2018 Honda CR-V
Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues
Engine is the leading concern among 2,145 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the highest complaint count among 26 CR-V model years with reports.
Of the 2018 reports, 46 involved a crash and 2 involved a fire. 47 people were injured.
What owners report most often
Recalls and investigations
Air bags, sensor, occupant classification, front passengerMay 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.
Air bags that deploy unintentionally during a crash increase the risk of injury.
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.
Campaign 26V332000 on NHTSA.gov
Fuel system, gasoline, delivery, fuel pumpDec 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.
Fuel pump failure can cause an engine stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.
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.
Campaign 23V858000 on NHTSA.gov
Seat belts, front, buckle assemblyMar 9, 2023
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.
An unlatched seat belt cannot properly restrain the seat occupant during a crash, increasing their risk of injury.
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.
Campaign 23V158000 on NHTSA.gov
Fuel system, gasoline, delivery, fuel pumpMar 25, 2021
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Acura MDX, MDX Sport Hybrid, RDX, TLX, Honda Accord, Civic Hatchback, Insight, 2019 Acura ILX, Honda Accord Hybrid, Civic Coupe, Civic Coupe Si, Civic Sedan, Civic Sedan Si, Civic Type R, Fit, HR-V, Odyssey, Passport, Pilot and Ridgeline, and 2018-2019 CR-V vehicles. The low-pressure fuel pump inside the fuel tank may fail.
Fuel pump failure can cause an engine stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.
Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel pump assembly, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed May 18, 2021. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Note: This recall is an expansion of recall 20V-314.
Campaign 21V215000 on NHTSA.gov
Steering, electric power assist systemSep 27, 2018
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2017-2018 Honda Civic and CR-V vehicles. The magnet that controls the torque sensor output signal for the electronic power steering system may not be properly secured, allowing the magnet to become dislodged. During a full lock turn, the dislodged magnet may cause steering assist to be applied in the opposite direction.
The unintended steering input reduces vehicle maneuverability and increases the risk of a crash.
Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering gearbox assembly, free of charge. The recall began November 9, 2018. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are C2N, P2O.
Campaign 18V663000 on NHTSA.gov
Representative owner complaints: forward collision avoidance
394 reports, newest first. Show all
Forward collision avoidance, Mar 1, 2022
I was driving inside the steel mill where I work at approximately 25mph when the automatic braking light came on and the vehicle came to a sudden stop, hurting my neck and scaring me. There were no other vehicles in sight in front of me or (thankfully) behind me. The only thing I could think of that triggered it was a steel plate that is embedded in the roadway. I have to cross several of them to get to my office and they have not triggered the automatic braking before or since, but I travel about 20 miles each way day on a highway with heavy traffic and a 70mph speed limit. I am extremely concerned that this will happen while traveling at a high rate of speed with a semi truck behind me.
Forward collision avoidance, Feb 28, 2022
The contact owns a 2018 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the forward collision avoidance feature would activate without incident, causing the vehicle to brake independently. The contact stated that a brake warning light would flash on the instrument panel during the failure. The contact had taken the vehicle to a dealer where she was informed that prior damage to her front bumper had caused the failure despite the bumper being repaired. The dealer recalibrated the front sensor; however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was unknown.
Forward collision avoidance, Feb 28, 2022
2018 Honda CR-V EX, especially in colder weather the forward collision mitigation system will malfunction and phantom brake randomly. When I turn on the active cruise control, sometimes it'll stop working due to the collision mitigation system malfunctioning. There were multiple incidents where it'll start braking in the high way almost causing collisions, and I would have to manually disable the mitigation system.
Forward collision avoidance, Feb 28, 2022
The contact owns a 2018 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 17,000.
Forward collision avoidance, Feb 28, 2022
Driving on I95 my brakes unexpectedly engaged automatically while there were no obstuctions in the road ahead of me. I was traveling about 75-80 mph with cruise control activated. This happened to me on about 4 different occasions. Brakes engaged for about 1-2 seconds then released. Problem did not occur more than once on the same trip, nor did it happen every trip.
Forward collision avoidance, Feb 28, 2022
On multiple occasions since purchasing this certified used vehicle in April 2021, the "brake" warning of the AEB will randomly begin flashing when there are no cars or other obstacles in front of me. On one occasion, while I was traveling over 55mph on a highway, the "brake" warning began flashing and the brakes were engaged by the vehicle causing me to lunge forward into the steering wheel. Thankfully, there was no car immediately behind me that had to use their brakes. The incident occurred quickly and then the car began to accelerate back to the speed I was originally travelling. I reported this to my local Honda dealership, but no report was filed by them and the vehicle was not inspected. I made inquiries after that to find out if and how to disable the AEB since it is faulty. If I forget to disengage the system (it has to be done every time the car is started) the random "brake" flashing continues to occur without reason.
