Honda transmission and overall quality question.

[Chris B.]

Hey guys,
I just bought a 2012 Honda Accord to replace my 2008 Volvo S40 that broke down weekly with only 37,000 miles on it. I bought a CRV for the wife and the Accord for myself. I was on some sites researching and found a lot of people complaining about break problems and transmission problems. Anyone here know about these problem and if I have anything to be worring about? The 2012 Accord is is in it's 5th year so I would think all problems and bugs would be worked out. The 2011 CRV is also in it's 5th year.
I bought the Accord because of Honda's reputation for quality and reliability. Maybe I'm a little paranoid because of the lemon Volvo I just got rid of. After doing lots of research it seems all makes and models have tons of folks complaining of problems. I could not find one single car made today that had everyone happy. I really need this Accord to be trouble free and felt it was my best chance over any other car made today.
With that said there was still a lot of reviews I saw from very happy owners. Thanks for any input!

 

[eugenem]

Chris, most of the brake problems appeared limited to the 2008-2009 Accords (and Acura TSXs). Many folks had to replace their rear brakes at 20,000 to 30,000 miles. Honda switched to a different compound in the rear brake pad. There was some type of service campaign for this. Several co-workers had a portion of their expenses covered by American Honda.

I had a 2008 V6 and it was a solid car during the time we owned it. On the 8th generation Accords, the primary complaints I've seen relate to the quick wearing rear brake pads and the V6 VCM engine burning oil.

If you have not seen it already, check out the DriveAccord forums for more details.

 

[Hokiefyd]

The transmission problems are generally from 8-10 years ago, and generally affected the V-6 transmissions, but folks still like to bring this issue up. It should be a non-issue for any Honda from the last 6-8 years. The transmission in your Accord was upgraded in the 2004-2005 timeframe, and since then it has an excellent track record. The transmission in the CR-V has never been an issue, going back to when the CR-V was first introduced in the late 1990s.

Rest assured that the transmissions in both of your vehicles should give you long and happy lives.

Of course, somebody out there has a new Honda with a failed transmission. But somebody out there has a new with a failed transmission. It happens.

 

[Mud]

Every car out there has good and bad reviews. IMO it just depends on the particular vehicle and the maintenance done.

Not a 2012 but our 2008 Accord had the rear pads go thin at relatively low 30K miles. Big deal, I did a brake job and life moved on

Currently at about 60k miles, no other issues.

Whatever you have, drive it, enjoy it and do the maintenance.

 

[SLCraig]

I don't think the Accord transmissions are a problem anymore. And I believe it was moreso in the V6, over the 4 cyl engines.

The best way to buy any Honda is to go with a manual trans but not all are available that way. I love my Civic 5 speed, I haven't had any trouble with the engine or trans whatsoever on it. Almost 50K KMs.

 

[Schmoe]

Our CRV, no issues at 65K, yeah....that's right, 65K in two years...talk to the wife....
The Accord has been great. Now, as others have said, the 5th gens had MAJOR AT problems. Basically, it was metallurgy problems. Our 02 lost the AT around 103K and Honda's goodwill program replaced it for 500 dollars, couldn't argue with that. But that thing ran like a scalded dog. On the brakes, it was a combination of brake material and distribution. Honda uses something like 60/40 brake distribution from back to front. The back brales are used more often so that Honda's don't have the dropped front effect when braking heavily and that contributes to the back brakes wearing out earlier than the fronts, something not normally experienced so owners think something is wrong when they are actually performing like they should. I think you did good, look at my signature block, I am almost indentical in vehicles as you.

 

[Chris B.]

Thanks everyone! I feel a lot better now!

 

[Chris B.]

Originally Posted By: Mud
Every car out there has good and bad reviews. IMO it just depends on the particular vehicle and the maintenance done.

Not a 2012 but our 2008 Accord had the rear pads go thin at relatively low 30K miles. Big deal, I did a brake job and life moved on

Currently at about 60k miles, no other issues.

Whatever you have, drive it, enjoy it and do the maintenance.


Does your V6 Accord burn oil?

 

[cptbarkey]

the junk transmissions i can think of are:

98-02 V6 Accords
99-04 V6 Odysseys
98-03 Acura TL

could be more but these i remember specifically.

the 98-02 4 cylinder Accords also had transmission issues, but it was a sludge problem, if the fluid is changed every 30k ultimate failure can be prolonged.

 

[Mud]

Originally Posted By: Chris B.
Originally Posted By: Mud
Every car out there has good and bad reviews. IMO it just depends on the particular vehicle and the maintenance done.

Not a 2012 but our 2008 Accord had the rear pads go thin at relatively low 30K miles. Big deal, I did a brake job and life moved on

Currently at about 60k miles, no other issues.

