This is our first Honda, but we chose it because of the high recommendations of others, especially when it comes to the Accord model. We were buying the reputation for quality and customer support as much as we were buying the car itself. For the most part, it has been an excellent car, with only minor issues other than this one.

This problem of premature brake wear manifesting as squeal and shake was particularly disturbing, however, not so much because of the problem, but because of how it was handled by the dealership/head office. This complaint shows that the problem occurred at 34 800 km, but it actually began much before that. When we took the car in at earlier service intervals and mentioned brake noise, pulsation, or shake, the complaint was minimized by saying that an adjustment would be made, or that it was possible we picked up some dirt on the rotors in bad weather. The problem continued to worsen until there was an embarrassing squeal at stop lights in warm weather, and a pronounced side-to-side shake when braking at highway speeds. The service rep claimed we may have picked up a small rock and it should resolve itself. Both my wife and I are excellent drivers and easy-brakers, so I did not even consider the possibility that the brakes were 'finished' at 35 000 km - my '99 Explorer has still got plenty of meat on the second set of rear disk pads at 240 000 km! Then the pad rivets hit the disk and it suddenly became clear: premature brake wear!

In spite of the obviously defective design, the service department 'accused' us (in the nicest way possible) of poor driving habits and unintentional abuse, naturally resulting in unexpected failure of a superior product. The bill that was submitted to us: $275 for pads, machining the scored rotors, and labour. I was gobsmacked. I countered that there was no possible way for this to be anything but either a defective design or a unique failure, not driver incompetence, as they were insinuating. A bit of asking around and a bit of research (including this site), and it was clear that Honda is fully aware of the issue, but somehow also believing that offending customers will still work out better in their favour than acknowledging a deficiency (and safety problem) and making it right. Armed with some statistics and testimony, I headed back to the dealership. They squawked, but decided to cover the costs of repairs for free "this one time, because you are such a good customer". Grateful, yes, but it certainly seemed to me that their answers and accusations were scripted from somewhere up the chain of command, and they were meant to put us on the defensive so we would pay up and be quiet. I will see how they treat us for the next round of brake failure, due to occur around 70 000 km; I hope they learn something by then.

I have a 2008 honda accord ex-l with 18000 miles and the rear brakes are shot. I have owned many cars in my 16 years of driving and cant ever remember changing rear brakes. Especially on a new car. I set a service appointment at Moses Honda in huntington, wv. when i was informed that my warranty wouldn't cover the rear brakes. So i did what any man would do. I went to NAPA and bought the best brakes they had ($65) and they are covered for life. I think its crappy that honda dosen't recall this junk, but if this is the worst problem in life, I'm o.k. with fixing it myself.

Was planning a long drive two days b/4 I heard a squeeling. Had it checked by dealer who told me the rear brakes were worn out. What? After only 16000 miles? There's only two times new rear brakes should wear out in that amount of time: Never and Never Ever! Three thousand of those miles were highway on a previous trip to Florida and back. Dealer could not explain it. Said the car was engineered new for 2008. Bologna! The new car pads are too small for the car! New car rear brakes should last longer than the front brakes and both should last longer than 30K to 40K miles! If this is what one can expect from Honda, maybe one should consider other makers of cars!

Never Buy Honda accord 2008 because this is lemon card with so many problem. I have to replace my rear brake pads at 7000 mile which i have never even heard any one changing rear brake pads at 7000 miles. Alway front brake pad worn firs then rear bracks pads. i onle drive this car at normal use college and back and on weekend to some resturanrs not even at city driveing where I brak and Go all the time.

Any one have any idea where should I go and complian because dealer will give all kind of different excuse like this is your fault not car.HELP------------------------------------

Add another one to the list. I took my 2008 Honda Accord at 22K miles into the dealer for routine maintenance. I later received a call saying my rear brake pads were under 3mm and they at a minimum needed to be replaced for just under $200, but for just under $300 they could do a complete job on the rear brakes, including resurfacing the rotors. I told them I would call them back shortly. I jumped online and found this site. Shortly afterward I got a call saying they had a coupon to replace just the rear brakes for $160. I reluctantly told them to just replace the pads. I agree with pretty much every other post on this site that Honda needs to recall the brake system on these cars.

