Everything was going fine with this car until I hit 60000 miles. Up until then this car was excellent in every way. Then the transmission started slipping. It slips mostly between 1st and 2nd gear, but also between 2nd and 3rd. I have to accelerate the car very slowly so that the slip is minimized. This can be a big problem when you're trying to get on the highway. Ive changed the tranny fluid to no avail. I had my mechanic look at the car and he said it will cost about $3000 to fix. I'm not going to throw good money into this piece of junk. Now I have 75,000 miles on the car and basically I will drive it until it breaks. Never again will I buy Honda. I was thinking of replacing my wife's Subaru Forester with a CRV but not now. Honda has lost me as a customer for life.

My daughter was driving car and all yellow engine light came on and whirling sound. Car would not exceed 15 mph in the middle of rush hour in Memphis! She was able to turn car into a parking lot but indicated it seemed like it was about to die. I came down to check car out thinking it was possible belt problem or vacuum hose - but all fluids good, belts checked out and found no loose connections or bad lines or hoses. I then tried ehold driving to repair shop about 5 minutes from where she pulled over but after 2 blocks I had to pull into driveway - I could feel slippage and grinding noise and would not go above 15 mph. Car towed and I decided to look up known problems with 2002 Honda civics while I wait for the bad news tomorrow. Lo and behold almost all the symptoms of transmission failure were listed here - I do roblemsnot have $2400 to $3600 for a new or rebuilt transmission. My daughter could have been seriously injured due to no warning but just happening like it did. Luckily - as big a pain in the butt as she is - I have taught her well on car problems. I have told her numerous times if something happens or seems wrong - to pull the car over and call me. Even though she has cried wolf many a time - she does well when something does not seem right with her car. I chose a honda for her because I have heard how great they are and reliable but why has this known problem with 2001 @ 2002 trani's been kept a secret. This is a very dangerous situation and needs to be made known by all Honda owners -but I guess it will take a fatality or 2 before something is done. Never again Honda never again!

Update from May 5, 2011: As suspected the Transmission needs to be replaced - will not sink another 2400 to 3000 into thi car - especially when it can re-occur. I had towed to dealership and will now begin process of looking for another vehicle - but not a Honda. This was my first and last one of these.

yep, having tranny problems. went to a car repair place because the car wouldn't accelerate when we pressed the gas which is very scary when you're on the freeway onramp with cars on your booty. the mechanic said the transmission is slipping. will cost like $1800 for a rebuild. i don't believe in putting that much into a car that's almost 10 yrs old (bought it in dec 2001), but don't know what else to do. just bought my house June 2010 and i'm on furloughs so a new car, or even a good used one, is out of the question. previously i had a 93 Honda accord who's engine cracked and leaked oil all over my driveway. was told this was a problem with that car. got it fixed. a few months later carburetor problems so i said no mas and bought this car because Honda is supposed to be reliable. is Honda even reliable anymore? i mean i understand problems will happen with older cars but when you take the time, money and energy to keep up the car, such major problems shouldn't happen right?

I noticed that after my car had been stolen, that my transmission seem to slip when the car was cold, and only between the 2nd and 3rd gear. Assuming the thieves must have run the #%$&^%$ out of my car, it was thought that, that was the cause of the problem. My insurance replaced the transmission with a used one (don't honda transmissions last forever!!). All was good for awhile.

Soon after the exact thing started happening again, only when the car was cold, and only between 2nd and 3rd shift. Honda could not find a problem, sent it to another transmission shop and they said that this has been a problem with honda transmissions of this year (gee why didn't Honda tell me that!). and yes they took it for a test run when it was cold, I doubt Honda did, or they would have definately noticed the problem. Still have not had this 2nd transmission fixed, as am trying to get help from Honda..ha ha.They obviously wont stand behind their product, and having previously owned another honda for many years prior to this one, I now know I wont buy honda again.

Like many thousands of others, I am an unfortunate owner of a Honda Civic 2002 with a slipping automatic transmission. My Honda has only just begun to crap out.

