Problems with 2003 Honda Civic POWER TRAIN

Tl* the contact owned a 2003 honda civic. the contact took the vehicle to huntington honda (1055 jericho turnpike, huntington, ny 11743, phone number: (631) 423-6000) to be repaired for an unknown air bag recall. while driving from the dealer, the contact noticed that the air bag was sticking out of the steering wheel and the horn failed to function. while driving 25 mph, the gear shifter failed to shift out of park, the radio failed, and the steering wheel seized. the vehicle stalled without warning. while making a left turn, the contact crashed into a high curb, which pushed the engine back. the air bags failed to deploy. the contact sustained a broken foot that required medical attention. a police report was not filed. the vehicle was towed to nardy honda smithtown (559 middle country rd, st james, ny 11780, phone number: (855) 738-2920). the vehicle was destroyed. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 131,000.

Vehicle steering wheel violently jerks back and forth when shifting automatically resulting in no control of vehicle.vehicle does not lock doors.dealership failed to complete or inform me of any kinds of hazards as i overlooked these major problems when purchased used car. i paid over 3400 dollars for junk.

Transmission wouldn't respond lost control hit tree

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 honda civic. while attempting to accelerate, the vehicle jerked and failed to accelerate. the failure recurred numerous times. the vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the cvt transmission needed to be drained and burnished. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 300,000.

Transmission failed and car died while driving on highway at 55 mph with no warning. was in slow lane and able to get onto shoulder without getting hit. transmission had to be replaced. *tr

Went to leave walmart around 7 pm. car wouldn't move...cvt trans, hybrid.. *tr

My honda civic suddenly went dead with no indication of failure. the transmission went dead and the repair shop said that it was a incorrect gearbox ratio. it is a known problem with transmission failure and i feel that i shouldn't have to pay for something that is a known problem. *tr

I had taken for a recall on my honda 2003 civic ex at mcdavid honda of irving. i recently had a oil changed at mcdavid honda of irving. after the oil change, there was a difference in my car's performance. its takes a lot to throttle the car from start to run, if its on incline road. the gas mileage has gone down from 30mpg to 27 mpg. when asked to have a look at it, the service adviser said "$ 99 for diagnose." when i took the delivery after the recall was done, i noticed my air bag light has come-on. i asked the service adviser about the light, he said the light was on when i delivered the car to them. there has been no accident, and the light just came on by itself. they told me, i have to pay $99 to have honda to diagnose the problem. i talked to american honda, they said "as your warranty has finished, american honda is not responsible for any repair and services performed by any authorized honda dealership". *tr

Transmission slip for 20 min when i first start the car then it shift hard after that . seat belt light always on. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 honda civic hybrid. while driving, the contact stated that the vehicle would hesitate when shifting into gear. the dealer replaced the battery and clutch fluid in an attempt to repair the defect, but the failure recurred. the manufacturer was not contacted. the failure mileage was 70,000 and the current mileage was 139,000. the vin was unavailable.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 honda civic. the contact stated that when driving the vehicle while the engine was cold, the vehicle would exhibit difficulty in shifting from second to third gear. the contact stated that the problem did not occur when the engine reached optimal operating temperature. the vehicle was not taken to a mechanic. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not contacted about the issue. the failure mileage was 76,900 and the current mileage was 88,400.

Have an 03 civic hybrid with cvt transmission. i got it certified used at about 36,000 miles and it was supposed to have fresh trans fluid and i believe it did. the powertrain is warranted to 100,000 miles since it was certified used. i am at 74,000 now. at about 66,000, when it should have been due for it's transmission fluid change, it was making a slipping/grinding sound when starting off, especially on a hill. it had previously been very smooth and quiet. it gradually became a problem. it was not all of a sudden. it was hard to know for sure that it was not my imagination, except for it being real obvious on an incline and it was getting worse. the dealer's mechanic heard the sound, too, and said let's start with the fluid change it was due for. the change made it great again, but only for a few thousand miles. when i went back they said they had learned about a process called burnishing the transmission band. i believe they put their foot on the brake while putting on the gas, almost to the point of stalling (i think) to clean up the band. mine would be the 2nd car they would do it on. it also requires a change of fluid after because it is supposed to take the crud from the parts and put it into the fluid. they did it for free since i had already asked them to work on this problem, and i had paid for the fluid change to fix the same problem. again, after their work it was nice and quiet and smooth, but about 3,000 miles later it is coming back again. i don't know if their process did anything, or if it was just the fresh fluid that helped like it did the first time. i am concerned repetitions of the process might decrease the life of the transmission. the best outcome for me would probably be a complete transmission failure at 99,000 miles because then i can get a new one. anybody having similar problems? *tr

