USED VEHICLE RESEARCH

2021 Honda Accord

Research the 2021 Honda Accord using available NHTSA owner complaints, safety recalls, manufacturer communications, defect investigations, and CarIQ data-coverage analysis.

DATA CONFIDENCE: Moderate

Owner complaints

231NHTSA records

Recall campaigns

4Year, make and model lookup

Manufacturer communications

0Matched NHTSA records

Investigations

1Matched NHTSA records

SUBJECTIVE OWNER FEEDBACK

OWNER EXPERIENCE

What it is like to live with the vehicle—kept clearly separate from official NHTSA evidence.

BUILDING THE COMMUNITY

THE FIRST USEFUL PERSPECTIVE COULD BE YOURS

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SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE 2021 Honda Accord
INDEPENDENT EVIDENCE TYPES

NHTSA owner complaint records remain part of Official Vehicle Data. Subjective review contributions remain in Owner Experience. One does not validate or prove the other. Read the methodology.

EVIDENCE, NOT A SCORE

WHAT THIS DATA CAN TELL YOU ABOUT RELIABILITY

Official records can provide useful research context, but each source has a different meaning. Complaint counts are not failure rates; recalls are formal safety campaigns; manufacturer communications are technical or service documentation; and investigations reflect formal NHTSA activity. Data Confidence measures evidence availability, not vehicle quality. CarIQ does not publish a composite Reliability Score.

Available evidence summary: 231 NHTSA owner complaint records; 4 safety recall campaigns; 0 manufacturer communications; 1 applicable NHTSA defect investigation.

EVIDENCE AVAILABILITY — NOT VEHICLE RELIABILITY

DATA CONFIDENCE

Moderate

Data Confidence measures how much usable evidence CarIQ has for this vehicle. It does not measure how reliable the vehicle is.

Why this rating?
Owner complaint data
Available
Manufacturer communications
Available
Recall data
Available
Investigation data
Available
Production denominator
Unavailable
Complaint component completeness
100%
Mileage completeness
0%
Incident-date completeness
100%

DESCRIPTIVE ANALYTICS

DATA INSIGHTS

Derived from official NHTSA source records. These statistics are descriptive and are not a reliability score.

Complaint records analyzed
231
NHTSA complaints
Most reported component
Electrical System
26% of categorized complaint records
Top-three component concentration
63%
Records mentioning at least one top-three component
Median reported incident mileage
Not available from current source
0 valid mileage observations
Recall campaigns
4
NHTSA recalls
Most recent recall report
May 21, 2026
NHTSA recalls
Manufacturer communications
0
NHTSA manufacturer communications
Most documented component
Not available
NHTSA manufacturer communications
Top-three communication concentration
Not available
Share of categorized manufacturer communications

SOURCE COMPLETENESS

DATA QUALITY

Complaint records analyzed
231
Component classification available
100%
Incident date available
100%
Mileage available
0%
Structured outcome fields available
100%

Completeness describes fields present in the retrieved complaint records. It is not a data-quality grade or a vehicle assessment.

Learn about CarIQ methodology

PRODUCTION-ADJUSTED DESCRIPTIVE METRIC

NORMALIZED COMPLAINT CONTEXT

Production-normalized complaint data is not currently available for this vehicle.

This metric compares the number of NHTSA owner complaint records retrieved by CarIQ with NHTSA-reported production volume for the corresponding vehicle population.

It is not a vehicle failure rate. Complaint reporting behavior, vehicle age, time on the road, production definitions, and other factors can affect the result.

Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Early Warning Reporting, Light Vehicle Production Data. Read the methodology.

OFFICIAL NHTSA OWNER COMPLAINT DATA

PROBLEMS REPORTED IN NHTSA RECORDS

CarIQ groups available NHTSA owner complaint records for the 2021 Honda Accord by vehicle system to make recurring documentation easier to research. Most represented complaint categories describe the retrieved records—not failure frequency.

