All of the idiot lights lit up like a Christmas tree. Soon after, car started shuddering. Limped home and scan code reader showed code for misfire. Ended up replacing all 6 spark plugs at 11pm. No auto parts store carried the replacement plugs b/c they were too new and shouldn't have had to been replaced. All store owners said the plugs were still a "dealer part." Finally found a set and installed them in the freezing cold. The old plugs looked like they had 200K miles on them. COMPLETELY fouled. Even the ceramic insulator outside of the cylinder showed oil stains. Bought a Honda b/c of their reliability and history. A quick look on the internet found dozens of websites documenting this EXACT issue with Honda Accords 2008-2010. Mine is a 2009 so it's definitely part of this set of defective vehicles. Biggest problem I have is that there was no recall. Not even a notification from Honda that this might be an issue. I may have done irreparable damage to my engine- hopefully not b/c I was close to home when it happened. Completely lost my faith in Honda. I hope they will make good on this when I call them.

I recently started noticing that the engine oil level was low on the dipstick. I called the dealer to report it, and he said that they would begin an oil consumption test on it when i bring it in for my next service. I had to add 2.5 quarts to maintain proper oil level during this last oil change. (about 8k mi)

Update from Oct 13, 2013: So far during the consumption test - only down .5 quarts for the first 4k miles and the last 6 months. This has been during the summer months of the year. We will see how the second half of the year goes, and how the colder months contribute to the problem. I did ask the tech if it could be a Honda oil issue - not able to hold up for 12 months/8k miles - but he did not think that was it.

Update from Dec 3, 2013: Dec. 2013 37,500 miles Had a blinking check engine light - with engine power loss. Had the car towed to dealer. Dealer diagnosed fouled spark plugs and engine misfire. Oil test showed that the oil was low again. Dealer and Honda replaced 4 plugs, replaced 3 piston rings, and installed 2 software updates for VCM.
Was told an 8 year extended warranty was coming from Honda for any powertrain issues related to this matter. Everything repaired was covered fully by Honda and dealer.
If this repair is a permanent fix - my faith will be restored with Honda.

Update from Mar 17, 2014: March 2014 - its been over 2000 miles since the repair and no oil loss. I'm satisfied. I'll continue to update.

Mine burns 2 quarts per 1500 miles, OUTRAGEOUS! my last car was a 02 Civic, which, as far as the transmission, was a piece of crap but it didn't burn ANY oil. I have never been so frustrated with something so bad in my life. Had to have the VTC Actuator replaced to stop the grinding noise on start up. about 3 months later the same grinding sound had come back but its no where near as loud. Just looks like these newer Hondas are complete garbage and i have been a Hondas man since i started driving at 16. 25 now. I have faith in honda just not these newer models. Looking into trading it in for an 05-06 CR-V since carcomplaints.com says these are one of the best cars from Honda. Need are car tha'ts going to last at least 10 years.

Here we go again…round two!

Yesterday my engine light came on so I checked the oil level and, of course, it was not registering on the dip stick again. It was 3 quarts low at 50% oil life so I called the dealership (John Eagle Honda) to explain my issue and all they would say is …bring it in for an oil consumption test, at my cost, of course.

When I asked the service manager if this was an ongoing problem with Honda he said no. He had only one other vehicle in service with the same problem. Anyone with a miniscule amount of maintenance or mechanical inclination will know that oil loss or consumption means there’s a problem, especially at this amount. Now, I’ve owned and operated a vehicle from every decade since 1970 and used standard oil until the advent of full synthetic and have never lost this much oil. To be told it’s normal is ridiculous. This is my second Honda, the first being a 4 cylinder '98 Civic which has a stripped oil plug that leaks and still does not lose this much oil.

Note for Honda: synthetic oil DOES NOT consume, burn or evaporate so easily. It is NOT equal to standard oil. That is why it costs four times more! The biggest selling point of synthetic is its durability and viscosity and you’re trying to tell us that the loss or “consumption” of a quart of oil per 1000 miles is normal!

Fix it before you lose a whole lot of 2nd, 3rd and 4th time owners. If the repeated call from the dealer (John Eagle Honda) wanting us to trade in for a newer model is your answer to the problem, forget it! What makes you think I would bind myself to Honda again after the way you have dealt with this issue?

