Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure on the 1997 Honda Accord
1 crash 1 injury 2 of the 19 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When control arm, ball joint or bushing failure gets reported
Owners of the 1997 Honda Accord report control arm, ball joint or bushing failure at a median of 105,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 90,000 miles and a quarter after 130,000 miles, from 9 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 108,000 miles. It is the 11th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 65,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 160,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 97,000 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 63,000 miles | 92,190 miles | 107,000 miles | 130,000 miles | 160,000 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 1 a crash and 1 an injury are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $400–$2,200 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 15 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2003, at a median of 10,000 miles, and latest on the 2000 at 165,000 miles.
By volume the 2000 carries the most reports, with 79; the 1997 has 19. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
There is a recall for a 97 honda accord that matches the problem with my vehicle. I contacted honda motor company and they gave me the run around and said that my VIN does not match any recalls for this problem. I also wanted to know the build date of my vehicle, you would think they would know that since they built it, no information was given, they don't know. Nhtsa campaign id #99v069000. *nlm
Squeaking noise when going over bumps during cold weather. Replaced sway bar bushings but problem has not gone away. Have found out after talking to honda technician that the struts in the front and rear struts are worn. This is a known issue according to technician from honda. Very annoying problem that honda knows about and will not fix.
Consumer was driving at 30 MPH when the right front passenger wheel came off. Vehicle was towed, and it was determined that the lower ball joints separated, and the axle cracked. Manufacturer stated that this vehicle was not included in the ball joint NHTSA recall 99v069000. *ak....as aresult, of broken lower ball joint right front wheel detached and was lodged undeneath the body of the vehicle. The front end was on the ground, and fluid was leaking all over the road. Consumer called aaa and vehicle was towed t a local mechanic, who identified the problem as a broken right side lower ball joint. However, it was obvious to the mechanic that this was not a typical problen, and was not the result of naural wear. There was a technical servic ebulletin which applied to this vehicle. Mechanic replaced lower ball joint and cracked axle. In addition, had the ball joint on the other side replaced, even though it seemed to be tight, as a precaution so that this would not happen again. *ak
Also reported on the 1997 Honda Accord
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Other electrical problem
Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure
Other engine problem
Other body or interior problem
Other speed control problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 19 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does control arm, ball joint or bushing failure happen on the 1997 Honda Accord?
Across 9 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 105,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 90,000 miles and a quarter after 130,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is control arm, ball joint or bushing failure on the 1997 Honda Accord?
19 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.0 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed