Complaints about the 2021 Honda CR-V Hybrid peaked in 2024, with 35 filed
Owner complaints about this model year, by the year they were filed with NHTSA.
SUV, hybrid, 4WD/4-Wheel Drive/4x4, built in United States. Owner complaints on file from Apr 21, 2021 to Sep 29, 2026.
Owner complaints about this model year, by the year they were filed with NHTSA.
Owner complaints by component. Hover or focus a bar for the crash, fire, injury or death count.
Check a specific vehicle by VIN on NHTSA's site: a campaign may cover only part of a model year's production.
| Campaign | Filed | Subject | Component | Vehicles | Remedy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26V-332 | May 21, 2026 | Front passenger seat weight sensor may crack and short circuit, which can cause the air bags to deploy unintentionally during a crash | Airbags | 98,892 | Part replacement |
| 24V-064 | Feb 1, 2024 | Front passenger seat weight sensor may crack and short circuit, failing to suppress the air bag as intended | Airbags | 750,114 | Part replacement |
| 23V-844 | Dec 13, 2023 | 12-Volt battery cable routed outside of the body frame is missing a fuse on the power circuit, which can allow the battery cable to short circuit… | Electrical system | 106,030 | Part replacement |
The full text of every complaint filed with NHTSA about this model year, newest first. Complaints are filed by owners and are not verified by NHTSA; NHTSA removes personal details before publishing.
104 complaints on file, page 1 of 6.
I was driving my 2021 Honda CR-V hybrid touring at approximately 55 mph on [XXX] near the [XXX] exit. The vehicle had been operating normally. Approximately 115 miles before the incident. I had filled the vehicle with gasoline at BJ's in [XXX]. At approximately 11:50 am on XXX, the malfunction indicator lamp (check-engine light) began flashing while I was driving at highway speed. At the same time, the vehicle began smoothly losing power and slowing down. There was no shaking or rough running. I immediately pulled over, activated my hazard lights and turned the vehicle off for approximately 8 minutes. After restarting the vehicle, the malfunction indicator lamp was no longer flashing and the vehicle drove normally. I did not notice any other warning lights or dashboard messages during the incident. I am reporting this safety issue because the incident appears similar to the intermittent loss-of-motive power condition described in NHTSA Preliminary Evaluation PE25016 involving Honda CR-V Hybrid vehicles. I understand that PE25016 is an investigation and that I am not asserting that my vehicle has the condition being investigated.There was no crash, fire,injury or fatality associated with this incident.I would like this incident documented as a safety complaint because the vehicle temporarily lost motive power while traveling at highway speed. The fact that the warning light disappeared and vehicle returned to normal operation after being turned off and restarted makes the problem particularily important to document and diagnose. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint 11767647August 13, 2026- Driver was traveling on Route 30 West approaching the Reeceville Exit. Driver attempted to pass a tractor trailer. As car accelerated to pass tractor trail, engine light flashed and car lost the ability to accelerate. As driver lost ability to power the car, he allowed truck to pass him and then coasted into right lane and eventually off to the side of the highway. Car had a half tank of gas at the time of incident. Safety of driver at risk as car was traveling approx. 61 mph in order to pass another vehicle. Suddenly, power lost in car as car was passing truck and driver had to maneuver car from passing lane into right lane and eventually come to a stop on side of road. Honda was contacted since this occured before. It was taken in on Monday August 17th.
NHTSA complaint 117630662021 CR-V Hybrid, approximately 103,000 miles. Multiple incidents of loss of propulsion at highway speed with engine shaking and a flashing MIL. Cycling the ignition restores normal operation, and the codes disappear. I have had it scanned, and no errors show up. Spark plugs and ignition coils have been replaced. The vehicle has also displayed an engine high-temperature/reduce-acceleration warning. This can be in relation to NHTSA Preliminary Evaluation PE25016 that has been documented by other owners.
