2021 Honda CR-V Hybrid Problems
Owner-reported complaints filed with NHTSA, grouped by component
Data refreshed
What this page shows
Everything below is an owner-reported complaint submitted to NHTSA about the 2021 Honda CR-V Hybrid, grouped by the component NHTSA recorded on the report. These are not confirmed defects, and they are not recalls. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a category with more reports in it is not evidence that a part is defective.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Reports by component
Ranked by how many owner reports name each component category
- Driver assistance3425.0%
- Engine3223.5%
- Electrical2417.6%
- Fuel system1511.0%
- Powertrain (other)96.6%
- Brakes85.9%
- Steering64.4%
- Body & structure32.2%
- Visibility21.5%
- Airbags21.5%
- Tires & wheels10.7%
Percentages are of component mentions. A single complaint can name more than one component, so these do not sum to the total complaint count.
Each component in detail
What the reports in each category say, in the owners' own words
Driver assistance
Reports naming forward-collision avoidance, lane keeping, back-over prevention, cruise control and related electronic driver-assistance systems.
From owner reports, verbatim
While traveling northwest at 37 mph, the automatic brake system engaged jolting the driver. The camera shows no objects in front of but there were two vehicles traveling southeast in the opposite lane prior to the brakes applying. There were shadows from trees. If there was a vehicle behind, and the driver did not react fast enough, this would have been a rearend collision. This is the third time that the automatic brake system engaged for no reason since we have owned this vehicle (Dec 2021) and each time it has been reported to the NTSB. In the past two cases, there were no vehicles or shadows from trees, since we were in the desert. The previous two times, the vehicle was inspected by the dealership with no defect noted (under warranty). There were no dashboard warning notices indicating an issue. The vehicle will be resubmitted to a dealership for inspection for this third incident (not under warranty).
The issue occurs seemingly randomly about once a month when driving on the highway. All of the sudden the car starts de-accelerating. Even if you push the gas pedal all the way down it doesn’t go. It just goes slower and slower and thank goodness I’ve been able to pull over every time. Once I shutdown the car completely and turn back on then I have power again.
Engine
Reports naming the engine itself — including stalling, misfires, oil consumption, cooling and internal engine components.
From owner reports, verbatim
The vehicle experienced a premature failure of the head gasket; it was blown at 130,000 miles. I was close to home when I received a dash alert stating not to accelerate as the engine was nearing a critically high temperature. If I had not been able to get home so quickly, my safety may have been compromised as my car could have overheated forcing me to pull over on the shoulder of a busy bridge. My local dealership inspected the vehicle and has quoted me nearly $4,500 for the repair, despite it appearing as this is a known issue with this particular engine.
Traveling on 4 lane highway at 65 mph on slight upgrade-check engine light started flashing and vehicle started to shudder slightly and went into "limp" mode I think. Started to slow down with NO power. Turned on emergency flashers and was able to pull over without incident, although it was close to causing an accident with a tractor trailer. I shut the vehicle down and after 10 minutes, started it again> I was able to drive home another 45 miles without incident. This happened a week ago and so far it hasn't happened again.
Electrical
Reports naming the electrical system — wiring, battery, charging, control modules, infotainment and electrical accessories.
From owner reports, verbatim
1st incident all failure lights went on while driving on HWy 137 which os a 2 lane hoghway. 2nd i cidenr -All engine failure lights went on and lost power on the fast lane while driving on 15 freeway. Had to be towed hime both times and sat in an unsafe zone while tow truck arrived.
Within the past 3 months, twice now, the battery indicator goes to zero and engine loses power and you can't accelerate. This is very dangerous where we live as it is a 2 lane mountain highway with few spots to safely pull over. There are a number of posts about this know issue, all stating the same scenario and that no Honda dealerships will fix it as they "can't determine an issue". I called our dealer after this happened the first time and was instructed to not restart the vehicle and just have it towed in. That is not realistic.
Fuel system
Reports naming fuel storage or delivery — tanks, pumps, lines, injectors and fuel leaks.
From owner reports, verbatim
The issue occurs seemingly randomly about once a month when driving on the highway. All of the sudden the car starts de-accelerating. Even if you push the gas pedal all the way down it doesn’t go. It just goes slower and slower and thank goodness I’ve been able to pull over every time. Once I shutdown the car completely and turn back on then I have power again.
