1998 Honda Accord at 100,500 miles
You did not give a mileage, so this uses 100,500 — the median reported failure mileage for this model year, which is a rough stand-in for “a typical example of this car”. Put your real reading in the box below for an answer about your car.
At 100,500 miles on this car
At 100,500 miles on a 1998 Honda Accord, 29 of the failure modes other owners have reported already have their median report at or below your reading, and 7 more fall inside the window where they are usually reported. The heaviest of the ones already due is other powertrain problem.
Already past the median 29
Half of all reports of these failures came in at or below where your car is now.
- Other powertrain problem 91k
- Complete transmission failure 85k
- Other speed control problem 70k
- Fuel gauge or level sensor failure 87k
- Seat belt or retractor failure 69k
- Catalytic converter failure 82k
- Other wheel or tire problem 100k
- Other visibility problem 30k
- No-start or intermittent start failure 96k
- Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure 56k
- Other brake problem 63k
- Other steering problem 98k
17 more.
You are in the window 7
Your reading falls inside the middle half of reports for these.
Typically later 19
Reported further down the road than where you are.
- Premature brake pad or rotor wear 101k
- Instrument cluster or gauge failure 104k
- Other fuel system problem 127k
- Oil leak 132k
- Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault 132k
- Timing chain, belt or tensioner failure 132k
- ABS module or sensor failure 138k
- Stalling while driving 144k
- CV axle or driveshaft failure 146k
- Fuel pump failure 155k
- Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure 161k
- Rust or structural corrosion 173k
7 more.
Timing unknown 19
Reported, but too few owners gave an odometer reading to place them.
- Master cylinder or brake booster failure 7×
- Other lighting problem 7×
- Excessive oil consumption 3×
- Radiator or coolant leak 3×
- Sunroof failure or glass breakage 3×
- Headlight failure or clouding 3×
- Differential or transfer case failure 2×
- Wheel bearing or hub failure 2×
- Strut, shock or spring failure 2×
- Window regulator or power window failure 2×
- Complete engine failure or seizure 1×
- Head gasket failure 1×
7 more.
Why the list is generic until you type a number
Every figure below is a comparison against your odometer, so with no reading given the page has to pick one: 100,500 miles, roughly what a 1998 car covers at 12,000 miles a year. A reading 30,000 miles either side of that moves failures between the columns, which is the difference between a useful list and a generic one.
Already inside the reported range
29 failure modes on the 1998 Honda Accord have a median reported mileage at or below 100,500: other powertrain problem (median 90,000 miles, 157 reports), complete transmission failure (median 85,000 miles, 75 reports), other speed control problem (median 70,000 miles, 59 reports), fuel gauge or level sensor failure (median 85,000 miles, 43 reports), seat belt or retractor failure (median 70,000 miles, 28 reports) and catalytic converter failure (median 80,000 miles, 25 reports).
These are the ones worth mentioning to a mechanic by name at the next service. Being past a median is not being overdue — it means the reports cluster below where you are now, so if the failure was going to be typical, it would already have happened.
The window you are in now
7 further modes are reported in a band that includes 100,500 miles: other body or interior problem (92k to 142,500 miles), torque converter failure (98k to 140,000 miles), other engine problem (80k to 155,000 miles), other electrical problem (87k to 155,000 miles), ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure (91k to 160,000 miles) and other suspension problem (72k to 170,000 miles). These are the ones to watch on this car over the next few thousand miles.
A window here is the 25th to 75th percentile of reported mileages, so it holds the middle half of the reports and excludes the tails on both sides.
Still ahead of you
19 further modes sit above your reading, the nearest being premature brake pad or rotor wear at a median of 100,000 miles. On a car you intend to keep, these are the ones that decide whether it is worth keeping.
What this list is not
It is a reading of what owners of other 1998 Honda Accords reported, and at what odometer reading they reported it. It is not a maintenance schedule, not a diagnosis, and not a prediction about this car: two identical cars with different service histories are not the same car.
Complaints are filed voluntarily, mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers, and a failure mode with few reports has a wide window even when the median looks precise. Modes with fewer than 8 dated reports are shown without percentiles for that reason.
Where 100,500 miles falls on the curve
The three columns above sort the failure modes one by one. This is the same evidence in aggregate: every dated report on this model year, stacked up in the order the odometer readings arrived. The dashed line marked you is where your car sits. How much of the line is to the left of that mark is how much of this model year's reported trouble is, on the evidence, already behind you.
About 46% of the dated reports on this model year had already been filed by 100,500 miles. That is the share of the problems that show up in this record, not of the problems this car will have. A further 41 reports came in above the top of the scale, which is why the line stops short of the top.
- Line share of reports filed by that mileage
- Dashed the mileages called out above
A steep early climb means a car whose reports cluster young, which is the pattern of a defect rather than of wear. A line that only gets going past six figures is the opposite. Neither shape says anything about the specific car in your driveway, and a curve built from a few dozen readings can be moved by one owner with a talkative afternoon.
Full report for the 1998 Honda Accord Compare with another car
Questions this page answers
What should I expect at 100,500 miles on a 1998 Honda Accord?
29 of the failure modes owners have reported on the 1998 Honda Accord have a median report at or below 100,500 miles, and 7 more fall inside the mileage window where they are usually reported. That is a watch list drawn from other owners, not a prediction about this car.
How to use the three columns. The left column is the list to hand a mechanic before you buy, and to check the service history for if you already own the car. The middle column is what to budget for this year. The right column is not a reprieve — it is a reminder that a used car has a bill schedule, and this is roughly where it falls. All of it is drawn from 1,429 owner complaints about this exact model year, not from a maintenance manual. How the percentiles are computed.
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