2013 Accord Touring, automatic. I bought it brand new last January from the dealer. Two months ago, I went to parallel park and the entire car started violently jerking. It’s done it several times since then and here’s what I’ve gathered: 1) The car primarily jerks at low speeds 1-5 mph in both reverse and drive, primarily when parking but sometimes when I’m accelerating from 0 mph, 2) Applying the break stops all jerking, applying the gas again commences jerking 3) this happens typically in cold weather when the car is both cold and hot, but not every time I drive/park it 4) the AC/Heat “cycles” down/up (less air blowing) right before the jerking begins, 5) typically my “Forward Collision Crash Problem” alert flashes on and then off for no apparent reason,but I can’t necessarily correlate this 6) the RPMs do bounce a little bit (a notch or two) during the jerking, 7) Eco mode is on and off when this happens and 8) there are no error lights/warnings/beeping/etc. to indicate that there is anything wrong.
My best description of the jerking is that it comes from the front, center of the car. You know when you drive a manual and you don’t give it enough gas as you shift and the car jerks? That’s what this feels like.
I’ve brought it to the dealer twice and they can’t recreate the problem, everything checks out as clean and they don’t know of any service bulletins about it.
Any thoughts as to what this may be? I’d prefer that the engine/transmission don’t fall out during my morning commute and that I can parallel park in the city without hitting anything.
I would keep taking it back till they resolve the problem. Do nothing to the car yourself while it’s under warranty. They are hopefully in touch with a manufacturing rep. If not…you can call or email them the exact problem. Be prepared though; you may have them tell you “it’s the nature of the beast.” So keep pressing till satisfied one way or another. I would drive other similar models from their lot to be sure.
Your owner’s manual came with instructions on the resolution path for unresolved problems, your “push it up the ladder” instructions. Follow this process. And be sure to have the dealer detail everything on the shop orders when you bring it in, and be sure to keep your copies of the shop orders.
You can also research your state’s “lemon laws” if your state has them and consider that route to resolution, if your car meets the requirements.
Are they hooking the engine up to their diagnostic scan tool? Or are they just doing a test drive, finding nothing unusual, and giving it back to you? If the latter, next time it happens, ask them to do the former. To get to the bottom of this you may need to leave the car with them for a few days or weeks, maybe one of the techs can drive it home with them a few times, see if it happens then. Maybe you could volunteer this idea to the dealer , provided they can supply a loaner for you to use in the meantime.
You may be experiencing the same problem that other Honda owners are having, related to the CVT (continuously variable transmission):
Many other owners are complaining about this issue, so do some research by Googling “Honda Accord CVT problems”. There may be no fix yet from Honda, but at least you will know there IS a problem that others are complaining about, and the dealer can’t pretend it’s just you. Hopefully enough owners will complain and maybe Honda will come up with some kind of fix.
Meanwhile, try turning the “Eco” mode off. Some owners have said it helps reduce the jerking.
Thank you all! An update: With the help of some friends, I finally got a video of the car acting up. We narrowed the problem down to three things (updated from the above): 1) slow speeds, 2) Forward Collision Warning has something to do with it–whether a symptom or a cause we’re not sure and 3) it happens when you crank the wheel both right or left. Be sure to watch with sound on because it makes a noise at the same time the car jerks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbupmJbrThM
Any other thoughts or suggestions based on this video?
@George–they say they’re hooking the car up to the diagnostic tool and are finding nothing. I’m going back for trip 3 this week.
Make sure you get a receipt for each visit. If it turns out it is a lemon, you will need the receipts to prove that you took it to the dealer. I’m not saying it is a lemon, just suggesting that you need to be prepared.
Do you use your left foot for braking? From a Honda blog:
"Just bought a 2014 Crosstour EX-L V-6. Noticed right away that the car bogs down when given gas, but only at times, and usually when making a right turn. The dealer kept the car eight days and then told me they couldn’t replicate the problem. When I picked up the car it happened again only 1/4 mile from the dealership. A bit farther along, I accelerated after the car in front of me moved over. Again it bogged down, but this time I continued to press the accelerator and it wasn’t until it was all the way to the floor that the car accelerated.
“Well, I kept after the dealer on this issue until finally the service manager called the techs up the line at Honda. Their first question to him was whether I was a one-footed or two-footed driver. I’m two-footed, and that was the problem. The newer Hondas have a sensor that prevents the car from accelerating if you are even touching the brake. Even though I was never one to “ride” the brake, evidently there were times when my left foot was still touching the pedal when I gave it gas. I started driving with my right foot only and the problem disappeared.”
Were you ever able to figure out what was wrong? I have a 2014 accord V6 and have been having this exact same issue after years of owning the car. Started happening around 85K miles and same as you no codes come up when I take it in! It’s so frustrating.
I’ve been trying to remember exactly what the issue was. We were able to get it fixed after three visits to the dealer when they were finally able to recreate the issue. It had something to do with a loose connection (maybe to the battery? starter?). I remember it was actually a fairly dangerous issue but they were able to correct it. We’ll dig through our files to see if we can find what the final issue was.
Anything helps at this point. I’m taking it in for a full diagnostic soon so atleast I can let them know where to start. If you do find the full record, please let me know. I appreciate you replying all this time later!
I just recently bought a 2013 accord exl and I’ve also noticed this issue. I thought the transmission was bad already, but I bought the car with only 86k miles from only one previous owner which looks like they took well care with the car and maintained it up to date. I went to the dealership that I bought the car from and they told me that’s just how the cvt transmission is. I wasn’t really buying it so I kept doing my research on it until I found this post! I bought some extended warranty so I’ll be making an appointment with Honda this week. I just had ONE question, the car now has 92k, so I’ve driven it myself 6k miles and I’ve noticed like pretty bad stutters like how mentioned on this post. I’m not sure how bad it was for the previous owner, but does this harm the transmission ? 92k miles with this problem basically happening 75% of the time when accelerating passing 20mph mark and coming to a stop. Does anyone know if the transmission could’ve taken a big beating after all them miles like this ? Or would it be back to normal like if the issue was never there once I fix it ? Thanks to anyone who answers to this !
Update - the pop up accident alert also got fixed ?
Find your paper work for that extended warranty now . It may have rules about where you can have it repaired or at least see if the place you are going to will accept that warranty .
I have the paperwork at home, but I can take the car to my local Honda dealership just have to pay $100 for the diagnostic. It’s a bumper to bumper coverage so I should be good. I’ll just mention to them everything discussed in this topic and how he was able to fix it because I have literally like the same problems. Do you think the transmission could have additional ware and tear because of this issue compare to if it never had this issue ? Thanks for the quick reply!
Just take it in and describe the symptoms. They will take it from there. When they report what they find you can compare it to what you found out here and that might help you ask more questions. This will not be necessary if it is covered by your extended warranty. If they won’t cover it, make them give a detailed explanation in writing.
Yes, it does. A cone-based CVT replaces the gears, not the torque converter. Not true for the CVT in some hybrids, like Toyota. They have no torque converter.