Been dealing with an intermittent flashing engine light issue for the past 1.5 to 2 years. We bought this car brand new in 2021 and the first time this happened the car was barely 3 years old. Whenever this issue occurs, the check engine light would flash and the car would lose engine power (pressing down on the accelerator does nothing). Once stopped, we can hear loud knocking noises from the engine. Usually turning the car off and then back on resets the behavior and the car operates normally. However, this is a very dangerous issue as it sometimes happen on the highway. It took us almost 2 years to successfully pull the error codes because, for reasons we can't understand, Honda designed this error code to clear itself after 3 uneventful drive cycles (as told to us by two separate dealers). We took the car to the various shops multiple time and they were never able to reproduce or diagnose the issue. Finally we were able to get the codes pulled at an O'Reilly's right after it happened, and the codes they found were: - Cylinder 1 misfire - Cylinder 2 misfire - Random misfires We took it to a dealer afterward and they ran a fuel/air ratio test and said everything looked fine; then they examined the fuel valves and noticed they were all overly tight. They believed that was the root cause and adjusted them to spec; we had to pay $1000 for the adjustment because for some reason this was considered a "maintenance item" even though we have never touched the fuel valves and the car was not due for this particular maintenance item until 100K miles, so I don't understand why this shouldn't be covered under warranty. In any case, it turned out the fuel valve adjustments didn't fix the issue and it happened again, so the car's back in the dealership now. I found a bunch of similar complaints pertaining to this vehicle model, and it really deserves more. attention.
Powertrain (other)
Powertrain reports that are not specifically the engine or transmission — driveshafts, axles, transfer cases and differentials.
From owner reports, verbatim
The vehicle experienced a premature failure of the head gasket; it was blown at 130,000 miles. I was close to home when I received a dash alert stating not to accelerate as the engine was nearing a critically high temperature. If I had not been able to get home so quickly, my safety may have been compromised as my car could have overheated forcing me to pull over on the shoulder of a busy bridge. My local dealership inspected the vehicle and has quoted me nearly $4,500 for the repair, despite it appearing as this is a known issue with this particular engine.
I own a 2021 Honda CR-V Touring hybrid and have had 2 incidents of what I have learned is called sudden unintentional acceleration (SUA). I bought the car new and took possession of it in the spring of 2021. The first incident occurred Nov 14, 2023 when I was parking at a restaurant. I was slowly pulling forward into a parking spot where there were unattended cars on either side of me as well as in front of me. Suddenly, without warning, I was surging with full force into the minivan parked ahead of me as well as the front end of the car parked next to it. I slammed on the brake but not before I had pushed the minvan several feet forward. I did not know how this happened but, even though I knew that I had not stepped on the gas pedal nor had something interfered with it, I assumed that I must have done something to cause this accident. Thousands of dollars of damage was done to my car as well as the other two vehicles that were struck. The second incident was June 11, 2025. I was slowly advancing forward into a hotel parking space. There was a curb at the end of the space with some landscaping behind that. The landscaping had an uphill incline with some large evergreens about 8-10 feet from the curb. Once again, the car suddenly surged forward, jumping the curb, and accelerating into the evergreens. I slammed on the brake, feeling like I was putting my foot through the floor. This was an exact repeat of the previous incident and I am absolutely certain that I did nothing to cause this acceleration to occur. I was able to back out of the evergreens and my car does not appear to be damaged. Airbags were not deployed in either incident. I went on-line and there are numerous reports of similar incidents among CR-v owners but I do not see any recalls or actions taken by Honda on this problem. I intend to take the car to the Honda dealer in the next week. I fear the next incident may result in injury or death.
Brakes
Reports naming service brakes, the antilock braking system, brake hoses, master cylinders or the parking brake.
From owner reports, verbatim
While traveling northwest at 37 mph, the automatic brake system engaged jolting the driver. The camera shows no objects in front of but there were two vehicles traveling southeast in the opposite lane prior to the brakes applying. There were shadows from trees. If there was a vehicle behind, and the driver did not react fast enough, this would have been a rearend collision. This is the third time that the automatic brake system engaged for no reason since we have owned this vehicle (Dec 2021) and each time it has been reported to the NTSB. In the past two cases, there were no vehicles or shadows from trees, since we were in the desert. The previous two times, the vehicle was inspected by the dealership with no defect noted (under warranty). There were no dashboard warning notices indicating an issue. The vehicle will be resubmitted to a dealership for inspection for this third incident (not under warranty).
