DETROIT, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co. Ltd. said on friday that it will offer an extended warranty on the automatic transmissions of 1.2 million vehicles sold in the United States due to premature wear or failure of the transmissions.
Honda, known for its high quality vehicles, said about 26,000 or about 2 percent of the 1.2 million vehicles have experienced the transmission problems.
The affected vehicles include the 2000-2001 Honda Accord, Odyssey and Prelude; the 2000-2002 Acura 3.2 TL; the 2001-2002 Acura 3.2 CL and some 2003 models of both of the Acura cars, Honda said.
Honda will extend the warranty on the automatic transmission for those models to seven years or 100,000 miles. The standard bumper-to-bumper warranty for Honda vehicles is three years or 36,000 miles, while Acura vehicles are covered for four years or 50,000 miles.
Honda will mail notifications to owners in the next few weeks, spokesman Mike Spencer said. Most of the 26,000 cases of transmission failure or premature wear that Honda is aware of occurred during the first three years of ownership, which is covered under the warranty, he said. But those owners that paid to have the transmission fixed are eligible for a refund.
Spencer said the parts of the automatic transmission that were subject to premature wear were manufactured by suppliers. "Obviously these components were not made to specification," he said.
Honda elected against a formal recall because the worn transmission did not pose a safety threat, Spencer said. Honda was not aware of any accidents or injuries as a result of the worn transmissions, he said.