Thank you for your reply. The first Honda in the family was my Parents' 1984 Honda Prelude. It was a great car. It has one annoying quirk. Dad asked me to drive the car home from Lodge one night. I used the turn signals (to the left if I remember correctly) and the large headlight **** on the end of the signal lever turned the headlights off. We were driving blind. My Dad apologized for not warning me about the strange behavior of the headlight switch. He traded it in for a 1998 Honda Accord LXi Coupe. This is the same year my Wife and I purchased a 1988 Honda Accord LXi 4d Sedan. All three Honda vehicles were great. That is why we purchased the 1989 LXi 4dr Sedan. My Wife and Daughter were hit (car less than 6 months old) by a driver with no insurance and a suspended license. The main impact was the left front wheel. Neither my Wife or Daughter sustained long term injuries. We were lucky. We decided to trade the 1989 off on the 1990 EX because we were concerned the transmission might fail later and not be covered under warranty. We had many major annoyances with the 1990. Tach, Ignition switch, ignitor, and distributor recall. Our service file was about 2 inches thick. American Honda and the Dealer make it good!. The 1997 has been decent until the transmission failed. The Odyssey is what really soured me on Honda vehicles. It is on the fifth transmission and it has failed. I may pull it and rebuilt it myself or we may just scrap it and forget it.

I change the oil and filter every 3,000 miles. I keep up with the service. We had all the service done at the dealer, except a few oil changes I did myself, while they were under the 100K extended warranty (1997 and Odyssey).

I am not be pleased with a different manufacturer. Time will tell. I have become fairly proficient with home repairs on Honda vehicles. Now I will have to retrain myself to work on a different type vehicle.

 

what gen is it? 1st gen with sliding doors and v6 had statistically inferior transmissions but the other gens are statistically much better. Probably more than we honda fans want to hear. In talking with many owners who have had transmission issues on the V6 engine i have personally concluded the majority of failures were due to lack of proper service. I have a 2006 odyssey with 126k miles and not had any issues. I do, however, change my transmission fluid every other year which honestly only comes to about 10k for the last couple of years. Most miles on any interval was 20k. So perhaps i am overkill but in talking with EVERY person who had a failure they had not changed their fluid or were at 60k or 90k miles before changing which in my mind is insane. Dirty fluid helps lock parts in these things up and increase heat and cause the torque converters to fry. If you have had 5 i would guess you have the 1st gen or dont change your fluid in the tranny enough. Secondly driving habits - if you drive it hard then that doesnt help. I have had the following parts go bad on our 2006. Power steering pump, oxygen sensor (at engine bay), Starter. Dealer change power steering for free but i took care of the rest. I let the dealer change the trans fluid to have proof i properly maintain it in the event it goes bad. V6 Transmission issues have been known by honda fans since 1998 so i have been paranoid. My brothers 2000 accord v6 went out at 105k miles but again - HE NEVER changed the freaking transmission fluid. Honda gave him a new transmission for free - parts AND labor. Another 100k later it started acting up again.. but again he had not learned the lesson and had not changed the fluid. Only changed it when it started jerking from 1st to 2nd gear. Lesson is drain and fill is a whole lot cheaper than a dead tranny.

 

While frequent changing of the transmission fluid *may* help, as I understand it, there are apparently two fundamental flaws in the transmission; both of which have more to do with driving environment than fluid changes.

Flaw #1: At idle, the amount of transmission fluid flowing to the shaft supporting the second gear is insufficient for cooling said shaft. If lots of driving is done in stop-and-go traffic, the shaft can be routinely heated well beyond its tolerance, which will in turn make the shaft very brittle and prone to failure.

Flaw #2: Torque converter lockup clutch; under certain driving conditions (I don't remember what they are off the top of my head, but my guess is also stop-and-go traffic), the clutch can drag and wear excessively. The excess clutch material can in turn clog the cooling lines and heat exchanger, which will in turn lead to transmission failure.

 

Flaw #2 according to a full tear down with that issue was proven to be from dirt causing it to lock up...well i guess that is debatable but the dirt buildup and lack of drainback port on some transmissions resulted in failure. Flaw1 i think was with the early ones but havent heard on any recent ones. We have a ton of stop and go and no issues..

 

I have 190k mi on a 2001 V6, one of the transmissions that were known for issues. it shifts perfect - just as if it was new and as good as any new car i've driven (and better than new CVT).

I agree that stop-and-go traffic and idling may likely be the culprit. I don't encounter those driving conditions. I spend a lot of time on the highway. I change tranny fluid every 25k-30k miles.

I am looking at 2014 Honda Accords currently. Consumer Reports lists the 2014 as the #1 midsize sedan (and it's the entry level LX 4cyl model at $23k). Honda has a lot of service bulletins and recalls in it's history - because it fixes problems. Look at what GM and Toyota are dealing with in their ignoring of problems - huge fines and lawsuits (and in the case of GM, loss of life).

Honda makes excellent engines (an more engines in general than anyone). but they have a checkered past with transmissions. the 4cyl transmissions have been fine, which is why Consumer Reports is hesitant to give the V6 models high marks on reliability.

 

I have a 2001 V6 as well, it only has 147,000 on the clock; 31,000 more than when I bought it a year and a half ago, so I have no idea whether it has the original tranny in it or not. So far at least, it shifts well, and given that I'm on cruise control for 25 of my 30 mile commute (twice per day), I'm not at all worried about the transmission going Tango Uniform anytime soon.

The above said, I really-really dislike driving cars, regardless of make or model, equipped with automatic transmissions; that's pretty much the only reason why I'm keeping my eye peeled for a good condition Acura TL or an Accord EX-L V6 with a 6-Speed manual.

 

non original transmissions will usually have sharpie writing all over them.. do you see any? If honda did it there would be a record at honda so if you are that interested you could check. Anyone i know that has had a transmission issue has either gotte a free transmission without free labor or did get both free trans and free labor. Honda has made good on everyone i know. Proof of maitainence and history and loyalty to honda certainly help. In my case i have had 8 hondas so i would expect them to take care of me in the event this happened but then again i havent because i take care of my hondas - overkill with my trans fluid changes