Transmission Failure problems of the 2003 Honda Accord - part 1

I am original owner of this car and it has been serviced regularly. At about 118,000 miles the transmission failed. Was driving on the highway at about 55 mph and it was like someone slammed on the brakes, hard enough that the tires screeched. It was very terrifying as well as having the potential to be very dangerous. There was no prior indication of any problems. At this time, the car is in the shop having the transmission replaced. From what I understand, the transmission in the 2003 Honda Accord has been plagued by problems from the onset. I am just very fortunate that nothing serious happened to me when the transmission failed, or I would not be here making this post.

Entered highway at 50 55 when rpms went up and lost acceleration quickly about got rear ended and once I got to the shoulder I turned off car and started it back up and only thing I couldn't engage in car . . Park worked but the rest was in neatral lucky noone was hurt. . Transmission failed without warning I find this a major issue since so many other 03 Accords have had the same problem and I'm asking for Honda to replace my trandmission. . Number of miles 138,000.

Transmission was bad and had to be replaced. New transmission was bad also. Wasted money for the same thing multiple times and Honda will not help. This year make and model is only compatible with the same exact make model and year. It is hard to find a transmission, and after seeing the recall and it matching both transmissions I don't see why we should have to keep spending money on faulty parts. All the transmissions for this vehicle had recalls and were faulty. We want Honda's help to fix it for good since no other mechanic can figure it out and we have spent money back to back on the same thing. This year make and model was terrible for transmission failures. I feel it is wrong to have your customers buy transmissions that have to be the same that came out of the vehicle, and we are wasting all of our time and money to do so, because any transmission we buy is already messed up.

Automatic transmission fails going from 1st to 2nd gear.

Transmission failed on my 2003 3. 0 automatic Honda Accord.

Complete transmission failure requiring replacement or rebuilding of the automatic transmission. Note, this is a 2003 Honda Accord v6 automatic transmission. The failure occurred while driving on the highway under normal conditions.

Driving family of 4 home from church, stopped at an intersection stop sign. Came off brake and onto accelerator to cross the intersection and transmission immediately and unexpectedly broke apart, leaving our car stuck in the intersection. Extremely dangerous as traffic was continuous where we were crossing. More importantly, the transmission failure was without symptoms, with maintenance kept. . . . The transmission was a 4 year old Honda dealership replacement for another transmission which failed in may 2010. Total mileage on replacement transmission = 86k miles, with transmission fluid replaced 2 years ago by Honda. In may 2010, I was driving the same 2003 Honda v6 Accord vehicle on the highway at night, when the transmission (@ 122k miles) slammed down from 4th gear to 1st gear slamming me forward (thankful I wear a seatbelt). . . . Extremely dangerous situation, near miss incident. Honda had a recall on the original 2003 Accord v6 transmission, which they "fixed" with an add on kit in 2004, not a replacement of the transmission. Honda refused to pay for or contribute towards the replacement transmission in 2004 or in 2010! Honda never reported back to me what was the cause of failure to the original transmission which they took upon installation of replacement in 2010. I also owned a 2003 Honda odyssey which Honda recalled though that transmission and replaced by Honda versus the "kit". I believe that near miss incidents are as actionable as fatalities, fires and physical injuries. I feel fortunate that my family was spared injury or death yesterday, however I am deeply concerned that these Honda transmissions are time bombs and lives are constantly at risk wherever these cars and minivans are on the road. Please encourage Honda motors to take 100% remedial action to protect the public from these poorly engineered and manufactured transmissions.

Transmission failure causing rapid deceleration in the middle lanes of an interstate highway, I-95.

Traveling north on I-83 from baltimore to pennsylvania, the car started jerking violently, and came to a complete stop, front wheels quit rotating (locked?). We were thrown forward against our seatbelts, the rear of the car jumping slightly to the right. Gratefully, traffic was light. We shifted gears on the console back and forth and got the car moving again, taking the middletown rd. Exit, pulled off the road, checked transmission fluid, read the car manual. Half-hour later, we continued slowly, but after a few miles, the car began jerking again, slowing, sometimes stopping. We were able to get home with hazard lights flashing, letting cars pass by pulling to the side. This was early afternoon, very little traffic, and we were not far from home. Had car towed to dealer who said transmission failure, needed to be replaced. We bought this car new in 2003, maintained it per manufacture suggestions, and had no prior problems or indication the transmission was failing as the car was running as smoothly as it has since it was new.

This is just unbelievable. Every three months I take my car in to get service and now my transmission is failing me. I place the car on drive and it does not go anywhere. I turn the car off and turn it back on and it finally drives. I really was not expecting this from Honda. My car was in perfect condition and drove very smooth because it is well maintained. Not in a million life years would I guess my transmission would be an issue right now.

Complete transmission failure on fully serviced 2004 Honda Accord at 124k miles while driving in rush hour traffic. Upon research, found very common problem that Honda is aware of but does nothing to fix. Rebuilt Honda transmission cost $4,800 for part alone!.

