You cannot go by looks and smell alone.  Since you said in your other post
that you are aware only of oil changes, I am NOT going to assume that the
tranny fluid was ever changed.  The interval should be 2 years or 30,000
miles, whichever comes first.

Those tranny problems are limited to a handful of Hondas with V6 engines
mated to 4-speed automatics (from about '98 to '02).  Honda extended the
warranty on the tranny on those cars to 7 years or 100,000 miles, or
something like that.  Newer models have 5-speed automatics which, as far as
I know, have been fine even despite a recall a couple years ago.  When mated
with 4-bangers, Honda auto trannies are bulletproof.  I have never heard of
a tranny failure on a 4-cylinder Honda that was properly maintained.

I hate to break this to you, but Fords and Chevys (especially non-V8 models)
usually experience more non-routine problems than Hondas do, especially when
they are at least 5 years old and the mileage gets up there.  You'd be lucky
to get that kind of mileage with few problems.  In fact, Fords have a higher
rate of transmission failures than Hondas do.  But unlike Honda, Ford
refuses to acknowledge and fix the problem.

I am hoping for something simple (aren't we all). The fluid looked,
smelled and felt good and I know the car has never been mistreated. I
have done a lot of reading today on the Honda cars and I see a lot of
people complaining of transmission problems. It was purchased cheap
enough that if it does need a couple thousand in repairs we can do it
and dump it to get a Ford or Chevy that I know will go 160 or 170K
without any big surprises.

you're going to need to pull the diagnostic code from the ecu on this
one.  it could be something relatively cheap & simple like a solenoid or
even loose lead connection.  or it could be a new transmission.  the
code should tel you pretty much what you need to know.  a reader costs
less than $100 these days - comparable to what the dealer will charge to
do exactly the same thing, and you'll then own the tool.

Hello, My daughter just purchased an 02 Honda Civic with 110,000 miles,
4 cyl. and an auto transmission. The car has been running great until
yesterday when it would rev up between second and third gear. She had
me drive it this morning and it took about a second to shift from
second to third so I told her to take it easy till I checked around on
it. Checked the fluid and it is full and looks clean. She called about
two miles from the house and the transmission is now not doing
anything. No forward and no reverse. There were no strange noises or
grinding from the tranny it just quit pulling. Any ideas?