Hmm, now the guy who owned the car before me was an older gentleman, and where he lived I can imagine lots of sharp 1st to 2nd gear action, as the roads are full of idiots who really are in an angry pointless hurry to get to the next stop light.

There was a place in Essex offering a recon/bench tested box from Japan, so about 25k miles on the box, and a 2 year warranty.

He was also the cheapest. Maybe that's the one to go for.

So, can anyone tell me how big rubber bands, transmission fluid and transmission mounts fit together to cause this problem, or are these just different diagnoses of the same symptoms?

I find this fascinating that a number of people report the same problem and Honda don't seem able to diagnose or provide a fix for it!