Service brakes, Forward collision avoidance, Feb 27, 2022
Emergency automatic breaking YES YOU MAY COME ANY TIME TO LOOK AT IT fOR NO REASON THE CAR BRAKES LOCKED UP WHILE i WAS DRIVING. the car behind me almost hit me. this could have caused damage to cars and injury to people in the cars. This has happened twice, my wife refuses to drive the car. I took it into the dealer and was told there was nothing wrong. The brake light went on then it stopped.
Service brakes, Forward collision avoidance, Feb 26, 2022
On at least two separate occasions, my car's automatic braking system has activated in the absence of another vehicle or obstacle in front of me. One incident was in Fall 2021, I was driving on a bridge in southern Oklahoma and rounding a slight curve when the car's brakes suddenly pressed hard - startling me and forcing me to quickly react. I put my foot on the brake and slowed while I scanned for any obstacles, but there weren't any. The second event was in December 2021 and occurred on a city street in Arlington, TX. Again, my vehicle braked suddenly while there was nothing close enough to account for needing a hard braking. Fortunately in both cases I was alert and managed to press down on the brake to override and then accelerate, and thus prevented being rear-ended by another car. There have also been a few smaller incidents of this issue, but ones in which I cannot recall specific detail.
Service brakes, Forward collision avoidance, Feb 26, 2022
This is a report (with dash cam footage) I filed with Honda in March 4, 2019, (Case 09395155) and now that I know your office is investigating this same issue I wanted to make sure I sent it to you as well: As I was slowing down to approach a red light my car suddenly beeped and slammed on the brakes to a complete halt. I believe it detected a car that was making a lefthand turn into the lane next to me but there was no danger of it hitting me. The sudden brake lock jolted my passenger and me and we’re lucky neither of us were hurt except for some soreness and that no other car was behind as they would have certainly rear-ended us. This has happened before when I was on the freeway going 50mph a few weeks after I purchased the car, though instead of stopping it just suddenly slowed down; I had thought it misjudged the shadow of an overpass I was driving through as a solid object so disregarded the incident as a fluke until now. I’m worried this will happen again and hurt me or someone else. I was able to get the recording of this most recent incident from my dash camera; see here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=11EYSwjCJtk4TEOBlvyddwJx9xow8PswB Honda's investigators later determined the car acted appropriately, but I think the system really misjudged the situation and could have caused an accident. Since then, I've had a few issues with the automatic brake system enabling for a brief second to slow the car in reaction to nothing — and I'm still nervous this will happen again!
Service brakes, Forward collision avoidance, Feb 26, 2022
In the time I have owned this car I have experienced phantom braking 3-4 times. The most recent was about a month ago when merging on an ramp entering a highway. NO cars were around me or in front of me but the brake warning flashed several times. It did not actually engage the brakes at this time but about a year ago the same thing happened and the brakes suddenly came on slowing me down. I am concerned about losing control or being rear ended if this occurs.
Forward collision avoidance, Feb 26, 2022
I have had multiple incidents when the vehicle has braked when no vehicle of obstruction was in front of me. Many times this has occurred on US 15 south at the overpass of the PA turnpike. A recent incident happened on interstate 83 south where the only thing that I could see for the reason for braking, was the skid marks from a locked up trailer wheels. No vehicles were close to me. It also has happened on a rural road where mud from a farm tractor was on the road. It has also occurred in construction zones. It is quite scary as I have been honked and probably cursed by drivers behind me. I bought this vehicle for it's safety features but wish this feature could be deactivated before being hit from behind or assaulted by an aggressive driver for braking for no reason.
Service brakes, Forward collision avoidance, Feb 26, 2022
The Collision Mitigation Braking System is malfunctioning when driving over metal plates. It has happened when I get close to drive straight over the metal plate (at probably 20-25 MPH), my car slams onto the brakes and comes to a complete stop. If anybody were behind me, they would rear-end me. This is very dangerous and needs to be corrected to save lives and property.
Service brakes, Forward collision avoidance, Feb 26, 2022
The CMBS (Collision Mitigation Braking System) activated and suddenly locked up my brakes as I started to accelerate the car on the street after being the first car at a standstill at the metro tracks. Two or three seconds after accelerating, just as I had gotten over two sets of tracks, it happened. The car even jerked when it stopped at the somewhat low speed that I was going. No metro train went by at the time and no safety arm had come down while I was at the standstill at the tracks. No metro train lights ever flashed either. I could have easily been rear-ended by the car behind me because there was a long line of cars waiting along with me. I felt very unsafe driving the car to my next stop as I was in a very high --traffic area. This is why I called the dealer immediately and made an appointment for two days later. I felt even more unsafe driving the car back through the same area. It did not happen again upon my return as I went over the tracks. The problem has not happened again because I now know how to turn off the CMBS system every single time I get into the car. I do not want to chance going even a bit faster or being on the freeway and having the car come to a sudden halt. There would most certainly be grave injuries at freeway speeds on such crowded L.A. freeways. I am so afraid of this happening that I must drive without the CMBS from now on. The dealer said that they did code checks and a DTC ? check. On my Honda service papers, they said that the possible cause could be my dash cam position. They drove my car to test it but nothing happened. In fact, I bought my dash cam for this car specifically and have driven with it in the same general position for 3 years and this never happened before. The dealer found that there were no problems with the car. No police nor insurance were ever involved since I luckily did not cause any accidents. I noticed a BRAKE WARNING on the dashboard AFTER the car had stopped by itself.
