Transmission slipping on the 2002 Honda Accord
When transmission slipping gets reported
Owners of the 2002 Honda Accord report transmission slipping at a median of 90,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 85,000 miles and a quarter after 95,000 miles, from 8 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 23rd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 65,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 130,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 61,756 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
13% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 66,320 miles | 83,750 miles | 91,000 miles | 97,000 miles | 128,076 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
Putting it right typically runs $1,200–$5,500 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 6 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2013, at a median of 1,200 miles, and latest on the 1999 at 145,000 miles.
By volume the 2003 carries the most reports, with 32; the 2002 has 8. 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.
1. I am feeling that my car's transmission is slipping. 2. Everyday 3. I think I need to change transmission? But why for this type of new car? It's a honda 2002 accord. I think honda needs to recall this model to change transmission. I saw number of people complained in the internet about same type of problem. My car's mileage: 90k. *tr
While moving the car in my driveway it felt as though the transmission slipped when I shifted from park into drive. The very next day the check engine light appeared. I took the car to local auto parts store and asked them if they could diagnose why the check engine light came on. They said it was indicating the torque converter was the cause. I took the car directly to pennzoil and asked them to do a complete transmission/torque converter oil flush and change for about $145.00 and to reset the check engine light. I had experienced a similar problem four years ago with a 1998 ford taurus and I took that vehicle to a transmission shop who told me that it definitely needed a new transmission and it would be $2800.00 to replace the transmission. Instead of just forking over the $2800.00 I decided to spend just $150.00 on a complete transmission fluid exchange which also replaced the fluid in the torque converter. Four years later I am still driving that taurus that "definitely needed" a new $2800.00 transmission and I only spent $150.00 on a complete fluid exchange. I'm hoping that my honda will do as well. In any case, pennzoil said…
2002 honda accord 4 cyl ex transmission failure at 34,000 miles , see alot of problems on line about this problem . Car transmission is slipping and will not move when you step on the gas pedal .could be a very potential hazard when starting out in traffic. *tr
Also reported on the 2002 Honda Accord
Other powertrain problem
Complete transmission failure
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Other body or interior problem
Other electrical problem
Seat belt or retractor failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 8 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 transmission slipping happen on the 2002 Honda Accord?
Across 8 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 90,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 85,000 miles and a quarter after 95,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is transmission slipping on the 2002 Honda Accord?
8 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 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