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:
18 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
7 / 1
Average Mileage:
65,211 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 contact owns a 2004 Honda Accord. While driving 65 mph the vehicle automatically accelerated without warning. The contact depressed the brake pedal. However, the vehicle failed to stop. The vehicle automatically shifted into neutral. The Honda dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. T the current and failure mileages were 18,000.
: the contact stated while the vehicle was placed in reverse with slight brake pressure applied, there was a pronounced vibration physically felt within the entire vehicle followed by the vehicle lurching backwards into a fence. There was minor damage to the rear fender area, and no injuries were sustained. The police were not alerted. The manufacturer was notified. Updated 12/18/2006 - the sudden acceleration failure occurred twice.
: the contact stated while applying brake while traveling downhill, the brake pedal extended all the way to the floor board and the vehicle accelerated forward crashing into a tree. The contact was wearing a seat belt, and no injuries were sustained. The vehicle sustained minor damage. The police were not alerted. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for inspection. The dealer was unable to duplicate the problem or find anything wrong. The manufacturer was alerted. Updated 11/30/2006 -
Unintended acceleration car shift lever was in D3 and the brake was down when the engine started revving up and down as if in neutral. Thinking the racing noise was from another vehicle the driver released the brake in preparation of driving. The vehicle suddenly lurched forward burning rubber. Re-applying the brakes brought it to a stop. At that point it was noticed the gear selector was on D3 rather than D. the gear was put into drive and all seemed ok. The failure could not be duplicated later and no warning lights came on. The only unusual thing was that we had just used the vehicle to jump start another.
As I was pulling out of my parking spot at the local kmart, in my 2004 Honda Accord ex, I noticed another car backing out also. I applied my brake and put my car from reverse into drive to pull a little ways back into my parking space so I would not get into an accident, when suddenly and without warning (the blink of an eye) my car crashed into another vehicle. In shock, I pressed harder on the brake, but my car continued to accelerate and I could not stop it. I hit two other parked cars before the brakes finally stopped the car. Thank god it stopped as my car was heading toward the kmart store. One 85-year old lady was injured while in her car. The other two cars were empty. A lot of damage to 3 vehicles plus almost $7,000 damage to my Accord. After my car was repaired, I asked the Honda dealership to look at my car and they could find nothing wrong. I asked to have the cruise control disconnected as I have read that may be what causes "sudden acceleration accidents" and Honda refused saying if something went wrong they would be liable. This is a nightmare, just horrible, as I am being forced to drive my car and I am frightened another incident will occur. Something needs to be done!
- Bourbonnais, IL, USA
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I was driving along at approximately 35-40 miles per hour when I started to brake at a red-light. My car did did not stop accelerating. I pressed the brakes as far as they would go to slow down. When I got to a low speed I put the car in neutral and then I put the car in park and turned the ignition off. A minute later I turned the ignition on and the engine was still racing while it was in park. I brought it to a dealership and they held it for 2-3 days and informed me that they didn't find anything wrong with my vehicle. I am very concerned due to the fact that this was the third incident of uncontrollable acceleration.
When coming to a stop applied brake but car accelearted like gas pedal was being applied RPM speeded up. End result was rear ending car in front of me. Crash resulted in $2700 amage to my vehicle and $800 to car while at dealership for routine service mentioned problem to service person he stated he had no knowledge of problem did not attempt to duplicate problem.
While driving vehicle speed control failed. Upon depressing the brakes the rpms increased, and vehicle just took off. Consumer's vehicle rear ended the vehicle in front.
At a stop with the brakes depressed rpms accelerated. This caused consumer's vehicle to rear end the vehicle in front. Dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem. Vehicle was still drivable.
(the vehicle is at D-drive gear) when I put my foot on brake pedal to slow down my 2004 Honda Accord ex-L for a red traffic light, when the speed meter was lower than 20 mph something funny with engine happened. The vehicle engine RPM jumped high to around 2000 then stayed at around 1300 even though it is totally stopped. Engine was still delivering extra power and making noise louder than it should be. I had to step harder on the brake immediately to stop the car to avoid hitting the car in the front. It wonT happen often but have already happened 3 times (May 28th, June 16th and June 18th).
When parking the car in a parking lot, as I was turning into the parking space the car jumped (went very fast forward and hit the wall in front of me) even though I had my foot on the brakes I felt I had no control of the car and the engine turned off on it's own. I also noticed it jumped gears, it was no longer on D but D3. This incident caused damage to the bumper of the car.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Kettering, OH, USA