NHTSA Complaint #10298836 — 2002 HONDA ACCORD

WHILE NOT CRASHES OR INJURIES HAVE BEEN RELATED TO THE HONDA VEHICLE I OWN, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF ENGINEERING AND MANUFACTURING DEFECTS ON THE VEHICLE WHICH ARE A CAUSE OF SERIOUS SAFETY CONCERNS. I HAVE A 2002 HONDA ACCORD WITH ABOUT 131,000 MILES WHICH HAS HAD THE FOLLOWING ISSUES: 1. THE TRANSMISSION WENT OUT AROUND 60,000 MILES AND WAS REPLACED BY HONDA. AT AROUND 100,000 MILES THE TRANSMISSION STARTED TO EXHIBIT SAME SYMPTOMS. I TOOK THE CAR IN, BUT, OF COURSE, HONDA DEALER SAID THERE IS NOTHING WRONG. THEN AROUND 116,000 MILES A HONDA MECHANIC SAID THAT MY MODEL OF A CAR HAS AN ISSUE WITH TRANSMISSIONS AND THAT IT WOULD NEED TO BE REPLACED. THE TRANSMISSION ISSUE IS BAD ENOUGH TO HAVE A WEBSITE DEDICATED TO IT. WHILE A TRANSMISSION FAILING IS NOT NECESSARILY A SAFETY ISSUE, LOOSING VEHICLE CONTROL AND DRIVABLE ON THE HIGHWAY COULD BE. 2. NOW THE VEHICLE STARTS TO VIBRATE AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS DESPITE HAVING NEW AND BALANCED TIRES ON IT. I TOOK THE CAR IN TO GET NEW STRUTS. SINCE THEN I TOOK THE CAR TO A MECHANIC OF VERY HIGH INTEGRITY (NOT THE HONDA DEALER) AND THEY SAID THAT UNFORTUNATELY, THE PROBLEM MAY SIMPLY BE ?IMPOSSIBLE? TO FIX SINCE EVERYTHING THEY COULD SEE INDICATED THAT CAR SHOULD BEHAVE NORMALLY, I.E. THE TIRES WERE FINE, THE ALIGNMENT WAS FINE, AND THE CV JOINTS WERE FINE. THIS IS BECOMING MORE AND MORE OF THE ISSUE AND INDICATES A POSSIBLE DESIGN FLAW WITH THE VEHICLE. 3. THE LIGHTS ON THE VEHICLE ARE HORRIBLE. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE AS IT SERIOUSLY IMPAIRS THE VEHICLE DRIVABILITY. 4. THE RAILS FOR THE DRIVER'S SEAT HAD TO BE REPLACED AROUND 32,000 MILES AND NOW (AT AROUND 130,000 MILES) THE SEAT SEEMS TO WOBBLE AGAIN. THIS COULD BE A POTENTIAL SAFETY ISSUE AS IT SEEMS THAT THE SEAT COULD SIMPLY DETACH IN THE CASE OF AN ACCIDENT. *TR UPDATED 05/07/10.*JB