I recently bought 2000 Honda Accord SE with 160K miles, automatic. When I start my car first thing in the morning and start driving, I noticed a problem. As I start accelerating the car, the car starts to shake and hesitate for a few seconds before continuing to accelerate. It will do this a few times the first minute or two of driving. Then the car runs fine. Any ideas of what the problem can be? I'm hoping to gain some more knowledge on the problem so I am better prepared to take the car to a mechanic.

I do not know a lot about about the mechanics of cars so I would greatly appreciate some help. I never noticed the problem when I test drove the car since the car was already warmed up. I hope I didn't get screwed.

 

How are the maintenance items, like spark plugs, distributor cap, distributor rotor, air filter? Take a look in the owner's manual to see when you should change those items.

Is this a V6 or a 4-cylinder accord?

 

Spark plugs -105k
Air Filter - every 30k

I did not see anything on maintenance for the distributor cap and rotor.

4-cylinder accord.

 

i have an 07 accord 4 cylinder that does the same thing! also its time to replace those spark plugs.

 

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Do you think I should only replace the spark plugs or get a tune up too? Also, do you think there's a possibility it could be a transmission problem?

 

I've just bought an Accord, so don't know very much about them at all, but what you explained seems to suggest the coolant temperature sensor might be responsible, since a "cold" signal generally would cause the ECU to deliver more fuel, just like a choke in the old days. If the "cold" signal doesn't arrive at the ECU, then a cold engine won't get the extra fuel it requires, so it will stutter and hesitate for a while, then once it warms up everything will be fine.