I took my 08 Honda Accord in for an oil change at 18,000 miles and was shocked when I heard that the REAR brakes pads were worn down to almost nothing and needed to be replace. I have never heard a brake indicator noise yet, but I have had steering wheel shaking at 50-65 miles and hour during braking. Since I knew that it is very rare for rear pads to wear out prior to front pads I asked the customer service person at the Honda Express Service if it is normal for rear pads to wear out at only 18,000 miles. His answer was, "we have seen this quite a few times already." Yet when I decided the next day to call the service manager at Honda Cars of Katy, TX regarding premature rear brake pad wear he said, "there is NO ISSUE with the pads wearing out at 18,000 miles or less." I said, OK if it is not an issue don't you find it abnormal for rear pads to wear out prior to the front pads and with only 18,000 miles on the car? His answer again...."no, not abnormal, not an issue." I then called Goodson Honda and asked the same question of the first service tech that answer...are you aware if there is any issue with premature brake pad wear on the 08 Accord. Answer...."Yes, Honda is aware of the problem and there is not a recall on the brake system yet. The issue is with the pads material not being hard enough and they are working on it." Thank you Goodson Honda for telling the truth!

Honda clearly knows that there is an issue with premature brake wear when REAR brake pads are worn down to almost nothing at only 18,000 miles yet why is there not a recall yet. Until Honda recall's the rear brake pads on 08, 09 and most likely 2010 model Accord's plan on replacing your brake pads every 18,000 miles since the only way to fix the issue is replacing them with the same bad brake pads.

I took my car to the dealer on 9/19/09 becuase my brakes started squealing and my speakers were rattling. My brakes had started squealing again and I notice that it was squealing while I was driving. I had just had my rear brakes replaced at 17k. Well they checked everything out and informed me that they don't hear the squealing noise and that my front brakes were excellent and that the rear was at 6m (whatever that means). He said my brakes were in excellent shape and that I should not worry about the noise. I told him that I was not crazy and that I know my car and just becuase he did't hear the noise while driving around the block doesn't mean the noise isn't there. They also told me that they had a fix in for the rattling noise. Well that fix didn't work becuase the noise is still there. I also learned that our brakes are wearing fast becuase they are using Organic brakes. I have never heard of organic brakes to keep the brakes from overheating.

I have had just about enough of Honda bull that I am getting rid of this car as soon as my Toyota XLE is delivered. Yes Honda brakes are better than Toyota, but for a piece of mind I can't be loyal to Honda after they have ignored so many complaints. We made them and it's time to stop supporting a company that doesn't care about us. This has been going on for almost two years and Honda hasn't done a thing to resolve the brake issue.

It is really bad when another Honda Accord pull up beside me you hear that same squealing or squeaking brake noise. Think about all the money we paid to drive a Honda. This is not normall and I would rather take my chance with Toyota or whomever. All I know is this is my last Honda and I will never buy again. Good luck to everyone who continues to support Honda.

It only cost 79.00 because I did the work myself. I find it hard to belive that Honda has n ot taken steps to fix this issue. I have owned Hondas for the last 30 years and this is the first brake issue I have ever seen. All my other Hondas breaks lasted at least 40,000 to 60,00 miles. This car was driven 80% turnpike and I only got 22,000 miles on the rear brakes.

Update from Sep 22, 2009: I contacted my dealer regarding this issue and they informed me that this type of wear is normal for this year and model automobile. This of course is most likely their scripted response. I know of no other automobile that requires this level of maintenance on their brake system. I contacted Honda America regarding this issue and while they were very polite and somewhat sympathetic I was told that there currently is no recall or program in place to deal with this issue. Because the wear between the inner and outer pad is significantly different I believe the problem is related to undue pressure being placed on the inner pad from the emergency brake linkage. If Honda does nothing about this issue it will cause me to think long and hard regarding my future purchase decisions.

Ok , here goes one more complaint for the Honda Accord 2008 rear breaks!

I had read all these blogs once I heard by break squeaking last week , when car was at about 19,800 miles , it went really bad last evening and started squealing even when I was driving. I knew excatly what was the problem with all these blogs out here.

To tell you a little bit of history , when I bought this car in 2008 August I had test driven Toyota Camry and Honda accord 2 times each with diffrent dealers before I decided what I want , one of the distict features with Accord was it's excellent breaking - very responsive and very smooth against Camry's compartively poor in response breaks.

Today when I took it to the dealer - Bell Honda , this is what Adrian Lamb had to say I and I would agree with some parts.Honda breaks are really good ! - I agree! but whatever Honda did to make it that good makes it wear out quick!!! - I do agree! (Honda's Accords stopping distance is really good so that proobablt taking more life out of your break pads) , now it seems Honda wants the customers to adjust these brakes every 15 K miles (which I had not done) and if u do that probably done that you won't end up with squeaking breaks , at 15 K miles they clean and tighen the loose breaks.Well to the 15K miles I would say why does Honda not right it in bold letters! - that is BS I guess!!! Anyways as Adrian says Honda won't do anything about whetever we might complaint - I see 500 complaints on this site , but look at the customer base!, we are nowhere , worst case Honda will say , get your brakes adjusted every 15 K miles else live with 20K changes !!!

