Honda Civic transmission problems

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 HONDA CIVIC HYBRID. WHILE ATTEMPTING TO ACCELERATE FROM IDLE AT A STOP LIGHT THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO VIBRATE AND THEN SHUT OFF. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ILLUMINATED INTERMITTENTLY PRIOR TO THIS FAILURE. THE DEALER REPLACED THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER. PRESENTLY, THE VEHICLE WILL START,BUT WAS NOT DRIVABLE. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A HONDA DEALER, AND DIAGNOSED AS NEEDING A NEW TRANSMISSION. THE DEALER FOUND A SALVAGED TRANSMISSION. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGE WERE 158,000.*AK

THE HONDA CIVIC SI MANUAL TRANSMISSION CAN BE VERY UNSAFE TO DRIVE ESPECIALLY WHEN DRIVEN COLD. WHEN SHIFTING INTO THIRD GEAR THERE IS FEELING THAT THE GEAR ISN'T ALL THE WAY IN. WHEN THE CLUTCH IS RELEASED THE GEAR WILL POP OUT. THIS PROBLEM IS ALSO COMMON IN OTHER HONDA VEHICLE'S SUCH AS THE RSX. THIS PROBLEM INCREASES THE CHANCES OF BEING REAR ENDED AND ALSO PUTS TREMENDOUS WEAR ON THE TRANSMISSION AS THE GEAR POPS AND GRINDS. HONDA SERVICE TELLS ME THAT ITS IS MY DRIVING THAT IS CAUSING THIS PROBLEM BUT OVER A THOUSAND THREADS HAS BEEN POSTED ONLINE ABOUT THIS PROBLEM. HONDA HAS DONE NOTHING TO FIX THIS PROBLEM EXCEPT CALL US POOR DRIVERS. *JB

THIS IS A 2005 CIVIC HYBRID. A FEW TIMES THE TRANSMISSION HAS ALLOWED THE ENGINE TO INCREASE ITS RPM'S TO A "REDLINE" LEVEL, THEN ENGAGES AND SURGES FORWARD. THIS HAS ONLY HAPPENED AT HIGHWAY SPEED THUS FAR, BUT COULD BE VERY DANGEROUS ON SURFACE STREETS. ALSO, I HAVE ISSUE WITH THE WAFER THIN WINDSHIELD. I HAVE 3 CRACKS IN IT FROM 18 MONTHS OF DRIVING FROM ROAD PEBBLES. I HAVE 6 OTHER VEHICLES, THEY ALL GET DRIVEN THE SAME FREEWAYS, AND GET HIT BY PEBBLES, BUT NONE GET THE DAMAGE AS THIS HONDA HAS. *NM

THE CVT TRANSMISSION IN MY 2003 HONDA CIVIC HYBRID TOTALLY GAVE OUT. THIS FOLLOWED MONTHS OF JERKING AND REPEATED TREATMENTS OF TRANSMISSION FLUID REPLACEMENT AND "REPROGRAMMING.," WHICH STARTED BEFORE 30,000 MILES. EACH TREATMENT SEEMED TO WORK TEMPORARILY, ONLY TO HAVE THE JERKING RETURN, EACH TIME SOONER THAN BEFORE. THE EVENING IT GAVE OUT ENTIRELY I WAS CROSSING A BRIDGE, THEN TURNED LEFT ONTO A MAIN STREET. AS I TURNED THE CAR JERKED, THEN ACTED AS THOUGH IT WAS PERMANENTLY IN NEUTRAL. THE DEALER TOLD ME I MUST HAVE BEEN SPINNING MY WHEELS ON SNOW OR ICE, BUT THIS WAS NOT THE CASE. *NM

I WAS DRIVING IN THE MORNING COMMUTE AS USUAL, LEFT LANE, STOP AND GO TRAFFIC. AFTER, SOME SLOW DOWN I ACCELERATED BUT THE CAR DID NOT RESPOND TRIED TO SHIFT TO THE LOWER GEAR DID NOT WORK ETHER. I HAD TO CUT THROUGH TWO LANES OF TRAFFIC (BARELY MISSED A CAR) TO GET TO THE SHOULDER. THE TRANSMISSION IS OUT AND DOESN'T RESPOND TO ANY GEAR (R, D, S, L). THE ENGINE REVS WHEN PUT ON ANY GEAR, BUT THE CAR WON'T MOVE. THE 2004 HONDA CIVIC HYBRID HAS AROUND 20,000 MILES. I HAVE BEEN BROWSING CHAT ROOMS AND HAVE FEELING THAT THE DEALER WOULD CHARGE THE FULL PRICE FOR REPAIR, UNLESS THERE IS A RECALL. ACCORDING TO THE INFORMATION THAT I GATHER, THERE IS A LARGE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS ABOUT HONDA HYBRID CVT. *NM

