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Honda · NHTSA safety record

2018 Honda Accord

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

Owners have filed 1,883 safety complaints about the 2018 Honda Accord with the US government. Of those, 35 describe a crash, 4 mention a fire, 39 people were injured and no death is recorded. 6 recall campaigns are open against it.

The most complained-about system is the engine, named in 555 complaints, 29% of the total. The typical failure was reported at 22,000 miles, the median across the 606 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

Compiled from NHTSA's complaint, recall and investigation files · Covers October 2017 to September 2026 · How this is counted

What is on file

1,883 complaints on file

1,883

Complaints

35

Describe a crash

4

Mention fire

39

People injured

0

Deaths

A complaint is an unverified account by the person who filed it, not a finding of fault. One complaint is one ODI number, which is how NHTSA counts them.

Complaints rose 30% year on year: 386 in the twelve months to 2026-Q2, against 298 in the twelve before.

A recall is the manufacturer conceding a defect, and the repair is free. Whether one covers your particular car is a question only its VIN can answer, because a campaign covers a production range rather than a model year. A further 1 defect investigation is open and unresolved.

Which system owners named

Complaints naming each system
ENGINE 555 · 29%
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 337 · 18%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 305 · 16%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 293 · 16%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 250 · 13%
SERVICE BRAKES 249 · 13%
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE 165 · 9%
POWER TRAIN 137 · 7%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 111 · 6%
AIR BAGS 60 · 3%
STEERING 60 · 3%
STRUCTURE 57 · 3%
0 223 446

Red marks a system with a recall campaign against it. One complaint can name several systems, so these add up to more than 1,883.

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2024 at 349.

368 276 184 92
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

This is the year the complaint was filed, not the year the failure happened. The range runs from 2017 to 2026, the last of them a part year, which is why its column is drawn faint.

Crash test ratings

NHTSA New Car Assessment Program

NHTSA crashes a car into a barrier and a pole and measures what happens to the dummies inside. This is what it awarded the 2018 Honda ACCORD, and it is a separate question from what owners report going wrong later.

Test 4 DR FWD
Overall
Frontal crash
Frontal, driver
Frontal, passenger
Side crash
Side barrier
Side pole
Rollover
Chance of rollover 9.3%
Stability control standard Forward collision warning standard Lane departure warning standard

A dash means NHTSA did not rate that test for this vehicle.

Recall campaigns

6 on file

AIR BAGS:SENSOR:OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION:FRONT PASSENGER

26V332000 · May 21, 2026

The defect
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2018-2021, 2023 Acura TLX, 2019-2024 RDX, 2017-2020, 2022-2026 MDX, 2017-2021, 2023, 2025 Honda Ridgeline, 2017-2022 Pilot, 2019-2021 Passport, 2018-2026 Odyssey, 2019-2022 Insight, 2019-2021 HR-V, 2018-2020 Fit, 2020-2022 CR-V Hybrid, 2017-2022 CR-V, 2017-2018, 2021 Civic Type R, 2017-2021 Civic hatchback, 2016-2020 Civic coupe, 2016-2022 Civic, 2017-2022 Accord Hybrid, and 2016-2022 Accord vehicles. The front passenger seat weight sensor may crack and short circuit, which can cause the air bags to deploy unintentionally during a crash.
The risk
Air bags that deploy unintentionally during a crash increase the risk of injury.
The remedy
Dealers will replace the seat weight sensors, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 7, 2026. Owners may contact Honda's customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are BOL, WO9, OOA, WOM, XOH, NOC, POD, BOE, UOF, POB, EOG, AOI, QO8, TOJ, DO7, and SOK. This recall expands previous NHTSA recall number 24V064. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning May 29, 2026.

Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) · up to 98,892 vehicles across all model years covered

FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:FUEL PUMP

23V858000 · December 18, 2023

The defect
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2013-2023 Honda Accord, Civic Coupe, Civic Sedan, Civic Hatchback, Civic Type R, CR-V, HR-V, Ridgeline, Odyssey, Acura ILX, MDX, MDX Hybrid, RDX, RLX, TLX, 2019-2022 Honda Insight, Passport, 2020 Honda CR-V Hybrid, 2018-2019 Honda Clarity PHEV, Fit, and 2015-2020 Honda Accord Hybrid, Pilot, Acura NSX vehicles. The fuel pump inside the fuel tank may fail.
The risk
Fuel pump failure can cause an engine stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Dealers will replace the fuel pump module, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed September 6, 2024. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are KGC and KGD. This recall is an expansion of NHTSA recall numbers 21V-215 and 20V-314.

Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) · up to 2,490,460 vehicles across all model years covered

SEAT BELTS:FRONT:BUCKLE ASSEMBLY

23V158000 · March 9, 2023

The defect
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2017-2020 CR-V, 2018-2019 Accord and Accord Hybrid, 2018-2020 Odyssey, 2019 Insight, and 2019-2020 Acura RDX vehicles. A manufacturing issue with the front seat belts may cause the seat belt buckle channel to interfere with the release button, preventing the seat belt buckle from latching.
The risk
An unlatched seat belt cannot properly restrain the seat occupant during a crash, increasing their risk of injury.
The remedy
Dealers will replace the driver and front passenger seat belt buckle release buttons or the buckle assemblies as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed April 18, 2023. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are NDA, QDB, BDC, MDD, LD9. TDF, FDG, ODH, YDI, ZDE.

Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) · up to 448,613 vehicles across all model years covered

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:BODY CONTROL MODULE:SOFTWARE

20V771000 · December 10, 2020

The defect
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2018-2020 Accord Sedan, Accord Hybrid, and 2019-2020 Insight vehicles. A software error may cause intermittent or continuous disruptions in communication between the Body Control Module (BCM) and other components. This may result in malfunctions of various systems such as the windshield wipers and defroster, rearview camera, exterior lights, audible warning of a stopped vehicle, and power window operation. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 103, "Windshield Defrosting and Defogging Systems" and number 111, "Rear Visibility" as well as FMVSS numbers 104, 108, 114, 118, and 305.
The risk
Various system malfunctions such as inoperative windshield wipers, defroster, rearview camera, or exterior lighting can increase the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Honda will notify owners, and dealers will update the BCM software, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin February 22, 2021. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's number for this recall is X95.

Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) · up to 737,233 vehicles across all model years covered

FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:FUEL PUMP

20V314000 · May 28, 2020

The defect
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Acura NSX, 2019 Acura RDX, RLX and RLX Sport Hybrid, 2018-2019 Honda Accord, Civic Hatchback, Civic Type R and HR-V, 2019-2020 Insight and 2019 Fit vehicles. The low-pressure fuel pump inside the fuel tank may fail.
The risk
If the fuel pump fails, the engine can stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Honda will notify owners and dealers will replace the fuel pump assembly, free of charge. The recall began July 22, 2020. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138.

Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) · up to 135,995 vehicles across all model years covered

BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA

18V629000 · September 13, 2018

The defect
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2018 Honda Accord and 2019 Honda Insight vehicles. In certain scenarios, the back-up camera center display may not function properly. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 111, "Rearview Mirrors."
The risk
If the rearview camera display does not show what is behind the vehicle, it can increase the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Honda will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the display audio unit software, free of charge. The recall began October 30, 2018. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are K2G and V2F.

Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) · up to 232,140 vehicles across all model years covered

Defect investigations

2 on file

An investigation means NHTSA has decided a pattern is worth examining. A preliminary evaluation is often closed with no action; an engineering analysis is the stage that usually precedes a recall.

Inadvertent Automatic Emergency Braking

EA24002

Still open engineering analysis · opened April 15, 2024

forward collision avoidance

On February 21, 2022, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation (PE22003) to assess reports of inadvertent activation of the Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS), an automatic emergency braking (AEB) system, in model year 2017-2019 Honda CR-V and 2018-2019 Honda Accord vehicles.  The reports allege that activation of the AEB system occurs while driving with no apparent obstruction in the vehicle's forward path, resulting in sudden vehicle deceleration. Honda indicated that they were aware of a total of X,XXX reports that may relate to the alleged defect. Honda provided analysis of the alleged defect and alleges that some customers possibly had an inadequate understanding of the CMBS and its limitations.  However, many consumer complaints allege that Honda dealerships were unable to reproduce the condition or state that they were informed that this is considered normal CMBS operation. To date, ODI has received a total of 1,294 consumer complaints of inadvertent activation of CMBS in 2017-2022 Honda CR-V and 2018-2022 Honda Accord vehicles. A total of 31 complaints alleged a crash and 50 alleged an injury.  The Total column in the Failure Report Summary removes duplicate reports and shows the total number of reports with unique VINs from all Manufacturer, ODI, and EWR data sources.  In some cases, there were multiple reports associated with a particular vehicle in which recurring failures were alleged.  In total, there were X,XXX reports, 93 injury incidents and 47 crashes involving vehicles with unique VINs that may relate to the alleged defect. PE22-003 has been upgraded to an Engineering Analysis to further assess the scope, frequency, and potential safety related consequences of the inadvertent AEB activations. The scope has been expanded to include assessment of model year 2020-2022 Honda CR-V and Accord vehicles. To review the ODI reports cited in the Opening Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov.

