Faults:

EGR valve failed. Burnt valve and carbon deposits caused the need for an engine overhaul ($3k)

General Comments:

I bought the 2002 Accord SE new since I had 2 previous Civics (1989 and 1998) which were fantastic. Over 200k on the first one (with original clutch still working fine). Second one had 85k then totaled when hit by unlicensed driver. The 2002 SE is a piece of crap. I'm tired of the expensive repairs. People EXPECT Honda to be great cars, but be aware their reliability and quality is decreasing every year. Honda is surviving due to their history of quality cars built prior to 2000.

Faults:

When I purchased this car, it only had 38,000 miles. It was also Honda Certified and supposedly had a 150 point inspection.

However after just 5 months of driving, the drivers side door lock failed along with 3 wheel bearings. I was very unhappy and decided to write a letter to the headquarters questioning their so called 150 point inspection, and the quality of their vehicles. I received a call back from a customer service rep who assured me that this is not common and faxed me over the inspection sheet on my car. The inspection sheet had all of the "OK" boxes checked off. Even the one that said "automatic transmission shifts smoothly."... My car is a 5 speed manual. Nothing was checked off for the manual transmission.

General Comments:

I now have almost 100k on the car.

The transmission has made knocking noises since about 50k and the shifter is very clunky and pops out of gear occasionally.

The engine has performed the entire time without skipping a beat and gets great fuel economy. Which is good considering it is very low on power and has poor throttle response. Acceleration is barely acceptable.

I expected much more out of this car, and I am unhappy with it. I will be trading it in very soon.

Faults:

74000 miles Transmission differential bearing on the left side started to die which led to transmission fluid leak. Transmission acted normally, but the leak could only be fixed by transmission replacement. Honda dealer initially wanted $2300 for putting another used transmission. After calling Honda, they were willing to repair the problem as if it had extended warranty, so Honda provided re-manufactured transmission, and I paid installation costs ($800).

General Comments:

I drive very carefully (2000 rpm at most on odometer any single point in time except for interstate driving) and usually the slowest driver on the road, so I really did not expect transmission replacement that fast. The thing happened around Christmas time which added more stress to the whole thing. Did I maintain the car properly? Religiously by the book with every oil change and tire rotation done by the dealer. (Transmission fluid was changed at 60K by the book too).