I had noticed oil consumption and fouling (i.e. dark coloration) soon after purchasing the car. I added oil on several occasions, but when I noticed it was short a quart, I would take to the dealership sooner, rather than waiting for the recommended 5,000 mile service. I complained about excessive shifting and the VCM on 7/30/2012 with 53,297 miles. According to a TSB, this problem is either caused by or related to excess oil consumption. In fact, the oil consumption issue has gotten worse. I took the car in for service ahead of schedule, because no oil appeared on the dipstick. The car was taken the shop on 1/25/2013 at approximately 62,200 miles. The dealership, which has always given me good service, said to keep on eye on the oil level and bring it back if it's a problem. Since then I learned that Honda did a selective recall for the oil consumption issue; however, I was not included in the selective recall that Honda issued in November 2011 for excessive oil consumption. I was told that the car must be diagnosed with the problem before Honda will pay for repairs. In fact, Honda will not pay for the diagnosis even though I complained about an problem while the car was under warranty. I have contacted the dealership and hope they will run a diagnostic free of charge. I will be submitting a complaint to the NHTSA. There may be a class action lawsuit in the future, if so, I am going to participate. Don't bother contacting Honda's Customer Service number. I got the run around from some jerk that gets paid $10/hour to lie. He told me I should have done something back in July. He refused to transfer me to his supervisor when I requested it. Honda, you have not heard the last from me.

Update from Jun 12, 2013: Fortunately, I have a good relationship with a Service Manager at a local Honda dealership. I have used that dealership for service my Hondas for about eight years. I was able to prove to Honda that my Accord had the oil consumption problem. Prior to taking a 1,500-mile trip, I went to the dealership and had the oil changed, and they documented the oil level. One week after returning from the trip, I took the car back to the dealership (i.e. 1,600 miles after the oil change). The car had used at least a quart of oil, and the remaining oil was dark as molasses. The Service Manager contacted Honda. Honda agreed to a major engine overhaul, which consisted of replacing all six pistons and piston rings; installing new head gasket; and adjusting the valves. The repair cost Honda nearly $2,500 -- I paid nothing on this out-of-warranty repair. My vehicle's current mileage is 68,000 miles, but (read my post), I complained while the car was still under the powertrain warranty. Honda has not extended the warranty on the warranty work, but I believe it is warrantied for 1 year/12,000 miles. I will return to the dealership after 1,000 miles for another consumption test. They refilled the engine with 5W-20 synthetic blend oil. The next time I'm at the dealership I will ask if should use synthetic blend oil as opposed to conventional oil in the future. Hopefully, this fix will solve the problem for good. Reprogramming the computer did nothing.

What a disappointment this oil consumption issue is!!! I purchased the 2008 Accord new in 2/2008. Had it serviced at the dealer and got the oil changed as per the maintenance minder (15%). Started noticing a weird noise coming from the engine, had it checked at the local honda dealer, couldn't figure out what the problem was, however, at 85% oil remaining they noticed that there was almost no oil in the engine. I was told that I was lucky to have found this issue so quickly otherwise the engine could've seized. Anyway, the problem wasn't isolated and the car started losing engine oil on a regular basis.

Today (2/13/2013) called the Honda dealer, explained the problem to the service manager, going in this Friday for a compression test. I asked if I'd have to pay for this test, he said NO. What happens after the test, no one knows. I am not paying for engine rebuild, pistons etc.

I hope its resolved soon. Been a Honda customer since 1978, however, the disappointment one since 2012.

Car is using between 3-4 quarts of oil between changes but Honda says 1 qt/1000 is acceptable. I think this is criminal! I spent a lot of money on this top of the line Accord and feel as if I am getting no support from Honda. This is not a normal wear and tear thing- this car has a problem and Honda is turning the other cheek. Now they want me to spend $330 to open the engine to see if they can find the problem and determine if they MIGHT cover it it, but I really don't want to throw money down the drain, because from the looks of it, they won't. I want a dependable car that I don't have to worry about leaving me on the side of the road or costing me a fortune. My family is a long line of Honda owners and that was a good thing when they had cars that would hold up to the test of time, but I am done! I intend to tell everyone I know that they I will not back their products any longer. Think I will trade this albatross in before I am out any more $$, but it certainly will not be for another Honda! So sad, because I really did love this car and expected it to outlast the car payments.

