2002 Honda Accord SE 2.3 liter from North America

Summary:

People's expectations of Honda's are higher than what Honda delivers

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.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 19th May, 2007

2002 Honda Accord EX 2.3 i 4 from North America

Summary:

Don't buy one

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.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 9th May, 2007

2002 Honda Accord Sport 1.8 Vtec from UK and Ireland

Summary:

The best sporty Honda Accord to get after the Accord Type-R

Faults:

It's the most reliable car on the road!

General Comments:

This car has got sporty 16" alloy wheels, dark headlight lens, boot spoiler, body coloured door handles, wing mirrors and side skirts. So at first glance this car looks like the Accord Type-R.

The interior looks smart and sporty. It has white racing dials, alloy gear knob, red racing stitched steering wheel and comfortable seats.

Honda claims that this car does 0-60mph in 10.9s, but I think it's faster than that from my experience. The Vtec engine picks up speed very quickly and loves to be reved. The fuel economy is about average for a car of this size. I get about 35 miles to the gallon.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 3rd March, 2007

2002 Honda Accord LX 2.3 4-Cylinder from North America

Summary:

I have very mixed feelings about this car

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).

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 18th January, 2007

27th Mar 2007, 13:55

The leak could have been just an oil seal which are usually replaced by removing the driveshaft and pushing in a replacement (seal). The bearings don't actually seal the oil in the transmission.

25th Apr 2007, 17:14

I'm not happy with my Honda. The transmission went out at 45000 miles and the dealer replaced it for free, on a silent recall. The second time, it went out at 112,000 miles and they did not charge for the transmission, but they did charge $850.00 for labor and $15.00 for fluid. They called me and said the rear motor-mount bracket was broken and was probably caused by the transmission banging into gear; they charged me labor of $212.50 to replace that and said the $172.50 part would be no charge. I really like the car, but I`m just a little gun-shy of any automatic transmission. I have had auto transmission trouble before this car and I was told this was the car that would least give me this kind of trouble. I do not know what to believe.