Honda civic hybrid 2003 with cvt transmission, it shudders and vibrates entire car when accelerating slowly. also in neutral it hesitates going in reverse. i am requesting a recall as i see many having this problem on the web. honda claims the car has no problems and that is the engine lurking forward. *tr

My 2003 honda civic hybrid with cvt transmission suddenly lost all the power while i was driving and the car behind me almost crashed into my car. soon i found out it's a common problem with the transmission slippage problem with the cvt transmission. i called two dealerships but they said since it's a 8 year old car the extended warranty has expired and they will not fix it for free. i believe it is a driving hazard as an accident almost happened to me, and honda is liable to recall theiir cvt transmission on honda civic hybrid. *tr

Drive belt in my 2003 honda civic hybrid broke all of sudden with no warning while driving. could have been very dangerous if i was traveling at a high speed. luckily was traveling at very low speed. vehicle has always been serviced at honda dealership and is up to date, they have no explanation how this occurred and honda is not willing to help fix the issue, i have been told new cvt transmission is needed. they had extended the warranty because so many complaints received, but mine expired 11 months ago. honda should have done a recall with this issue! it is a safety hazard and they are sweeping it under the rug and wont correct their faulty cvt transmissions. *tr

Transmission will slip causing the car to shudder / shake, acceleration will not occur when needed. problem is especially bad starting from 0 mph up a hill, or when 2 or more passengers are in the car. dealer will not offer the recall, although the same problem has been addressed in japan, as they have sent out a recall for the same issue overseas. *tr

The transmission suddenly fails every 30-40k miles creating a traffic hazard that will result in a crash without warning. also, the ima battery does not hold a sufficient charge creating a loss in power and a possible accident. *tr

2003 civic hybrid with cvt has transmission issues. upon accelerating from a stop (even slight acceleration), the whole car will shudder and harsh slipping feel will start until the car gets moving a bit. far worse when starting on an incline from a stop. honda replaced my transmission while under warranty at about 40k miles, but it quickly began having the same issue at around 70k miles and has been having the issue ever since. getting a transmission fluid change helped a bit, but it is costly to continue changing that fluid at earlier than the manual recommended 30k mile intervals. *tr

Transmission failure. there is a vibration and forward jolt during take off from a stop. honda extended the warranty but i pass it by one year. they recalled the transmissions in japan but fail to accept responsibility in the us. they suggested performing "burnishing" and it should last another 20k miles. i had this done two days ago at the dealership and can still feel the vibration and jolt. honda used this transmission for the 03 and 04 civic hybrids and fail to accept responsibility for their error and now thousands of owners, including myself, will be forced to purchase another vehicle because the repair cost in $4500 and there is a 6-week waiting period. this is irresponsible of honda to place this burden on their customers, especially in this recession, because they put out a faulty product. it is said that you have to have lives taken, such as the toyota recall, for a us company to admit and correct a mistake they made in their design. *tr

1. )i bought my used 2003 honda civic lx almost a year ago and about 3 months later, the transmission started to have issues. i hear it is a very common problem with this model for the torque converter to fail. every time my car is about to shift, the rpms jump very high, and then pulls back hard when the transmission shifts. this occurs every single time a drive and has gotten worse over time. i travel 2 hours every week to visit my girlfriend and i am afraid the transmission will fail while i am driving 70mph leaving me in the dust...or worse. honda has recalled vehicles with similar problems at or around the year of my vehicle, but for whatever reason (money) they did not recall mine. the failure has yet to be fixed as i can't afford to fix the issue. *tr

While attempting to enter an intersection my 2003 honda civic hybrid was unable to accelerate due to a slipping transmission. i was almost hit by another vehicle who was able to avoid me. *tr

