NHTSA Complaint #10733404 — 2005 HONDA ACCORD

I'VE OWNED MY 4-DR., 6-CYL. EX MODEL SINCE PURCHASING IT FROM A HONDA PARTS DEPT. EMPLOYEE IN JAN., 2007 WITH 24K MILES ON THE ENGINE. IT HAS PERFORMED GENERALLY VERY WELL UNTIL IT DEVELOPED A SAFETY-RELATED, BRAKE SYSTEM PROBLEM THAT HAS GOTTEN PROGRESSIVELY WORSE SINCE IT FIRST OCCURRED-- NAMELY, THAT THE BRAKE PEDAL HAS BECOME PROGRESSIVELY SOFT WHEN APPLIED, AND RECENTLY HAS TO BE APPLIED STRENUOUSLY ALL THE WAY TO THE FLOOR TO GET EVEN A MINIMAL STOPPING RESPONSE. WHEN THE PROBLEM FIRST OCCURRED, I BEGAN REGULARLY CHECKING THE BRAKE FLUID LEVEL IN MY MASTER CYLINDER. ONLY OCCASIONALLY DID THE CYLINDER REQUIRE SOME MINIMAL, ADDITIONAL BRAKE FLUID--AKIN TO A NORMAL MAINTENANCE AMOUNT. KEEPING MY FLUID TO A MAXIMUM-LEVEL HAS NOT RESOLVED THE PROBLEM. THIS PAST MARCH (2015), I REQUESTED MY WELL-RATED, INDEPENDENT MECHANIC TO DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM. HE FIRST IDENTIFIED THE SAME 3 EARLIER HONDA SERVICE BULLETINS THAT I HAD (GOING ALL THE WAY BACK TO 2007) THAT ADDRESSED THIS BRAKE PROBLEM, WHEREIN HONDA WAS MOSTLY IMPLICATING A FAULTY ABS (CONTROL) MODULE AS THE CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM (NOTE: I'VE NEVER RECEIVED A SAFETY RECALL SVC. BULLETIN FROM HONDA FOR THIS PROBLEM). MY MECHANIC ESTIMATED THAT REPLACING MY ABS MODULE WOULD COST OVER $2000, BUT THAT EVEN THEN THERE WOULD BE NO GUARANTEE THAT MY PROBLEM WOULD BE RESOLVED. SO, UNTIL I COULD DECIDE WHAT ACTION TO TAKE, I HAD HIM DO A FRONT BRAKE JOB TO "BUY" WHATEVER EXTRA STOPPING-POWER I COULD ... WHICH TURNED OUT TO BE MINIMAL-TO-NONE! NOT ONLY DOES MY PROBLEM REMAIN, BUT IT IS GETTING RAPIDLY WORSE ... TO THE POINT THAT I'M RELUCTANT MAKE LONG, HIGHWAY-SPEED TRIPS, AND AM DRIVING SUPER-DEFENSIVELY SO AS TO BE ABLE TO STOP THE CAR IN ANY KIND OF RISKY SITUATION. I PLAN TO APPEAL TO THE HONDA AMERICA HIERARCHY, STARTING WITH MY LOCAL DEALERSHIP.