For you Honda owners that want to express you grievances with the state here is the number 888-DASH-2-DOT, maybe we can get a fire lit under them…good luck.

I have a 2009 Honda Accord EX 3.2L V6 that I have serviced at the dealership that I purchased it from (John Eagle Honda of Houston) regularly, as per service schedule. Now, a couple of oil changes back, around September of 2012, the engine light came on so the first thing I did was check the oil level and I found that the oil level wouldn’t even register on the dip stick, so that told me that the level was at least two quarts low but when I topped it off it actually was more than three quarts low, WOW. Soon after I went back to the dealership for service and explained to them what had happened and they acted as if they had never heard of this issue before and explained they would note it in the file “just in case”, so we chalked it up to human error on their part and they performed the oil change service BUT the engine light did not clear, they would clear it at my expense, I refused and took it to a auto parts store and had them give me a free code readout and of course it was due to the oil level issue so I disconnected the battery and cleared the message myself which did not return. Still having issues will update soon.

The first six oil changes were performed at the dealership thru a service package. On the (7th) oil change a separate service station told me the engine was very low on oil. This led me to believe the vehicle had been low on the first (6) oil services and the dealership covered up the problem. I then performed the next oil change myself as I'm a capable mechanic who has performed transmission/ engine swaps, changed radiators, water pumps, fuel pumps, even put a fuel injected Chevy LS engine into a Jeep Wrangler Chassis. So I was extremely upset to find my Honda had almost no oil and didn't even trip a service light. After this I took the vehicle back to the dealership where I asked them to fix it, they told me we had to do a oil consumption text and would need to bring the vehicle to the dealership every (500) miles. Before leaving they made a computer modification as they said tweaking the variable valve timing would help with the problem.

After (500) miles I visited the dealer for the oil consumption test, this was done in the service bay where I could not observe. The service technician shortly returned and told me the vehicle had not burned any oil, which I believe was a complete lie, not so funny because the dip stick looked low when I checked it earlier that day. The vehicle now has roughly 130k miles and I add roughly a quart of oil every (500) miles. The valves chatter at times and I've got my fingers crossed that Honda will be forced to refurbish my engine so it will run like it never did and I can hopefully save some money on oil.

After learning about oil consumption issues, i decided to check my oil before going to work.

I was shocked to find NO oil on the dipstick. (not sure if 'shocked' is strong enough word)

Took it to dealer and was told the following: 1. No TSB's indicated for my VIN (so doesn't need PCM flash?) 2. Maintenance Minder is innacurate and they recommend oil change at 20-30% remaining instead of 15%. (my car says 40%). I was 7,000 into my last oil change (I do all maintenance with same dealer, so it's in the computer)

They changed my oil and told me to come back in 1,000 miles, or if I have to add oil before then, call them so they can document the loss.

I checked my oil this morning (day after dealer visit) and the level is halfway up the dimpled area of the indicator on the dipstick. I expected it to be near the top. Not sure what level they filled it to.

I see 2 options available: 1. Babysit the oil level on this car and wait until it fouls its plugs and ruins its emissions system -- all the while fighting with dealership and Honda over a warranty repair 2. Trade this lemon in for something that will run more than 50K miles without needing a new engine.

I'm strongly favoring option 2.

I replaced the brakes without griping because those are a wearable part. I think they were a design flaw, but I rationalized it because I told myself that they were much cheaper than main bearings, transmissions, etc.

2009 2dr Accord, 4CYL, AUTOMATIC. Purchased car used in March 2012 with about 36,000 miles, engine under oil cap and dip stick appear clean. Car commutes to work 135 miles daily. At 41,000 miles engine begins chattering (valve train starving for oil). I regularly check oil levels after each gas fill up, this time there was ZERO oil on the dipstick, checked trans fluid per manual and it was also BELOW the LOW line. 1st of 8th trip to dealer on May 22, 2012.

Car has been documented using 4-5 quarts of oil in last oil change cycle. Car has been in the dealership 2X with NO OIL ON DIPSTICK and was never documented because both times were dealer performed oil changes, however both visits were for oil consumption but they did not document oil level at all. Also, last 2X trans fluid is at low line but dealer says its fine because car sits in garage for a half hour before being checked. Manual says check HOT WITH CAR OFF FOR 60-90 SECONDS. TRANS FLUID STILL LOW AND TRANS CLUNKING NOW. Dealer has restarted oil consumption test on us 2X already also, one due to service advisor negligence stating that I "check oil level at 1000 miles and return if low, otherwise come in when oil level seems low"!!! (that employee no longer works there) The oil consumption test per Honda corporate is mileage specific, it must come in every 1000 miles, so we restarted the test. The 2nd oil consumption test restart was prompted due to the car not making it to the dealer in 1000 miles. I am on the 3rd oil consumption test as a result.

