Front Suspension Upper Ball Joint Problems of Honda Accord

I dropped my car off at the mechanic's to have my upper ball joints replaced. Bob called me with an estimate and I gave him the go ahead to complete the repair. Sadly, he called me back 2 hours later to tell me that there was no sense in spending the money on the repair because the subframe on the passenger side of the car was completely rusted out and that the car would soon fall apart. He said that he had never seen damage like that before, that it was odd for a car of that age, and that the rest of the car was in good condition. He advised me to contact Honda to see if any recalls had been issued. I searched online and found no recalls (as you know) but found many complaints from others documenting the same issues.

See all problems of the 2002 Honda Accord 🔎.

While turning left from a stop sign, across two lanes of eastbound traffic, the driver-side front suspension collapsed. Car could barely be directed to the side of the road out of the way of on-coming traffic. Assessment at repair shop was that both upper and lower ball joints had separated resulting in collapse of suspension. This also caused in a broken driver-side axle. Repair shop replaced upper and lower driver-side ball joints with after-market parts. The vehicle also had the passenger-side, upper ball joint replaced (February 2008) with Honda parts. This vehicle has had consistent suspension problems, both front and rear including looseness and clunking that Honda dealers and independent shops have not been able to diagnose effectively. There is a recall on 1998 Honda Accord lower ball joints, but allegedly this VIN number was not affected. Vehicle had 117,000 miles on it at the time of the incident.

See all problems of the 1998 Honda Accord 🔎.

I am writing in regards to a 2001 Honda Accord that I own. I have close to 76,000 miles, and I have always done every recommended service with a local Honda dealer here in canandaigua , NY. On June 21, 2007 I took the Honda to dealer for a noise in the rear of the car, it turned out to be rear stabilizer joints, both of them were replaced. Not even a week later, I am driving home from a short trip and hear this loud pop like my tire blew up. I had no idea what was happening, the next thing I knew something was scraping the road, and I could see some smoke in the rear view mirror, I somehow stopped the car and my mother and I get out. Fortunately, we weren't killed, a lower ball joint separated and pulled the axle out of the transmission and fluid leaked all over. I never expected this from a Honda, especially when I took good care of the car. My next question was the life expectancy of a lower ball joint,was it something that could go or break apart. Also, I would like to know how this could happen with no warning signs. When repairing the car I had the dealer check the other ball joints on the other side, and they noticed some play or movement in them. So they replaced the upper and lower ball joints on the other side. Which was also odd to me that 3 out of 4 ball joints needed replacement at such low mileage. I had the car inspected at the Honda dealer in October 2006, and during an inspection I understood that ball joints were to be looked at. If so, how come I was not informed of any rust in the ball joints at that time. How could they possibly have gotten so bad in 8 months time to cause such a catastrophe.

See all problems of the 2001 Honda Accord 🔎.

Severe binding noise from front driver side strut. Auto has only 51,500 miles and dealer recommends replacing strut and upper ball joint.

See all problems of the 2000 Honda Accord 🔎.