2018 Honda HR-V Electrical Problems

I am filing a formal complaint regarding two critical manufacturing defects on my 2018 Honda HR-V that pose immediate safety risks and financial losses: 1. CRITICAL SAFETY ISSUE (Instrument Gauge Failure): The digital display gauge on the right side of the driver's dashboard consistently blinks out and displays entirely unreadable, corrupted characters. This failure makes it impossible to monitor the fuel gauge or know how much gasoline remains in the vehicle. This defect is highly temperature-dependent, becoming severely worse during colder months. Not being able to read the fuel gauge creates an immediate, dangerous safety hazard, risking sudden, unexpected engine stalling on active highways or getting stranded in hazardous conditions. 2. MANUFACTURING DEFECT (Paint Delamination): The vehicle is exhibiting severe paint peeling and flaking on the roof in four distinct places. The exterior clear coat and base coat are actively separating from the underlying primer due to an inherent manufacturing adhesion failure. The vehicle features the White Orchid Pearl color (Paint Code: NH-788P). American Honda Motor Co. previously acknowledged this exact production defect by issuing a Warranty Extension under Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) 19-064, extending coverage for 2016–2018 HR-Vs for 7 years. However, because this premature failure is only now manifesting on my vehicle, Honda Corporate and local dealerships are refusing to cover the thousands of dollars in necessary repair costs, claiming the 7-year window has expired. Limiting the remedy to an arbitrary timeframe for an inherent manufacturing defect leaves consumers with a structurally degrading vehicle (exposure to rust and metal deterioration) & zero recourse. Respectfully request that the Office of Defects Investigation compel American Honda to address the dashboard electrical failures and expand or reopen the remedy for known White Pearl paint peeling defect to ensure consumer safety& manufacturer accountability

NHTSA ID

11748651

Incident

Jul 5, 2026

Complaint Regarding 2018 Honda HR-V AWD – Air Conditioning Failure, Odometer Malfunction, and Prior Fuel Pump Replacement. I am filing a complaint regarding my 2018 Honda HR-V AWD due to ongoing mechanical and electrical issues that appear to affect many Honda HR-V owners. The primary issue is the air conditioning system, which has not been functioning consistently. The A/C repeatedly fails to cool properly and intermittently stops working altogether. I am aware that many other Honda HR-V owners have reported similar air conditioning problems, and Honda has offered extended warranty coverage for certain Honda vehicles with A/C system defects. However, my vehicle has not been included in that extended coverage, despite experiencing the same recurring issues. In addition, the vehicle previously required a fuel pump replacement in 2021. I am concerned that this may indicate broader reliability and safety-related defects affecting this model. The vehicle is also experiencing mechanical and electrical problems involving the odometer/instrumentation system. The odometer has shown irregular behavior and appears to malfunction intermittently, raising concerns about the accuracy of vehicle information and overall reliability. I have been experiencing these issues for years without any resolution. I reached out to Honda Customer Service about these issues, but because my "VIN" is not included in the recall or extended warranty, I haven't been able to get much help. I believe these issues warrant investigation, particularly given the number of similar complaints from other Honda HR-V owners. I respectfully request that Honda be required to extend warranty coverage and corrective action to include affected 2018 Honda HR-V AWD vehicles like mine. Thank you for your attention to this matter