Service brakes, Forward collision avoidance, Feb 25, 2022
The vehicle automatically braked without warning. Simultneously the braking notification warning light came on as the vehicle braked. Feared i would be rear ended. The vehicle has not been inspected. The dealer offered diagnostic services but had no guidance from Honda. I thought this was a one-off until I read other owers of this model had the same experience. Dealer was unaware of on-going problem with model and told me to call Honda. Honda told me to register here.
Service brakes, Forward collision avoidance, Feb 25, 2022
I have had two instances where the automatic braking engaged when there was no traffic that was near me. The scariest was when I was exiting the highway and my car suddenly stopped on the off-ramp. I could have easily been rear ended as there was no reason to stop the vehicle. Luckily no accident or injury occurred. There has been no attempt to have the issue examined or recreated because it has not been a frequent issue. The brake indicator light had illuminated although there was no traffic and then the car stopped. There was no other indication that this would occur.
Forward collision avoidance, Feb 25, 2022
The contact owns a 2018 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. The dealer was made aware of the failure; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 14,500.
Forward collision avoidance, Feb 25, 2022
I’ve had a dozen or so instances of false forward collision warnings. These have largely been on clear, sunny days with no other vehicles nearby. I’ve also had 3 instances of automatic emergency braking engaging in similar circumstances- no vehicles with 100 feet and clear weather. I’ve reported these to my Honda dealer but they were unable to identify the root cause.
Forward collision avoidance, Feb 25, 2022
While driving on the interstate, the automatic braking system has engaged without warning or reason. This occurs both when adaptive cruise control is engaged and when it is not. This occurs when there are no vehicles within at least four car lengths in front of my vehicle. Occasionally there has been a vehicle in a parallel lane that is well within its lane markers and has not entered my lane when this occurs. This has drastically reduced the vehicle's speed in a way that is dangerous not only to myself and my passengers, but also to those in vehicles behind me. There is no warning message regarding a failure with the automatic braking system or any other automated safety features. The car has been regularly maintained according to the manufacturer's recommendations.
Forward collision avoidance, Feb 25, 2022
UNKNOWN While driving with the Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS) activated the vehicle will brake even though nothing is in front of the vehicle. We had to depress the CMBS system because it was braking spontaneously while on the highway or side roads. Even though the system is not in use the BRAKE light will flash on the dash while the vehicle is in use even if there is nothing in front of the vehicle.
Service brakes, Forward collision avoidance, Feb 25, 2022
Driving down a street at about 30 miles per hour just after a rain event and the sun was now shining. Approached a railroad crossing that had a dip in the road before going over the crossing, when I went through the dip the car auto braked and brought us to a dead stop. Fortunately no one was behind us.
Other or unspecified, Forward collision avoidance, Feb 25, 2022
The car hard brakes unexpectedly. It has done it on the highway and city streets. It has happened multiple times and has done it randomly since I bought the car new. The date below is the most recent.
Service brakes, Forward collision avoidance, Feb 24, 2022
I was driving and my ABS engaged without any one or anything in front of my vehicle. I was traveling at 40mph, suddenly the "BRAKE" visual illuminated on my dashboard and before I even knew what was happening my vehicle came to a complete stop. Thankful no injuries and no one was behind me. I took it to the dealership for inspection, and they said there was nothing they could do to address the 'fluke' issue and that no errors would be found on a diagnostic scan. There wouldn't be any error codes if the SUV's automatic breaking system engaged, because the car must of 'seen something' that caused it to react this way.
Forward collision avoidance, Feb 24, 2022
SUV braked hard and almost came to complete stop more than 5 times since owning SUV new.
Electrical system, Service brakes, Forward collision avoidance, Feb 24, 2022
The forward collision sensor basically completely freaked out for no reason at all and when I applied the brakes to try to slow down and get off the road, the anti lock braking system activated and I could not slow the car down. Thankfully I was not near any other cars or obstacles or I would have been involved in an accident. I took the car to the dealer to be checked out and they were not able to replicate the issue. There were no prior warnings or messages before this happened, it was completely random and has happened several times.
Forward collision avoidance, Feb 24, 2022, crash
August 6, 2021 at approximately 8:00 am, 2018 Honda CR-V was being driven in right lane of an in-town divided 4-lane road in Des Moines, IA, at approximately 30 mph when the vehicle's automatic braking system slammed on the brakes resulting in a collision with the vehicle following too close behind. The lane was clear for driving, but had previous construction where a large steel plate was placed over an excavated section of the lane, and several cones approximately 3 feet tall were on the side of the road but next to the traveled portion of the lane. The dash cam in the vehicle recorded the incident. The net cost of repairs to our vehicle was $2,735. The front of the following vehicle appeared to have received more extensive damage.