In recent marketing campaigns Honda has differentiated itself from competitors by stating that the cost of ownership for a Honda is much lower than that of other car brands. I bought Honda because I was told it was the best and that it would last the longest and hold its value.

While it may hold its value, I am certainly not saving money on maintenance. In the past I have owned Fords, Nissans and Hondas. I have never worn out back brakes so quickly! What a tremendous disappointment. Clearly there is a problem with Honda's rear braking system on the 2008 Accord. As a Honda owner, I anxiously expect and anticipate a recall, because this is truly uncharacteristic of well-known "Honda Quality".

I am as pissed off as everyone else!! No one is willing to help, so I am going to help myself. After a little research on google.com, I came up with some contact information. I am logging my complaint at the customer care office in California and cc:-ing the CEO in Japan and the President of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. in New York. Feel free to do the same!! Check out my letter below...

Complaints Department American Honda Motor Co., Inc. P. O. Box 2206 700 Van Ness Ave. Torrance, CA 90501

Dear Honda Representative:

On October 1, 2007, I purchased a brand-new 2008 Honda Accord EX from the Shockley Honda dealership in Frederick, MD. The salesperson, Justin Todd, stated that the vehicle came with a bumper-to-bumper warranty that covered everything except tires and oil changes. That was one of the main incentives for me to buy the vehicle. The 2008 model is my fourth Honda Accord as I have always come back to Honda for their innovative design and low lifetime cost of maintenance.

During the week of June 8, 2009, I begin to notice a metallic scraping noise coming from the rear wheel well of my Accord. I promptly took it to the nearest Honda dealership to have the problem assessed. I was told that my brake pads had prematurely worn and the brake sensor was rubbing against the rotor. Much to my dismay, this manufacturer defect was NOT covered under my warranty (bill & payment enclosed). This is dramatically less protection than I anticipated and I’m very disappointed. I should not have to replace my brakes at 23,177 miles.

I expect Honda to resolve this situation in one of three ways:

1) Provide a full 50,000-mile/5-year, bumper-to-bumper warranty for the vehicle at no additional cost to me. 2) Buy the car back from me at the price I paid for it so that I may select a vehicle with the comprehensive warranty I want. 3) Reimburse me through monetary compensation and/or future credits for vehicle service.

I also expect you to discuss this matter with the sales staff at Shockley Honda and explain to them the importance of knowing and communicating the details of specific warranties accurately and honestly. Please contact me with a resolution within an appropriate amount of time to resolve this matter. If I do not hear from you, I’ll report this incident to the appropriate regulatory agencies.

Sincerely, Jacob Aaron Blackmon

cc: Satoshi Aoki, Chairman of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. 1-1, 2-chome, Minami-Aoyama Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8556, Japan

cc: Tetsuo Iwamura, President of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. 156 West 56th Street, 20th Floor New York, NY 10019, USA

(Enclosures)

WELL WELL WELL! I am so glad that I found this site. I was so dis-enchanted to ride down the street in my lovely NEW whip hearing braking noise. It's so embarrassing having a NEW car with squeaky brakes.

I took my car back to the dealer and told them about the noise. They ended up checking my car out just to find out that .....yes indeed...it's the SCREWY REAR BRAKES! I was fumbling through my head to see why is this ...so early on?? That's why I brought a new car so I will not have to worry about maintenance. So here I am in this tight economy having to shell out money that's so unnecessary!!!

The dealer will charge me $169+ taxes do the rear brakes. It's heart wrenching because it's so extra! So unfortunately, I will be taking my car back this week to get them repaired! Honda definitely needs to do a recall about this and I am going to flood the lines to make them AWARE something needs to be done ASAP!!!

In September 2008 my new 2008 accord was 11 months old and I was told it needed new rear brake pads, they were worn to "2mm". I questioned this because I have never had a car that needed any brakes replaced this soon, I had 17,000 miles mostly highway miles. They ended up replacing for no charge. Now I just took my accord in for an oil change June 18, 2009, I now have 28,000 miles and was just told my rear brakes pads were worn again to "2mm" and need to be replaced again!!!! I told them at the dealership that I will not have this done until they look at the brakes in depth to see what is going on, I do think this is real problem and not "normal" wear!!

CHorne Albuquerque, NM

I have had 3 honda accords in the past 6 years. My daughter has inherited my 2004 accord and it's at 100,000 miles and no problem. I loved this new car and bought it in Oct 2008. It really bothers me the lack of accountability Honda is taking for this problem. I thought that maybe they might have fixed the problem and I would trade in my 2008 for a 2009 but they already have a new braking problem listed that starts immediately with squeaking not even related to this problem. It starts as soon as 50 miles and does not have a solution. I buy Hondas primarily because of safety and reliability. I do not want a reoccurring problem. Honda definitely needs to get their act together. My solution was to trade in my accord and I just bought a 2010 Toyota Camry. This is really frustrating because I wanted a Honda but not one with premature and continual braking issues.

