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2021 Honda Accord

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

Similar to other model years

Owner complaints for the 2021 Honda Accord do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 356.

About this comparison →

When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

Limited mileage data: 25 of 230 reports include usable mileage. There isn’t enough coverage to show a useful chart.

NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.

What to inspect

Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.

  • Electrical System. Review the 61 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Forward Collision Avoidance. Review the 60 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Engine. Review the 35 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

14 crash reports1 fire reports5 injury reports

Forward Collision Avoidance complaints

60 reports
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Mileage unknown · Apr 6, 2023
Forward Collision AvoidanceCrash

1.Driving on a straight road at about 45-50 MPH sudden abrupt braking for no reason . 2. Good thing I was wearing a seat belt , it was a very forceful brake action that pushed me forcefully forward, I was struck from behind by another vehicle. Visial minor damage to the rear bumper cover. 3. No it happened today 4-5-23 I pla…

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1.Driving on a straight road at about 45-50 MPH sudden abrupt braking for no reason . 2. Good thing I was wearing a seat belt , it was a very forceful brake action that pushed me forcefully forward, I was struck from behind by another vehicle. Visial minor damage to the rear bumper cover. 3. No it happened today 4-5-23 I plan on calling the dealer tomorrow. 4. The BRAKE message appeared at the exact time of the incident.

NHTSA ODI #11515726

Mileage unknown · Mar 19, 2023
Forward Collision AvoidanceService Brakes

The electrical emergency brake locked up without warning as I was coming off the highway by the way of off ramp. Almost put the car in the guard rails! Brake has locked up twice now

NHTSA ODI #11512710

Mileage unknown · Feb 17, 2023
Electrical SystemForward Collision Avoidance

I was driving my 21 Honda Accord 1.5T on the highway and all of a sudden vehicle lost the power and Honda sensing / Emission warning lights came on. It almost cause a major accident and I was lucky enough to exit the freeway without incident. I drove to the Honda dealer and they found out one of the wire harnesses was chewed b…

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I was driving my 21 Honda Accord 1.5T on the highway and all of a sudden vehicle lost the power and Honda sensing / Emission warning lights came on. It almost cause a major accident and I was lucky enough to exit the freeway without incident. I drove to the Honda dealer and they found out one of the wire harnesses was chewed by a rodent which causes the whole issue. I did some research and found out that Honda was using less expensive Soybean base wire harnesses (instead of Petroleum base wire harnesses) to save the planet earth. This Soybean wires are easy target for rodents. This less expensive Soybean wire harness cost about $3000-3500 to replace and it's NOT fair to the consumer. Honda must re-call this Soybean wire harness before causing some major accident, especially on the freeway ( imaging your car losing power while driving 65-70 mph)

NHTSA ODI #11507883

Mileage unknown · Feb 10, 2023
Forward Collision Avoidance

Automatic emergency breaking system has benn activated in about 6 different ocassions while driving in the highway for no reason. No vehicles or obstacles in front of the car but car suddenly applied brakes stopping the car very suddenly while driving 70-75 miles per hour.

NHTSA ODI #11506660

Mileage unknown · Feb 7, 2023
Forward Collision Avoidance

in the last 10 days, we there's been 4 incidents where the vehicle suddenly brakes when travelling on high speeds on the freeway out of nowhere. We were almost involved in a serious car accident yesterday where a vehicle behind us narrowly got out of the way. Took vehicle to honda dealership service and they claim they cant find…

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in the last 10 days, we there's been 4 incidents where the vehicle suddenly brakes when travelling on high speeds on the freeway out of nowhere. We were almost involved in a serious car accident yesterday where a vehicle behind us narrowly got out of the way. Took vehicle to honda dealership service and they claim they cant find any issues with braking system or sensors and they are not aware of any braking issues with this model. When i told them that i found online that theres an investigation opened last year about this issue in other accords, they had no idea what i was talking about and asked them to google it and they refuse. They refuse to fix the issue and suggest to just keep driving the vehicle since theres nothing for them to fix.

NHTSA ODI #11506095

Mileage unknown · Feb 1, 2023
Forward Collision Avoidance

This car has randomly slammed on the breaks too many times to count and has been reported far too many times. Today while in the left lane on 95 southbound this car randomly slammed on the breaks so violently the speed was reduced 20 mph with seconds. This is incredibly dangerous, HOW LONG WILL YOU ALL THIS

NHTSA ODI #11505069

Mileage unknown · Sep 6, 2022
Forward Collision Avoidance

Vehicle tends to turn on brake warning light when there is nothing in the way. Driving with no obstacle in the way and the brake warning sign will display on dashboard. I’ve driven it on the highway with no cars and it will signal me to brake for no reason. I’m afraid the brakes might apply which could cause a serious accident.