READY FOR THE BEST PART??? OK, Took car to dealer for 8th time in 4 months, checked oil level before going, oil was 3/4 quart low again..... dealer documented the oil level being 1/16th quart low!! Yes that is 2 FLUID OUNCES OF OIL LOW AND THEY DID NOT ADD OIL TO FILL ENGINE?? IF THE OIL IS ANY AMOUNT LOW WHY DID THEY NOT FILL IT UP?? The dipstick does not have measuring capacity to determine 1/16th of a quart. The dealer cannot perform the job and refuses to document the oil levels correctly.

Called Honda corporate and asked if it is normal for my Honda to consume 4 quarts of oil in an oil change cycle? She stated YES!! The Honda standard is 1 quart per 1000 miles.

MORAL OF THIS STORY.... IF YOU PURCHASE A NEW HONDA VEHICLE, THE EXPECT YOUR NEW VEHICLE TO USE 1 QUART OF OIL PER 1000 MILES!! YOU NEED TO CONSUME MORE OIL THAN THAT IN ORDER TO GET THE ENGINE REPAIRED AT HONDA'S EXPENSE, OTHERWISE YOU ARE SCREWED. IF YOU DRIVE FROM NEW YORK TO LOS ANGELES AND BACK..... YOU WILL NEED TO TAKE A CASE OF OIL JUST TO BE SAFE.

I have been a lifetime Honda owner...... until now. Sad state of affairs Honda, bite the bullet, fix our vehicles please, the motors are lemons in these vehicles and you know it. The dealerships are not helpful either, in fact the dealer treats us like we a sore and a nuisance, the experience has been terrible not friendly.

Bought a Honda after Toyota had a lot of bad press with reported issues and Consumer Reports had some unfavorable opinions. CR never mentioned Honda's oil issues. My 2002 Toyota Avalon went 190,000 miles and never consumed any oil. Brought the Honda in after having to add 3 quarts oil and the check engine light on. Service manager said that it was acceptable that it was down 3 quarts of oil after an oil change by them 3,000 miles ago. And the service was not covered by my extended warranty! After reading all the other complaints on this site I think I'll be contacting a lemon law lawyer. What really ticks me off is I just bought a CRV instead of the Chevy. What a mistake!

Maybe this is the beginning of the end of Japanese dominance of the American auto market. NOW THEY ARE ACTING LIKE GM; lousy product and treating customer like crap! Maybe I should trade-in the Accord for a Korean car while it still has some value. I've heard good things on how they treat their customers.

D

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I am having a problem with my 2009 Honda Accord V-6 with high oil consumption and a shuddering engine. Same problem that most people are having under the engine tab. I was amazed to learn that I actually could have written these! I found these a day ago, called the dealer to speak to the GM who seem "surprised" and told me I should not be looking to the internet because I may not have the same problem and people on this site are not "experts" The fact that my car has been in more than 3 times for this problem, to find a site where this problem has been going on longer than I have had problems is frustrating! I purchased this car as a car that would run until it dies. The intent was to pass it onto my son. I have family member's who have had MULTIPLE Hondas and friends who have owned them. None have had problems, one of the reasons that lead me to purchase a Honda along with the reputation. I am EXTREMELY disappointed in service. Not to mention, after less than 6 months of owning the car the ignition had to be replaced, again was given the run around until a family member intervened with the dealership. I am hoping that this dealership comes through and fixes the problem. The end of the call was more positive than when it started. I am at the bring it in at 1,000 miles and we will go from there phase. With all these complaints I am hoping that Honda or my dealership will and can fix the problem.