NHTSA ID

11739139

Incident

Nov 5, 2021

On September 17. 2025 I was at a red light on Normandie Avenue and Exposition Blvd the light turned green and as I was entering the intersection going southbound my doors on the vehicle started locking and un locking, my dashboard went black and the car shut off, The Braking system malfunction, the airbag did not deploy, my knees hit the bottom part of the dashboard and my mouth hit the steering wheel knocking out several teeth. The dashboard only had an airbag code, a brake code and a vehicle with the doors opened on the screen. I had the car towed to my home and informed my insurance company of the incident, they referred me to a body shop who held my vehicle for 5 months after doing the body work, they labeled my vehicle unsafe to drive because the codes are still on the vehicle, not knowing that this body shop doesn't do electrical work. I reached out to Honda several times because they were the last ones to work on my vehicle for the fuel pump recall, but they noted VSA\ABS for the last couple of weeks I finally talked with Service Manager Marvin Cabrera and he directed me to American Honda Motors and after reaching out to them since the 3rd of February, they keep telling me about appointing an investigation inspection with the FTS (field technical specialist) and I have not received any updates about my vehicle. These are the codes that came up while using the scan tool U0416 Invalid Data Received from vehicle Dynamics Control Module, B00D5 Occupant Classification System Sensor Fault, B0090 Left Frontal Restraints Sensor Incorrect Component Installed

NHTSA ID

11722863

Incident

Sep 17, 2025

In a freezing cold parking lot car would not start. Had car towed to service center. Problem was gas gauge showing almost half a tank but car was out of gas. It is a bad sending unit. This is hazardous. There were no warnings or lights notifying me of a problem with the sending unit. I drive on highways at night. Potentially running out of gas on a busy highway with no warning is hazardous. Mechanic informed me this is a common problem with Honda. Over 500 dollars for a tow and diagnosis. Will cost $2200 to repair. If parts of the fuel pump were recalled why not the sending unit?????

NHTSA ID

11716804

Incident

Jan 30, 2026

I was driving to work and everything on the dashboard lit up. It actively showed that the car was changing gears while I was in traffic. I pulled over and the car reader gave me error - P0793. We have a 2018 Honda HRV with only 86,000 miles. The car became sluggish and sounded like something went wrong with the engine. There was no prior alarm or lights on dashboard before everything began blinking. There is a service bulletin for this issue by honda - 21-047 CVT belt deterioration warranty extension. Car is currently at Honda dealership and they denied us a good will request because we were 11 months and 29 days out of warranty.

NHTSA ID

11715892

Incident

Jan 27, 2026

the fuel gauge, mileage don't show until the car is warmed up. this happens on a cold weather.

NHTSA ID

11711876

Incident

Oct 20, 2025

The dashboard light don't turn on on a cold weather day until the car is warm. The dealer charged me $215.97 in late October but it started again. Dealer says right software cluster must be replaced now.

NHTSA ID

11711769

Incident

Oct 29, 2025

Odometer and fuel gauge cluster on dashboard only working intermittently. Started in November 2025 in the cold weather the display would get blurry, then not work. Honda dealership confirmed problem but did not offer a recall or TSB. Only offered to replace that gauge cluster for $2,365. Safety concern as driver cannot know the amount of fuel left in the vehicle. If vehicle runs out of fuel, can cause crash.

NHTSA ID

11710670

Incident

Nov 12, 2025

The contact owns a 2018 Honda HR-V. The contact stated that the fuel gauge reading was intermittently inoperable. The contact stated that the failure mostly occurred while starting the vehicle, with the fuel gauge reading being displayed after driving for an extended period. The dealer was contacted and informed the contact that it was an instrument cluster failure, and there would be a charge for the repair. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

NHTSA ID

11708738

Incident

Jul 5, 2025

Mileage

100,000 mi

The instrument panel with the odometer and gas gauge goes out completely at random times. Before the panel goes dark, the display flickers chaotically. I always note the issue to the dealership when I service my car. On the 2nd occasion, I was told the entire panel would have to be replaced at a cost of $1800. I told the service tech that I could not afford that expense. His recommendation was to bang on an area close to the display with my fist to get it to reappear. He actually demonstrated how to do it. The Honda Dealerships are aware of the problem and admit it’s a manufacturing design flaw. I have tolerated this for several years thinking Honda would offer compensation for the problem. However, yesterday when it was working, an alert appeared in the middle of the display about an issue with my fuel cap. I’m aware that the fuel cap issue is related to a recall, but if the display had not been working I wouldn’t have seen the alert because I wasn’t aware that alerts appear on that display and I realize now that I can miss an urgent alert. To me that’s a huge safety issue! I’ve seen hundreds of complaints online about this, and I know it’s caused by cracks in the solder. I would like for Honda to be accountable and let customers have this repaired at no charge.

