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.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
5 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
7 / 0
Average Mileage:
109,175 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The car acted like it was 'missing' gears, but this went away. I started to enter the freeway ramp and increase speed and the car did it several times again (missing gears', revving but not moving forward like it should) and was almost hit by several cars trying to get me to move. I was unable to get the car to move, so I immediately used gps to locate a service station. I was able to drive the to the repair shop, but the car symptoms continued to get worse, which was a significant safety hazard! no check engine lights came on at all! I was able to make it to the driveway of the repair shop, but they had to push the car into the bay to review it. The repair place determined that the transmission has an internal problem, which is very common with 2003 Honda Accord. I only had 89,900 miles on the car. I have owned several Honda and have never had problems such as this. However, Honda knows that this is an ongoing, safety hazard but has done nothing to address these ongoing issues (outside of the class action lawsuit requirements). I will be looking at new cars and Honda will not be on my list! I am asking the us department of transportation to please thoroughly review the history of transmission issues with these cars and require appropriate consumer protection by Honda.
I have a 2003 Honda Accord ex V6. About two months ago I started feeling the car wasn't feeling right. As I was driving, it felt like the gear shift had been knocked down in to neutral, but was still actually still in drive. When this happened, the RPM's would go up and the car felt like it wasn't going anywhere, just coasting, then it seemed to just jolt back to where it should be. The problem wasn't happening every time I drove, but recently it started happening more often and for longer periods of time. I take the car to one place to have all my work done on it, so I took it there, but they felt the problem might be internal and recommended I take it to a transmission shop. They did diagnostics on the car and drove it. The result, the car is going into transmission failure. The transmission fluid is black and burned and has debris in it, and they said that the clutches are also burned. They won't know the complete picture until they take the transmission apart and get a good look. It is 5 days before christmas, I don't have the money to fix it or we will not have any christmas and now I have no transportation to do anything! soooo frustrated. I thought Honda's were suppose to be such good cars, but I have had nothing but problems with this one. It doesn't seem like a transmission should go out at 113,000 miles and I have had so many people say the same thing. Now that my transmission is going out, I read up on it and find out there was a recall in 2004 for the 2003 Honda Accord. Why, am I just finding out about this??
At 55 mph on highway, car suddenly slipped out of gear and rpms spiked up. No forward power. Had to coast on to the shoulder and shutoff and restart the car. Problem continued on that trip but seemed ok thereafter. Brought to dealer but nothing found. Over the next few years problem has occurred every so often unpredictably (no pattern) despite changing transmission fluid and staying current on maintenance. Increased in frequency at 100K miles. Most days the car is fine but then the problem will occur suddenly. Has happened when merging on to highways, when already at highway speeds and sometimes shortly after accelerating from a stop at a traffic light or stop sign. Occasionally happens when yielding (I.e. slowing down for a yield sign and then trying to accelerate again).
Driving up to the high desert at 70 mph the transmission dropped out of 5th to 1st and back to gear 4 times tell only second and first gears only work. There was no warning of a problem tell this time. I could of been in a sever accident, if I would of lost control of the car at this speed or someone was to close to me an hit me from going 70mpg to 10mpg in less in a second. This car only has 89K on it and should not be having a problem like this. This is a major safety problem when a car just locks up at freeway speeds. Honda should do something about this. There are a lot of online forums with just this problem if I would of known about this I would not of picked this car. I drive a lot of mountain roads and freeways. If this would of happen on a mountain road going up are even down I may not be her right now to send this complaint. I would be part of the mountain side. This need immediate attention, just like with Ford having tier problems, Toyota having there problem with safety on the vehicles this one that need attention.
I was driving in a side street for like 35 to 40mph. And then all of a sudden my car shift to lower gear violently hen when I'm about to park I shifted it to reverse but my car will not move. For like a year only I replaced my transmission fluid and check it everything looks fine. And I talked to one of the dealer close to my place they told me its not covered with warranty anymore. Plus I'm unemployed base from some of the forum that I read they said that it will cost about $2500 to $3500 new transmission. How can I afford that.. please someone help me or give me some advice to deal with it.
- Northridge, CA, USA
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The transmission started slipping and the transmission/transmission fluid started overheating and boiling. The car started smoking and we had to pull over. When towed to a mechanic they said the transmission was bad and was slipping.
The contact owns a 2003 Honda Accord. The contact stated that the transmission jerked and hesitated while driving at various speeds. The contact also stated that the transmission would downshift sporadically. In addition, the transmission would engage from fourth to third gear and from third to second gear without warning. The vehicle had not been inspected. The contact stated that in 2004 the vehicle was taken to the dealer for repairs under NHTSA recall campaign id number: 04V176000 (power train: Automatic transmission). The dealer replaced the oil jet kit on the vehicle, but did not repair the transmission. The failure and the current mileages were 142,000.
Returning from richmond car downshifted by it self into 2nd gear at a speed of about 65 mph causing the car to dive violently as if applying the brakes hard. It did this about 5 or 6 times then locked in 2nd gear. I moved to the right lane and drove the car at a speed of 45 mph stuck in 2nd gear to my local Honda dealer. Thank goodness there was not a lot traffic on the road when this happened or I might have been hit from behind.