I came across this complaint here and thought I'd share what I know about the oil consumption problem.The problem is due to carbon build up causing the piston rings to stick. The carbon problem is caused by a bad fuel mapping causing fuel to remain unburned on cold start ups. This problem is more prevalent in colder climes such as Canada. Honda Canada has issued a service bulletin where after the software update has been performed, customers experiencing excessive oil consumption are put on through an oil consumption test. If the car shows to be burning too much oil then Honda will replace the piston and rings, along with a few other items needed for the repair. I have been told that the problem isn't as widespread in the warmer areas of the US so Honda America has chosen to deal with the problem on a case by case basis. I feel sorry for those Honda owners who live just south of the border as they undoubtedly will have to fight corporate to get the job covered.

I'm definitely not alone and everyone should have your dealership document every incident. It started for my wife (who actually drives the car) after her second oil change. At around 13,000 miles on the odometer, the car ran very rough and the MIL came on. We pulled over and I checked the oil - it didn't even register on the dipstick! I had to pour in about 1.5 quarts. Took it to the dealership the next day, they assured me everything was normal but if it made me feel better, they can monitor for oil consumption. It's useless because unless it burns more than a quart in 1,000 miles, it's considered "normal". Bull. I don't think they even bothered to note any of this in the car service history. So now regardless of what the stupid car minder tells me, I routinely check oil level every few weeks for my wife. At 20,000 miles I noticed it was down about half a quart so I topped it off. 2 weeks later, my wife takes a shopping trip to San Francisco (about 50 miles away), she calls and says the car runs rough and the MIL is on again. We have it towed back to Hopkins Dealership in Sunnyvale. They replace a spark plug and tell me to document everything. Shouldn't they be doing this? Anyways, I'm sure there's a class action coming if it doesn't already exist, and hopefully a recall. The reprogram does nothing to help. I think it's a problem inherent in the design of the VCM. This car is a lemon and everything from the engine on back to the catalytic converters should be replaced. Good luck to everyone.

My brother bought this car new. He does his own work on all his cars EXCEPT engine stuff. He noticed right away it was going through at least a quart every 1,000 miles. Honda told him this was "normal." He know this was B.S. --as does any car owner-- but he just added a quart as needed. He got a recall several months ago for the "normal" problem. He never took it in because he intended to dump the car once it was paid off. This past April, he dumped it to me and I took it to Honda today for them to "replace the software problem which may create deposits on the oil control rings that could contribute to increased oil consumption." I called Honda and asked "what if their are excessive deposits on the oil control rings?" The Honda rep told me to speak to the dealer. The dealer told me the software issue should fix the problem. We will see. I have owned new and used Toyotas since 1980. None ever burned a drop of oil--and I have never once had to take one back to the dealer for a problem other than routine maintenance. Guess what my next car will be (UNLESS HONDA DEALS WITH THIS IN A PROFESSIONAL MANNER). Toyota: I am sorry I strayed!

I took my Honda Accord in as it was making a strange noise from the engine for the dealer to check and I also got an oil change...he indicated they could not find the noise but did change the oil...i am now learning that the oil change fixed the problem temporarily as the car is burning oil excessively..i am now experiencing the noise again and checked the dipstick..no oil so i added a quart and the noise disappeared...and i am only half way through the oil change...i have a call into the dealer to discuss....more to follow

Burning several quarts of oil a month. This has been a problem for the last 15-20k miles. Based on what I have read here, this is a known defect with the 2.4L engine. Called Honda and they said I need to have the car diagnosed by a dealer before they will escalate the problem. So now I have to pay to have a known problem diagnosed. Thank you very much Honda! Way to take responsibility! Going to get this done today. Will update my complaint after that.

Update from Jan 27, 2012: Update 1/27/2012

I took the car to Herb Chambers Honda in Burlington, MA for a diagnostic back in late November. They didn't see anything in the codes, and no visible signs of oil leakage. They told me there was a recall on my car for excessive oil usage and that the fix was a software upgrade. I almost fell over in disbelief. I thought to myself, there's no way a software upgrade could possibly an fix oil usage problem, but I played along anyway. The did the software upgrade and changed the oil and told me to come back when (if) the oil level hit the low point on the dip stick.

Fast forward 2700 miles...

Oil light came on last week. I took the car back today and they told me it had a little over 2 quarts of oil in it. The means it lost roughly 2 quarts per 1000 miles. No change whatsoever after the software upgrade at all. SHOCKER! Actually there was a change, my gas mileage went from high 20s to low 20s on the highway. They actually made the car worse. Ug!

