Honda reliability

[Gito]

Originally Posted By: Jfkmk
I'm done with Honda. My wife had a 2003 accord, the trans died around 140k. Typical problem for the v6. Well maintained too. Honda wanted $5k to repair.

I had an 08 civic. Paint was peeling off even though I kept it washed and waxed. Again, typical problem. In fact, they extended the warrantee, but I brought it in one month past the warrantee and Honda would do nothing for me.

See ya, Honda.


I cannot see myself ever purchasing a brand new Honda again.

I was spoiled with my Civic hatchback Si with a flawless engine up until a few weeks ago...Not bad for 506k miles

I think most people have at least a few family members that are driving Accords and Civics and hear that their cars are doing great at 45k miles or 65k miles.

Funny thing is that when their cars are nearing 100k they express on how they want to get rid of them before they start having problems.

I think in General, I have heard most people driving Toyotas, Lexus, Hondas, Nissans, BMW's, Mercedes (all car makes) etc. express on how they want to get rid of their cars before they start having mechanical issues. Usually 100k miles being the milestone for "Time to Go"

My neighbor has this thing where he only keeps his cars for 10 years, and purchases only white Honda cars.
Regardless of mileage.

Currently, Im happy driving my 2002 Silverado 5.3L with 296k miles and my 1979 300sd Mercedes with 94k miles.

 

[PandaBear]

Honda automatic used to shift HARD and the engine with no torque. This makes them fuel efficient and durable, but not attracting US buyers' preference of smooth shifting and big power. Honda changed to make their product more US friendly, and the end result is reduced reliability.

 

[dareo]

Wifes 14 Accord Sport had to get a new battery and a new starter 24 months in, warranty covered it. The brake rotors are also under sized for the vehicle and are warped. It needs new manual transmission fluid every 30k miles. At least i noticed a nice improvement in shifting quality changing it out at 30k and plan to continue every 30k or less.

But seriously, no car is perfect, and this car is close enough to perfect for a bigger family sedan. That slick 6MT and flat torque band make a real nice setup. Do i expect more little failures like the cereal box battery it comes with? Yes, but as long as it breaks less often than my VW i will be pleased.

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Honda automatic used to shift HARD and the engine with no torque. This makes them fuel efficient and durable, but not attracting US buyers' preference of smooth shifting and big power. Honda changed to make their product more US friendly, and the end result is reduced reliability.


When mom was getting her 1999 CRV, we discussed why the transmission lasted a little over 80,000 miles in her Mitsubishi Expo. The Honda salesman said that quick shifting automatics are why Honda automatic transmissions would outlast Mitsu and Chrysler transmissions.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Gito


I think in General, I have heard most people driving Toyotas, Lexus, Hondas, Nissans, BMW's, Mercedes (all car makes) etc. express on how they want to get rid of their cars before they start having mechanical issues. Usually 100k miles being the milestone for "Time to Go"

Sounds like an excuse for wanting to buy a new car.

 

[Andrew1972]

The sum of unexpected issues over 225k on my 95 civic ex was clutch master cylinder warranty at 30k and radiators at 150k and needing one when sold.

My current used 2007 mdx with all service records gave first owner no issues first 80k till 2011. I picked it up very cheaply and it was an electrical nightmare throwing errant errors like abs, air bags, sh awd disabled, power window need program and check engine light.

Thankfully dealer who was over busy sent me to get new battery elsewhere. The vehicle has been flawless since with exception of a belt tensioner now with 145k miles. This vehicle has Tech in model name and been flawless there besides weak battery incident and $9 ac relay which is common fail across Honda.

 

[VeeDubb]

I hesitated to recommend a purchase of a used Odyssey to my cousin because I had heard about the oil burning. But I'm not sure how prevalent it is and it was more of a reaction to lots of anecdotal evidence.

It would be great if consumer reports or other sites that track reliability reported not just the average number of problems/expenditures on problems, but also the standard deviation. That would tell us a lot more about whether differences in reliability across brands is significant.

My Toyota was far less reliable than my VW despite what the aggregate numbers say. My VW has had no unanticipated visits to the dealership, aside from two recalls. My Toyota has had numerous CD/radio and other electrical issues, along with at least five recalls.

 

[deoxy4]

Originally Posted By: dareo
Wifes 14 Accord Sport had to get a new battery and a new starter 24 months in, warranty covered it. The brake rotors are also under sized for the vehicle and are warped. It needs new manual transmission fluid every 30k miles. At least i noticed a nice improvement in shifting quality changing it out at 30k and plan to continue every 30k or less.

But seriously, no car is perfect, and this car is close enough to perfect for a bigger family sedan. That slick 6MT and flat torque band make a real nice setup. Do i expect more little failures like the cereal box battery it comes with? Yes, but as long as it breaks less often than my VW i will be pleased.


When the battery fails next time upgrade with a 24F. Around $80 at Costco. You will need to size up the battery tray and get longer J hooks for the larger battery. Worked out great for me.

 

[Patman]

My 06 Civic has been super reliable, it has 138k on it (I bought it 5 years ago with 80k on it) and it hasn't needed any major repairs at all (just had an oil pressure sending unit changed recently, but other than that just normal wear and tear items)

 

[gofast182]

Originally Posted By: dareo
Wifes 14 Accord Sport had to get a new battery and a new starter 24 months in, warranty covered it. The brake rotors are also under sized for the vehicle and are warped. It needs new manual transmission fluid every 30k miles. At least i noticed a nice improvement in shifting quality changing it out at 30k and plan to continue every 30k or less.

But seriously, no car is perfect, and this car is close enough to perfect for a bigger family sedan. That slick 6MT and flat torque band make a real nice setup. Do i expect more little failures like the cereal box battery it comes with? Yes, but as long as it breaks less often than my VW i will be pleased.

Try doing 4 successive hard braking events (engaging ABS) from 50-10mph. I bet your brakes are OK after that. Honda brakes are known for pad deposits which are often mistaken for warped rotors. They could've done better with pad compound and rotor size but they're still really good cars.

 

[HangFire]

Originally Posted By: dareo
Wifes 14 Accord Sport had to get a new battery and a new starter 24 months in, warranty covered it. The brake rotors are also under sized for the vehicle and are warped.


This is a common theme on the Internet, unfortunately it fits Sturgeon's Law. Please educate yourself.

A number of newer Hondas came from the factory with eccentricly mounted rotors. You can think of these as pre-warped, but usually they are just straight rotors, mounted crooked. Over time they build up pad material on the high spots, those areas have more friction, and you get that unfortunate pulsating brake feeling.

The factory recommended fix for the Honda dealer to perform a on-vehicle rotor true, but off-vehicle works fine AS LONG AS runout is checked on re-installation. Just like the Factory Service Manual says, but no dealer ever does. You can try to talk them into it. They will trot out the usual [censored] that you overheated it and drove it through a mud puddle. This saves them a lot of money.

Honda disc brakes have two small machine screws that are used to hold them on during the assembly line process. Often these are forcibly broken off on the first brake job. I found mine as such on my Pilot. When I mounted new rotors on it, one side was eccentric (I checked) because of the nub remaining of one of these screws.

I ground it down.

Your average dealer tech will slap a rotor on there, a pair of pads, and drive it out the door. Pin lube? Check eccentricity? Who has time for that? Tech is on the CLOCK! Gotta do more jobs to get paid more. Just blame "warped rotors" when it comes back in 10-20-30K miles.

By the way, since I started doing my own brake jobs and checking parallelism and eccentricity, I've never had a "warped rotor" or that pulsating, shaking feeling while driving.

 

[HangFire]

Originally Posted By: gofast182
Originally Posted By: dareo
Wifes 14 Accord Sport had to get a new battery and a new starter 24 months in, warranty covered it. The brake rotors are also under sized for the vehicle and are warped. It needs new manual transmission fluid every 30k miles. At least i noticed a nice improvement in shifting quality changing it out at 30k and plan to continue every 30k or less.

