And yet even more on the legendary Honda failing transmissions--Honda won't let you buy a new one on

How many RAV4s require the same repair as your example?

I just had my '89 Legend towed away. Don't even try to tell me that
systems on that generation vehicle are anywhere near as reliable as
the current crop. You need to go back to 1960s cars for mechanically
simple.

Elmo probably knew about the weak Honda trans when he bought the
Odyssey. He should have brought the car into the dealership for an
annual routine trans service so when it failed Honda would have a
service history.

 

How many RAV4s require the same repair as your example?

I just had my '89 Legend towed away. Don't even try to tell me that
systems on that generation vehicle are anywhere near as reliable as
the current crop. You need to go back to 1960s cars for mechanically
simple.

Elmo probably knew about the weak Honda trans when he bought the
Odyssey. He should have brought the car into the dealership for an
annual routine trans service so when it failed Honda would have a
service history.

 

You might want to contact your local states attourney general office
and see what they say about it.

 

You might want to contact your local states attourney general office
and see what they say about it.

 

Uh, why? The orignal law was federal, not state.

 

Uh, why? The orignal law was federal, not state.

 

Pretty much all of them past about 150K miles, give or take. That's about
as long as any of them go now, before the dreaded P0420 DTC, Hondas
included.

Oh, they were. Given proper maintenance, they were just about bullet-proof.
The problem was, many were not given proper maintenance. That's why the
feds eventually imposed OBD-II.

Imagine how simple and reliable the 1991 system could be now, if automakers
had had 19 years to perfect it, and if EPA engineers weren't so hell-bent
on giving reasons why they should continue to suck from that juicy federal
teat.

But quite a lot less durable and reliable. By 1991, they'd hit the
motherlode for reliability, durability, and low emissions. But the federal
meddlers couldn't leave well-enough alone.

 

Pretty much all of them past about 150K miles, give or take. That's about
as long as any of them go now, before the dreaded P0420 DTC, Hondas
included.

Oh, they were. Given proper maintenance, they were just about bullet-proof.
The problem was, many were not given proper maintenance. That's why the
feds eventually imposed OBD-II.

Imagine how simple and reliable the 1991 system could be now, if automakers
had had 19 years to perfect it, and if EPA engineers weren't so hell-bent
on giving reasons why they should continue to suck from that juicy federal
teat.

But quite a lot less durable and reliable. By 1991, they'd hit the
motherlode for reliability, durability, and low emissions. But the federal
meddlers couldn't leave well-enough alone.

 

Elmo knew the 4 speeds were weak. This was a new model transmission,
the 5 speed.

Every bit of service done to the van was done at this one dealership.
There was no dearth of service history. And the transmission was
maintained ACCORDING TO HONDA'S SPECIFICATIONS. This much was
acknowledged by the dealership.

According to Honda in their Service News, in an article where they warn
against transmission flushes:

ServiceNews, Feb 2006, p. 4.

Looks like Honda lied, then chose to make the customer pay for it.

I used to tell great stories about how Honda took care of their
customers when Honda screwed up. While I will continue to tell those
stories, I will also tell THIS story for the rest of my life--and frame
it as how Honda screwed up big time and lost a customer.

I should have paid, at the most, the 12 hours of labor that this took,
and Honda should have AT LEAST picked up the entire cost of the
transmission itself. Instead, I paid $2218--and Honda considers that a
GENEROUS goodwill gesture.

This is a perfect example of penny wise, pound foolish.

Will I ever own a Honda anymore? Who knows. But American Honda Motor
Manufacturing did a superb job of taking my automatic response to
spending $30K--"shoot, that's a LOT of money, better buy a Honda"--and
turning it into, "shoot, that's a LOT of money, why risk it on a Honda?".

 

Elmo knew the 4 speeds were weak. This was a new model transmission,
the 5 speed.

Every bit of service done to the van was done at this one dealership.
There was no dearth of service history. And the transmission was
maintained ACCORDING TO HONDA'S SPECIFICATIONS. This much was
acknowledged by the dealership.

According to Honda in their Service News, in an article where they warn
against transmission flushes:

ServiceNews, Feb 2006, p. 4.

Looks like Honda lied, then chose to make the customer pay for it.

I used to tell great stories about how Honda took care of their
customers when Honda screwed up. While I will continue to tell those
stories, I will also tell THIS story for the rest of my life--and frame
it as how Honda screwed up big time and lost a customer.

I should have paid, at the most, the 12 hours of labor that this took,
and Honda should have AT LEAST picked up the entire cost of the
transmission itself. Instead, I paid $2218--and Honda considers that a
GENEROUS goodwill gesture.

This is a perfect example of penny wise, pound foolish.