NHTSA ID

11705200

Incident

Dec 1, 2022

Just bought this car in a private party sale. As with other complaints posted on this site, the car has issues with its electrical system related to its Dashboard and specifically the right display showing the mileage, fuel gauge, outside temperature, etc. Intermittently (and possibly related to cold weather), the entire dashboard will either flicker with unintelligible information and/or go completely black where no info will show. This will happen upon start or after driving a short bit and last several minutes. Very concerning as you will not be able to view mileage and fuel levels. My guess is this has been happening for some time. There should be a recall to fix this as from looking at your complaints and internet research, this is affecting many, many vehicles.

NHTSA ID

11702227

Incident

Nov 1, 2025

On March 11, 2025 I took my car to Gardena Honda for a fuel pump recall for my 2018 Honda HR-v ex. On September 17, 2025 I had a system malfunction where the doors were locking and unlocking the dashboard went black and a car symbol with doors opened appear on the dash, the car shut off and I tried to brake but they did not work, I hit a car in front of me and when the airbags did not deploy I hit my mouth on the steering wheel and knock out 3 of 4 teeth that I had work done on. A scan tool was put on my vehicle when I got it home and there was two codes showing B00D5 occupant classification sensor fault and U0416 invalid data received from vehicle dynamic control module. I came to this website because i wanted to know was there any other recalls and found out there was 3 on the make model and year of my vehicle. # 135 Vehicle Brake System, low pressure fuel pump, and the fuel pump inside the fuel tank

NHTSA ID

11701628

Incident

Sep 17, 2025

The odometer displays keeps lagging and the display goes out. This is a common problem with this vehicle. It should be addressed because the vehicle isn’t running at is fullest potential.

NHTSA ID

11683755

Incident

Aug 28, 2025

I am writing to report a serious safety concern involving my vehicle. The car has exhibited repeated instances of unintended activation while parked and left untouched. Specifically, the entire electrical system—including the dashboard, infotainment, and other electronic components—powers on and off spontaneously without any user interaction. This behavior raises significant safety and reliability concerns, especially when the vehicle is unattended. I am requested for a thorough investigation into this issue to determine the root cause and to ensure that appropriate corrective measures are taken to prevent potential hazards. Honda service center identified the issue is caused by 'Body Control Module'. They even indicated that the fault is in the software and the unit and user has nothing to do with it and asked me to check with Honda company. When i asked the company they said no recalls for this VIN and asked me to file a complaint here. My car has driven only 36K miles and its like a brand new car still. This is not even my fault and its a big safety issue. I ended up paying $1400 for the whole thing since i am in need of a car right now for all the doctor appointments and i didn't even got a rental car while the repair is going on which is like 4 days. This costed me so much money and headache. Also i have seen the same issue reported online by many folks using Honda at that year. Please take the ticket forward as this is a major safety issue. Please help in recall and reimburse my money

NHTSA ID

11682089

Incident

Aug 2, 2025

While driving the car to work the instrument cluster LCD display began to glitch showing garbled information on the fuel as well as effecting the speedometer reading. Having inaccurate speedometer reading due to a faulty instrument cluster can put others at risk due to not knowing your exact speed. There were no indications of a problem prior to this incident. Upon discussion with several HRV owners and forums this issue is likely caused by cracked solder joints on the board for the instrument cluster. The leadfree solder used appears to fail causing connection issues for the pins on the board and erratic read outs and displays. I plan to have the dealer look at the vehicle shortly. This problem is known and reported prolifically on discussion boards. Honda has released several service notices internally related to this issue for CRVs and Civics, but no recalls and not for HRVs.

NHTSA ID

11679900

Incident

Aug 11, 2025

On the driver's dashboard, the right side gauge of the dash blinks out and shows unreadable letters/characters. This makes it impossible to rear this gauge and see how much fuel is remaining in the car.