But seriously, no car is perfect, and this car is close enough to perfect for a bigger family sedan. That slick 6MT and flat torque band make a real nice setup. Do i expect more little failures like the cereal box battery it comes with? Yes, but as long as it breaks less often than my VW i will be pleased.

Try doing 4 successive hard braking events (engaging ABS) from 50-10mph. I bet your brakes are OK after that. Honda brakes are known for pad deposits which are often mistaken for warped rotors. They could've done better with pad compound and rotor size but they're still really good cars.


I've never seen this fix pad imprinting or eccentrically mounted rotors, but it's a good break-in process for new brakes.

 

[nthach]

There's a few Hondas in the immediate family - a 2014 Accord Hybrid and 2004 Pilot EX-L. My cousin says the Accord treated her well and their hybrid system finally caught up to Toyota. The Pilot OTOH was thrashed around by her son who doesn't live in the US anymore, it only saw quick lubes and Costco for tires - supposedly the timing belt was changed. It still runs but it does need some interior TLC and a fresh fill of VTM-4 fluid. It still has the original transmission!

The Hondas I maintained for my parent's neighbors have been decent cars - save for paint and transmission issues. They tell me their Odyssey was a nightmare, but they couldn't get themselves to buy the Sienna or Highlander. Now, the neighbors are almost all Subaru but thanks to the local dealerships horrible service, they're going back to Honda as soon as the powertrain warranty on their Subies runs out.

 

[KrisZ]

If the brake rotors on Accords have two set screws then how can they be mounted "crooked" at the factory?

Honda is know for undersized brakes, that's the root cause.

 

[JTK]

I did have some odd-ball things happen to our 2008 Honda Odyssey LX just outside of the 3yr/36K mile warranty that hadn't been an issue with the other make/model minivans we've owned. First was a bad clunk from the right rear. Wound up being a failed/worn shock absorber. The dealer replaced it with an aftermarket because a Honda shock was 2-3x more expensive. Didn't even try to sell me the other side. LOL. Second was a failed roller assembly for the right side slider door. I bought parts online and fixed it myself. Third was the A/C stopped working and apparently lost it's charge. Dealer supposedly leak checked the system with the re-charge, but couldn't find any leaks. Worked fine the next few years we owed it. Always had power steering issues with this van as well, but that was an issue with our Windstar and our Grand Caravan at times too.

Still like Honda more than most. You pretty much know what you're buying. Prices are reasonable for what you get and there's no need for the rebate, cash back, incentive game. The ones I've had were easy for DIY fluid changes and most DIY maintenance. Of course there's the perceived resale thing too.

 

[UncleDave]

Honda isn't any more reliable than anything else, and occasionally less

Sisters 05 odyssey lost a trans at 125K turns out the case was weak and flexed a bunch and it was a known problem.

Business Partner wifes 08 odyssey lost motor mounts at 130K

Ex wifes element lost wiper motor in middle of blizzard and had to go to the shop multiple times for check engine lights.

Id categorize them as good not great.

UD

 

[fdcg27]

We've owned Hondas for decades now and the cars from the mid-eighties through the late nineties seemed to be the best of the breed.
I can't see any systematic preference for Japanese made cars, since we've had four Ohio built Accords and they seemed perfectly well screwed together.
In terms of reliability, who knows?
Our '12 Accord is now approaching 70K and has needed nothing other than oil changes and a set of tires, with the OEM Dunlops going nearly 60K and OCIs at 15% MM in the 8-9K range.
Maybe I'll look at the brakes before winter and slap a set of pads on them.
As compared to many cars out there, Hondas remain fairly reliable and trouble-free although the current cars have none of the joy in driving that the earlier cars offered.
I may be looking for a last of generation nine '17 this fall. The remaining cars should be pretty cheap.