I am considering purchasing a 2004 Honda Civic LX. It has 132,000 miles on it, and has had transmission changed/flushed at regular intervals according to CARFAX. No transmission problems as far as I know. But I have been reading up on this car more and it seems that honda civics manufactured during this time have had an inordinate amount of transmission problems? Should I think twice about going through with this purchase, in your expert opinion? Would you purchase a 2004 Honda Civic?
Also, this is an automatic and it's at a dealership
Nope, pass.
Unless you’re getting it for <$1500 and a professional mechanic gives you the green light.
Still, pass.
Seconded
I would avoid automatics on 2001-2005 gen Civics altogether. Based on the graphic that @Kerem posted, it seems like Honda had it sorted out by 2003. But, it was still the same basic 4-speed automatic unit (I'm not sure exactly what changes they made) If you want a Civic from 2001-2005, I suggest you get a manual - they didn't have any issues.
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/2003-honda-civic-2/#post-70509
The transmission problems were mostly for 2001-2002 and they were very well built cars but I might be missing else that would make @Inthrustwetrust wary of it. One thing that stuck out to me is that the transmission fluid was being flushed. This might could cause future problems, or might even indicate that there is a problem already.
That generation of Honda Civic did have pretty weak automatic transmissions but they were mostly for the start of it.
For instance here is a graph of the transmission problem complaints by model year
But those cars are usually overpriced as well I wouldn't pay more than $1500-$2000. I'd be wary of it because of the questionable transmission maintenance that would cause premature ware to the already weak transmission.
To see common problems, I like to use this site:
https://www.carcomplaints.com/Honda/Civic/
https://www.carcomplaints.com/Honda/Civic/2004/
I’m wary of the ATF being flushed. Why take a chance? You’d want to have the transmission inspected by a professional mechanic, with a fine tooth comb.
@inthrustwetrust
I thought so it seems like either questionable maintenance or something wrong that would make the owner get it flushed.
to make it absolutely clear the transmission failure rates on the 03-05 were NOTHING compared to 01-02 but still was the most common problem.
Good luck!