NHTSA complaint 11761715I am a senior citizen who bought a brand new 2021 Honda CRV hybrid in 2022. I used the vehicle mainly for driving around town in city driving. I ensured that my vehicle received all the necessary scheduled maintenance at either the dealership I bought the vehicle,(Pacific Honda, [XXX];phone [XXX]) or a certified Honda dealership. I have complete maintenance records at the Honda dealership for the entire life onf the vehicle. In early XXX I received a warning light on my dash concerning the engine and immediately took the vehicle into the Honda dealership to have it looked at. I was told I had a blown headgasket and the repairs would be approximately $7,000.00 dollars. The mechanic then told me that this was a common problem with this vehicle due to the engine Honda put in the car. The mechanic advised me to contactHonda to see if they would assist me with the cost due to the fact that this was a manufacturing problem and I did nothing to cause the issue and there is nothing I could have done differently to have avoided this issue. I called and Honda told me there was nothing they could do for me since the car was out of warranty. I bought the vehicle in August of 2021 and repair was done XXX. I was treated very poorly at the Honda dealership and lost trust in their tech team. On XXX I received another warning light on my dash. I took my vehicle to Mossy Honda in [XXX] to have it looked at due to the fact I did not trust Pacific Honda. They did a multi point inspection and told me that my Rear differential was bad and had to be replaced for approximately $5,500.00 dollars. I had the work done. When I picked up the vehicle after the repair the tech told me that the Rear differential was completely bad and that there were metal flakes throughout the Rear Differential. He told me that if I had not brought it in when I did the car could have had a catastrophic lockup or seizure! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint 11759190Manufacturer Dealer Diagnostic confirmed that Head Gasket is leaking on cylinder 1 and that this is a known issue. Vehicle just 3 months and barely 2000 miles out of new car warranty. Manufacturer fails to cover repair at 100% Power Loss while driving on the freeway on 2 separate occasions. Engine did not provide power in response to accelerator pedal, car slows down w/o control. Incident 1 traveling 65 mph Hwy [XXX] in [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint 11755481The 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.
NHTSA complaint 11688230Brittle / torn top black windshield seal gasket tendency to fog / moisture / rain/water penetration inside the car . Also decolorize all black plastic side panels
NHTSA complaint 11681067While 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).
NHTSA complaint 11679427Traveling 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.
NHTSA complaint 11679040The 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.
NHTSA complaint 11678339When I accelerate up a hill at speed I lose power of the car. Once I pull over and turn the car off and wait a few minutes, the car starts up and drives fine. I have taken it in to be fixed and one time they changed spark plugs and a head gasket and then about 8 months later it did the same thing. I took it in to be checked out and they cannot find anything wrong with it. I have searched online and have found out there are other people having the same issue with this model (2021 CRV hybrid). I've only owned the car for 4 years and love Honda's and have owned one most of my life so this is disappointing.
NHTSA complaint 11673100The 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.
NHTSA complaint 11672256Been 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.
NHTSA complaint 11669244My 2021 Honda CR-V Hybrid has experienced three identical and dangerous incidents over a one month period beginning around 60,000 miles. Each time, while driving at highway speeds (60-70 mph) climbing hills or grades, the vehicle suddenly loses all acceleration power accompanied by a rapidly flashing check engine light. This creates an extremely hazardous situation as the vehicle cannot maintain highway speeds with fast-moving traffic approaching from behind, forcing emergency stops on busy highway shoulders where rear-end collisions become a serious risk. After each incident, turning off the vehicle and waiting 10+ minutes allows normal operation to resume, with the flashing check engine light disappearing. The malfunction involves the engine ignition system, specifically cylinder 4 misfiring as confirmed by diagnostic trouble code P0304 that I captured during the most recent incident. The suspected failing components include the ignition coil, spark plug, or fuel injector for cylinder 4. What makes this particularly dangerous is the complete unpredictability - no warning symptoms appear before each incident, and the failure occurs suddenly under specific conditions that are common in highway driving. Despite three documented occurrences, two separate Honda dealerships have been unable to reproduce the issue or confirm the problem. Both claim they find "no stored codes" even though I have evidence of the P0304 code. The codes appear to be cleared after turning the vehicle off and on. The intermittent nature and specific conditions required (sustained highway speeds while climbing grades) prevent typical shop diagnosis, yet this appears to be a widespread pattern affecting multiple 2021 CR-V Hybrids based on similar owner reports online. The recurring nature combined with the inability of dealers to address the root cause, creates an ongoing safety hazard. The vehicle remains available for inspection.
NHTSA complaint 11669059Engine overheating in short trips with full coolant and oil. My car is 4 years old and after years of mysteriously going into limp mode and no help from the dealer, I believe it has a bad head gasket. this started when the car was 3 years old.
NHTSA complaint 11667665I 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.
NHTSA complaint 11666749Sometime 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?
NHTSA complaint 11656221UNKNOWN. On 4/13/25 morning, I was with my wife driving towards a park and our car decelerated suddenly from 37 miles to 20 miles and then slowed down. Luckily no driver behind us was close otherwise the car would have crashed. We pulled over to the side of the road and shut off the engine. Restarted and the car seemed to run normal. The dealer who sold this car checked on 4/16/25 and they could not find any problem and asked to bring back if it happens again. We are totally speechless and don't know what to do next.
NHTSA complaint 116557061st 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.
NHTSA complaint 11655641The steering is sticky at highway speeds like something is wrong with the steering input. The steering doesn't react then all of a sudden the steering wheel releases and over compensates requiring a quick opposite steering input. Difficult to drive on the highway. A real safety issue.
NHTSA complaint 11654608Technical service bulletins and other notices the manufacturer sent to dealers. A bulletin is not a recall.