NHTSA Complaint #10416821 — 2003 HONDA ACCORD

I WAS DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 35 MPH WHEN I WENT TO ACCELERATE, THE TRANSMISSION SLIPS AND ENGINE REVS HIGH WHILE CAR DOWNSHIFTS INTO WHAT FELT LIKE FIRST GEAR AND VIOLENTLY SLOWS DOWN. THIS ALMOST PUT ME THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD. ANY ATTEMPTS I MADE TO SPEED UP OR MAINTAIN SPEED JUST CAUSE THE TRANSMISSION TO SLIP AND LAG UNTIL FINALLY THE CAR JUST ACTS LIKE ITS IN NEUTRAL. I TURN OFF THE CAR AND START IT UP AGAIN, IT DRIVES FINE ALL THE WAY TO THE DEALERSHIP. THEY FIND NOTHING WRONG WITH IT AND CHARGE THE $100 DIAGNOSTIC FEE. I DRIVE IT OFF THE LOT AND IT IMMEDIATELY STARTS SLIPPING BETWEEN 2-3 GEARS AND DOWNSHIFTING; SO I DRIVE IT RIGHT BACK INTO THE SHOP AND THEY SAY THE TRANSMISSION NEEDS REPLACED. TRANSMISSION REPLACEMENT RUN ROUGHLY $5000. CAR IS AT 85,000 MILES, ALL MAINTENANCES AND 3000-MILE OIL CHANGES PERFORMED, CAR HAS REQUIRED MANY VISITS TO THE SHOP FOR MALFUNCTIONING ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS AND PROBLEMATIC BRAKES. HONDA CLAIMS ALL RECALLS HAVE BEEN PERFORMED, INCLUDING A RECALL FOR A DEFECTIVE TRANSMISSION PART THEY NEVER REPLACED WITH A WORKING PART. THE TECHNICIAN INFORMS ME I AM ABLE TO DRIVE HOME GRANTED I CAN DEAL WITH SOME SLIPPAGE OF GEARS, IF THIS HAD HAPPENED ON THE HIGHWAY, I WOULD BE DEAD RIGHT NOW, AND I DO A LOT OF HIGHWAY DRIVING. NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE YET TO CORRECT THIS FAILURE, I BELIEVE HONDA SHOULD DO THE RIGHT THING AND REPLACE THESE DANGEROUSLY FAULTY PARTS IN ALL OF ITS VEHICLES. *KB