1995 Honda Accord

TRANSMISSION FAILED WITHOUT WARNING. CAR WAS IN DEALERSHIP FOR NINE DAYS. THE NEXT DAY SRS WARNING LIGHT WENT ON, AND WOULD NOT TURN OFF. RETURNED TO DEALERSHIP. DEALER SAID IT HAD NEVER BEEN RECALLED, AND IT WAS NOT THEIR PROBLEM. I PAID OVER $600 TO HAVE REPAIR DONE, SINCE I WAS ADVISED THE AIRBAG WOULD NOT DEPLOY IF THE REPAIR WAS NOT DONE . RESEARCH ON NHTSA WEBSITE FOUND OVER 50 COMPLAINTS FOR THE SAME PROBLEM. ALSO FOUND INDICATIONS THAT RECALL NOTICE 96 V 317000 ADDRESSED A PROBLEM WITH THE SRS. I NEVER RECEIVED THIS NOTICE. I HAVE CALLED ZONE OFFICE FIVE TIMES AND LEFT MESSAGES. NO ONE HAS RETURNED A CALL. ALSO ASKED THE HONDA OF LISLE SERVICE MANAGER TO CONTACT ZONE OFFICE FOR ME, WAS NOT DONE. SERVICE MANAGER WOULD NOT GIVE ME THE NAME OF THE DEALERSHIP'S OWNER TO CONTACT TO TRY TO RESOLVE.*AK

THE SRS LIGHT CAME ON WHEN MY WIFE WAS ON A TRIP FAR FROM HOME. WHEN SHE RETURNED, I TOOK THE CAR TO MILTON MARTIN HONDA. THEY PUT IT ON THE COMPUTER, BUT COULD FIND NO FAULT CODE. THEY RESET THE SRS LIGHT, BUT IT CAME ON AGAIN THE NEXT DAY. THEY HAD SAID THAT WHEN THIS HAPPENED, THEY OFTEN HAD TO REPLACE THE AIR BAG COMPUTER. I CHECKED THE NHTSA WEB SITE AND FOUND THAT THERE HAD BEEN A RECALL FOR 1995 HONDA ACCORDS FOR AIR BAG PROBLEMS (NHTSA ITEM NUMBER SB041021). I ALSO FOUND A HONDA TSB ON THE PROBLEM (SERVICE BULLETIN NUMBER HON/A90). FINALLY I FOUND A LARGE NUMBER OF SIMILAR COMPLAINTS IN THE NHTSA DATABASE BY OTHER OWNERS OF 1995 HONDA ACCORDS. CONSEQUENTLY I CALLED HONDA OF AMERICA AT 1-800-999-1099 AND SPOKE TO NICOLE ROYER AT EXT. 124157. SHE PROMISED TO CALL ME BACK WITHIN 3 DAYS WITH FEEDBACK ABOUT WHAT HONDA PROPOSED TO DO ABOUT MY PROBLEM. SHE HAS THUS FAR FAILED TO CALL BACK 6 DAYS LATER, AND ALL I CAN REACH IS HER VOICE MAIL WHEN I ATTEMPT TO CALL HER. IT IS CLEAR FROM THE RECALL, THE TSB, AND THE LARGE VOLUME OF COMPLAINTS THAT HONDA HAS A MAJOR PROBLEM WITH THE AIR BAGS IN THE 1995 ACCORD WHICH THEY SEEM UNWILLING TO DEAL WITH DESPITE THE FACT THAT THIS IS A CRITICAL SAFETY-RELATED COMPONENT. I HOPE THAT NHTSA INSTITUTES AN INVESTIGATION AND COMPELS HONDA EITHER TO RECALL THE 1995 ACCORDS FOR THIS PROBLEM OR AT LEAST PAY FOR REPAIRS WHEN THE PROBLEM OCCURS. I OWN 3 HONDAS WHICH I BOUGHT BECAUSE OF HONDA'S OUTSTANDING REPUTATION FOR RELIABILITY AND HONESTY, BUT I AM BITTERLY DISAPPOINTED AT THEIR APPARENT LACK OF CONCERN ABOUT THIS POTENTIALLY VERY DAMAGING PROBLEM. I WOULD REMIND THEM AND NHTSA OF THE FORD/FIRESTONE CASE IN WHICH A KNOWN SAFETY PROBLEM WENT UNACKNOWLEDGED UNTIL A NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS WITH INJURIES AND FATALITIES OCCURRED. SURELY HONDA WOULD NOT WISH TO EXPERIENCE SIMILAR PROBLEMS WITH THEIR CUSTOMERS.