2008 Honda Accord
Complaints about this year name rear brakes far more often than the other years of this generation — 17% of them, about 4× the usual rate of 4.8%.
First year of a new generation. The Honda Accord was redesigned for 2008. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 1,520 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 530 |
| Involving a crash | 62 |
| Involving a fire | 13 |
| Recalls | 9 |
| EPA combined | 24 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- pads — 31.5% of this year's complaints, against 11.2% across the other years of this generation (2.8×). Owners wrote it as: pads, brake pads, rear brake, worn.
- rear brakes — 21.1% of this year's complaints, against 6.9% across the other years of this generation (3×). Owners wrote it as: rear brakes, brakes replaced, front brakes, brakes 2008.
- wear — 18% of this year's complaints, against 6% across the other years of this generation (3×). Owners wrote it as: wear, premature, brake wear, premature brake.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- wear — 14% of complaints, 4× usual
- brake pads — 14% of complaints, 3× usual
- rear brake — 14% of complaints, 3× usual
What owners wrote
THE REAR BRAKES WORE OUT AT 26,000 MILES WHICH WAS PREMATURE WEAR FOR THE REAR BRAKE PADS. THE BRAKE PADS WERE REPLACED BY THE DEALER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THIS WAS A KNOWN ISSUE THAT THE [VIN] SHOULD ADDRESS. IF THE BRAKE PADS CONTINUED TO BECOME WORN AT V…
THE REAR WHEEL BEARINGS AND BRAKE ROTORS BEGAN FUNCTIONING AT A HIGHER [VIN] THAN NORMAL WHICH CAUSED THE REAR BRAKES TO [VIN] WEAR DOWN. THE VEHICLE WAS NEVER TAKEN TO THE DEALER TO BE INSPECTED OR REPAIRED. THE [VIN] INFORMED HIM TO CONTACT THE ATTORNEY GENE…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 18V268000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 19V502000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 19V378000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 17V545000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 17V030000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 16V056000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 16V346000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 11V395000 POWER TRAIN Fixed free of charge.
Showing 8 of 9. The rest are on NHTSA's site.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Honda Accord was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2008 Honda Accord? What happened to yours?
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