CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2004 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 ever 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 replaced 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:
6 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
5 / 0
Average Mileage:
105,842 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.
I am like other Honda owners whose car failed them. My transmission has gone out right after the 100,000 mile mark. Honda states there is no known problem with the V6 transmission but I have sites with hundreds of people who explain the same issue I had with my car. Now Honda states that checked my 2nd gear shift (which is causing stressed to the transmissions and killing them) butback in 2005 but saw no issues, but after I took it to my local Honda dealership, they state its bad! Honda secretly knows that the transmissions in this car is bad ( the whole line of cars) but refuses to fix the issue knowing it will cost the company 3500-5000 to fix everyone's car. They are risking the safety of their customers to save a buck. Websites like : www.carcomplaints.com/Honda/Accord/2004/transmission/transmission_is_slipping.shtml and many more found thru google shows hundreds to thousands of customers have been through (or will so go through) the same issue after going over the 100,000 mile mark. Honda had a recall and after a civil lawsuit expanded it to 100,000 miles. I almost got hit as my car was driving on the highway at speeds of 60+ then slow down to 5 mph as if my car was in neutral. The people need your help to warn everyone else of this danger before someone gets hurt or worst! is there a way we can do another civil lawsuit to have the warranty expanded again? thanks and god bless.
The contact owns a 2004 Honda Accord. The contact stated that the driver was driving at unknown speeds when the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer and the dealer stated that the transmission failed and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified and stated that the VIN was not included in the recall associated with NHTSA campaign id number 04V176000 (power train:automatic transmission). The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileages were 71,000. The VIN was unknown.
Transmission failed catastrophically without any prior warning. At 45 mph it downshifted into first gear, redlining the engine and locking up the wheels. It did it twice more before I was able to drive the 3 additional miles to my home. I'm fortunate it was at night and there was little traffic. Honda has known about this problem since 1999 as covered it up, continuing to manufacture and sell cars without doing anything to correct this fatal flaw.
The contact owns a 2004 Honda Accord. The contact stated that while driving 65 mph, the vehicle stopped accelerating. The vehicle coasted to a stop and was towed to an authorized dealer. The dealer replaced the transmission under warranty. The failure had since recurred on three occasions. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer after two of the recurrences and the transmission was again replaced under warranty. The vehicle was not taken back to the dealer after the most recent failure because the vehicle was no longer under warranty. The failure mileage was 46,000.
In January 29, 2010, my wife was driving home with my children when the car suddenly lost power. We had it towed to my mechanic who checked it and told us that it was the transmission. We eventually had it replaced for $2300. I was really surprised that the transmission failed so prematurely but since it had passed its warranty I didn't bother notifiying Honda. However, the same thing happened again this November 11, 2011 while my wife was driving my children home. The rebuilt transmission we had put in failed as well after 30,000 miles. Luckily, it didn't happen on the freeway. My family could have been killed. Now I'm having it replaced with the used one because I don't want to spend another $2300. I thought I was alone on this but I found out that a lot of people are having the same problem. My neighbor has an Accord and the same thing happened. I hope something can be done about this before somebody dies.
- Diamond Bar, CA, USA
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Driving in traffic on the freeway, the automatic transmission suddenly disengaged and pressing/releasing the throttle caused the engine to rev freely, as if the transmission had been placed into neutral. Once the car slowed down (coasted) to about 20 mph, the transmission re-engaged somewhat, and gently depressing the throttle allowed me to slowly accelerate to keep up with traffic (about 40 mph). When the transmission shifted between 2nd and 3rd, it appeared to slip quite a bit--the tachometer ranged between 1900 RPM and 2600 RPM until 3rd gear engaged. The transmission now refuses to go into overdrive (5th gear), and the transmission is continuing to slip, both while shifting gears, as well as when driving at a steady rate. Took the vehicle to the local Honda dealership, and they quoted $4452 to replace the transmission with a Honda remanufactured unit. I called Honda customer service to see if they could offer any assistance on the repair, and was politely told "no" due to the age and mileage of the vehicle.
I have a 2004 Accord ex-L V6. I began hearing a strange noise from the transmission with a loss of motive power at speeds between 25 to 45 mph.. my Honda dealer said it had an internal fault and would replace transmission for $3800. I had a transmission repair shop repair transmission for $2900. The torque converter needed replacing. Car had 97K miles.
Was driving down the highway about 50mph and all the sudden the engine RPM increased but the car wasn't going any faster, but doing the opposite. I looked in my rear view and came so close to being rear ended, thankfully I pulled over quickly out of traffic. The car would not move, called a wrecker got towed to Honda...and guess what..yep transmission failed, and to make matters worse my VIN# was not part of any recall..go figure! I have the 04' Accord with the V6..we will see if Honda steps up.
I have a 2004 Honda Accord ex V6 and the transmission started slipping. I took it to a Honda dealer, where they told me I needed a new transmission, which may not be covered by the recall. Driving on interstate and city roads, the car stops. The engine starts, but I am not able to accelerate the car. According to recent diagnosis, which suggests that there was a failure of the automatic transmission. I have been made aware of recent transmission issues with other 2003-2004 Honda Accord vehicles, which I find unlikely for the Honda brand.
