced by independents. As this was not the case, I explained that the major services were performed in 3 different Honda dealerships but that I had the smaller services performed by independent operators (The main reason being that I brought my Civic in for the 60,000 mile service at my local Honda dealership who offered to drive me to a place of my choosing and pick me up to collect my car, as the service would take an hour. They dropped me off at a local coffee shop. After 4 hours and 3 phone calls (I phoned after an hour and a half and was told that they would collect me in half an hour) they eventually picked me up. As the alternative Honda dealership is an hour away, I decided to get minor services at independent dealerships. I think that this is understandable). When I asked again, I was told that the decision for adjustments was �based on customer loyalty and I used independents for my services.� I found the reply petty, as it was not true, so I told her that I would tape the conversation for the record. She refused (a bizarre response because she told me at the start of the conversation that we would be recorded). Also, given that my next car was going to be a Civic Hybrid, I find the �customer loyalty� criterion to be laughable.

I told the dealership to go ahead with the repair (I was pretty much stuck without a car). It came to $2900 (about half the price of the car). When I picked up the car I asked for the Diagnostic output. I was told that they didn't have the ability to print out the diagnostic (I needed the diagnostic to get the error code ... because I am not going to let this lie, I will keep writing and complaining to every internet site that I can until I get this sorted, or until someone begins a class action suit). They didn't have the ability to print out the diagnostic results??????

As you can imagine, now I am PISSED. I pay $90 for a diagnostic test and I don't have the results. (they tried to charge me another $90 for another diagnostic test because my SRS light is on .... scam artists ripping people off ... one diagnostic test should give all of the error codes that they need).

I am just back from the dealership. You can imagine that Honda are going to get a phone call on Monday morning.

Honda have dropped the ball on this one. There is no way that I am going to get another Honda if this is not resolved (which is a pity because I was looking forward to getting a Civic Hybrid .... it is Prius for me if they don't get their act together).

my 2001 LX civic automatic with 75000 miles started having transmission slip when put in reverse and drive. I checked consumers report and noticed the 2001 civic is starting to get develop a reputation for automatic transmission problems. 2002-03 will probably start getting more complaints as the miles start get over 50000. Good luck to you owners of these. My local Honda dealer is aware of the problem, but they seem to want to try and act as if its not that common. I bet that the problem will only continue to get worse. I hope everyone who has a similar problem will continue to complain and hold Honda accountable and responsible for putting an inferior transmission in these cars. People often buy these cars for their reliability and hopefully Honda will stand by their product and stop tap dancing as if their isn't anything wrong. Tell your dealers and reps that you won't buy their products and cars if they won't fix things when they break or fail way before their expected time.