2003 honda civic hybrid purchased at 66,000 miles at 90,359 miles slight shutter/judder when moving from a complete stop. honda diagnosed (04/08)cvt for judder. added one start clutch burnishing procedure/add two start clutch burnishing as a recall service. now same problem again. now at 120,000 miles experiencing same problem vehicle slips, shudders on take off from full stop. repair will be $1200 to replace start clutch. when starting from a dead stop i hope the vehicle will move. i have to really press down on the gas petal to get the vehicle going and i do think this is a safety hazard with my vehicle. had the egr valve changed at $400 repair(0708). *tr

2003 honda civic hybrid- starter clutch has failed at 57,000 miles. car surges unexpectedly. must have it replaced or will adversely affect safe driving of the vehicle. *tr

Transmission on 2003 honda civic stopped working on the highway in the middle of the night (about 11:30pm on a friday night). this is a safety issue, because what if i was rear-ended by someone on the highway & i and a friend (girls) were alone in the car at night & if i had been unable to get home, we would have been susceptible to attack by late-night miscreants - we were on our way home from a church youth meeting - since we were in the middle on the highway in queens, ny. i was able to feel something was wrong & maneuver the car over where we collided with the curb and managed to get the car off the road, but it died with the corner of the rear, driver's side bumper sticking out onto the highway where it could have potentially been hit by another car. *tr

Vehicle is losing power on acceleration at random moments. *tr

We purchased a 2003 honda chc in 2006 with approximately 34,000 miles. as of january 2010, the car has 155,010 miles. from the date of purchase, there has been a shudder when decelerating from 40+ mph. we have only taken the car to our local honda dealership for repair and maintenance and have been repeatedly told that there is nothing wrong with the car and that shudder is from an "overload". taking the service department at their word, we have never had any repair work done to remove the shudder or taken the car to another dealer. over time the shudder has gotten worse. we have also experienced a hesitation when accelerating and then the car will suddenly lurch forward when it hits gear. again, we were told that there wasn't anything wrong with the car and that we should expect hesitation when the car is switching from battery power to engine power. about 4 months ago, the check engine light came on and we were told that the catalytic converter was in need of replacement. we were given two options-immediate repair or drive until the catalytic converter completely fails. recently the ima light came on and we took the car for diagnosis. the response was that the battery pack needed to be replaced. in addition, we were told that the transmission is beginning to fail. to replace the cvt transmission, battery pack and catalytic converter will cost approximately $7,500. as i have read the other complaints not only from this site, but also other sites on the internet, i now suspect that we have been experiencing transmission problems all along. we have had several other honda vehicles. we purchased this vehicle because of the reliability we have come to expect from honda. $7,500 or more in repairs is unreasonable for any car under 8 years old, especially a honda. *tr

Vehicle has had a constant "juddering" (vibration) issue when accelerating from a stop. the car was taken to be serviced several times with no defects found by the dealer. the "juddering" has finally resulted in a complete transmission failure with a required replacement. i have read of several problems of the same nature with this particular year, make , and model. *tr

Honda civic hybrid 2003 transmission slippage at 60,000 and 90,000 miles. dealer changes fluid and 'burnishes the starter clutch', but it does not solve the problem of a faulty transmission. now they say that it is a faulty egr to deflect the heat from the faulty transmission. there are many posts that refer to other owners with this same problem. honda needs to face the problem and deal fairly with it. *tr

The transmission for my honda civic hybrid is failing. it's now at about 170,000 but the problems i've been experiencing have been occurring since i bought the car. the problems have to do with bucking on acceleration, juddering on acceleration, and the car moving in reverse when the gear is in drive and now a noise is coming from inside the transmission. i purchased this care new in 2003 and have been taking it in for service every 10k mi. this is my first car so i thought the "bucking", juddering and "reversing while in drive" was by design, but it wasn't until years later that i googled my car and noticed other people had similar problems. just google "civic hybrid transmission". i'm now faced with paying almost 4000 to replace my transmission. interestingly, there have been transmission complaints for other honda products of the same year (acura tl, honda accord). i really think there's a flaw in transmission components of at least some honda models from the 2002-2006 production year. *tr

For several years now my car has been vibrating and jolting when i accelerate from a stop. especially when going uphill. i took it in to a honda dealer for repairs and was told the only solution was to "burnish" it and it should help, although only temporarily. the burnishing helped only slightly, and before long my car was back to vibrating and jolting just as badly as before. i was told this was not a hazardous condition, so i have just lived with it for awhile now, but it would be nice to fix! it seems this is something that honda should address if it is in fact such a common condition and has been addressed overseas. please help convince honda to address this problem!