The contact owns a 2004 Honda Accord. The contact stated that the vehicle was exhibiting an abnormal grinding when attempting to shift from park to drive. The dealer advised the contact that the transmission needed to be replaced. The contact referenced NHTSA campaign id number: 11V395000 (power train: Automatic transmission: Control module (tcm, PCM) but was not advised that the vehicle was not included in the recall. The transmission was replaced but the failure recurred one year later. The manufacturer did not offer any assistance. The current mileage was 122,000 and the approximate failure mileage was 96,000.
Just hit the 100,000 mark on this Accord. The transmission is out and will not shift into gear. It just stopped while driving. Thank goodness this did not happen on the freeway. Hondas are supposed to go forever, but this seems to be a common problem. The recall apparently did not fix the transmission problem. I will not be buying or recommending Honda again.
Honda Accord ex-L V6 2004 116''000 I was driving on the highway at 55 mph, and was coming up on some stand still traffic. I was in the middle lane going about 20 mph. As the traffic started slowing down and I was attempting to get over to right lane and merge off the exit when my transmission failed. I hit the gas as I pulled into the right hand exit lane but my car would not accelerate, causing me to almost get rear ended. The RPM gauge was at 3 but the car wouldn''t accelerate. I had to rev it and coast down the highway with cars behind me blowing at me. The fastest the car would go was 10 mph on a single lane exit onto another highway so I got to nearest exit (2 miles away) coasted down the exit and pulled over and shut my car off. After 10 minutes with the car off I started it back up and attempted to get back home the car did fine for 10 minutes until arrived 3 blocks from house and had to pulled on the side of the road from the same transmission failure with emergency lights on, I cut off the car for another 10 minutes and made it home. My car has 116,000 miles and I''ve researched recalls on my make and model and Honda has 1,000,000 recalls on 2004 Honda transmission. When I call Honda's toll free number and gave my VIN number and Honda representative says there''s no recall on my VIN. They also mentioned to take it to Honda dealer to get the problem diagnose which they will not cover. I felt like my life was danger, I almost got rear ended twice and Honda will not correct there problem with their faulty transmissions. I''ve reviewed dozens of forums with thousands of complaints from different Honda owners with the same year (2004) with the same problem as me- and Honda did not help on repairs or any compensation.
I have a 2004 Honda Accord that had a transmission failure with no warning. It had 88,000miles on it and very well maintained. I was driving on the highway about 2 hours away from home when the car started slowing down or downshifting on its own. I felt like I was just coasting or in neutral. I pulled over to the side of the road and waited a couple minutes and tried to start my car up again...it did. I started driving again and not even 3/4 of a mile later the same thing happened. I did this pull over/ turn off/ turn on thing all the way home with my daughter in the car ( 2 hrs away was too costly for a tow). What should have taken 2 hours took close to 4hrs 20 mins. I called my local Honda dealer and they said that they needed to look at it to diagnose the problem which would have cost me $120 to tell me what I already knew...my transmission was shot. I took it instead to an independant garage $45 and they said it was an internal transmission failure. I called Honda back and they said there is no recall and it would cost $3800 to get a rebuild transmission. Corporate said my VIN did not have a recall and I would have to pay. When all was said and done I paid $4213 for a rebuilt transmission with 36,000mile or 3 year warranty. I am getting rid of this car before warranty runs out and not buying another Honda ever.
While attempting to pass a tractor trailer on the highway my transmission failed to shift into a higher gear & start to slow down. It was almost as if my car was in neutral. My rpms shot up but my car wasn't accelerated. I was nearly hit by the tractor trailer & was nearly hit several more times as I coasted across three lanes onto the side of the road. I called a local dealer & they want approx $5000 to repair it. I did a search online & this appears to be a widespread problem.
Noticed leak on garage floor, took it into Honda dealership, told by technician carrier bearing in transmission is very loose causing leak, likely need transmission replacement, low mileage 70,730. Wonder if this should have been considered in recent recall date of 8-4-11 since this car was manufactured in July, 2004.
The vehicle is automatic and takes up to 3-5 seconds before wanting to accelerate once its put into drive and then slight kick once it gets into gear. The vehicle begins to vibrate at the speed of 55 as well. The vehicle kicks also when in drive and it switches gears around 30 mph.
My transmission was recalled in 2004 however the "fix" was to install an oil jet kit and extra lubrication to the gears. The transmission still failed at only 65K miles. Honda now refused to pay for the repairs. Honda knowingly put my safety and the safety of my two year old daughter at risk by not replacing the transmission. The incident happened while driving my daughter to school and I become stuck going up a hill and started rolling backwards into oncoming traffic.
Transmission failure - started as a vibration around 60 to 65 mph. Dealer assessed and indicated the transmission needs to be replaced at only 78000 miles.
I have a 2004 V6 Accord with 110,000 miles and had a previous throttle position sensor replaced a year ago B/C the tranny did not shift down into lower gear intermittently on highway. Now I have the opposite problem, where tranny doesn't shift up into overdrive. So there is another sensor problem. Turning off/on the car resets it. But local mechanic said test drive showed jerkiness from 1 to 2nd gear, and I've always noticed/ignored a judder from high gear to low gear, e.g., slowing down at off ramp. And he said the tranny fluid looked burnt. And there is an emissions controller fault and leak too. The recall for 2004 transmissions does not include my VIN...and reading the nyt blog from Jan 2011, suggests it might not have been a good recall fix anyway. But in my call to dealer service dept and to Honda N.America, they came across very defensive people on phone. Can't see buying another Honda again.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Laurel, MD, USA