2003 Accord coupe 4 cylinder: when driving 35 miles per hour and came to a stop sign, car reved up but would not advance. Towed to mechanic, says transmission failure, gears are bad/ slipping.

While driving on a rain slickened road Monday September 2nd, the transmission locked up at 45 mph and nearly caused me to lose control of the vehicle. Subsequently the transmission completely failed and the vehicle had to be towed to a repair shop. The transmission repair shop confirmed that the 3rd (third) gear had failed and caused the transmission lockup. The vehicle has 76,000 miles on the odometer and I am the original owner and purchased the vehicle from a Honda dealership in dallas, texas. I contacted american Honda customer motor customer service to report the incident and after describing the event was told to take the vehicle to the dealership for evaluation. Clearly this is a defective product and a hazard to safety when the transmission fails. The telephone representative that I spoke to said Honda had no information on transmission “lockups” or unsafe conditions regarding this particular vehicle. I told her that after the transmission lockup happened I researched this condition and found that Honda has in fact extended the drivetrain warranty on this model vehicle as the result of a class action lawsuit. At that point she ended the conversation by hanging up the phone and not attempting to call me back after she has requested a callback number at the beginning of the call. This transmission design is faulty and should be recalled due to safety considerations. If I had lost control of the vehicle and was killed, no one would have known that the faulty transmission was the causal factor the accident.

While driving on the highway in rush hour traffic the transmission started to have issues while shifting down into first, a small knock. When I was able to get up to normal highway speeds as traffic opened up the car violently slammed into first gear causing my tires to lock up and sent me veering to the right. Luckily I was in the right lane and the car behind me was at a safe distance or I would have been toast. Afterwards I was able to limp home in first gear as no other gear is working including reverse. Looks like its off to the dealer to buy a new transmission. I don't understand how there can be hundreds of complaints of catastrophic transmission failure at highway speeds and there is no concern of safety from either Honda or the NHTSA, but they are quick to tell you to replace the ignition interlock because it's unsafe! please do something about this before someone gets seriously hurt!.

Was driving on the highway at approximately 60 mph when the car violently downshifted into 1st gear and slowed to 20 mph. Was able to pull off of the highway onto a city street. After this, the car would not accelerate, although the rpms would increase when the gas pedal was pressed. Shifted through several different gears and no change. Had to have the car towed to a shop where it was diagnosed with transmission failure. The repairs and labor cost $1975. There were absolutely no warning signs that there was a problem with the transmission until it failed on the highway. The car had been to the dealership a month prior and no problems were detected. While under my ownership, the car has been up to date on all regular maintenance and all previous recalls had been addressed. This was a very dangerous situation for me and I believe that Honda needs to address this known issue with this model to prevent injuries or fatalities.

While traveling on a 4 lane highway, car was acting like a bucking bronco. My wife pulled into the right lane and slowed down the car to baout 35 miles per hour. When she got home, I test drove the car around the block and flet the same problem. I contacted holler Honda in winter park, FL to schedule an appointmnet for Saturday. I insisted about the service call and asked if I should drive the car or have it towed. They indicated that it should be safe to drive to their shop. I had the same issues on Saturday driving the car to holler Honda. I received a call about two hours later, informing me that the transmission needed to be replaced. I purchased the Honda Accord in November 2003 and received a recall for fixing the transmission in 2004. Honda was aware of the problem with a faulty transmission but only made a temporary fix. By only performing a temporary fix, this car was a safety hazzard. The transmiision for the Honda Accord 2003 would go before any transmission should have gone. I am fortunate that mw wife was not on a major highway traveling at 65-70 miles per hour and have the transmission fail causing a major crash.

Honda recalled transmission's on 2004, I took my Accord 2003 and they just make up my transmission with oil, but knowingly that this transmission will fail, so I really think that in reality there was not fix. . . . Now I have to pay for something that was already set to failure. . . .

Transmission problems have happened ever since purchasing the car. At 144000 miles the transmission was replaced. At time of purchase, fluid was changed, January came, and once again needed another fluid change. I changed the fluid after purchase out of fear and transmission went from hard shifts to normal, even shifts. Problems raised again in January, I have two cases of Honda transmission fluid at hand right now. Now, it's maybe two weeks before it shifts hard again. I deal with it knowing the cost to fix the transmission, but yesterday was the point where it starts to affect my safety. Going 30-45, shifting from second to third, there is delay in shifting when at 3000 rpm, at 4000 rpm or higher shifting is very violent from second to third as of yesterday, April 23, 2014. Also at 55 mph on my way home, the car jolted during shifting while accelerating causing me to almost lose control. If this happened just three seconds before as I was turning a corner on this road it could have caused me to crash. Transmission feels distant at times, as if power is not being properly applied to the wheels during slow medium and hard acceleration from first to second gear. The transmission deteriorates with time and mileage. Car is 100% different than when we acquired it. Complaint after complaint and not one thing being done by Honda nor NHTSA. The oil jet kit was a cheap and limited fix to this problem and only delayed transmission failure. Why is there no recall for this? several people are on the highway when these transmissions fail and are lucky to avoid accidents and death. Does it have to take someone traveling 70 mph with violent down shifting, being rear ended and killed for this to reach headlines for someone to acknowledge the danger? it's a real problem that affects safety, people's lives including my own.

