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Hello all

Posting as my son in law against my advice bought an 02 civic coupe auto yesterday.
I sent him links about transmission failures I read about after googling 02 civic relaiablity. but he went ahead with the purchase anyway.


My questions are:
how privilent are the auto tranny failures?
Will following tranny fluid change intervals help avoid this?


Thanks in advance for you advice. I worried that he made a huge mistake of his first car purchase

 
Rep Power: 518

Tell him we all said congrats on the purchase!
Pick just about ANY car of that era and google the same thing for those. Pick just about any Chrysler product, for example. Try a 2007 Jeep Compass, try a 96 Neon, try a 98 Caravan.

Every manufacturer and every car model has certain issues. There is no perfect car.
Some are a lot worse than others.


Why does everyone want to complain about a Honda that only went 100,000 or 200,000 miles before needing a lot of money, but it's perfectly acceptable for a Chrysler product to poop the transmission every 30k, or have front suspension made of cheese?

It's only a problem on the bad ones.
Yes or no. Can you predict the future?



Fluid changes are cheap and necessary, but there's never any guarantee that nothing will ever fail.


Is this person an adult, or not?



EDIT: Is the handle "ufatbasted" a dig at your son in law?

 
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EDIT: Is the handle "ufatbasted" a dig at your son in law?[/QUOTE]

Thanks for your reply. This person is a young adult who asked for my advice No the above is not a dig on anyone. It's a play on the name of my old softball team "Ya Fatbastehds"

I guess I was surprised when I searched that the tranny issue came up big time. Everyone always talks about Honda reliability and when you read of multiple tranny failures under 100,00 miles it's worrisome. I was just trying to get an idea of hoe prevalent these failures are.

I wouldn't compare a Honda to a Dodge or a Jeep Compass in terms of relabilty

FWIW I one two Jeeps and a 98 civic.

 
Rep Power: 518

For about 2 decades, it used to be said that the only thing Honda couldn't figure out how to build was an automatic transmission.
They seem to have improved quite a bit in this area since the mid-2000s or so.



These (01-03 Civics A/T) seem to be hit-and-miss, if anything IMO.
(Maybe I just don't get to see all of them because I'm at a dealership shop?)
The later years of the production run (04-05) seemed to have most of the premature trans failure issues fairly well resolved......but still, none last forever..


Recommend he keep an extra $4000 handy in savings for emergency car repairs, just in case. That should cover a Honda genuine factory reman trans and labor if it ever lets go.
Everyone should have a backup plan like that, shouldn't they? (Yeah, I know. I'm crazy. )


What does the trans fluid look like? Pink? Brown? Ugly?


How about other common things that car may need?
Has it had a timing belt job lately? (Every 7 years/100,000 miles)
Has it had a head gasket job yet? (mysterious coolant problems, poor heat)

 
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The car is due for a timing belt. I haven't checked the color of the oil yet.
I'm going to tell him to change the fluids anyway. Will hold off on the coolant
until the timing belt is changed.

Car only has 62,000 miles if it needs a head gasket I'll

 
Rep Power: 518

Don't be surprised if it happens, because it happens.
I've had to replace head gaskets at much lower mileage than that. It's cheaper than a trans replacement though.


Be glad it wasn't a Neon that needed 4 head gaskets before Chrysler finally figured out how to stop the oil leaks around 1999 or 2000....after so many ham-fisted mechanics ruined a bunch of the heads or engines blew up from oil loss.

 
Rep Power: 367

then don't read on the overheating issues

note: timing belt usually is due at 100k, but then they say that they should be replaced regardless at 10 years (?)

no one knows how long they last, though. maybe if car was in a hot place like desert with lots of sun, the rubber could go dry. or could have lasted like some with 200k or more... (rare)

just don't forget the engine is interference, so if the timing belt decides to go, the piston will finally consummate it's long, platonic love to the valves.

 
Rep Power: 518

OP's son in law should check his owners manual, I'm sure it says 7 years?

I probably wouldn't let one go past 10 years myself....


I shouldn't use my truck as an example though, it's got 18 or 20 on its timing belt....but it's not a valve bender.
People who have had to buy valves may know!


This sounded dirty. Bow chicka wow wow.