From everyone I've known personally who has had a 1998-2002 Accord, I've heard no complaints.

From those online, however, you read a lot of complaints, specifically about the transmission. I don't understand how one person can push their 2002 Accord to over 200K miles while the next guy has to have the transmission replaced before 50K miles (saw a review like that). One guy even said his block cracked before 100K miles.

I really want to buy this car I found (eBay auction). The seller has great feedback (selling nothing but cars, and about 60 of them so far). The car looks great - Black 2002 Accord EX leather 2.3L - and it has 135K miles, which I never thought was much for a Honda until I read some reviews.

Can anyone shed some light? I have 3 days left to bid.

 

I assume you're referring to the automatics as the 5-Speed manuals are pretty bullet proof. Regarding the automatics, the units with the highest failure rate are dealing with the extra power and torque of the V6 motor, and while the four cylinder models with automatic transmissions don't have as many failures (due to the lower power), they are still considered to be a bit fragile.

As for different failure points; if someone was to say spend 90 percent of their time cruising the interstate, there's a pretty good chance the original unmodified (per a couple of Honda published guidlines) transmission might could well see a quarter of a million miles without failing. The flip side is say thirty-thousand miles in the NYC metro area; that might well cause the transmission to fail real early.

FWIW, I purchased a 2001 EX-L V6 last summer with full knowledge of the transmission issues; I did some research and found reputable firms which speciailze in remanufacturing the Honda transmission to be better than new for very reasonable prices (as in $200 either way of $1,000, depending on your location and the "add-ons" you want). In my case, if the tranny fails, I'll simply order a replacement unit and put it in.

 

Yeah, sorry, I don't know why I didn't mention the transmission type. 4cyl engine - auto transmission. Actually, here's the car:

Honda : Accord NO RESERVE in Honda | eBay Motors

And I purchased the history report from AutoCheck and saved it to my computer as an HTML file, but I don't know how to put that on here.

I'll be driving mainly highway (right now I typcally drive for about 30 minutes going a constant 60mph, and then 15 minutes going a constant 45mpg before I ever encounter a red light). If the transmission does go out, I believe I could (with the help of my friend who has worked on Hondas with his dad since he was 12) replace the transmission - assuming I could find one cheap enough, and it doesn't go out any time soon since I wont have the money right off.

 

Nice looking car.

A word of caution, don't get your hopes up too much; every time I've bid on a car through E-Bay motors, the price has looked good until a few moments before the close of the bidding, then it starts heading up fast. One car I bid on last year literally tripled in price in the last minute.

By way of comparison, I paid $5,500 last summer for a similar car, one year older, 20,000 fewer miles, and the V6 motor. Don't be surprised if the final sale price is well north of $4,000.

 

Have you ever purchased a car on eBay with a cashiers check or money order? I don't live in Cleveland, so I'll be having the car shipped to me in WV. I can't pay cash in person, so my only option is cashiers check or money order, but I'm already getting the insults on my intelligence from everyone around me for even considering this. I checked the feedback before thinking about it, and it looks like they've sold many vehicles to satisfied customers in the past. In fact, they have one other vehicle on there for sale right now. It seems unlikely to me that they'd screw me, especially since you can trace USPS money orders. If it isn't cashed after a certain number of days, I can get my money back, and if it is cashed then I'd have proof of that.

 

Gotta admit my auto box has been sounding a bit 'clunky' when changing from 1st to 2nd in the last year or so although doesn't slip or anything like that. May be signs that something is starting to wear. Car has about 65k on altho tranny fluid was replaced at about 50k.

Sadly it seems this box just isn't quite up to having a fairly powerful V6 attached to it.

Does the Legend use a different box? Guess being rwd answers my question there!

 

I'm pretty sure the Legend was a FWD car; but yes, it is fairly likely that a Legend from the late 1980s to early 1990s uses a different transmission than the unit found on cars from ten or more years later.

 

Just got a thought:

I haven't been on this forum in a long time (used to be under a different name). Does the transmission from the f22 bolt to the f23? And does the H-series transmission bolt up? I'm talking strictly auto. Wouldn't feel like doing a conversion.

I'm only asking because if they DO, then if this transmission ever does go out, I'll have a broader selection which = an easier time finding a transmission.

 

that would be my caution, more than any miss-representation of fact.

 

Transmission control is quite different before 1997 vs. 1998 and later. Any F-series transmission will bolt up but it won't control correctly.

The best example is up through 1997 the transmission has a control cable from throttle down to transmission. Beginning in 1998 that function is done with software, there is no physical cable.