NHTSA Complaint #10702077 — 2000 HONDA ACCORD

AT LESS THAN 70,000 MILES THE TRANSMISSION ON MY 2000 HONDA ACCORD EX IS FAILING, EVEN THOUGH THE CAR HAS BARLEY BEEN DRIVEN. I STARTED TO EXPERIENCE DELAYED GEAR ENGAGEMENT, BOTH ON UP SHIFTS AND DOWNSHIFTS AS WELL AS TRANSMISSION FLUID LEAKAGE WHICH WAS INITIALLY DIAGNOSED AS A BAD LEFT SIDE AXLE SEAL. WHEN THE MECHANIC PROCEEDED TO FIX THE AXLE SEAL, HE THEN RE DIAGNOSED THE PROBLEM AS BAD BEARINGS AND A FAULTY TRANSMISSION, A VERY COMMON PROBLEM WITH THE 2000 & 2001 ACCORDS. SINCE THEN I HAVE TAKEN THE CAR TO SEVERAL OTHER MECHANICS AND TRANSMISSION SPECIALISTS FOR A SECOND OPINION, WHO HAVE REACHED THE VERY SAME CONCLUSION/DIAGNOSIS. A VAST MAJORITY OF THE TRANSMISSIONS ON THE 2000 AND 2001 ACCORDS HAVE FAILED OR ARE HAVING PROBLEMS. THE SCARY PART IS ALL THE TRANSMISSION SHOPS ARE FAMILIAR WITH THIS ISSUE, SOME OF THEM SEE AN ACCORD OR AN ODYSSEY (SIMILAR PROBLEM) ONCE A WEEK! FROM MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE/INVESTIGATION THE COMMON CONSENSUS IS; THE HONDA TRANSMISSIONS FROM THE LATE 90'S WERE BULLETPROOF BECAUSE THEY WERE SPECIFICALLY BUILT FOR THE CARS FROM THE 90'S. HOWEVER, WHEN HONDA UPGRADED THE SIZE OF THEIR ENGINES AND POWER, HONDA USED THE SAME 90'S TRANSMISSIONS, WHICH IN THE LONG RUN COULD NO LONGER HANDLE THE LARGER ENGINE CAPACITY OR THE EXTRA POWER AND EVENTUALLY FAIL. IN 2006 HONDA WAS HIT WITH A CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT FOR THE FAULTY TRANSMISSIONS. HONDA SETTLED THE MATTER OUT OF COURT BY EXTENDING THE TRANSMISSION WARRANTY TO 93 MONTHS OR 109,000 MILES. HOWEVER, HONDA NEVER CORRECTED THE PROBLEM BY REDESIGNING THE TRANSMISSIONS OR PROVIDED A FIX. INSTEAD, HONDA SIMPLY REPLACED THE OLD FAULTY TRANSMISSIONS WITH NEW TRANSMISSIONS THAT STILL HAD THE SAME FAULTY DESIGN. NOW, ALL THE TRANSMISSION IN THOSE CARS ARE FAILING AS WELL AND HONDA DENIES ANY RESPONSIBILITY, CLAIMING THE TRANSMISSIONS ARE OUT OF WARRANTY. *TR