TOTAL COMPLAINTS231

MOST REPRESENTED COMPLAINT CATEGORIES

Electrical System61 complaints
26%of categorized complaint records
Forward Collision Avoidance61 complaints
26%of categorized complaint records
Unknown or Other53 complaints
23%of categorized complaint records
Engine35 complaints
15%of categorized complaint records
Service Brakes30 complaints
13%of categorized complaint records
Lane Departure15 complaints
6%of categorized complaint records
Air Bags14 complaints
6%of categorized complaint records
Fuel/propulsion System13 complaints
6%of categorized complaint records
Power Train13 complaints
6%of categorized complaint records
Steering8 complaints
3%of categorized complaint records
Vehicle Speed Control8 complaints
3%of categorized complaint records
Seat Belts6 complaints
3%of categorized complaint records
Fuel System3 complaints
1%of categorized complaint records
Seats3 complaints
1%of categorized complaint records
Structure3 complaints
1%of categorized complaint records
Suspension3 complaints
1%of categorized complaint records
Visibility/wiper3 complaints
1%of categorized complaint records
Air2 complaints
1%of categorized complaint records
Engine and Engine Cooling2 complaints
1%of categorized complaint records
Gasoline2 complaints
1%of categorized complaint records
Visibility2 complaints
1%of categorized complaint records
Back Over Prevention1 complaint
0%of categorized complaint records
Diesel1 complaint
0%of categorized complaint records
Equipment1 complaint
0%of categorized complaint records
Exterior Lighting1 complaint
0%of categorized complaint records
Traction Control System1 complaint
0%of categorized complaint records

A complaint may list more than one component and therefore contribute to multiple categories. Percentages show the share of categorized complaint records that mention each component—not the percentage of vehicles affected. Category percentages may overlap.

INCIDENT REPORTS BY YEAR

1969
1
2020
1
2021
21
2022
28
2023
30
2024
31
2025
65
2026
54

Grouped from complaint records with a valid incident date.

RECENT OWNER COMPLAINTS

Forward Collision Avoidance

Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11765567
Read complaint narrative

Sudden braking; car comes to a complete stop and brakes so Hard. Most likely fault from Collision Mitigation Brakking system

Unknown or Other

Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11764287
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COMPONENT: Visibility--Exterior Rearview Mirror, Passenger Side. While driving normally, the passenger-side exterior rearview mirror glass/holder assembly suddenly shattered and completely detached from the mirror housing. There had been no known collision or contact with another vehicle or object. The passenger window was open. The detached mirror glass/holder assembly entered through the open passenger window and landed on the passenger seat. Numerous small fragments of mirror glass were also deposited inside the passenger compartment, including on the passenger seat and dashboard. After the incident, the passenger-side mirror housing remained attached to the vehicle and remained in its normal extended operating position. The housing did not fold from the event and does not exhibit obvious significant collision damage. The detached mirror assembly and photographs have been preserved. Photographs show the exterior mirror housing,m the exposed internal adjustment mechanism, the shattered mirror assembly on the passenger seat, the shattered glass and the rear of the detached mirror holder/adjustment assembly. I am concerned that this may represent a failure of the mirror glass/holder or its attachment mechanism rather than ordinary collision damage. Because the mirror assembly and glass fragments entered the occupied passenger compartment, I believe the event presents a potential safety hazard to vehicle occupants. I am requesting that NHTSA retain this complaint for comparison with similar reports involving Honda Accord exterior mirror glass shattering or detachment.

Electrical System · Forward Collision Avoidance

Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11764376
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The car's infotainment system constantly glitches out and changes channels,outputs,texts,videos while car is being driven. It's very distracting and dangerous. It will literally do it 100's of times within a short period. It's much worse than any text messaging distraction, which is against the law. Several people with this car have the same issue. Also the car will break when there's actually nothing in the road that should make it break but it will just slam on the brakes.

Forward Collision Avoidance · Lane Departure

Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11763472
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Vehicle started flashing all lights on dashboard. I drove it for awhile and then it eventually went off. A few days later same lights came back on a car started misfiring. Was told by Honda that is was the Turbo that's going bad. Today is just cut off on me. Luckily there wasn't anyone behind me. I see a lot of people are having these same issues and a recall should be put out immediately.

Electrical System

Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11762690
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Door lock actuator(s) randomly failing to lock/unlock. Multiple reports on forums for same exact issue. Replace one, another fails shortly after. Issue involves both locking and unlocking, putting safety individuals at risk for unexpected access to car or inability to lock car once inside. No messages, warnings, or suggestions from car to tell me that the locking had failed.

Power Train · Vehicle Speed Control · Fuel/propulsion System

Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11761750
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Unable to use cruise control Unable to use lane control Unable to use tire pressure gauge Unable to use auto brake system Car shakes due to a sudden decrease in engine performance. Turbocharger issues Powertrain System issues ECM Failure

Electrical System · Service Brakes

Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11761169
Read complaint narrative

Dash lights on for Brake system malfunction. Emergency parking brake light on as well as TPS system. Lights around Park, Neutral and drive not illuminated. Battery and alternator are in good standing.

Electrical System · Service Brakes · Engine

Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11760127
Read complaint narrative

All of my services lights are on in th dashboard.