I heard the awful metal scraping sound and had a local family mechanic take a look at my wheels. I was shocked to hear that my rear brakes were GONE. The mechanic suggested that I take it back to the dealership (AutoWest Honda - Fremont - THE WORST DEALERSHIP EVER!!!) He stated that the FRONT pads were normal at 8mm(brand new is 10mm). He stated that the REAR pads were DONE.

Get this:

Left: Outer Pad 2mm / Inner Pad 1mm

Right:Outer Pad 4mm / Inner Pad 0.5mm

He noted "uneven wear on brake pads indicating hydraulic concern. Suspect Proportioning concern. Advised to check with Honda as there may or may not be a warranty concern."

I have a 2008 Honda Accord that I purchased in August 2008. I have 19,800 miles on it and a week and a half ago starting hearing a noise when backing up and driving. I called Honda and brought it back to the dealer. They called me and said it was my rear brakes. This is absurd. I switched to a Honda Accord from of Volkswagen, because of all of the issues I was having with my Passat. I have never heard of such a thing as brakes on a Honda needing to be replaced with so few miles. It cost me $213.00, which the dealer said was not covered under the warranty. Honda needs to do something about this because I will NEVER recommend a Honda to anyone if this is not resolved. I refuse to have to pay for new brakes every 20,000 on a NEW CAR. Let's make some noise and get this problem resolved!!

I bought the car show room floor 5K miles. At 6500 miles I took it in because I could hear the brakes. They said nothing was wrong with it. I took it back in with 9700 miles on it because I was only getting 20 mpg and the brakes. Well they finally changed my front brakes and I got 4 more mpg after that. Now today it has 21K miles and they tell me my back brakes have 1mm of wear and is fixing to mess up my rotors. The guy at Honda Cars of Katy said this is a major problem with 08-09 Accords. I'm not having any squeeling or anything. The car is driving fine. I called Honda Corp and i'm going to do my best for them to pay for it. I think people should complain!!!! This is my 4th Accord- 89-150K miles, 1992- 250K miles (and still sold it), 2006- traded in for 2008. The 2006 was a way better car, even though it was manuel and the 3rd gear had a recall. I will buy Honda again. If the breaks are the only thing I have to complain about so far then it's not too bad.

Like everyone else on this forum I'm extremely disappointed with the life span of the brakes. I've been recommended by the Dealerships to replace my brakes a little over 11k miles after getting a minor tune-up. This came as a complete surprise seeing as how the brakes weren't making any noises but were within "2mm" recommended replacement width. Anyways, if you combine all the pros and perks of the car it isn't worth an ounce of grief. This is probably, hands down one of the worst and disappointing vehicles i have ever owned.

Much to my suprise, when bringing my 18 month old 2008 Honda Accord V6 EX-L in for an oil change, I was told that my rear brakes are worn to 3/32 and need to be replaced. Of course that makes no sense to me -- and everyone else here too. Rear brakes on a front-wheel drive car don't need replaced that soon. I can't even remember that last time I changed the rear brakes on my '98 Accord. I called American Honda (who of course offered no remediation) and opened a case. This has recall written all over it.

Additionally, I filed a Safety Defect report with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. I would recommend that everyone here do the same. Please use the link below We need to get the ball rolling on a recall. The more complaints the better.

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/index.cfm

Between 20,000 and 24,000 miles, I heard a screeching noise I could not figure out on my year old Honda Accord (2008). Would have never imagined it was the brakes. Finally had time to bring it in to the dealer thinking it was probably nothing and they told me the rear brakes were almost completely gone and would need replacement at a cost of approximately $250. I was dumbfounded. Rear brakes should last an absolute minimum of 50,000 miles and truthfully, closer to 70,000 as experienced with my other vehicles through the years. The service manager said "it's a normal occurrence and that he had spoken with other dealers and they'd seen the same thing happening".

I'm meeting with the general manager today in hopes of getting this issue resolved which to me would be them replacing my brakes at no charge. It's apparent this is a major problem across the board and that Honda designed a poor braking system for this car. This is where the dealer gets to step to the plate to show how much they appreciate their customers and will stand behind their products. I've had nothing but good service from this dealer and hope it continues. If not, I'll go elsewhere.

I noticed some grinding sounds and screeching sounds from my back tires, and i had a feeling it was the brakes but didn't think it would be them at the same time because of the 17k miles i had on the car. so i took the car to Honda dealership for the 15k mile check up/oil change and told them that my brakes were making some noise and for them to check them out. turns out that the back ones needed to be replaced and they offered to do it for me for a whopping $170--that being with a coupon deal--so i told them that the brakes should not go that fast in the back and asked if it was under warranty and they said no, so I told them not to touch the brakes ill do them myself. I took the car home bought brakes from autozone for $60 that have a lifetime exchange warranty and put them on today. it was an easy job and saved me a good $100. im going to call Honda tomorrow and royally bitch and complain about this situation because the brakes should not have gone out that quickly. Im guessing its a flaw in the braking system because the outer pads were still pretty high, and the inner pads were virtually gone.