Manual transmission makes a very loud noise when clutch is released. When the clutch is depressed the sound goes away. This was diagnosed as a faulty internal shaft bearing, which Honda calls a clutch release bearing. An independent shop quoted me $1,500 to fix this, it requires a full rebuild of the transmission. A local Honda dealer quoted me $2,000.

This bearing also causes a strange grinding/knocking noise when accelerating in 1st and reverse.This bearing is causing undue wear to the transmission, and will eventually cause a full transmission failure. It could cause me injury if it fails at high speed on a roadway. I will be contacting Honda Corporate to ask for a goodwill repair. A transmission should not be experiencing problems at only 42 thousand miles.

My family has bought more than ten Honda vehicles in the last 20 years, but if this problem is not fixed I will be seriously considering purchasing from a different brand. We had many problems with our latest Element and Accord, and it seems that Honda quality is not what it used to be.

I have a 2002 Honda Civic EX that I bought new and has had excellent care. I am the original owner and this car only has 55,000 miles on it. I got stranded just before (fortunately) I was about to get on an on ramp on one of the busiest freeways in the country. The car began to stall with no warning, no indication lights of any kind and would not go forward into gear. I had to get the car towed 16 miles to my house. After exhaustive testing, my mechanic told me the transmission was bad and I have opted to have it rebuilt. The transmission specialist said that it was a known Honda defect, but Honda never did a recall on my model and loads of customers have had the same problem.

I can't believe that a car with this little mileage is dead in the water like this. I have properly cared for this car over the years and followed the recommended maintenance schedule. It is used primarily as a city car and goes on short commutes within a radius of about 50 miles. Seriously, I thought Hondas were supposed to be reliable and last forever. That's why I bought this car in the first place. But, it hasn't turned out to be anywhere near as reliable as my previous car, which was a 1986 Oldsmobile Calais. It lasted 16 years and had 114,000 miles on it before the repair bills got to be such that I sold it for junk. I don't think I will buy another Honda after this experience. I fully expected much better reliability and a superior product which obviously is not the case. Honda should have recalled this model year and replaced the transmission at their own cost since they know thier transmissions were defective.

Seriously this is getting ridiculous...here is a car with only 85K miles, never in a collision, completely tuned up every 30K miles, and then out of no where the car wont shift out of first gear while on a major highway...I pulled over to the shoulder with my hazard lights and then the car basically sits as if in neutral. No gears become engaged and I'm stuck. There was no engine light or anything, I had enough transmission fluid in it. The mechanic says your transmission is blown and needs to be replaced....thank God I wasnt rear-ended...thats the only positive here...I'm going to call Honda but previous posts suggest they wont do anything...Think I'll be leaving Honda now (after owning 3 previous ones)..

Transmission failure happened suddenly. I was just leaving the freeway and managed to get it back home when the transmission failed. I had to push it up into my driveway. I called AAA and had them tow me to my local Honda mechanic. I usually drive from Boulder Colorado to San Diego, so I was lucky that this happened before my trip.

Unfortunately, the same thing happened to my other 2002 Civic a few months earlier. At least I knew the symptoms and was able to get off the road quickly before it died. As for Honda, I don't know what has happened to them. I had a 1998 model, my brother had a 1995 model and both of them are still running at 250,000 miles. I don't think I'll ever buy another one at least until I know they are more reliable. I do warn people I know to be wary of the 2002 and other year Civics. These 2 cars have been the worst cars I have ever owned, and I've owned a lot in the last 50 years.

I own a 2002 Honda Civic which I purchased new. Although I’ve experienced a few problems with several oil leaks and calipers wearing out prematurely, I never imagined that at 110,000 miles my transmission would fail. My vehicle became inoperable without any warning as I attempted to merge on a major highway in Washington DC. I could not shift into gear when I pressed the accelerator; fortunately, I was able to drift to the shoulder on the highway without incident. I had the vehicle towed to a Honda dealership where it was diagnosed as an internal transmission issue and I was advised that it would have to be replaced for $4700.

The cost for the transmission replacement was outrageous and after researching possible reasons for the failure, I had my vehicle towed from the Honda dealership to an independent repair shop. My vehicle was diagnosed with torque converter failure which caused metal shavings to damage clutches in the transmission. During my research, I read numerous complaints by hundreds of others who own a 2001 to 2003 Honda Civic and stated that their transmission failed when their mileage ranged from 135K to as low as 65K. Although Honda issued a 2004 recall on transmissions, it excluded the Honda Civic; I am outraged that despite the hundreds of transmission complaints from Honda Civic owners that a recall has not been issued for these vehicles to ensure the safety and welfare of drivers and passengers.

The large number of complaints from Honda Civic owners about the lack of reliability of their Civic’s automatic transmission is demonstrative of a defect. I hope that some entity decides to help car owners affected by the transmission failure so that owners will be compensated for expensive repairs.

I own a 2002 Honda Civic LX and the transmission just failed at 135,000. A couple weeks prior it made a whining noise and I figured it may be the transmission. I couldn't believe this happened because I thought, as many others do, that HONDA was a really reliable car. This car lasted me 10 years with 135,000 with not too many problems or things needing to be fixed besides this major transmission problem. I thought for sure this car would last me much longer. Obviously I would have to get transmission replaced for amount that car is not worth. I am going to scrap my car, maybe get some money for parts and put down on a newer , more reliable car. I have already heard that many people tried to get results from Honda with not much success. Also, I have heard some people replaced transmission with newer or rebuilt and didnt last much longer. Don't think it would be worth time or money. Anyway, I am really upset that my HONDA did not last longer and will not be purchasing one in the future. IF HONDA REALLY CARED ABOUT THEIR CUSTOMERS THEY WOULD REPLACE ALL 2002 TRANSMISSIONS AS A RECALL.

I'm kicking myself for purchasing this vehicle. I thought I was buying a good brand name. I purchased the vehicle 3 months ago with 141,000 miles on it from the original owner. Less than 4k miles later, the transmission goes out on me, while turning onto incoming traffic. I am lucky I wasn't seriously injured or killed. The vehicle showed no signs of transmission problems and now I have a serious problem. I'm NEVER buying another foreign vehicle, luckily my 2001 Chevy s-10 is still running strong.

Driving along the highway and suddenly the automatic transmission disengages/slips into neutral without warning, causing the engine do nothing but rev when the accelerator is pressed. Luckily, I was traveling downhill and was able to coast off the main highway to a side road at the next intersection.

The car is able to get back into gear for short periods of time, but quickly (less than 5 minutes) disengages and slips back into neutral when it warms up, and whilst in gear the engine struggles to deliver power. Thought Hondas were supposed to be reliable.

I got this car because I thought honda brand vehicles were dependable. Apparently, I was wrong. I took very good care of my car but that didn't even matter. During regular servicing I would tell my mechanic of signs of slipping and engine light coming on and going off. We were both hoping that it wasn't the transmission beginning to go out. He didn't notice anything unusual with the transmission exept for a slow leak which we treated with stop leak. The leak stopped but my car started to lose more and more power and gas mileage got worse through out the next several months. About a couple weeks ago, I reported to my mechanic unusual sound and performance of my vehicle. He drove it him self with me in the passenger side and inevitably determined that my transmission was starting to fail. he recommended me to replace my transmission but I don't even have enough money.Transmissions are not suppose to go out that early. Whatever happened to honda's dependability?!