I religiously take my Honda to the dealer for oil changes only to be sure they have all documentation of me having to add a quart every 1000 miles. My car makes a loud noise when you first start it, not sure what that is about but they still say it's okay I need to add oil every 1000 miles. This is a joke. My 1992 Honda never had this issue and even though I do not own it anymore, the guy that does tells me it still doesn't do that. This oil consumption problem is something that Honda should be fixing. New motors if needed, whatever it takes to keep the customer happy. Honda has a reputation of a good quality car, not so much anymore. Really it seems they need to just suck it up that this model has some flaws and make all of us happy again by replacing the motors with ones we do not need to do this too. Or they could tell us they will buy our cars back. My car is nearly paid off and I really do not want to have a car payment, which was another reason I bought another Honda. However, they may of made the car bigger and nicer, now they are not as reliable as they once were. Fix the problems that we are experiencing....stop making excuses and saying it's okay to add a quart every 1000 miles. Do you want to do that to your car....really. I think not

No problems with car until the last oil change! thought my husband did something wrong when my oil light came on. He checked it and I was 2.5 qts low. Went two weeks and another 1.5 qts low. My car is making grinding sounds and is no longer under Honda warranty. I do have an extended warranty that I bought from a non-Honda dealer. My husband changed my oil not even 2 months ago and I have already replaced 4 qts of oil. How are you supposed to afford this and I don't even feel safe in it. Afraid my car is going to blow up with all of the oil consumption and grinding. I hope they settle this lawsuit soon so I can do something about it.

I complained to my Honda dealer that my Accord was consuming a quart of oil every couple weeks. They performed a consumption test, which involved measuring the oil every 1,000 miles for a few times. Once the excessive consumption was confirmed, they notified Honda, who agreed to replace the pistons and rings at no cost, even though I was waaaay out of warranty.

It was a bit of a hassle, going in every 1,000 miles, but I can't complain that they didn't stand behind their car. I just got the car back from the dealer. Will report back here if needed.

I bought a brand new 2008 Honda Accord on December 22, 2007. This was my first new car and also my first Honda. I was hoping that it would live up to the reputation I had heard about. It was my intention to have the car for a long time and assuming things went well, be a Honda customer for life. In the spring of 2010 (around 32,000 miles) the car started making a grinding noise upon start up. It didn’t do it at every start up, but maybe once a week. As the spring went on, it became more frequent. I took it to the dealership in June to have that looked at. They told me it was a problem with the “lifters” and the oil was low. I had the oil changed (which I had just had changed but went with the recommendation. I was also told to keep an eye on the oil and the noise should go away. Well it didn’t go away, and at the same time, I found the car was consuming oil at a pace which was not normal. I began putting a quart of oil in every 1,000 miles or so. I took the car back in to the dealership six months later about the same noise. This time they said it was a Faulty VTC and to once again keep an eye on the oil. Nothing was done about the VTC, they said the car was in no danger and it should be fine. I explained I had to keep putting oil in the car and they told me that was “just something that I had to live with”. In June 2011, I took it in for two recalls. While I was there, I mentioned the noise was still going on. They said not to worry about it. Now at this point, the noise would happen every time I started the car. Sometimes it would happen as I was driving. When this was the case, it was a sign that I should check the oil. I found that I was basically adding two quarts every 4-6 weeks. On October 10, of this year, I went to start the car and it would start for an instant and then die out, as the car died out, the engine made that same grinding noise. This happened for about 15 minutes worth of tries but the car would not start. I had it towed to the dealership. They informed me later that day that the timing chain has slipped. They also said there was a very good chance there was internal engine damage and the engine needs replaced. The car is no longer under warranty, as it now has 72,000 miles, however it was under warranty all of the other times I took it in. If the dealership had caught the problem the first three times I brought it in, it could have been taken care of while under warranty.