The transmission in my honda civic hybrid 2003 slips when the car is going slow or on an incline. *tr

Transmission slipping. lose of power on acceleration, especially quick acceleration like making a turn. this is second occurrence. in 2007 dealer "burnished" transmission. now, says can burnish for $200 (which may resolve it temporarily) or can take care of problem, for $1200, to replace starter clutch assembly. *tr

There is a known problem with honda civic hybrid cvt transmission: "a shudder or judder up to 15 mph requires honda to drain and burnish the 2003-2005 honda hybrid cvt clutch.honda will check the egr valve during this service too. honda tech article# ats06070" my 2003 civic is having this problem, which is unsafe because the transmission stutters to engage when starting out from a stop, which can be dangerous if you need to get going quickly to get out of the way. *tr

Hesitation of cvt transmission in honda civic hybrid 2003 model . the transmission hesitates as you apply gas on the pedal. this hesitation is dangerous when you need to move quickly in certain traffic situations. *tr

I feel a big jerk when decelerate my car from 70miles/hour with my foot off the gas pedal. there has been no accident but i feel that if the car breaks down as a result of this jerk or if the jerk is strong enough, then i may run into some accident. the problem is intermittent. i took the care to honda dealer, but the problem didn't happen during test drive. a lot of people are having the same issue with this model. it looks like a manufacturing defect. car detail: honda civic hybrid 2003. it's an ongoing problem. *tr

2003 honda civic hybrid. original owner car has 52 k. recently i experienced a near death accident because the engine rapidly accelerated by itself as i exited a slight uphill driveway. as i approached the end of the driveway i stopped before turning onto the road, i heard a thud or clunk and then the car lurched and sped rapidly into the road which was wet from rain. the car skidded and fishtailed l tried to apply the brakes but they were unresponsive. i tried the emergency brake which did not respond either. the car did a 360 turn and had gone almost 200 yards from where it exited the driveway. the engine sounded like it was going to blow up. i could smell smoke. all of this happened in under 30 seconds. by some merciful force, the car hit the mud embankment on the side of the road and thankfully no other cars were on the road. i jumped out of the car because the engine was still racing and i could not turn it off, i ran across the road because i wasn't sure if the car would blow up or keep going. after a few seconds i ran over again and could turn it off but the emergency lights did not work . the car was towed to the oakland, ca honda dealer where i purchased it. they performed a basic diagnostic test and told me the car is ok to drive and nothing is visibly wrong with it except for the dent on the front bumper. they have closed the case. in the past this car has been serviced several times for a recall due to a problem with the cvt (continuously variable transmission) because it judders after coming to a stop. i do not believe that honda has adequately researched my case. a car should not accelerate as mine did and i believe that the fact this model has already had a recall on the transmission warrants a more than cursory evaluation. honda is risking the safety of hundreds and thousands of peoples safety by not trying to determine why my vehicle sped out of control by itself. i plan to investigate further in ...

Ongoing problem with my 2003 honda civic hybrid cvt transmission. after putting in a ongoing chronic complaint to the manufacture honda assigned me a case manager who decided to replace the problem transmission and torque converter with a remanufactured one. it was then fine for 7500 miles and now has started over the same exact problem of shudder and slippage as before. the dealer is trying to say it is an egr valve and putting me through the process of running out of the warranty again as they extended the transmission warranty to 100,000 miles and i now have 97,250. again, as i mentioned before this transmission shudder and slippage is a safety issue (check your previous complaints) and i am a public safety advocate and public safety professional. *tr