NHTSA complaints are reports submitted by vehicle owners and other consumers. Complaint counts do not represent the percentage of vehicles affected and do not by themselves establish that a safety defect exists.

A higher complaint count can partly reflect how many vehicles were sold, vehicle age, and other factors. CarIQ does not yet normalize complaint counts by vehicles sold.

Data provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). This site is not endorsed by NHTSA.

OFFICIAL NHTSA SAFETY RECALL DATA

SAFETY RECALLS

4 recall campaigns found

01AIR BAGS:SENSOR:OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION:FRONT PASSENGERCampaign 26V332000May 21, 2026

Summary

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.

Safety 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.

02AIR BAGS:SENSOR:OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION:FRONT PASSENGERCampaign 24V064000February 1, 2024

Summary

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.

Safety 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.

Additional Notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.nhtsa.gov.

03FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:FUEL PUMPCampaign 23V858000December 18, 2023

Summary

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.

Safety 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.

Additional Notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.nhtsa.gov.

04SEAT BELTS:REAR/OTHER:RETRACTORCampaign 21V900000November 18, 2021

Summary

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."

Safety 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.

Additional Notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.nhtsa.gov.

Recall results shown here are based on year, make, and model. A specific vehicle may or may not be affected. Check the vehicle's VIN with NHTSA to confirm open recalls before purchasing. Data provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

OFFICIAL NHTSA MANUFACTURER COMMUNICATION DATA

MANUFACTURER COMMUNICATIONS

TOTAL COMMUNICATIONS0

No NHTSA manufacturer communication records were returned for this year, make, and model.

Manufacturer communications include service bulletins and other technical information submitted by manufacturers to NHTSA. The existence or number of communications does not establish how often a condition occurs or whether an individual vehicle will experience it.

Some manufacturers may issue more detailed service documentation than others, so communication counts should not be used alone to compare vehicle reliability.

Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration manufacturer communications

NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION

NHTSA DEFECT INVESTIGATIONS

TOTAL INVESTIGATION RECORDS1
Open investigations
1
Closed investigations
0
Applicability match
range

Engineering Analysis

Inadvertent Automatic Emergency Braking

EA24002
Status
open
Component
Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking · Forward Collision Avoidance · Forward Collision Avoidance: Sensing System: Camera · Forward Collision Avoidance: Sensing System: Radar · Forward Collision Avoidance:software
Opened
Apr 15, 2024
Closed
Not available
Read NHTSA summary

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.

NHTSA investigations evaluate potential motor-vehicle safety defects. The existence of an investigation does not by itself establish that a safety defect exists, and the absence of an investigation does not establish that a vehicle is problem-free.

Open and closed describe NHTSA's process status, not a CarIQ reliability judgment.

View official NHTSA investigation data ↗

DESCRIPTIVE SOURCE OVERLAP

CROSS-SOURCE VEHICLE DATA

CarIQ compares categories appearing across independent NHTSA datasets. Overlap can help identify areas with more available documentation, but it does not establish defect frequency or prove that an individual vehicle will experience a problem.

ComponentOwner complaintsManufacturer communicationsRecall campaignsNHTSA investigationsOfficial sources containing records
Forward Collision Avoidance610012 of 4
Electrical System610001 of 4
Unknown or Other530001 of 4
Engine350001 of 4
Service Brakes300001 of 4
Lane Departure150001 of 4
Air Bags140001 of 4
Fuel/propulsion System130001 of 4
Power Train130001 of 4
Steering80001 of 4

Displayed first by the number of source categories containing the component, then by owner complaint count, then alphabetically. This is a presentation rule, not a vehicle ranking. Complaint reports, manufacturer communications, recalls, and investigations describe different events and are never added into a combined total.

complaint
Available
communication
Available
recall
Available
investigation
Available
production
Unavailable

COMMON RESEARCH QUESTIONS

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE 2021 HONDA ACCORD

Is the 2021 Honda Accord reliable?

CarIQ does not currently assign a reliability score to the 2021 Honda Accord. Available evidence is shown as separate official-source records with a Data Confidence classification of Moderate.

What problems are reported for the 2021 Honda Accord?

231 NHTSA owner complaint records. When complaint data is available, the page groups records by the NHTSA component categories they identify without treating those categories as verified failure rates.

Are there recalls for the 2021 Honda Accord?

4 safety recall campaigns. Year, make, and model results do not confirm whether a specific VIN is affected or whether a remedy has been completed.

USED-CAR CANDIDATE RESEARCH

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