Anyways having said that they charged me with 150 bucks to change the rear brake pads , I took that knowing that it's freaking expensive but also knowing that if I do it elsehwre let's say at BrakeMasters it might void my warranty on other parts altogehther , so till I don't hit 36K miles on my accord , I will stick with the dealer , they day that gets over and I know which breaks am I using - Bendix CQ - D13336 from BreakMasters, all my reasearch shows they are the best and the beat the OEM Semi Metallic Honda breaks pads.

Guys we can rant , yell and gripe but for now you need to change the rears with OEM ever 20 K miles till you are warranty OR move to 1 time Warranted Bendix CQ - D13336 with BrakeMasters OR get some other breaks with LifeTime Warranty!

Anyways thanks for all the blogs here - helps me to know that I am not alone!

Well I took my car over to my Honda Mechanic to have the oil changed and learned the back brakes were worn out. I was very annoyed. I have never heard of back brakes wearing out at 18500 miles. I called Honda motor company and they told me that brakes were only covered 12000 miles. I ask them, Could it be a possible bad brake design? They told me it was common on the new cars for brake pads to wear out quickly because of the VSA, or my driving habits, or other factors. I told them bullshit, back brake pads shouldn't wear out until at least 70,000 miles.

I am at 44,000 miles and repairing my rear brakes for the second time (the first time was at 20,000 miles and was covered under warranty). The brakes weren't just slightly worn, but really bad both times. I don't have the money to be replacing my brakes every 20,000 miles -- and who does?

This is my first Honda and I bought it based on Honda's reputation for quality. I've had nothing but problems with this lemon and it looks like I'm not the only one. It only took about 10 seconds on Google to see the size and scope of this problem that is affecting so many Accord 08 owners. Honda needs to step up and do a recall of this issue.

I have 22,00 miles on my 1st 2008 Accord and bought a Honda due to the raves I have heard about their superior workmanship! I started hearing a rear brake issue yesterday took it to a brake shop for an evaluation. During the brake inspection, they brought me out to the car and showed me that my inside brake pads (Rear) were worn down to nothing! The outside pads (Rear) showed 50% and the fronts were perfect! I have never had rear pads wear before front pads in my life. I expect they have a serious issue and these cars need to be recalled! Thanks Honda - you have now lost me as a brand new customer, that didn't take long!

I heard a grinding at the rear of the car and while having 2 tires replaced at Sears, had the brake system inspected. They found the rear pads were worn down to the disc. The mechanic mentioned that the front brakes showed normal typical wear, but he never saw a car that had worn out REAR brakes at such a low mileage. Most cars will need the 2nd set of front brakes before the rears wear out. Rears should last between 60 & 90k miles, not 27.5k. This is excessive, and since the warranty is 24k, guess who pays?

I will probably NEVER buy another Honda.

Worn out rear pads at 25,000 miles is absurd, but it is even more absurd that the dealer (Koons Manasas) tried to claim that this was normal. My 1991 Accord pads lasted at least 60,000 miles over the 300,000 mile life of the car. I am taking the complaint up the chain and hope everyone else does the same so it becomes national news and forces a recall that provides a design change - not just a one-time free pad change. I am bummed out that I was foolish enough to buy a first year model. I knew it was risky, but banked on the Honda reputation. Obviously, reputation is not important to Honda - just the bottom line. That means that enough people have to scream loud enough to damage their bottom line. Otherwise a recall will not happen. Honda accord owners, scream loud, scream hard, scream often - perhaps in the showroom is the best place !!!!

Update from Sep 19, 2009: UPDATE I went in person to the dealer where I bought my car (Koons Manassas), this time armed with the knowledge that this was a common, well-known problem. I went directly to the service manager and he openly acknowledged that the brake design had a problem and claimed that Honda Corp engineers were trying to understand the root cause and to find a good solution. He believed the problem was that the brake-pads were undersized (the rears are about 1/2 the size of the front) and the hydraulic pressure equalization system is designed to provide most of the braking from the rear. Koons dealer agreed to a one-time pad replacement, including turning the rotors, for their cost of pads - total of $44 ! This is cheaper than I could buy after-market pads. I'm very satisfied with this dealer's response. However, it is a shame that a less informed owner might pay the full price. Also the design problem still exists so all my future pad replacements will be costly and frequent. Factory recall still needs to occur. BTW, there were no customers in the show room - it a ghost town - so I had no new car buyers I could complain to ;-)