Get this, the dealer told me that 1 quart per 1000 miles is normal for any car. I almost fell over when they said that. In all my years of driving, including cars from the 60s and 70s, I have never seen a car come anywhere even close to that rate unless it had a ring problem. They actually thought I would buy that story. Unbelievable!

So I called American Honda back to speak with the case manager about it and was expecting him to be apologetic and say that they would resolve the problem. Fat chance, he used the same BS line the dealer did with the 1 qt. per 1000 miles. I was outraged! I just couldn't believe it. I'm a multiple car Honda owner and they didn't care the slightest about their product or their customer. They could have made a customer for life by fixing it, but instead they made an enemy for life. Now I'm stuck with a 2 year year old piece of junk and have no choice but to trade it in. I'll never buy another product from Honda ever again and I will be sure tell my story to everyone I come in contact with. Looks like I'm buying from Nissan or Toyota...forever! Way to go Honda!

Ps. I forgot to mention that this is my second Accord (had a 06 before this) so I have personal knowledge of the oil consumption rate for an Accord.

Update from Mar 14, 2013: The dealer finally convinced some tech at Honda that there was a problem and Honda authorized the replacement of the head and re-seating of the valves. A huge job that would have cost me a fortune (not that I would have done it since the car is a lemon). Big thanks to Herb Chambers Honda, Burlington MA for that. The dealer performed the work and for a while it seemed to have corrected the problem. Well, 6 months later the problem came back albeit with slightly less oil consumption this time. I'm burning 1 quart per 1200-1500 miles right now. I have to put in at least 4 quarts before I even get to an oil change. It's absurd. My old cars from the 60s and 70s were way better on oil usage. Bottom line is, the car is now past warranty and the dealer won't work on it for free anymore, and Honda refuses to acknowledge or fix their defective product.

I reiterate my position above. I will never buy another Honda ever again and I will tell my story to everyone and anyone that will listen. You took a crazy Honda maniac and turned him into a lifetime Honda hater. Congrats Honda, way to conduct business! You would rather lose 3 to 4 new car sales than replace a motor.

Hello Ford, I'm back!

Update from Apr 2, 2016: 4/1/16 - After getting a notice from Honda last fall about an extended limited warranty due to excessive oil consumption, I finally decided to do something about it. Honda replaced the piston rings last week after the car failed the oil consumption test associated with the limited extended warranty coverage. Finally, 6 years and countless arguments later! The service manager was actually relieved to not have to lie about 1 quart of oil/1000miles being normal anymore. We joked about it actually. Let's hope this fixes the problem. Right now my gas mileage is complete crap. I'm hoping it's due to the rings not being seated yet. If it stays this way, the Honda dealer is going to get another angry call.

Update from Apr 2, 2016: The service bulletin 12-087 was issued in August of 2013 btw.

18K miles on my 2009 Honda Accord, 3,000 miles after last oil change and my car has no oil in it. I still show 50% life on my oil, per the car's computer, but my car has no oil. Not my first complaint about this Honda. Pretty upset though. Taking it in to the Honda dealer to see what the deal is. I will mention the crappy belts they have on my car in another complaint, and of course, the rear brakes that I had to change at 17k miles. I have a 1997 Accord and I have had less problems with that car than I have already had with this piece of garbage.

I'm the current owner of a 2009 Honda Accord EX 4 cylinder vehicle. Like many others, I'm experiencing excessive engine oil consumption and like many others have been told by Honda service techs that corporate Honda considers this normal though the tech doesn't seem to believe based on his attitude and body language. I started noticing my engine oil was completely depleted at 32.4k miles and had my last oil change at 24.9k miles meaning an oil burn of (7,500mi/4.4liters=1705miles per liter of oil). From the research I've been doing, modern cars should not be burning oil at all and from an earlier post the last oil burn issue should have been around 1950's. I used to own a 1995 Toyota Camry V6 with a considerable oil leak problem and even that wasn't as serious as this. So whoever is deciding this is normal at corporate Honda is either incompetent at best or deceitful at worst. I just hope I don't have to pay for the 4 piston replacement, timing belt/chain, and bearing (as was done for a Honda with the same problems) out of pocket after I hit 36,000 miles...I had the Honda techs document this on my work order at ~33k miles. I've been told to bring in my vehicle in every 1000 miles so I'll play along...for now.