Honda civic hybrids with the cvt transmission develop what honda refers to as a judder. what is actually happening is the "start clutch" in the transmission slips during take off from a stop and causes the car to judder or shake. when this happens in any condition other than perfectly dry roads you can temporarily lose control of the vehicle because the vehicle is front wheel drive and the front wheels can lose traction and spin. i have even had this happen when the front tires are sitting on the painted white line found at most intersections. honda is very aware of the problem. there are thousands of complaints documented online, yet honda has been very reluctant to properly address the situation. honda claims this is not a safety issue, but i have temporarily lost control of my car on wet roads several times. i can't imagine trying to drive one in the snow. here are a couple of links that will take you to discussion groups about this problem. http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/ view/.f0b3259/262 http://www.cngchat.com/forum/showthread.php? 266-2001-2005-cvt-transmission-warranty-extension-for-slip-judder honda has extended the warranty period for this problem. in my specific case they kept ignoring my request to rebuild the transmission until i was beyond the extended warranty. in my case i filed a complaint with honda american and negotiated to split the cost with them. there are a lot of people out there who have not been so lucky and have had to pay in full for the repairs. *tr

My 2003 honda civic hybrid has a shudders on start-up from a stop. was told that changing the cvt fluid twice fixes the problem and that honda has posted a technical bulletin about this issue. other hch owners have stated that changing the cvt fluid is only a temporary fix and that it is really a faulty clutch problem. why isn't honda being held accountable to recall and fix this problem? *tr

I have a 2003 honda hybrid with 146k on it...the car started making slipping and grinding noises when coming out of a full stop. i noticed that a lot of other people are having the same exact issue at various intervals and are getting the run around from honda dealerships-replacing transmission fluids, brandishing, etc. only for the problem to return. at this point i have a vehicle that costs enormous amounts of money to fix-$1300 catalytic converter, $4000 ima battery pack reset/purchase, $750 transmission fluid change. this is really a big problem. it seems like people have been absolutely fooled into buying the car with no support from the manufacturer. this is not an isolated incident and many hybrid owners have found this to be an expensive and frustrating repair-not to mention the other costs. people feel like they're driving lemons around. my repairs that i recently found out about because the car did not pass emissions will cost me more than what the car is worth. the issue of the slipping and grinding when coming from a full stop needs to be addressed by the manufacturer and recalled to be repaired at no cost to the owners. this particular slipping started approximately 2 years ago. i had a transmission fluid replacement at that time and it seemed to take care of the problem only to have it return about 10k later. this is an ongoing cycle. i feel like i'm being gauged by the dealerships and the manufacturer who is refusing to address this issue-among many other ones. *tr

2003 honda civic hybrid with numerous problems with car shuddering when slowing down and then taking off again. this has been occurring regularly since july 2, 2007 at 74,000 miles. it has been in the dealer 6 times for this cvt slippage. the very first documented problem however was april 20, 2003 at 9783 miles with the transmission slipping when placed into reverse and then suddenly catching. the slippage is worst in hot weather. been brought in and misdiagnosed or delaying tactics to circumvent the extended warranty by the honda dealer each time. this is despite a safety recall for this very same problem in japan, india, and indonesia, honda notified nhsta in a letter to associate administrator mr. kenneth weinstein of the office of safety assurance of this recall in those countries.. since than american honda extended the warranty on the cvt to 100,000 miles but according to all the complaint sites i have been able to monitor honda instead uses delaying tactics until the extended warranty runs out. this is a safety issue, as can be seen by the numerous near miss testimonials on your nhtsa filed complaint narratives. i am a ems battalion captain for a major metropolitan fire/rescue department and respond to deaths and serious injuries on a daily basis. i am also a respected public safety advocate and the initiator of senate bill 486. i believe this issue warrants serious investigation. i believe deaths and serious injuries have probably already occurred from this safety hazard but were never reported nor recognized as to the cause. please investigate. *tr

After numerous problems with our 2003 honda civic hybrid, the cvt transmission is slipping so badly the car can barely take off from a stop and peters out when going up a hill. this latest problem occurred soon after the transmission judder problem was corrected under warranty. now american honda is having the dealership replace the entire transmission on warranty. although this is a known issue with the 2003 cvt transmission, american honda continues to refuse to issue a full recall, claiming it is not a safety issue. we have a recording on our answering machine from the assistant service manager at our honda dealership saying that the car is not safe to drive. there are many more 2003 honda civic hybrids on the road with this serious issue. fortunately, we have not been involved in a crash with this unsafe vehicle. i understand that the japanese government mandated a recall for this generation of honda cvt transmissions in japan and parts of southeast asia. hopefully, the nhtsa will see to it that this faulty vehicle?s problems are addressed in our great country as well. *tr