NHTSA ID

11673847

Incident

Jul 15, 2025

The instrument cluster, specifically the odometer, fuel gauge, etc. (Right side) Rarely lights up to show how much fuel is in the tank, oil life, or mileage, potentially leaving you stranded or running out of gas while driving. Dealership has confirmed and said it would be $1,500+ to replace the entire cluster.

NHTSA ID

11659299

Incident

May 6, 2025

Odometer has been glitching due to freezing temps. Mileage seems to still be tallying but yesterday in temp of 10 degrees F, meter was glitching badly. Seems to be fine when warmed up but even button on dash to see trips becomes difficult to push. Sometimes turning car on the odometer is blank and will turn off the car and back on again to have it pull back up. Gas gauge and light still function even with glitching. Have read that other makes are having this issue as well.

NHTSA ID

11640204

Incident

Feb 1, 2025

The MPG gauge on the instrument cluster does not light up. This part of the instrument cluster also displays mileage, fuel levels and temperature. This is a safety risk due to not being able to determine fuel levels and mpg ranges at the minimum. This issue for me started 4 months ago on my 2018 Honda HRV with 80k miles on it. This issue has been reported to Honda for vehicles ranging from 2018-2023 models HRV, crv, pilots and fit. The issue has been determined to be that Honda manufacturers the instrument cluster by using lead free solder which over time, the solder cracks from exterior temperature rising and dropping. The damage is these cracks cause the instrument clusters sensors to not function properly and completely fail. Honda suggests buying a new instrument cluster however, the replacement instrument cluster is manufactured with the same lead free solder and this will only be an issue again down the road. Honda dealerships have not yet acknowledged that the lead free solder on the backside of instrument cluster is the problem. The instrument cluster is quoted at $1,300.00. I believe Honda should be investigating this and correcting it as this is a safety risk for a wide range of their vehicles.

NHTSA ID

11634027

Incident

Oct 1, 2024

I’m having an issue where the odometer/trip/fuel display is dark when I start the car and then it will flicker on and off with gibberish. Eventually it will display accurately.

NHTSA ID

11632451

Incident

Mar 11, 2024

Odometer flickers on and off and at times does not even turn on when car is started and moving. When the odometer flicks on it does not register mileage or fuel levels. This is a major safety issue don’t being able to see this vital information.

NHTSA ID

11624353

Incident

Nov 9, 2024

The contact owns a 2018 Honda HR-V. The contact stated that the instrument cluster speedometer and gauges were inoperable during cold temperatures. On several occasions, the instrument cluster screen was flickering. The contact had to bang on the dashboard for it to turn the instrument panel on. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 33,000.

NHTSA ID

11620322

Incident

Dec 1, 2023

Mileage

33,000 mi

The digital dash doesn’t come on sometimes and sometimes it flickers in Japanese and is all over the place. I have to smack the dash board out push the reset button to get it to come on.

NHTSA ID

11604797

Incident

Jul 8, 2024

The contact owns a 2018 Honda HR-V. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the instrument panel failed to operate properly. The contact stated that the fuel gauge display was unavailable. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer; however, the dealer was contacted, and the contact was informed that the instrument panel needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 59,000.

NHTSA ID

11603018

Incident

Feb 15, 2024

Mileage

59,000 mi

The component on the right of the dash regularly does not display anything which includes fuel level, odometer/mile range, temperature, and time among other information. This has been occurring for over a year. My two biggest issues are that I can't see how much gas I have left and that the odometer isn't always viewable. The gas tank is a constant issue because I worry about getting stranded somewhere because I didn't know. You have to be incredibly careful to catch the display on the occasion it does turn on and guess as to when you need to refuel because most of the time you can't see it on the dash. The odometer is the other issue. When getting my car serviced, I've had workers unable to read the odometer and this could be a huge issue with the DMV if they can't read my mileage. I won't be able to register my car if they need to inspect my car including for an emission test. My car will fail because the dashboard doesn't display correctly.

NHTSA ID

11590678

Incident

May 24, 2024