Who's had a bad transmission? *UPDATED*

[jugadro]

Yeah - I wasn't looking for any arguments - just wanted to get an idea of the transmission problems out there. If it is any consolation to y'all, my wife's parents have had several honda civics - pretty much ever since they began importing them into this country, and they say their 2001 is the worst civic they have ever owned. They have had many problems. Pertaining to "parts failing," yes, I am aware of that parts do fail. But a car that you pay $15K-$20K (or more) for should last more than 3 years. Its about integrity - I paid for this integrity up front so that I wouldn't have these additional multi thousand dollar expenses. Otherwise I would have bought a Dodge neon or Chevy Aveo for half the price if I knew I'd have to dump $2500 into it every 3 years. So we are complaining to Honda and it seems like they might help us out. Any more transmission problems people?

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[eye_see_you]

2002 EX Auto, Raplaced once by warranty now its rebuilt again but using the TCI Auto Master kit ( stage 2 )

[Ellocodetroit]

2001 auto vic lx

The tranny take a crap at 96,000 miles. Currently the car is collecting dust, awaiting the conversion to 5speed tranny. It's costing me the same as I would have spent on rebuilding the auto tranny so why not.

[streetglower]

Originally Posted by jugadro

Yeah - I wasn't looking for any arguments - just wanted to get an idea of the transmission problems out there.

If it is any consolation to y'all, my wife's parents have had several honda civics - pretty much ever since they began importing them into this country, and they say their 2001 is the worst civic they have ever owned. They have had many problems.

Pertaining to "parts failing," yes, I am aware of that parts do fail. But a car that you pay $15K-$20K (or more) for should last more than 3 years. Its about integrity - I paid for this integrity up front so that I wouldn't have these additional multi thousand dollar expenses. Otherwise I would have bought a Dodge neon or Chevy Aveo for half the price if I knew I'd have to dump $2500 into it every 3 years. So we are complaining to Honda and it seems like they might help us out.

Any more transmission problems people?

Just because a car cost $15-$20K, doesnt mean it will last 10 years. It may last 8 years, it may last 1 year. Parts fail without warning. Electrical parts can go at any time.

Like I said before, manufactures dont know when parts will fail. They can tell customers that if you buy a honda it will last a minimum of 5 years, they dont know. The same thing happens when you pay $50-80K for am car, it is going to have problems too, cars arent perfect. As much as we would like them to be, they arent. Yes people buy honda because they are reliable and offer good gas mileage at a reasonable price, but as with any other car, it will have problems sooner or later.

[HondaLuver]

my car took a beating untill 61k, when the tranny took a shit, but it was mostly my fault, i beat the shit out of that poor tranny..

everything on my 01 worked perfectly, but i decided not to have a d17 anymore. i have beaten my car everyday, minus the nice long warm ups. the car is running fine

[hk2ronin]

Well I installed a exedy clutch with throwout bearing and act prolite flywheel and still have that noise. My mechanic said its internal tranny problem so now I have to try to get my car warrantied with the magnusson act to. Honda of america s#cks. If it wasn't for tuners and import enthuisists such as us Honda wouldn't be number 2 in US sales. Im glad this is the thanks we get. Well Im not gonna roll over without a fight so if somone from Honda of america reads this just warranty our cars and you might make #1 in US sales, but if you don't expect new honda sales and repeat customers to start falling off cause nobody gonna wanna spend all this money on a car if you guys won't back up your warrantys.

[streetglower]

Originally Posted by hk2ronin

Well I installed a exedy clutch with throwout bearing and act prolite flywheel and still have that noise. My mechanic said its internal tranny problem so now I have to try to get my car warrantied with the magnusson act to. Honda of america s#cks. If it wasn't for tuners and import enthuisists such as us Honda wouldn't be number 2 in US sales. Im glad this is the thanks we get. Well Im not gonna roll over without a fight so if somone from Honda of america reads this just warranty our cars and you might make #1 in US sales, but if you don't expect new honda sales and repeat customers to start falling off cause nobody gonna wanna spend all this money on a car if you guys won't back up your warrantys.

How does honda of america suck? Are you still in your warranty period? Did you purchase an extended warranty? If you answered no to either of those, then honda has every right to charge you for the repairs if they do the work. And you have no right to complain if they say they wont pay for it. YOU HAVE NO WARRANTY!!! It has nothing to do with them backing up there warranties, if you have a warranty, then they will pay for it, if you dont have a warranty, then its your responsibility to pay for the repairs.

some of you just dont understand, when you buy a car, it comes with a factory warranty. Depending on the car, most are 3 years, 36,000 miles. Within that time, whoever the car manufacture is, they will pay parts and labor for any repairs that are covered under warranty. Now after that, it is up to you to pay. Now when you purchase a car, you are given the option to purhcase an extended warranty. Usually most are added to 8-10 years, 100,000 miles. And the same applies, if something fails, the dealer or warranty company will pay for the parts and labor, after that, it is up to you.