Whatever you have, drive it, enjoy it and do the maintenance.


Does your V6 Accord burn oil?


No sir, no oil ever added/needed between changes. I check the oil about once a month, always at the full mark, maybe a hair below by the end of the OCI.

 

[Chris B.]

Originally Posted By: Mud
Originally Posted By: Chris B.
Originally Posted By: Mud
Every car out there has good and bad reviews. IMO it just depends on the particular vehicle and the maintenance done.

Not a 2012 but our 2008 Accord had the rear pads go thin at relatively low 30K miles. Big deal, I did a brake job and life moved on

Currently at about 60k miles, no other issues.

Whatever you have, drive it, enjoy it and do the maintenance.


Does your V6 Accord burn oil?


No sir, no oil ever added/needed between changes. I check the oil about once a month, always at the full mark, maybe a hair below by the end of the OCI.


Thanks. I just heard the Honda V6 with the VCM system burns oil. Hopefully they got that issue fixed.

 

[Chris B.]

500 miles and not a drop burned yet.....so far so good.

 

[bigmike]

We've had a few things done under warranty.
Had a new steering rack and column put in our 09 Accord. Apparently, it was leaking and the column was making squealing noise.

The ECU had to be reflashed as part of a recall.

We're around the 33k mile mark and nothing else other than oil changes, some tire rotations, and a few drain/refills on the transmission are all I've done.

My only complaints are the seats are just OK and sorry Dunlop tires.

 

[tig1]

I know a guy that has a transmission shop and he tells me he re-builds a lot of Honda transmissions. Here is a link. With thar said all makes can have problems.

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/08/honda-transmission-problems-seem-to-persist/

 

[mechanicx]

I loved the last line in that article, '“We should have looked into it before I bought it. But I just assumed because it was a Honda, Japanese, it would last forever.”'

There was a recall on '09 Accords for transmission programming that if not done could cause transmission failure, so I wouldn't say only pre '04 had transmission issues. I would think a '12 model by now would be reliable for the most part.

 

[Chris B.]

Originally Posted By: tig1
I know a guy that has a transmission shop and he tells me he re-builds a lot of Honda transmissions. Here is a link. With thar said all makes can have problems.

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/08/honda-transmission-problems-seem-to-persist/


Thanks for the link. It seem this is a problem with Hondas from almost 8-10 years ago which still sucks because Honda is supposed to be the best in reliability! Hopefully the newer gens are free of this problem. I'mm tell ya my 2012 V6 Accord is the smoothest shifting car I have ever owned and it is fast for a family sedan. The body is very ridged and feels like a tank just like my Volvo XC70. Hopefully it is a problem free car as I'm over due for one!

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: mechanicx
There was a recall on '09 Accords for transmission programming that if not done could cause transmission failure, so I wouldn't say only pre '04 had transmission issues. I would think a '12 model by now would be reliable for the most part.


The recall has been discussed countless times on this forum, and continues to me either misconstrued or misunderstood by some... The recall involves modifying transmission engagement programming to protect the transmission when the user repeatedly and rapidly shifts from reverse to drive to reverse to drive to reverse to drive to reverse to drive, etc.

It's not an issue that most people will encounter. This recall, while applied to all vehicles, doesn't benefit anyone other than someone who will repeatedly and rapidly shift from reverse to drive to reverse to drive to reverse to drive to reverse to drive, etc. If you don't do that, you have nothing to worry about.

 

[mechanicx]

Well regardless the potential damage is severe and isn't an issue on other makes' ATs. Recalls don't get issued for nothing such as for abuse as you kind of insinuate. Let's just downplay everything if it's Honda.

Quote:
A bearing in the automatic transmission system was not built with sufficient strength and as a result the transmission system may emit an abnormal noise or cause the engine to stall under certain gear shift operations, Honda said


The reprogramming is a band-aid of a weak design which is the real point.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: mechanicx
The reprogramming is a band-aid of a weak design which is the real point.


I think the point you were trying to make, which was that Honda's transmission problems are not necessarily only in the past, is not supported by the available data. The track record of these transmissions since the 2005 time frame is as good as any other auto makers'.

I'll just shake hands and agree to disagree.

 

[mechanicx]

Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
Originally Posted By: mechanicx
The reprogramming is a band-aid of a weak design which is the real point.


I think the point you were trying to make, which was that Honda's transmission problems are not necessarily only in the past, is not supported by the available data. The track record of these transmissions since the 2005 time frame is as good as any other auto makers'.

I'll just shake hands and agree to disagree.

Yeah I can agree to that

. While I wouldn't say Honda's AT is even now currently the best, they're not now that troublesome and probably at least as reliable as average. I'd trust them further than a CVT.

I would think the OP's '12 Accord would be a reliable vehicle overall.