Cvt transmission problems, egr valve problems, oxygen sensor and catalytic converter problems, all items had to be replaced over the last 2 years-most recent catalytic converter. *tr

Transmission hesitates. manufacturer changes the transmission fluid, but does not repair. manufacturer will not solve the problem only bandaids this recurring problem. vehicle hesitates and shutters during acceleration which can be dangerous in intersections and in general traffic. this is occurring on several years of this vehicle according to websites i have read. the vehicle has also gone through two replacement of the catalytic converter. *tr

Car is sluggish when taking off and driving. have read that this is a common problem with the transmission (cvt). *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 honda civic hybrid. the contact stated when attempting to accelerate from a complete stop, the vehicle would sporadically lunge forward. the dealer burnished the clutch and the failure was resolved. approximately one year later, the failure recurred. the dealer made the exact same repair to the vehicle. the failure recurred and the dealer then advised replacing the clutch. the manufacturer advised they would take the liability for a percentage of the repair costs but the contact declined. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was approximately 64,000 and the current mileage was approximately 75,000.

2003 civic hybrid- 80k miles. bought in 2006 with 60k miles. the vehicle hesitates when accelerating from a stop. there is about a 5-8 second delay in pressing the gas and the car going, which has caused me to almost be rear ended a few times. the vehicle also slows down extremely rapidly when the foot is removed from the gas pedal. even with no pressure applied to the break pedal. to ordinary (not hybrid) cars, it seems like i am pressing my brake, they just see me slowing down, but there are no lights to warn them, i have almost been in two really bad car accidents that were avoided by mere inches when: on the highway i have taken my foot off the accelerator to slow my vehicle, but i did not need the breaks since the car slowed down so fast on it's own. i threw on my emergency lights and tapped the brake to signal to cars behind me who were moving much faster still. i think that honda should put in smaller lights or a different safety light when you remove your foot from the accelerator on the civic hybrids, to avoid rear-ending accidents due to rapid decrease in speed with no usage of the braking system. history of problem: during test drive vehicle made slight shudder noise and hesitation before starting to accelerate. the dealer told me that it was a normal noise for hybrids. i foolishly believed him. a few months later the shuddering was worse and i knew that it wasn't a normal noise for any transmission to be making at 60,000 miles! over the last 2 years i have taken the car to the dealership many times to "fix" this problem, which is only patched up and the shuddering comes back a few thousand miles later. honda knows about this problem and has a service bulletin for it, yet their dealerships try to put off fixing the problem until someone's warranty is almost over, or over. honda needs to be held responsible for this faulty vehicle. a recall should be done at the very least, to fix the cars driving around with bad transmissions. *tr

Every time i accelerate from a complete stop, my vehicle makes a juddering/vibrating noise. a service bulletin was issued by honda in 2008 for this very concern, which turned out to be the start clutch. honda burnished my clutch twice and the problem was resolved, until the same problem came up about 15,000 miles later. i am no longer under warranty for it. i had my clutch burnished again today (cost me $150), but that did not resolve the issue. i was told that i will need to replace the start clutch, which will cost about $1500 with labor. if this does not get repaired, my transmission could fail completely, and at any time. long story short, it is quite obvious that the start clutches in 2003 honda civic hybrids are defective. *tr

Car stopped while driving on beltway. no warning. car was towed to honda dealership. has been there for six days so far, we were first told it was a cvt belt, or so they thought. now they state the transmission can not be repaired but needs to be replaced. the car is five years old and we have not had one problem prior to it stopping. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 honda civic hybrid. the contact stated the vehicle was exhibiting transmission failures. the dealer was unable to duplicate or locate any failures within the transmission and advised the contact the vehicle was operable. the vehicle continued exhibiting signs of transmission slippage and was taken back to the dealer. the dealer advised the clutch was defective and causing the failure of the transmission. the clutch was replaced. the failure recurred within two years. the vehicle was not further repaired. the vin was not accepted. the failure mileage was 83,000 and the current mileage was 110,000.