Other powertrain problem on the 2008 Honda Accord
3 crashes 1 fire 1 injury 5 of the 45 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 other powertrain problem gets reported
Owners of the 2008 Honda Accord report other powertrain problem at a median of 82,500 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 35,000 miles and a quarter after 100,000 miles, from 34 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 9th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 5,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 177,500 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 171,450 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.
29% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4,950 miles | 35,000 miles | 81,500 miles | 100,000 miles | 176,400 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, 3 a crash, 1 a fire 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–$4,500 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 27 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2020, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 2023 at 165,000 miles.
By volume the 2003 carries the most reports, with 532; the 2008 has 45. 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.
Transmission shifting is exceptionally harsh, especially at lower gears (2-3 and 3-4, and downshifting as well). When downshifting, car feels like someone has slammed on the brakes. Car also feels like it is constantly hunting for the correct gear in the low 60s MPH. This is probably the vcm. *tr
Transmission was leaking excessive transmissions fluid through the transmission block after only 1800 miles on a new 2008 honda accord. Local dealer service department recommended transmission be replaced under warranty. Honda usa customer service denied recommended transmission replacement. Dealer then suggested customer contact honda usa customer service to get transmission replaced. Honda technical service refused replacement and wanted a dye leak test over a one week period after acknowledging a wide spread concern with transmission leakage. Customer refused one week test due to upcoming long distance trip and left vehicle with dealer to conduct dye test. Dealer conducted dye test with only 60 miles (1 hour drive) to confirm leaking transmission block. Transmission was then replaced but only after needless inconvenience to the customer. There appears to be no current technical service bulletin available regarding this issue? *tr
Vehicle pops out of third gear and acceleration is stopped abruptly due to this defect causing a significant chance of rear end crashes every time it occurs. Vehicle is 2008 honda accord ex v6 6 speed manual transmission. This is a serious defect and fits the criteria for a safety recall on both concerns, I.e., "poses an risk to motor vehicle safety, and "may exist in a group of vehicles of the same design or manufacture, or items of equipment of the same type and manufacture". Honda knew of this problem in 2007 civic manual transmissions and ignored the problem and continued to put the defective transmissions in the 2008 accords and civics. Finally after a consumer demonstration in california and coverage by the local media, honda issued a honda service bulletin 08-020 that replaces the defective transmission parts. I believe this should be a manufacturer recall based on the number of complaints listed here where the consumer writes that they believe it is a serious safety concern and that they were almost involved in an accident because of the problem. Too many near misses to ignore. Also, because it fits the criteria listed on…
Also reported on the 2008 Honda Accord
Other brake problem
Other engine problem
Airbag inflator rupture
Premature brake pad or rotor wear
Other lighting problem
Excessive oil consumption
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 45 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 other powertrain problem happen on the 2008 Honda Accord?
Across 34 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 82,500 miles. A quarter were filed before 35,000 miles and a quarter after 100,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other powertrain problem on the 2008 Honda Accord?
45 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.4 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