NHTSA ODI #11483068

Mileage unknown · Sep 4, 2022
Forward Collision Avoidance

Vehicle flashed "brake" on the dashboard and automatically engaged brakes despite nothing being ahead in the road. This occurred on a clear, sunny day around late morning on the interstate. Similar issues have occurred previously where the car flashed the "brake" warning light despite nothing being immediately ahead in the roa…

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Vehicle flashed "brake" on the dashboard and automatically engaged brakes despite nothing being ahead in the road. This occurred on a clear, sunny day around late morning on the interstate. Similar issues have occurred previously where the car flashed the "brake" warning light despite nothing being immediately ahead in the road. With this other incident the brakes were not engaged. This time the brakes engaged, then released, and the car continued. Later on that same trip, the "brake" warning would again flash despite no objects being immediately ahead in the road. The vehicle arbitrarily braking without warning or reason is extremely dangerous as it may cause vehicles behind including much larger trucks to slam into the car. The Honda dealer and Honda customer service were both contacted when the car on a previous occasion flashed "brake" despite no obstructions but neither has returned my messages.

NHTSA ODI #11482817

Mileage unknown · Aug 15, 2022
Forward Collision Avoidance

My automatic emergency breaking kicked in today when there were no cars in front of me. My car began beeping loudly and flashing the word “BRAKE” and the car abruptly stopped in the middle of a very busy road. My daughter and I could’ve been very hurt but were lucky there was enough room behind us that we didn’t get rear ended. …

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My automatic emergency breaking kicked in today when there were no cars in front of me. My car began beeping loudly and flashing the word “BRAKE” and the car abruptly stopped in the middle of a very busy road. My daughter and I could’ve been very hurt but were lucky there was enough room behind us that we didn’t get rear ended. Nobody has checked this out yet because it just happened, but I am willing and open to having it looked at. I had a brief warning while the car flashed “BRAKE” and beeped, but there were no cars in front of us, and nothing I could do to make the car not slam on the brakes by itself.

NHTSA ODI #11479470

Mileage unknown · Jul 5, 2022
Forward Collision AvoidanceInjury

Honda Accord multi point serviced July 2nd at Hendricks Honda Easley SC. Immediately after I was driving on Haywood Rd. Greenville SC when my vehicle slammed on brakes for no reason. There was no car, animal, pedestrian or debris in road to cause to happen. As a result I experienced whip lash and was seen by a doctor and therapi…

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Honda Accord multi point serviced July 2nd at Hendricks Honda Easley SC. Immediately after I was driving on Haywood Rd. Greenville SC when my vehicle slammed on brakes for no reason. There was no car, animal, pedestrian or debris in road to cause to happen. As a result I experienced whip lash and was seen by a doctor and therapist July 5th. This has caused me to be afraid to drive my own car plus miss work plus enjoy my July 4th. I have reported this to Honda Motor Company and I also returned to Hendricks Honda to have a diagnostic test performed but all they did was put 20 miles on my vehicle and said I would have to bring it in and leave it for 3 - 4 hours. WHY? If you truly checked it out today I don't feel I need to return for them to just tell me anything. I really feel like they wasted time doing nothing today. There diagnostic was just driving my vehicle and adding unnecessary miles.

NHTSA ODI #11472428

Official recalls

4

26V332000 · Air Bags:sensor:occupant Classification:front Passenger

May 21, 2026

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.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: Air bags that deploy unintentionally during a crash increase the risk of injury.

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.

24V064000 · Air Bags:sensor:occupant Classification:front Passenger

Feb 1, 2024

Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Pilot, Accord, Civic sedan, HR-V, Odyssey, 2020 Civic coupe, Fit, 2021-2022 Civic hatchback, 2021 Civic Type R, Insight, 2020-2021 CR-V, CR-V Hybrid, Passport, Ridgeline, Accord Hybrid, 2020 Acura MDX, 2022 Acura MDX, 2020-2022 Acura RDX, and 2020-2021 Acura TLX vehicles. The front passenger seat weight sensor may crack and short circuit, failing to suppress the air bag as intended.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: An air bag that deploys unintentionally during a crash can increase the risk of injury.

Remedy: Dealers will replace the seat weight sensors, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 28, 2024. This is a phased recall. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for these recalls are XHP and VHQ.

23V858000 · Fuel System, Gasoline:delivery:fuel Pump

Dec 18, 2023

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.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: Fuel pump failure can cause an engine stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.

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.

21V900000 · Seat Belts:rear/other:retractor

Nov 18, 2021

Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2021 Accord Sedan, Accord Hybrid, CR-V, Ridgeline, 2022 Insight and CR-V Hybrid vehicles. The automatic locking retractor on the second-row center seat belt assembly may deactivate improperly, which can result in an unsecured child restraint system. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: An unsecured child restraint system can increase the risk of injury during a crash.

Remedy: Dealers will replace the second-row center seat belt assembly, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 14, 2022. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

1

EA24002 · Inadvertent Automatic Emergency Braking

Opened Apr 15, 2024 · No close date supplied

Status: open (inferred from source dates) · Forward Collision Avoidance; Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking; Forward Collision Avoidance: Sensing System: Camera; Forward Collision Avoidance: Sensing System: Radar; Forward Collision Avoidance:software

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.

Additional source detail variants (5)

Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking

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.

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.

Forward Collision Avoidance: Sensing System: Camera

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.

Forward Collision Avoidance: Sensing System: Radar

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.

Forward Collision Avoidance:software

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.

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