CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2003 Honda Accord suffers from widespread transmission failure & problems with the stereo backlight failing. We recommend avoiding this model year like the plague.
The transmission begins slipping & eventually has to be replaced, typically soon after 90,000 miles & with a repair cost of over $2,000. Transmission failure has been a huge problem for the Accord & several other Honda models all through the early 2000s model years. Honda extended the transmission warranty to 93 months/109k miles for the 2000-2001 Accord as a class action lawsuit settlement, but owners of other Accord model years with transmission problems are out of luck.
The stereo backlight problem has been an issue since these Accords were only a few years old. Honda eventually issued a recall which covered the repair for 7 years/100k miles, which was nice while it lasted but now that period is over. Honda initially was replacing the entire radio ($800) but eventually began replacing just the PCB which at ~$300 is much cheaper. That sounds like a deal, but keep in mind we're talking about a backlight bulb that costs $2 to fix in most other cars.
9.3
really awful
Typical Repair Cost:
$1,500
Average Mileage:
54,700 miles
Total Complaints:
3 complaints
Most Common Solutions:
not sure (2 reports)
tcs repaired by customer. warranty expired (1 reports)
Hello everyone. My name is luis i just bought this car like 5 months ago and i thought that it was going to be a really good car but, i guess i was wrong. My car started showing the e-brake light on the cars dash and then out of nowhere the TCS light came up right away. Honestly, I never expected this to happen. I have been searching on the internet to see if i could find an easy fix but, there hasn't been any really good explanation about this kind of problem. I do not want to take it to the dealer right now because in this moment i do not posses a good financial status, and i know they won't fix it for a reasonable price. If anyone has this same problem please let me know so i could get an idea of how much would this cost and try to fix it.
Within a few weeks of driving off the Blount Honda lot, the TCS icon on my dash lit up. I looked up the definition in my booklet and was concerned. I called the dealership and they said to bring the vehicle in. The icon light went off en route. I was told that the service department couldn't diagnose the problem when the light wasn't lit. So, I brought my vehicle by several more times--always, the light went off prior. One time a mechanic and I drove around a while in hopes the icon would go on. It didn't. Long story short, when I finally had had enough and demanded Blount Honda look into the issue whether the light was on or not...guess what...warranty had expired. I was FURIOUS. Brought my vehicle to Pep Boys as I have a good relationship with them. THEY were able to diagnose the problem even though the icon wasn't illuminated. As the warranty with Blount Honda had expired, I gave the business to Pep Boys. My out of pocket cost for something that SHOULD have been repaired while under warranty: $1,499.37.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Hello everyone. My name is luis i just bought this car like 5 months ago and i thought that it was going to be a really good car but, i guess i was wrong. My car started showing the e-brake light on the cars dash and then out of nowhere the TCS light came up right away. Honestly, I never expected this to happen. I have been searching on the internet to see if i could find an easy fix but, there hasn't been any really good explanation about this kind of problem. I do not want to take it to the dealer right now because in this moment i do not posses a good financial status, and i know they won't fix it for a reasonable price. If anyone has this same problem please let me know so i could get an idea of how much would this cost and try to fix it.
- Luis R., Lamont, CA, US