I’ve got 113K miles on my 02 Accord and have meticulousy followed the maintanence guidlines. Outside of poor MPG during the 1st few years of ownership the car has been trouble free. Recently I’ve noticed a hesitation when I try to accelerate in both D and R. It does not happen often or regularly - maybe once a day, is not more evident when the engine is hot, or if I’m just starting out for the day. It feels like the car has to take a breath before it can act on acceleration then it surges a bit when acceleration begins. It also feels like maybe I’ve come down too hard on the accelerator and it needs a minute to catch up. I took it in for an oil change yesterday, at the dealer; and asked the mechanic to check it out. He drove it for 5 miles and said it only happened once and when the engine had heated. The diagnosis is the transmission is showing early signs of failure and I would eventually need a “remanufactured” transmission at an approximate cost of $3800. I’m skeptical at the diagnosis. The gears aren’t slipping, the fluid is pink, clean , and full. Thier recommendation was that I could still get 1 - 2 years of life out of the car, which is disappointing because I was looking for another 113K miles; but to bring it back in when it gets worse. Upon advise from my dad I bought a fuel injection cleaner/lubricant from the auto store down the road hoping there might just be some dirt in there that needs to work itself out. Is there anything else besides the transmission that could be causing this hesistation?
The good news is your hesitation could be lots of things. The bad news is that the trans diagnosis could be correct too. Honda Accord, Sienna, and Civic models tend to have a weakness in the auto transmission area. The maintenance schedule should call for fluid changes every 30K miles but this isn’t called for in the Honda Owner’s manual. If you haven’t changed the fluid at all, or did so at 60K or 90K miles it is likely the trans is on its way out. Also, if you did have the fluid changed at a quick lube or some general garage the fluid used was likely not Honda brand fluid which can also lead to transmission failure.
If you don’t want to spend the money on this car you might consider trading it in now. You also can shop around for more prices on transmission replacement. $3,800 is a high priced job and you should be able to get a good quality job for about $2,500 unless you live in a very high repair cost area such as NYC. Accord transmission replacements are very common so find a shop that does a lot of them.
I know for sure a trans flush/fill was performed at 90k, I’d have to dig way back to see if it had been done earlier. I also know that the trans fluid has been checked at every oil change for fluid level and proper condition. Wouldn’t it be a good sign that the fluid is clean and clear today? I live in metro Detroit and the quote came from a Honda dealer ship. The cost includes keeping the exterior of the transmission and replacing all of the interior parts with new ones. I’m not prepared to make any decision just yet. A new transmission is still less than a car note 
Is this a 4 cylinder or V6? The V6 had more tranny problems than the 4 cyl.
It’s a 4 cylinder.
on the 2000 accord ex there was a trainsmission recall