| goc305 |
Hi Everyone,
New to the board, and am looking at a 2002 mdx with really high mileage(125,000). My original thoughts were honda reliability, but after reading posts here, the transmission troubles are surprising. I will do most work and maintanence myself, should I purchase this vehicle. The question is, should I? Thanks for your help. |
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| dj-mdx2 |
That depends on how comfortable you are at playing odds. There are no official numbers released but the failure rate for the 01-02 transmission is at least 3%, possibly more.
Has the transmission been replaced on the prospective vehicle already? If not, it may be one of the lucky ones or it may not. There doesn't appear to be any correlation between mileage and tranny failure.
If you're willing to factor in the cost of a potential failure and live with it, then that's your call. There are many older gen MDXs here (myself included at 115K miles) and in the real world that have NOT had a tranny failure. |
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| theseans |
DJ is dead on. Tranny is a minor gamble on 01's and 02's according to Consumer Reports. That said, Trannies do degrade slowly, and like clutches, are very easy to assess on a test drive. Manually shift to determine if it's slipping or clunking into gear. If it isn't with that mileage, you're out of the woods.
Springs were also a trouble spot. Other than those two minor issues, it's clean as a whistle, with a higher than average predicted reliability. I'd buy it worry free pending the test drive. My 04' has 140k km's on it, and still feels brand new. In contrast, my Jeep Overland barely started, or shifted into gear at 50k. The MDX is that good.
quote:
Originally posted by dj-mdx2
That depends on how comfortable you are at playing odds. There are no official numbers released but the failure rate for the 01-02 transmission is at least 3%, possibly more.
Has the transmission been replaced on the prospective vehicle already? If not, it may be one of the lucky ones or it may not. There doesn't appear to be any correlation between mileage and tranny failure.
If you're willing to factor in the cost of a potential failure and live with it, then that's your call. There are many older gen MDXs here (myself included at 115K miles) and in the real world that have NOT had a tranny failure.
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| goc305 |
| thanks so much for the replies, i am going to follow through with the deal. I have driven the car, looked underneath, everything is clean. I will let you know how it turns out. awesome! |
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| theseans |
Good man! Take it to Acura to get green lighted if you are unsure, but I wouldn't waste the $100 bucks....these X's place second only to Lexus/Toyota, and even that is disputed. My mechanic says they will go 300-400k km's trouble free as long as the timing belt was replaced at 160k (100,000 miles). DO make sure that has been done. -)
quote:
Originally posted by goc305
thanks so much for the replies, i am going to follow through with the deal. I have driven the car, looked underneath, everything is clean. I will let you know how it turns out. awesome!
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