Inadvertent Automatic Emergency Braking

PE22003

Closed preliminary evaluation · opened February 21, 2022 · closed April 18, 2024

forward collision avoidance

On February 21, 2022, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation (PE22003) to assess reports of inadvertent activation of the Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS), an automatic emergency braking (AEB) system, in model year 2017-2019 Honda CR-V and 2018-2019 Honda Accord vehicles.  The reports allege that activation of the AEB system occurs while driving with no apparent obstruction in the vehicle's forward path, resulting in sudden vehicle deceleration. Honda indicated that they were aware of a total of X,XXX reports that may relate to the alleged defect. Honda provided analysis of the alleged defect and alleges that some customers possibly had an inadequate understanding of the CMBS and its limitations.  However, many consumer complaints allege that Honda dealerships were unable to reproduce the condition or state that they were informed that this is considered normal CMBS operation. To date, ODI has received a total of 1,081 consumer complaints of inadvertent activation of CMBS in the subject vehicles.  A total of 24 complaints alleged a crash and 42 alleged an injury.  The Total column in the Failure Report Summary removes duplicate reports and shows the total number of reports with unique VINs from all Manufacturer, ODI, and EWR data sources.  In some cases, there were multiple reports associated with a particular vehicle in which recurring failures were alleged.  In total, there were X,XXX reports, 84 injury incidents and 40 crashes involving vehicles with unique VINs that may relate to the alleged defect. PE22003 has been upgraded to an Engineering Analysis (EA24002) to further assess the scope, frequency, and potential safety related consequences of the inadvertent AEB activations.  Further the scope has been expanded to include assessment of model year 2020-2022 Honda CR-V and Accord vehicles. To review the ODI reports cited in the Opening Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov.

In owners’ own words

Quoted from the complaint file

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST

6 injured · crash · towed · 30,212 miles

WAS DRIVING STRAIGHT ON I-10 IN ARIZONA ON CARPOOL LANE WHEN SUDDENLY SOME WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON DASHBOARD CAR MADE ME VEER TO THE RIGHT MAKING ME SPIN OUT OF CONTROL CAUSING A CRASH AND HITTING THE FENCE.

NHTSA complaint 11415835. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SERVICE BRAKES

3 injured · crash · towed

Car accident head on emergency break didn’t work bad injuries.

NHTSA complaint 11461835. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

3 injured · crash · towed

Accident happened April 8th and Drivers airbag system failed me during my accident. Passenger bags went off top and bottom but the drivers foot bag went off also but the one in the steering wheel did not go off . Resulting in neck and head injuries. Car has only been inspected by our insurance claims adjuster. No warning lights on the dash and car has always been well taken care of regarding any recalls

NHTSA complaint 11654414. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING

3 injured

My collision mitigation braking system is automatically braking on me with nothing in front of me going high rated speeds on the interstate. I have chronic migraines and neck issues that also have been being treated on a very consistent basis. I brought it in numerous times. I have appointment documents from dealership stating these issues, with no solution. Today it happened again severely and it was harsher than normal, scaring my 3 kids. I have had enough. Winter is coming and I am not gonna challenge black ice again. I have ongoing medical conditions being treated due to the repetitive whiplash.

NHTSA complaint 11616049. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Dashboard lights are coming on for all systems...sometimes they go off but then come back on 2/3 days later. The lights and messages are: collison mitigation braking problem, road departure mitigation system problem, emission system problems avoid heavy acceleration and high speed, tire pressure monitoring system problem, brake system problem brake performance may be reduced, electric power steering system problems steering assist reduced , vehicle stability assist system problem, reduced traction and handling. Concerned about my safety.

NHTSA complaint 11767755. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE
Unknown. I was informed that my fuel pump is faulty and as a result my engine needs to be replaced.

NHTSA complaint 11766908. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Formal Complaint Regarding Repeated Warning Lights and $2,600 Turbocharger Repair Recommendation – 2018 Honda Accord Dear Honda Customer Service / Dealership Management, I am writing to formally express my concern and frustration regarding ongoing issues with my 2018 Honda Accord and the diagnosis and repair recommendation I have received from the dealership. My vehicle has been experiencing an intermittent problem where multiple warning lights and/or error indicators on the dashboard come on at the same time. The problem does not remain consistently active. The warning lights may stay on for several days, then disappear, and later return again. This has happened multiple times. Because the

NHTSA complaint 11766745, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

116,242 miles

The contact owns a 2018 Honda Accord. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, several unknown warning lights unexpectedly illuminated on the instrument panel. The failure mileage was approximately 116,242.

NHTSA complaint 11766507. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

150,000 miles

The contact owns a 2018 Honda Accord. The contact stated that on several occasions while driving, the vehicle lost automotive power with several unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed, and the contact was informed that the head gasket was allowing coolant to leak into the cylinders which caused the vehicle to lose automotive power. The contact was informed that the head gasket needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 150,000.

NHTSA complaint 11766520. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
My car keeps losing power suddenly! Sometimes it has even started to stall while driving. Also the electrical menu has tons of errors and isn't working. There are several recalls on Honda Accords for the fuel pump and the vehicle assistance module but my vin doesn't show up.

NHTSA complaint 11766240. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Honda Accord

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2025 85 0 —
2024 143 3 —
2023 86 5 —
2022 252 4 —
2021 234 4 —
2020 362 5 1
2019 691 6 —
2017 536 3 2
2016 607 4 —
2015 601 5 —
2014 981 4 —
2013 1,422 5 1
2012 373 8 1
2011 296 9 —
2010 580 12 2

Other 2018 Honda models

CR-V 2,148 Odyssey 992 Civic 742 Pilot 440 Ridgeline 161 HR-V 157 Clarity Plug-IN Hybrid 135 FIT 117

Complaints on file, same model year.

Every Honda on this site — 192 vehicles.

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. How many repair attempts it takes, and how long you have to file, is set by the state you bought in and by nothing on this page.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

Compiled and maintained by
Independent developer and analyst