At around 80,000 miles on the odometer, I had PepBoys do an AT fluid exchange (not a flush) with an aftermarket fluid that contained additives that were supposed to make it compatible with Honda ATF fluid. The first week the car was back, the transmission seemed fine, but now, about 3 weeks later, the transmission has begun to slip very badly.

Symptoms:

1. shifting from reverse to drive, results in a 2 second gap 2. gears 'slip' while moving- engine RPM revs up, but car does not move any faster

Next steps:

1. Back to pepboys. I never had these issues before, so I'm hoping that the issue may be as simple as having bad/incompatible AT fluid. I have some OEM atf-z, and am considering having pepboys simply swap out their fluid for this fluid.

2. If a fluid swap doesn't fix the issue, then I guess it's time to get clipped for several thousand dollars.

well....what can i say....seems a lot of people have had tons of problems with this car....i am a mechanic and have owned this car now for 5 years...i bought it used with 53,000.and about a month ago turned 200,000 i really have had to do nothing to this car...maint. stuff....tires , brakes, timing belt, battery...i was on the way to my job started to accelerate from a red...and bam....high rev...check eng light...and nada....so i got to work...and i had my service manager start making some calls....i am getting a trans from a civc with 59,000 orig miles....and older couples car got totaled from the rear end....costing me a grand....then my boss gave me a break on the labor....so i will be installing the new trans on saturday....with taxes out the door i will be spending about 1340.00 not to bad for a 9 year old car with 200,500

I have just read all these terrifying stories about transmission failure without warning and transmission slipping and gear slupping. This worries me very much since I am also an owner of a 2002 honda civic lx and lately I have been noticing the transmission slipping. I thought it was a pain in the ass and annoying but didn't pay much attention to it until now that I did a little research. And come to find out that this is not random. It is a very common situation and very dangerous! I think honda needs to recall all 2001 & 2002 hondas and fix whatever needs to be done. Someone could lose a life when it can be well prevented. If Honda does not do a recall and I am to get hurt or someone else, I pray to god there is a huge LAWSUIT!

I previously made a complaint here when my transmission completely failed at 73,000 miles. Honda gave me a goodwill repair and replaced it with a free new transmission and charged me for labor ($900). Since I paid for labor I got a 3 yr/36,000 mile warranty. Now (a year/10,000miles later) the transmission is slipping and not wanting to kick into gear, especially when cold. RPMs are erratic and higher than normal too. I took it back to the same dealership and was told that nothing is wrong with it! They didn't even diagnose something else wrong not related to the transmission. They told me they drove it around all day and nothing like what I described happened which is bull since it happens every single time I drive it. I've owned this crap car for over 5 years so I know when something;s wrong but the manager (who I had to speak with after the service tech was totally unprofessional) had the audacity to lecture me about how a car runs and tell me that Civics never have transmission problems! I pointed this site out to him and he just changed the subject. Basically I think they just don't want to honor their warranty and treated me like I'm a clueless woman.

I'll be taking it to another mechanic not affiliated to Honda now. I regret ever buying into the Honda hype - there's so many complaints here I don't understand how they maintain such a reputation for reliability.

I feel you all on this stupid Honda civic. i am a Honda lover, and i wanted another Honda, so i bought this used off of craigslist. The person i bought it from lied and had the car warmed up when i bought it which hid the problem all together. anyways, It slips between 2nd and 3rd gear, about 1000-2000rpms only when it is cold. I am not having any problems with the stalling. The car drives fine and shifts normally once it is warmed up, but when it is cold it will slip. I def. think Honda should recall this car, because this is ridiculous and unsafe. What if you are in a situation in which you need to avoid a collision, and your stupid transmission slips, causing a delay in your reaction time? Ridiculous. I haven't found a solution for this problem, and i came on this site to find out what it could be, though people only post their problem and not the solution. I have had the solenoids cleaned, those are fine, the tranny has been flushed and has not changed anything as well. I do not want to resort to rebuilding the transmission. Honda should be taking care of this.