Automatic transmission failed at 130k miles and had to be rebuilt at cost to me of $2800.

Transmission was replaced by Honda in 2007 at 115,000 miles. The Honda replacement transmission failed unexpectedly and catastrophically a few days ago despite meticulous maintenance by Honda dealers and top mechanics. This failure left the driver in a dangerous situation with oncoming traffic. This second transmission had 80,000 miles and does not address the original design defect.

After about 45 minute ride out of my city on a major highway, my car violently downshifted from 65 mph to 0 and would not move out of first gear thereafter. This has happened everyday afterwards that I drive my car at least 20 minutes. It seems as if once a mechanism inside the transmission heats up or gets hot, this happens. I always service my vehicle as required, I am worried. This is a major transmission failure. I have read where over 200 other Honda owners have had this issue in the past but no recall has been issued. Please advise.

Driving at approximately 68 mph on interstate 5 when car felt like the brakes had been applied, hard. Luckily there was not a lot of traffic behind me because it was a very quick deacceleration to 30mph and a very dangerous situation. I was able to limp along the freeway with my flashers on at 35mph, top speed, until I could get off of the freeway. When I was putting the car on the trailer dolly we realized that I had no reverse gear. The next morning, the car reengaged with reverse while taking the car off of the car trailer. The car was brought to a transmission shop that diagnosed that the transmission had failed at 106,000miles. We had taken the car into the Honda dealer for the 2004 transmission recall repair. I had no previous warning that there was any problems with the transmission until this failure.

Tl-the contact owns a 2003 Honda Accord. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60 mph, the vehicle suddenly down shifted and slowed down without any warning. The vehicle was later towed to an independent mechanic. After diagnosis they advised her that the transmission failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and they offered no assistance. The failure and current mileages were approximately 120,000. The VIN was unavailable. Tb.

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.

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.

The contact owns a 2003 Honda Accord. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 to 70 mph, the vehicle violently down shifted. The contact was able to coast to the side of the road. After restarting, the vehicle was unable to go over 25 mph. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. After diagnosis, they advised him that the transmission failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and they offered no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000. The current mileage was approximately 154,000. Updaated 6/4/13 the consumer stated the vehicle violently downshifted the high gear to lowest. This caused the vehicle to decelerate from 65-70 mph to 20-25mph, making the vehicle to buck and swerve from left and right. Updated 06/14/2013.

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.

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.

Driving up a slight hill. Car started jerking and revving up. Car would not move. Had to coast to side of road and pull off. Problem was a complete transmission failure. Very low mileage and trans mission had all scheduled maintenance. Could of been major safety issue since traffic was heavy and car all of a sudden slowed down and caused a stopping of traffic.

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.

Terrible and dangerous transmission failure. I have taken my car to every regularly scheduled maintenance visit at the Honda dealership, including a visit one month ago. The transmission abruptly failed while driving on a freeway. I almost caused a car crash involving multiple cars due to the abrupt failure of the transmission.

Immature transmission failure!.

I was driving approximately 30mph on a long straight road when for no reason the car started downshifting on it's own. The vehicle lurched. I came to a stop and while I was braking, the car suddenly stopped on it's own as if I slammed on the brakes. I stopped at a light, and then turned onto a side road. I was driving approximately 20mph when the car started downshifting on it's own again. I pulled over to the side of the road and once again, the car stopped suddenly as if I slammed on the brakes. After a few days at a personal mechanic, it was decided that the vehicle should be taken to a Honda dealership. Personal mechanic stated he at one point took my vehicle out on a side road where the vehicle suddenly went into a neutral speed and lost power. While on the freeway driving around 50mph to the dealership, car downshifted on it's own causing me to almost get rear ended. I pulled off freeway and came to a stop on the side of the road. Once again, the car came to a quick sudden stop as if I slammed on the brakes. Once at the Honda dealership, test were ran and it was decided the vehicle had transmission failure and the transmission needed to be replaced. They quoted me $4500 for repairs. Ended up calling Honda customer service, they were willing to only cover $1100. I ended up with a total bill of $3406. 26.

My 2003 Honda Accord had a transmission failure at 52,000 miles. Car also diagnosed with power steering rack failure. Car has been serviced exclusively at the dealership where it was purchased. All maintenance done at recommended intervals. Service department has been given carte blanche to repair/replace any part over the last 8 years. This should not happen. Very disappointing.

2003 Honda Accord v6 with transmission recall work completed in 2004 complete transmission failure in 2011 with 63k miles no warning when transmission failed. Potentially dangerous situation.