All recommended servicing was completed on our 2002 Honda Civic LX with 147000KM on it. It was a huge surprise for us when the Civic's Transmission started slipping in early January 2010. I took it to the Honda servicing center and they told me that the transmission would need replacement. The quote to replace was too much for my liking so I did some research online and discovered that it was quite common for an 02 Civic to have transmission trouble. This was a first where our family has always had Honda's and they seem to last forever, not so with this one.

Our solution, we found a 2005 Civic transmission at a junk yard which had 80,000KM on it and purchased it for $700. We then found a transmission center that would install it for $600. So it ended up costing us $1300 for the total job. I wasn't going to put another 02 transmission in it for fear that the same thing would happen again.

So far, so good, we have put around 4000km on the 05 transmission and it is running smooth. Crossing our fingers it will continue to run smoothly.

Kevin

North Vancouver, BC

Canada

While on the highway, the transmission failed without any warning, luckily no one hit me. It could have serious and fatal for me. Turns out this is a very known problem in Honda Civic 2002 models but Honda is not doing anything about it, no recalls, no notices. This issue may end up killing someone. I was told by dealer that cost of replacing is around 4000 dollars (may be little more).

My car was well maintained, I always done oil change or an expected maintenance from Honda dealer ship. No more Honda brand ever!!!!!!!

Bought car in 2008-It is a 2002 civic from Honda cars of Bradenton, Florida. Was told it was a great car. Had numerous problems since I bought it 2 years ago. $700.00 for electrical problems, blower on air conditioning replaced just a few months ago. I am paying $330.00 a month for this piece of %*#@!! I was told the payments would decrease to $270.00 per month once the extended warranty was up...but I am still paying $350.00 per month for the car and now the transmission is gone. Its gonna cost $4,650.00 for a new transmission. WHAT THIEVES!!!!

I was at a light, when it turned green my car went BACKWARDS! i was in D gear at the time. almost hit the guy behind me. stunned, and thinking i must have hallucinated, i switched the gears around to park, then neutral, then back to D. it revved, but wouldnt go anywhere at all. finally i got it to go, slowly, and strangely. the gears kept slipping. every red light after was the same thing, i wasnt sure if it would go forwards or backwards!!!

took it to the dealership (by the way, my entire car was evaluated by them a month ago. no issues came up with the transmission. glad i didnt do the $900 worth of other 'recommended' repairs.) the dealership said my transmission 'failed' they refused to provide details. i had to fight for them to give me paperwork with the diagnosis.

my car has 112k miles on it. and i do regular maintanence on it. never had anything major come up. i didnt get the regular stuff done at the dealership because they cost two to three times more than at tire kingdom. i told the dealership about the "good will repair" i keep hearing about, and they said their quoted price of $2750 + tax already had the goodwill repair discount of 25%.

HELP!

Everyone on this post said it all. Just to add to the compliant list and hopefully with our voices we can make Honda own up to these problems. I have owned two Honda up to this point with this one being the second, lesser mileage vehicle. Last Saturday the transmission decided that it was done doing its task to shift gears and decided that it was better off not shifting but instead whining and grinding. I called Honda corporate today and was told to bring it in to the dealership for diagnosis. "Honda is reputable company and will do what we can to fix the problem.' Has anyone else heard that one before? I have an appointment with my local dealer to look at the vehicle. We'll see how much Honda is willing to do "all we can" to fix the problem. If this ends up with a good result, maybe the Odyssey will be on my list next since I need to go down the minivan route anyway. If not, we start from square one. I will update this post as we go along this repair process!

Update from Mar 24, 2010: Fast forward to March 24, 2010. After opening a case with Honda Corporate and negotiating with them and the dealer, I decided to replace the transmission. It was a rebuilt unit with a 3 year 36K mile warranty from time of repair. Bottom line, Honda Corporate paid 20% and I covered the remaining 80%. Never again will I deal with this dealership, Freeman Honda of Dallas. Those that live in this area, take note. This dealership will take you for a ride. All they said was they could not work a deal with me because I opened a case. The only reason my car was there was because they were close to home and I had to get the Civic to the dealership in 1st and 2nd gear only. Was not my preferred dealer. Nonetheless, it is not fixed at a cost and has completely shaken my confidence in Honda. Brand name and quality is one thing, but customer service and loyalty to customers is another. Think twice those considering a Honda. You could be changing your transmission at 79K miles.

I HAVE AN EXTENDED CAR WARRANTY THROUGH STOP CAR REPAIR BILLS. THIS PEOPLE ARE SCAM ARTIST. THEY WILL NOT COVER MY TRANSMISSION COST AND I HAVE BEEN PAYING MY BILLS FOR OVER 11 MONTHS ON TIME. NO I HAVE TO FORK OVER MORE MONEY TO FIX MY TRANSMISSION THAN MY CAR IS ACTUALLY WORTH. THIS IS BULLSHIT. AMERICA HAS TURNED TO SH*T AND LET ANY COMPANY RAPE ANYONE ANYTIME THEY WANT TO. F*CK AMERICA ALL THERE POLICIES AND I THINK FINE PRINT SHOULD BE ILLEGAL.

ALL I WOULD LIKE TO SAY IS F*CK "STOP CAR REPAIR BILLS.COM" AND F*CK THAT MOOK ALL OF YOU VOTED FOR PRESIDENT. OUR COUNTRY HAS GONE TO SH*T AND NOW WE ARE ALL SLAVES TO OUR FINANCIAL DEBTS BECAUSE THESE COMPANIES WILL NOT HOLD UP THERE END OF THE BARGAIN.