I was driving the vehicle on route I287 and all of a sudden the break system got activated without touching any button and the car speed was damped down and as a result the car was pulled aside to see what had happened. The break system completely collapsed with a break sign on the dashboard appearing persistently which could not be deactivated or was not able to remove from the dashboard with several attempts made in restarting the engine. Due to the involuntary break activation on highway driving, my life as well others would have been in extreme danger and jeopardized the whole situation in continuing driving further. The car was towed on a flat bed to the the dealer The Honda Princenton, New Jersey for further investigation and got analyzed for the root cause and they suggested a fix of head gasket replacement, a major repair, asking us to fix the vehicle at the cost of 6000 dollars. Previously, I had driven several Hondas and never experienced break issues on the cars and we had invested in buying this time the Honda CR-V and what we went through this vehicle something like this is not fair for the customer has to go through a major repair on the vehicle at such a low milage of 127,000 put on the car which never was involved in an accident and driving the car on high way every day to the work place. We want a complete restoration of the vehicle at free of cost and get it certified and drivable safely on the road.
Steering
Reports naming the steering system — racks, columns, power-steering assist and steering linkage.
From owner reports, verbatim
The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel failed to turn in the intended direction. No warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that the failure had occurred several times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the failure was not duplicated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 57,500.
Sometime at about 47 miles I began noticing a “stickiness” in the steering. It feels hard to turn either direction and requires effort. Then suddenly it turns almost to the point of overcorrection. It also makes a creaking and popping sound. It seems to be getting worse and I’m now at 53k miles. The amount of time the steering feels stuck is longer and more frequent. I see this is a common complaint and a recall for other year models but not the 2021 in spite of there being plenty of complaints about the exact same issue. Clearly something is wrong with the whole lot of CRVs manufactured with whatever this defective part is. I have no choice but to repair but shouldn’t I expect to have a car made with functioning parts?
Too few reports in this category for a page of its own — they appear in the full complaint list.
Body & structure
Reports naming the vehicle structure, frame, body panels, doors, hood and trim.
From owner reports, verbatim
The vehicle was parked, not running in a shopping center. The trunk was open and I was putting groceries into the trunk. The trunk started to close while I was leaning inside loading groceries. The trunk did reverse up only after it hit my back, quite hard. This has happened to me three times, each time injured a part of my body. No sounds were made to alert me the trunk was closing while leaning in it, I will be finally report this to Honda. No insurance claim has been made
Good day, I bought my Honda CRV last summer. In October, I was driving on an on-ramp to the expressway and the hood flew open. I filed an insurance claim with Farmer's for the repairs. It was repaired to the original specs. I saw where other Honda models have been recalled for this issue. There was no reason for the hood to fly open, I had no recent needs to open the hood at the time. I thought it prudent to bring this to your attention in case the Honda CRV has the same type of hood as the other models recalled. I was fortunate the incident in October had no injuries and did not compromise safety for other travelers on the road. However, there may still be risk for another occurrence if it is the same problem as the other models. I appreciate any information or guidance that will help ensure my Honda is safe to drive. Thank you, [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Too few reports in this category for a page of its own — they appear in the full complaint list.
Visibility
Reports naming windshields, glass, wipers, defrosters and mirrors.
From owner reports, verbatim
Brittle / torn top black windshield seal gasket tendency to fog / moisture / rain/water penetration inside the car . Also decolorize all black plastic side panels
Driving on flat highway and the windshield cracked from the outside edge inwards. There was no impact of any object and windshield passes "ball point pen test". Dealer refuses to warranty repair. Vehicle is available for inspection. No warning signs although there are ongoing class action suits claiming defect in windshield support.
Too few reports in this category for a page of its own — they appear in the full complaint list.
Airbags
Reports naming the air-bag system — deployment behaviour, inflators, sensors and warning lights.
From owner reports, verbatim
The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V064000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 24V064000 (Air Bags) and 23V844000 (Electrical System) however, the parts to do the recall repairs were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
Too few reports in this category for a page of its own — they appear in the full complaint list.
Tires & wheels
Reports naming tires, wheels, hubs, or the tire-pressure monitoring system.
From owner reports, verbatim
Hankook Kinergy GT 235 / 60 R 18 130H The driver's side front tire burst on 12/24/2021. The tire split, almost like a re-tread (see pictures). I suspect a sidewall structure/reinforcement failure. This could/should have caused a rollover like the tire failures and accidents of Ford Explorers and other light trucks/SUV's fitted with Firestone Radial ATX, ATX II, and Wilderness tires in the late 90's and early 2000's. Pacific Honda Dealer replaced the tire and disposed the detached and burst tire on 12/28/2021. When the tire burst on highway, I barely managed to pull over to the left side since it was pulling in various directions, so my safety was at risk. There was no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure.
Too few reports in this category for a page of its own — they appear in the full complaint list.
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Elsewhere on this vehicle
Data sources
- NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation — owner-reported complaints and the components recorded on them
Data on this page last refreshed .