Will I ever own a Honda anymore? Who knows. But American Honda Motor
Manufacturing did a superb job of taking my automatic response to
spending $30K--"shoot, that's a LOT of money, better buy a Honda"--and
turning it into, "shoot, that's a LOT of money, why risk it on a Honda?".

 

But quite a lot less durable and reliable. By 1991, they'd hit the
motherlode for reliability, durability, and low emissions. But the federal
meddlers couldn't leave well-enough alone.[/QUOTE]

Make mine a 4 cylinder manual transmission Honda. They haven't figured
out yet how to screw that one up.

 

But quite a lot less durable and reliable. By 1991, they'd hit the
motherlode for reliability, durability, and low emissions. But the federal
meddlers couldn't leave well-enough alone.[/QUOTE]

Make mine a 4 cylinder manual transmission Honda. They haven't figured
out yet how to screw that one up.

 

i don't know - the input shaft bearing [nearest the flywheel] on the
cable operated ef civic manual transmission's isn't a paragon of
reliability. they seem to have fixed it on later models though.

 

i don't know - the input shaft bearing [nearest the flywheel] on the
cable operated ef civic manual transmission's isn't a paragon of
reliability. they seem to have fixed it on later models though.

 

xample.com:

I'm not sure how this is a lie. That's the no-flush mention. It does NOT
prohibit drain-and-fill, which all any AT needs.

You won't have a lot better luck with any other make, frankly. Federal
government regulations now impose such horrendous costs on automakers that
they're all dumbing-down their cars and their after-sales service. Honda
remains one of the better ones.

 

xample.com:

I'm not sure how this is a lie. That's the no-flush mention. It does NOT
prohibit drain-and-fill, which all any AT needs.

You won't have a lot better luck with any other make, frankly. Federal
government regulations now impose such horrendous costs on automakers that
they're all dumbing-down their cars and their after-sales service. Honda
remains one of the better ones.

 

I'm not sure how this is a lie. That's the no-flush mention. It does NOT
prohibit drain-and-fill, which all any AT needs.[/QUOTE]

Read it again: "designed to give thousands of miles of trouble-free
service if you follow the maintenance schedule to the letter."

I did. And what I got was 73K miles. Maybe that's what Honda considers
"thousands of miles of trouble-free service".

My tech scolded me for not changing the fluid more often--he does it
every 15K for his own vehicle. Really? That's not what Honda
documented for the maintenance schedule. Well, had Honda sent me a
letter telling me to ignore my owner's manual and do it a different way,
I would have.

You know, I've been thinking about that. I think you're right. That
means that Honda has completely upended my thinking on how to spend my
transportation dollar. Buying a Honda new and running it into the
ground is now an obviously expensive task, possibly just as expensive as
just leasing new every three years. If that's the answer, then it won't
be Honda--it'll be something else. I say that simply because Honda is
always, always, always behind the times in feature sets. If I'm going
to lease something, I'll get the one with the fancier gadgets--things
that Honda won't have for five more years.

Either that, or I'll just start buying Bluesmobiles for my wife to drive
the kids around town in. Easy to fix, and who cars if she bumps into
something. When we want to go on a trip, we'll rent a van.

 

I'm not sure how this is a lie. That's the no-flush mention. It does NOT
prohibit drain-and-fill, which all any AT needs.[/QUOTE]

Read it again: "designed to give thousands of miles of trouble-free
service if you follow the maintenance schedule to the letter."

I did. And what I got was 73K miles. Maybe that's what Honda considers
"thousands of miles of trouble-free service".

My tech scolded me for not changing the fluid more often--he does it
every 15K for his own vehicle. Really? That's not what Honda
documented for the maintenance schedule. Well, had Honda sent me a
letter telling me to ignore my owner's manual and do it a different way,
I would have.

You know, I've been thinking about that. I think you're right. That
means that Honda has completely upended my thinking on how to spend my
transportation dollar. Buying a Honda new and running it into the
ground is now an obviously expensive task, possibly just as expensive as
just leasing new every three years. If that's the answer, then it won't
be Honda--it'll be something else. I say that simply because Honda is
always, always, always behind the times in feature sets. If I'm going
to lease something, I'll get the one with the fancier gadgets--things
that Honda won't have for five more years.

Either that, or I'll just start buying Bluesmobiles for my wife to drive
the kids around town in. Easy to fix, and who cars if she bumps into
something. When we want to go on a trip, we'll rent a van.

 

Is this "legendary transmission problem" something that I should start
watching for in a few years when the mileage on my 09 Civic EX (4cyl/4-door
sedan/5-speed auto trans) gets into the high five figures?

 

Is this "legendary transmission problem" something that I should start
watching for in a few years when the mileage on my 09 Civic EX (4cyl/4-door
sedan/5-speed auto trans) gets into the high five figures?