Excessive oil consumption. Did consumption tests with dealer. Had all oil changes done at dealership. Currently having all 4 rings and pistons replaced...thank god for warranty. Been a Honda owner since 1985. Family has owned over 14 Hondas. Thinking about Toyota, but many recalls also. Maybe all cars are junk. Honda needs to make this right in stead of only fixing the ones that occur during warranties. Internet states that the problem seems to be with improper ring installation. Honda quality? Most recommended car to hit 200,000 miles? Unquestioned reliability? Will be checking the oil level every 500 miles once I get the car back.

Bought my 2008 accord brand new with the assumption I was getting a great car. Well that all back fired. First the crazy oil consumption at around 40000 and being lied to saying its normal. Then the vtc actuator going out continuously. This was our very first new car experience and its been the worst. I didn't think I'd ever say that I will never buy another Honda. Also will tell as many people as I can to stay away. It's not fair really that I pay that much for a car just to be told to bay so sad. What's wrong with you honda? Maybe stand behind your product and people would feel a little better. =(

Same issue. EXCESSIVE oil consumption. Dealer called after I had it towed there yesterday and tried to blame me, as is suggested here:

http://www.hondaproblems.com/problems/excessive-oil-consumption.shtml

Told me that it is not abnormal for these cars to burn a quart of oil every 1,000 miles. What??? Last I checked it is 2012, not 1975. If that was true, wouldn't they call it an oil fill, not change??? Then told me it was my fault because I had gone 7,000 since last oil change. But my maintenance minder was dead on at 15 percent when I had it TOWED, which is when the owners manual recommends an oil change.

THEN he had the audacity to tell me that you really should check the oil EVERY time you get gas. That's when I really started laughing. Found a ton online tonight. Back to the dealer tomorrow...

Oil light went on with a warning light. Thankfully I was in my driveway at the time. Checked the oil and it was completely dry. Since I had no oil marks on my driveway or garage and have the oil changed on a regular schedule, I knew something was seriously wrong. Had the car towed into the dealer. They said I would have to keep track of the oil consumption and keep all receipts form oil purchased. After completing that silly mission, Honda Corp agreed with the dealer the block should be replaced. Honda paid for the new block. I paid for some additional replacements as suggested so that my system would be NEW. Cost to me a couple of hundred dollars.

I really believe I have won the Lemon contest with this car. I am actually afraid to take my regular Xmas road trip back to my home town....sad.

I purchased my 2008 Accord EX Coupe from the local Honda dealer on July 3rd... come the middle of August I started noticing that my oil light would blip on and go off.... also I started hearing a raspy sound between 1st and 2nd gear during this time... I added a quart of oil... my light went off and the raspy sound went away. I contacted my Honda dealer, and they told me to come back in quick. So I did. They said there was a recall for oil consumption and it was covered. I was told this will fix my situation. Now here I am @ just over 68K and it's doing the same thing again. I just added a quart of oil. I called up the Honda dealer. They told me if I bring it in for an oil consumption test that they will have to charge me regular going rate due to me being out of warranty and recommended I do my own test... top it off, and check it after 1000 miles. So, instead of myself doing it myself, I'm going to have a local private auto shop do that for me, and will have their results to show the Honda dealer. I'm really feeling frustrated now because I figured going with Honda would be a very safe bet... however maybe I shouldn't of gotten rid of my old car now.. This car is double the cost of what I paid for my Cavalier... now I don't know what can of worms I've gotten myself into seeing it doesn't seem like after doing research online that anyone's got a fix for this.

I was pleasantly surprised when i showed up at honda!!!! they said that my car was covered under a voluntary extended warranty from Honda...it was 160K instead of the standard 100K...I guess they know these cars come with some issues.

Honda conducted an oil consumption test to determine path forward. First couple of inspections, the car used 0.5 L every 1000 Km for the first two thousand Km. As the weather got colder, my last inspection showed that it had used 1.5 L over 2000 km. Honda reviewed these numbers and said that they would change the pistons and the gaskets/tension rings.

My service advisor said that if it had continued to use only 0.5L over 1000 Km, then they would have not done anything.

So word of advice, do the consumption test your self to find out how much your car is using. This is done by topping up your oil every 1000 km and measuring how much you needed.....not sure how to do that...use your oil dip stick...not sure what that is....stop reading and go to a mechanic.

NOW...you can do whatever needs to be done to get your engine "rebuilt" by honda under their warranty.