MY 2003 HONDA CIVIC HYBRID WORKED FINE UNTIL ~50000 MILES (~3 YEARS OF OWNERSHIP.) AT THAT TIME, THE TRANSMISSION BEGAN TO CAUSE THE CAR TO LURCH FORWARD WHEN DRIVING AT SPEEDS FROM 5-15 MPH. AFTER A FEW MONTHS, THE PROBLEM WAS SEVERE ENOUGH THAT I NO LONGER FELT SAFE DRIVING THE CAR TO WORK IN TRAFFIC WHOSE SPEED WOULD CAUSE THE CAR TO LURCH FORWARD REPEATEDLY INSTEAD OF MAINTAIN A SMOOTH SPEED. I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALERSHIP TWICE TO GET THEM TO FIX THE PROBLEM, BUT ALTHOUGH THEY COULD DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM - THEY CLAIMED THE CAR HAD NO FIXABLE PROBLEMS. READING FROM OTHER CIVIC HYBRID OWNERS HAS SHOWN THAT THIS PROBLEM IS VERY COMMON AND EXPENSIVE TO FIX. *NM

MY 2001 HONDA CIVIC WITH ABOUT 76,000 MILES WAS ACTING UP FOR ABOUT A WEEK. IT STARTED MAKING A SQUEAKING NOISE WHEN COLD, HOWEVER ONCE IT GOT WARMED UP THE NOISE WENT AWAY. FEW DAYS AGO WHEN I SHIFTED THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION INTO REVERSE, IT BARELY MOVED. THE RPM'S WOULD REV UP BUT THE VEHICLE WAS NOT GOING ANYWHERE FAST. SAME HAPPENED WHEN SHIFTED IN DRIVE. I MADE IT TO WORK, AND DECIDED TO TAKE IT INTO THE SHOP ON THE WAY BACK IN THE EVENING. ON THE WAY TO THE SHOP THE CAR STOPPED WITHOUT MUCH WARNING. AT THE TIME IT DIED I WAS GOING OVER A BRIDGE OVERPASS AND DID NOT HAVE ANY ROOM TO PULL OVER. LUCKILY MY WIFE WAS FOLLOWING ME SO SHE SLOWED DOWN AND ALLOWED ME TO COST DOWN THE OVERPASS ON TO THE SHOULDER. ONCE STOPPED THE CHECK TRANSMISSION LIGHT CAME ON, UNFORTUNATELY, TOO LITTLE TO LATE. I HAD THE CAR TOWED TO A DEALER WHO HAS INFORMED ME THAT THE CAR NEEDS A NEW TRANSMISSION. THIS IS A HONDA, ONLY 5 YEARS OLD WITH LESS THAN 80K MILES. THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN TO THIS CAR. THE COST OF REPAIR IS OVER $2K. HONDA IS WILLING TO COVER HALF THE COST AS A GOOD-WILL GESTURE, BUT JUDGING BY THE AMOUNT OF COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE TRANSMISSION ON 2001 HONDA CIVICS BETWEEN 50-80K MILES, THIS SHOULD BE A RECALL. I ONLY WONDER HOW MANY PEOPLE FORK OVER $3K-$4K AND DO NOT REPORT THIS ISSUE. *NM

CARS TRANSMISSION STARTED SLIPPING ON THE WAY HOME FROM WORK. GOING DOWN HILL TRANSMISSION COMPLETELY FAILED AND ENGINE REVVED UP - WOULD NOT MOVE. PULLED OVER TO SIDE OF ROAD AND CAR WOULD NOT MOVE. WOULD NOT MOVE IN FORWARD OR REVERSE. TRANSMISSION FLUID WAS FULL, NO APPARENT LEAKS. FLUID SMELLED LIKE IT WAS BURNED. CAR HAD ALL SERVICE UP TO DATE, PERFORMED BY DEALER. CAR WAS PURCHASED BRAND NEW FROM DEALER. TRANSMISSION HAD BEEN SERVICED (FLUID CHANGED) TWICE BY DEALER. HAD CAR TOWED TO DEALER - DIAGNOSED AS BAD TRANSMISSION. QUOTED PRICE OF $3876 TO REPLACE. FOUND NUMEROUS REPORTS OF OTHER CIVIC OWNERS ON THE INTERNET WITH THE SAME TRANSMISSION FAILURE. HONDA TRANSMISSIONS ARE OBVIOUSLY POOR QUALITY AND NOT RELIABLE. SOME PEOPLE HAD TO REPLACE TRANS. 2-3 TIMES IN FIRST 100,000 MILES.*JB