Accord 2004 V6 transmission fails, dealer quote $5100, should I replace?
 

Hi, I own an Honda Accord 2004 V6 EX at 115K mileage. It had been a perfect car until yesterday.

When driving on the freeway, it certainly stopped speeding up even when I pushed the pedal and RPM increased sharply. I had to reduce the speed to 50MPH and immediately exited. On the way home, it got worse and I couldn't even exceed 30MPH.

I brought it to Honda dealer today and they said the transmission failed and needed replacement. Their quote: $4000 for after-market and $5100 for Honda-made. Honestly, I wanted to cry because I just bought the car at 100K miles for $7000. Basically I have just driven the car for less than 20K miles and now have to face a repair that costs almost the price of the car itself!

I'd love to hear your feedback on the followings:

* Does the price sound right?

* Should I repair or just buy a new car?

* If repair, how many miles left of the car can I reasonably expect?

* Is there any potentially more costly failure besides the transmission? My wife would complain me till dead if I'll face another $5000 repair after this :(

I appreciate any feedback. Thank you.

The price sounds obscene; call these folks, buy a tranny from them and have it shipped to a local shop, then have your car towed to the shop and you'll be good to go for probably well under half of the dealer's quote.

www [DOT] willowcreektransmissions [DOT] com/transmission/product/3-0l-6cyl-transmission-b7xa

u can get a used trans at any local junkyard most come with 1yr warranty
any shop can install trans
dealer price is for brand new trans $3000 plus labor

I had mine rebuilt at 140k miles at a cost of around $1800. Came with 60k mile warranty. Wasn't risking a used one with the failure history that these trannys have.

^ This!

i spent $1500 on trans rebuild once
next time i spent $200 on used trans w/ 1yr warranty and installed it myself
RWD car too. it wasnt soo bad

I'd happily buy a used TorqueFlight or TurboHydromatic 350 or 400 and put it in, however, I wouldn't touch a used Honda V6 automatic from the Gen 6 and Gen 7 cars. That and doing an R&R on a FWD transmission is a pain in the hind parts.

Thanks for the opinion, everyone. I have called a few other dealership and all quoted a similar price for the Honda-made version. I called the original dealer and they agreed to reduce 10%, which is still around $4500.

Where should I go to for the ~$1800 replacement mentioned? Apparently not a dealership, but I don't know if I can trust an auto shop with their transmission?

Odyssey's are notorious for failing automatics, even more so than V6 Accords. I've spent some time over at an Odyssey forum (odyclubdotcom) and they seem to recommend Jasper reman'd transmissions for both quality and price.

Go to the Willow Creek web site I listed above (just replace the [DOT] notations with periods) and/or give them a call.