Only 125K miles on the car. I noticed the transmission slipping when going into/out of second gear. I took it for a drive later to see if I could replicate the problem and could not. Two days later, while getting off of the interstate and turning onto the surface streets, the transmission suddenly start jolting and downshifting even though I was pressing on the gas. It continued to do so all the way to the dealer. I could not get it to go past second gear. Was told that I need a new transmission at a cost of $4,000. Have since seen that this make and model is having all kinds of problems. There are websites addressing the problems and apparently a facebook page. I also learned after the fact that there had been a recall in 2004 related to the second gear but they patched it with some cheesy kit and apparently prayed that the S -T would hit the fan after everyone's warranty expired -- which it has. The NHTSA needs to recall these vehicles and require Honda to make good on them.
I was traveling at 60 mph on us 30 when my Honda Accord suddenly jerked and slipped into low gear. I was nearly rearended and was definitely in shock. I continued homeward and it did the same thing 3 more times. I had slowed my speed to 40 mph but the engine sounded like I was going too fast for the gear I was in so slowed down even more....put my flashers on and crept home. Since it is after hours I must wait until tomorrow to contact the dealership. However I have found that many people have had the same problem with Honda Accord.
While merging onto I75 off of square lake rd North of detroit, transmission momentarily failed then engaged with a jolt in a low gear making this normally routine maneuver quite treacherous. Luckily there was no accident or injury. Shortly thereafter transmission underwent complete rebuild at my cost. I have since discovered that this malady is quite common with this model and year at approximately this mileage.
The transmission had a major transmission failure of some kind as the car was just driving along the highway. It was as if someone had hit the brakes hard. The car went from 60 to 40 in just a second or two it seemed like... a violent slowdown. Now the transmission has no reverse, and forward driving is clunky, hard shifts and unpredictable.
No issues prior to the drive into work 7/3/12, where I experienced extreme downshifting. On the way home, driving 35 to 40 mph, the car slipped out of gear and the engine's rpms skyrocketed. While maneuvering to the right to get out of traffic, transmission re-engaged and downshifted violently. From a stopped position it would move forward briefly, then slip out of gear. Finally, it wouldn't engage in any position (reverse, drive, 1st, 2nd, etc). The only way to get moving was to turn it off and restart. I got it to the dealer by restarting 3 or 4 times. Extremely dangerous in rush hour to lose all power, especially at intersections.
Going to work yesterday car suddenly jerks as if down shifting or something, rpms go crazy as if I have my foot on gas while in neutral, jerks along until nothing happens no gears at all. Pull over kill it then wait restart and get another half mile along and have to keep doing it all over again all the way to work. Husband gets it home the same way. Dealer closed today(4th of July) or at least I got no answer when calling. Started surfing the web with this issue and have been horrified with all I have read about my car. Someone needs to do something, still owe a yr on it, cant afford to fix it...hoping the dealer will do something when we go see them tomorrow. Thought I had the best car ever when I got it in 08, have had no other problems, and was told by Honda when I got it what a good deal I was getting because the previous owner had just traded it back and they had all service history with them etc... yet no mention about any of this, and they had to have known by then that this model was having issues with transmission failure.
Transmission failed on Accord 2003 V6, violent shifts, slippage from 2nd to 3rd. I have not reached complete failure but stopped driving car after reading that failure can lead to sudden deceleration and possible accidents.
The car after being driven to work by my wife would hesitate going into gear. After speaking to the Honda dealership, and Honda America we were told it to far out of warranty to be covered. We have owned several Honda cars and now we are told they will not cover any of the costs involved. I thought Honda was better than this.
Subsequent to getting a rebuilt transmission on June 6, 2012, with 82,905 miles on the car, I found out that transmission problems are extremely prevalent in 2003 Honda Accord. In fact, there was a recall in 2004. I bought the car 1/30/2006 from thousand oaks (ca) Honda. I talked to Honda customer service (800-999-1009) today and my case is being referred to a case manager. We will see what happens...
Noticed when accelerating gently, car more quickly accelerated than usual to the next gear. Then the rpms shot up very high and very slowly and dropped suddenly when car achieved 35 mph, causing car and me to lurch and sling me backward into the seat. The next day, at 117,699 miles, I drove vehicle to my dealership, economy Honda on chapman rd, in chattanooga tn. They drove it, and agreed it was the transmission. They had replaced my first transmission in September 2008 under extended warranty at 67,618 miles because it did the same thing. Later I found out the first one was recalled anyway in 2004. American Honda communicated with economy Honda for a deal: Me to pay $2650.08 instead of $3886.50 to replace this current transmission, which has not even made it to its first fluid change (not until about 17,000 more miles). This is a two-fold issue. The first being that this can quickly and unexpectedly turn into a deadly issue, and the second being that a large corporation is being abusive to its consumers. Many people do not have the option of repairing, trading in, or leasing a new vehicle. How many people are locked in with Honda, and have pushed their vehicles to the limit even though this transmission issue is going on because they can not afford to make their vehicle safe" if I drive my Honda, is someone going to rear-end me on the highway and kill me and my children because my transmission is failing and my car won't maintain proper speed because of a faulty job that Honda did on my second transmission" Honda told me it was safe enough to drive home until they figured out how much to charge me, so it will be just fine, I'm sure.
The contact owns a 2003 Honda Accord. The contact stated that while driving 70 mph, the transmission failed. The contact stated that the vehicle's speed dropped from 70 mph to 25 mph very quickly on its own. The contact shifted the vehicle into neutral and coasted to the side of the road. The vehicle was then towed to an auto repair center. The repair center stated that there were metal shreds everywhere around the transmission and the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified and informed the contact that she should notify NHTSA and file a complaint. The failure mileage was 130,000. The VIN was unavailable.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Marietta, GA, USA