Honda · Accord · 2021
3
Recalls
186
Complaints
5/5
Safety Rating
The 2021 Honda Accord has 3 recalls and 186 owner-reported complaints on file with NHTSA. Overall safety rating: 5 out of 5 stars. Most reported issue: forward collision avoidance (31 reports).
Source: NHTSA Public Records · Updated May 4, 2026
The 2021 Honda Accord page works best as a research starting point. Complaint totals show how much owner-reported activity exists, while recalls and investigations help show whether any of that activity turned into formal safety action.
Because this is a newer-era vehicle page, it usually helps to compare this year against nearby model years before deciding whether a complaint pattern looks isolated or persistent. On this page, the most prominent complaint area is forward collision avoidance with 31 reported complaints.
This page combines three types of NHTSA data: recall campaigns (official manufacturer or government actions), owner complaints (unverified consumer reports), and crash test ratings (where available). A vehicle with many complaints is not necessarily less reliable — complaint volume correlates with sales volume and vehicle age. Recalls indicate identified defects, not overall quality. To compare this model year with others, use the year navigation in the sidebar or return to the model overview page.
If you are researching a used vehicle, start with the complaint categories, compare them against the recall list, and then check nearby model years to see whether the same issue profile repeats. That usually produces a better buying or research signal than treating the raw complaint total as a standalone safety ranking.
Frontal Crash Test

Side Crash Test

Overall Frontal Rating
Driver and Passenger Assessment
Driver Side
Passenger Side
Overall Side Rating
Side Barrier and Side Pole Tests
Driver Side
Passenger Side
Rollover Resistance
9.3% rollover risk in single-vehicle crash
Safety Features
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.
Remedy Status
Dealers will replace the seat weight sensors, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 28, 2024, October 18, 2024, and August 2025. 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.
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.
Remedy Status
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.
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."
Remedy Status
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.
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.
Unknown
Car went into limp mode
Head gasket issue please fix this problem for the customers
4 out of 5 times driving the car the infotainment screen with get random touches guiding you to unknown menus or system setting or maybe just to a different radio station. Where I think this becomes a legitimate safety concern (asside from changing vehicle settings like security)...
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Driving on the highway, my dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree. Car started having white smoke at tail pipe. Check engine lit blink 5 times. Had 4 kids under 14 years old in car. Almost got hit trying to merge over. Turns out misfire cylinder 4. Head gasket. Only 81,000 miles....
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The lights and warnings below popped up on my dash after the engine light had come on and then off again for about a week. See below, -Emission system problem Avoid heavy acceleration and high speed. See dealer -tpms light -brake system problem -brake hold system problem -elect...
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ssue: Water intrusion into tail light assembly causing electrical and safety system malfunctions Status: Repaired at owner expense (~$800) Concern: Safety‑related defect and potential pattern across vehicles Description of the Issue: My 2021 Honda Accord experienced a fail...
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Fuel pressure dropped and car stalled
The USB port in the center console of my 2022 Honda Accord (VIN: [XXX] ) is physically loose and wobbly, causing intermittent disconnection of Apple CarPlay. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. When CarPlay disconnects while driving, I lose access to my navigat...
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This has been reported one time before but the situation has gotten worse when driving at approximately 60ish miles per hour but it starts doing it about between 50 and 70 mph when driving and the car is using the regular engine not the EV section. You will randomly lose the abil...
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Showing 10 recent complaints from 186 total
View Full Complaint LogThe strongest comparison flow is usually: exact vehicle-year page, then nearby years of the same model, then other 2021 Honda models. That sequence helps separate one-off year spikes from broader make-wide patterns.
The 2021 Honda Accord has 3 recalls recorded by NHTSA.
NHTSA has received 186 owner-reported complaints for the 2021 Honda Accord.
The 2021 Honda Accord received an overall safety rating of 5 out of 5 stars from NHTSA.
The most commonly reported complaint categories for the 2021 Honda Accord are forward collision avoidance (31 reports), unknown or other (22 reports), electrical system (12 reports).
Yes. NHTSA has 3 recalls on record for the 2021 Honda Accord. Scroll up to review the published recall summaries, consequences, and remedies. To check for unrepaired recalls on your specific vehicle, use your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Look up recalls and complaints for any year, make, and model.
This page summarizes publicly available data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Complaint counts reflect reports submitted to NHTSA by vehicle owners and do not by themselves prove defect severity or vehicle safety. Safety ratings may not be available for all vehicle-years. This site is not affiliated with NHTSA or any vehicle manufacturer. For official information, visit the official NHTSA page for this vehicle.