WE GIVE THEM A BAIL OUT AND THIS IS THE THANKS WE GET.

SUPER F*CK YOU TO ALL SCAM COMPANIES. HOPE ALL YOUR KIDS DIE IN THE CARS THAT YOU MAKE. SERIOUSLY.

I've never burned out a transmission on any AMERICAN car I've owned (wife killed the clutch in our 1972 MG). This Honda, my first foreign car, was supposed to be the best-built vehicle ever, blah blah blah. Normal maintenance done correctly, all recommended services done, car driven about 75 to 90 highway miles per workday since 2006 and the tranny croaks! Thinking back, I do recall random and momentary slips since 2005 or so but nothing that could be replicated. No trouble codes generated, and still none! Rebuilt tranny will be about $2500 installed. I'm going back to AMERICAN IRON, dammit!

I was a firm believer in Honda's being the most amazing cars in the world. Hmmm my perspective has since changed. A complete new transmission necessary after 93,000 miles! With absolutely no warning, no signs, of anything being wrong! Come on!!!! And I'm not the only one to experience this? How is it possible that Honda does not recognize this as an issue?

I was driving along my regular commute to work when suddenly I feel the gears slipping. I'm trying to accelerate and the engine is just revving. Thankfully I have enough power to pull into a parking lot. I turn it off try turning it back on and pushing on the gas and nothing! Have to get car towed to shop and find out that I need a new transmission. Cost of Repairs: At least 4000 dollars for a new transmission. Feeling like I got hit in the gut: Priceless.... so now I am left with having to figure out if I want to spend any more money on this crappy car that may only lead to more problems or junking it and having to deal with a heavier financial burden of a new car. Thanks Honda you really lost a loyal customer.

I was driving on the Kennedy expressway here in Chicago when I noticed I was losing speed. Luckily I was able to exit the expressway without incident before the car came to a stop. Since the engine was running but the car did not go forward nor did it move in reverse when I shifted, I figured it was the transmission. With slightly under 62000 miles on a Honda, I couldn't believe the transmission had failed, but that was the case. I always buy on the secondary market and choose what have traditionally been reliable vehicles. I have never had a vehicle from the Honda Motor Corp that needed any expensive repair in under 200,000 miles. I guess I'm gonna look at Fords next time.

C'mon Honda.....the transmission should last more than 99,000 miles. I miss my Toyota truck!

Update from Feb 14, 2010: I purchased this car new in November 2001. I have taken extremely good care of it and serviced it according to Honda specs. It has been a great car until this transmission failure. I planned on driving this car for at least another 5 years.

No warning at all. I just tried to pull away from a signal light and the engine just revved up like the car was in neutral. No reverse, no nothing. Called AAA and had it taken to the dealer where I purchased it. Their quote was $4000 for a Honda re-manufactured transmission. 3 yr 36000mi warranty.

Then they only offered me $1000 for the car as a trade in if I wanted to purchase a new Civic.

I am really disappointed with Honda. I may never buy another one.

I wish I would have read this forum before proceeding.

Just traded in my 99 Chevy Cavalier (laugh, but she was a good car) because her time was coming near, and I was done stressing about a reliable car and putting more money in to it. Purchased this used beauty with fairly low miles (a little over 43K, one owner), with the thought in mind that "Hondas are good cars!" Ha. Haha. Hahahahaha.

First I noticed this "buzz" many of you mention, that occurred when gears were shifting. I figured something was loose and called the dealership to set up an appointment to look at it. But the week before my appointment, my "reliable" Honda lost all gears driving up a steep dirt road to my place of work. I had to back it back down the hill in neutral (hoping no car would come around the blind corner at the bottom of the hill), call my boss to rescue me, and ... Only five weeks after purchasing it, it was towed to the dealership. They (Toyota dealership) were smart enough to pawn it off on Honda, where now it sits, awaiting its new transmission. I should've purchased a Toyota while I was there.

I have mentioned this forum to the master Honda mechanic working on my car. He told me transmission issues are rare on Civics (he admits to the Accords and Odysseys having transmission issues), but I've printed every listing in this forum and highlighted it -- so if he really isn't aware of the problem, he will be now. I also filed a complaint at www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov as a few of you advised.

I am glad I purchased an extended warranty but now worry that this will be an ongoing issue. I may see what my options are for trading its balance toward a Toyota, but that's probably wishful thinking. Sigh Cars shouldn't drop their transmissions at 45K miles. I was mocked at the dealership for buying a cheapie American car, but that Cavalier was a gem compared to this piece of work.

I purchased my Honda civic august 2002 brand new. Previously had owned a 1990 civic 4 speed 1.5 liter , great car. drove it 125000 miles with minor repairs. sold it for 1600 bucks half of what i paid for it.

My 2002 Honda civic has a 1.7 auto trans, had maintenance done regularly, oil . every 3000- 3500 , trans fluid every 30,000 an one day it started to slip so had the fluid changed, three days later broke down in rush hour traffic, had to get towed. My mechanic had a hard time finding a used transmission , so I located one paid fot it an had it shipped to him. He installed it ,ran great had tranmission fluid changed three times using Honda fluid . total cost 1,958 bucks. now its october 15 transmission is slipping out of gear .or wont go in either drive, I need my car every day for my work so I'm having it rebuild by a transmissions specialist, cost 2,850 with a 3year 50,000 warranty . Wish me luck. Thank Honda !!