Just because your car starts having problems you are blaming honda for being asses? Honda isnt going to loose any customers, they arent going to loose any sales just cause a few people complain that they want there car fixed for free even know they dont have any warranty. It isnt import tuners and import enthusiast that make honda number 1 in sales, its the reliablilty that honda offers to its customers. And I think they have done a damn good job at that. Now yes there are alot of people that seem to be having tranny problems and other problems, but most understand that if they arent in warranty, that they have to pay for it. And most realize these trannies can be purchased for cheap and go ahead and buy another used one. Alot of people keep saying that the new hondas are shit, but realize that there are alot of people who havent had any problems. LIke I said before, if honda had every new civic coming in with tranny problems they would do something about it.

Now I will tell you this, you can purchase extended warranties out there that go past 100,000 miles and up to 170,000 miles for cheap. I purchased one. My extended warranty runs out in 400 miles at 100,000 miles. I now have another one till 125,000 miles. They have ones out there for as little as $500 for a complete powertrain warranty. You might want to look them up if you have a chance. Now I understand that hondas are reliable, but anything can happen at any point, and thats why I purchased another warranty. Besides, I am in school and do alot of driving. And I dont have much money to be forking out for expensive parts and what not.

[hk2ronin]

Actually I do have a warranty to 100,000 miles, I have 58,000 and they denied my claim because I have aftermakrket parts on my car. So now I have to call Honda of america and get them to warranty my tranny when it should have been fixed already in the first place.

[streetglower]

Originally Posted by hk2ronin

Actually I do have a warranty to 100,000 miles, I have 58,000 and they denied my claim because I have aftermakrket parts on my car. So now I have to call Honda of america and get them to warranty my tranny when it should have been fixed already in the first place.

thats another thing, honda wont warranty the tranny if you have aftermarket parts on there, especially aftermarket clutch parts. I see that you have a aftermarket clutch and aftermarket flywheel. Most of the times, the dealers have to prove that the aftermarket parts caused the failure, but I am pretty sure honda can come up with a few reasons why an aftermarket clutch would cause your tranny to have problems.

But good luck with that one. Its good that you do have a extended warranty, but now you just have to deal with them with aftermarket parts. One thing you can do is however, go to your local honda and see if they sell aftermarket clutch parts at the parts dept. My dealer here sells all kinds of aftermarket parts, they have intakes, headers, lowering springs, clutch kits, and the honda dealer on the other side of town sells jackson racing superchargers and greddy turbochargers for the older civics, and I think they even install them, but not sure. You can use that against honda if they still try and deny you warranty, but it is still going to be hard.

[y.0. KiLLa]

im scared, my 01 is at 37k...man, i can say that i better start saving cuz at 60-70k its goin bye bye..

[hustlelikem0fo]

I had a 2001 Civic Auto tranny and there was no problems at all with it until the day I sold it at 55k miles.

Until that last day the tranny shifted smoothly and without any problems.

Overall, the car never had a single problem..

[hk2ronin]

I didn't replace clutch till they told me thats what it was. So then I did the clutch, flywheel, and throw out bearing because when parts fail on my car I replace them with aftermarket ones. I have suspension, exhaust, intake, and a short shift kit. The noise started way before I even put my suspension or my shortshift kit. Fortunately I have the federal warranty law(magnusson act) on my side. It states that they can only deny my warranty because aftermarket parts if the part caused the failure. I'm gonna fight it because I don't think any of these parts caused the damage.

[02blackcivic]

yea, well my car is at 38K and around 35K 3rd started to grind, and i bought tranny fluid to swap out the old, but never got aroudn to it, i just started to skip 3rd or drive slower, and then i started using 3rd again all teh time and it stopped, adn now all of a sudden 2nd and 4th do it every once in awhile, i dont kno

[jugadro]

My transmission assessment/diagnosis results are in;
Main-shaft bearings disintegrated.
The aluminum transmission and steel bearings expand / contract at different rates causing room for vibration and ultimately failure.
Honda of America is covering it 100% and paying extra for overnight freight of the new parts/transmission. (even with some after-market parts)
They might even cover labor on a 60,000 servicing!
My car has 57,900 miles on it. It's a 2002 Civic EX Manual 5spd.
They said it is because I have had the car serviced regularly mostly at Honda service centers (went to Walmart service for a few oil changes) and kept all of the records and paperwork (faxed 36 pages of records to them).

So my recommendation to all:
Service your car at Honda - at least through the warranty.
Keep meticulous records - save all paperwork (it could save you thousands)
I didn't even have to put up a fight.

To those who said, "Honda won't cover it" or "you're screwed if you don't have a warranty" or "Honda won't touch it if you have after-market parts..."
Do your homework and don't back down.

[hk2ronin]

well I did my homework did all my services and they still denied me because I have aftermarket parts. I talked to a guy at hondacare and he said the magnusson warranty act didn't mean anything because any aftermarket part-even ones that had nothing to do with the tranny still void the warranty. Im so mad, tommorow I'm calling the better business burea, the state attorney general, evryone and anyone I can call and talk to because this is bullsh@t. How come they void my warranty yet honor jugadro's. does this make any sense to anyone?