Complaint volume
289 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2021 Honda CR-V Complaints
289 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2021 Honda CR-V, grouped by component category.
289 Total complaints
13 Crash reports
1 Fire reports
11 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are steering, forward collision avoidance, unknown or other. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 13 crash reports, 1 fire report, 11 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 51 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 32,802 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to steering, forward collision avoidance, unknown or other?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2021 Honda CR-V?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2021 Honda CR-V
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2021 Honda CR-V complaints?
13 Crash
1 Fire
11 Injury
0 Fatality
14 Towed
9 Medical attention
What are the most common 2021 Honda CR-V complaint categories?
STEERING 76
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 50
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 22
ENGINE 11
SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 11
AIR BAGS 10
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 6
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 6
VISIBILITY/WIPER 6
SERVICE BRAKES 5
289 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the roadway surface changed and the Forward Collision Avoidance feature activated and the vehicle independently started braking. The vehicle then started driving normally after the failure. The dealer was contacted and an appointment was scheduled. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 12,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 12,000 |
| Jul 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I was driving at approximately 35 MPH on a straight, flat road. There were no cars in front of me, behind me, or oncoming. Without warning or any action on my part, the vehicle wheels locked up, the vehicle jerked to an abrupt stop, and the display went black. I noticed what appeared to be a red block of text on the display, but I was unable to read it before the vehicle started moving again. Luckily, I had both hands on the steering wheel, and I was alone in the vehicle. I was shaken up at the abruptness of the stop. If I had my dogs in the car, they would have been launched forward. If I or anyone else in the vehicle was not belted in and facing forward, there for sure would have been injuries. If there were someone behind me, there would have been impact. I am grateful none of these things happened, but I remain fearful of driving this vehicle if it were to happen again. I brought the vehicle immediately to my dealer for inspection. (Balise Honda, West Warwick, RI). The service manager stated this was a know issue with CR-V's, a result of the radar on the front of the vehicle that controls the ABS malfunctioning for some reason. He was unaware of a solution. His only recommendation was to turn off the ABS and LKAS, the very safety features that I purchased this car for, and paid extra for. I reported this to Honda on July 5, case number 13119359. They were to get back to me with an update by July 12, but I have yet to hear from them. The case manager only said there were no know recalls or bulletins on this issue. I had requested they open a bulletin as this is certainly a safety issue that needs to be addressed. For now, I am driving my vehicle without the safety features this vehicle advertised, and have limited my travel with this vehicle as well. NOT what I expect from a new 2021 vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | I was at a complete stop at a flashing red light with my foot firmly on the brake petal. My intention was to make a left hand turn. As a truck going the opposite way started to pass in front of me, and the traffic was clear, I took my foot off the brake pedal and without touching the gas pedal the car on its own accelerated into the passing tail end of the truck. The airbag deployed and my small car was totaled. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed Medical attention | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | AIR BAGS | This vehicle was involved in a 2 car crash. The vehicle rear ended a car and air bags never deployed. No passengers, just driver in the vehicle. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed Medical attention | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Twice while driving the FCW warning brake light flashed on the dash with nothing happening. One time the brakes actually engaged and flashed the brake icon on the dash for the FCW and stopped the vehicle in the middle of the road and luckily no one behind me and I didn’t get hit. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While driving on a highway at approximately 60-65MPH, the vehicle in front of me began to brake. I was a safe distance from the vehicle in front of me. I also started to brake, but allowed the gap between us to close somewhat due to a vehicle following closely behind me. The Honda’s emergency braking system suddenly took over with MAXIMUM braking, causing items in my vehicle to fly around AND the vehicle behind me to nearly rear end me. I had NO control over the braking. My wife screamed at me, thinking that I had slammed my foot on the brakes, but it was beyond my control. I’ve asked my Honda dealer if the system can be adjusted but I was given no help. I understand the emergency braking system’s intended purpose, but the manner that this system has engaged (3 times) is unsafe. It’s not like I wasn’t paying attention, I was, and I was already braking. It’s actually scary the way it locked up. Yes, I know that the brakes didn’t actually lock up, they are antilock brakes, but it was like I was standing on the brake pedal. Have there been similar complaints about this? * The date below, 10/26/2021, is approximately the first time that this happened. It happened two additional times. It pretty scary when it happens. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Driving on empty road about 40 mph. Brakes engaged momentarily and red brake light came up on dash. Happened in daylight with excellent visibility. No cars in front or other lane and nothing on roadway. Car has 1040 miles on it. Will report to dealer but expect little resolution. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2022 | AIR BAGS,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I'm trying to report an incident that involved my Honda CRV running into a totally stopped Tesla in the HOV lane on I-75 in Atlanta Georgia on Sunday, May 8, 2022, at around 9 AM. We came around a large curve and had no time to avoid running into the TOTALLY STOPPED Tesla in the HOV lane. I have seen reports of "phantom braking" in Teslas. The driver of the Tesla stated to us that he was using cruise control and when the Tesla sensed a car pulled off into the breakdown lane, it stopped completely and there was nothing he could do. Our car sustained serious damage. Fortunately, we were not injured, but I believe NHTSA should be investigating Tesla for these incidents. If this is not the correct form to report this, please advise. There was no problem associated with my CRV in this incident. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V modified for disabled personnel. The contact stated while attempting to drive the vehicle out of the driveaway, the gear shifter remained stuck in the park position. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact turned the vehicle off. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the interior roof harness cable located behind the rearview mirror had detached as the contact constantly placed his handicap placard behind the rearview mirror. The dealer informed the contact that the vehicle could not be repaired under warranty. The vehicle was repaired at the contact's expense. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 14,800. | Crash: No Fire: No Towed | 14,800 |
| Apr 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | I purchased Brand new Honda CRV 2021 from Manhasset dealer in April 2021, since then this happened few times randomly that the trunk would not open completely and it gets stuck few inches up , manually or with foot sensor it would not open right away and we need to close back and try again few times so it opens all the way up, also in August while taking the stuff out from the trunk it start closing on me and my elderly mom and it would not stop , we were about to get injured that day very badly , hardly escaped from the closing trunk , I brought this to attention of Honda dealer during first and 2nd service but as per them trunk closed properly and they would not do anything for this. They said we can not give you new vehicle for this we know you are not lying but sorry we can not help. I did not ask for new vehicle I wanted to fix my car issue only. Till now this is happening, I sent them email request as well for this issue to be fixed but I did not get any response. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I was driving on a divided 4 lane road that offers a wide right side shoulder at around 43 MPH. I was traveling in the right lane. The lane markings are fresh and visible. It was late afternoon and sun was shining. The road surface was dry. There were no vehicles immediately in front of or along the side of mine. I had not activated the lane keeping assist or automatic cruise control features. Only the hazard mitigation/automatic braking and road departure mitigation features were operational. The car suddenly attempted to swerve left, away from the center of the lane being utilized. The automatic braking system also activated. I was able to simply "drive through" the malfunction without incident. This was the first instance I have noted of this kind. Due to the fact that it was late afternoon, there were shadows from overhead power line being cast onto the lane being driven. I have owned previous cars that sometimes attempted to track said shadow when the lane keeping assist is activated. That was not the scenario yesterday as LKAS was not selected. It was as though the sensors detected a pending pedestrian strike or other collision. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Tire sensor fail to warn of a low tire in time. TPMS is triggered after 15-20 miles of driving on a low tire. Tire was low from a screw and drove home, and the warning light never came on. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Slowed down to go across a metal plate where work had been done on the street. Suddenly the car came to a hard stop. There was a car in the left lane that also slowed to cross the metal plate. Once before I was rounding a curve and the car softly broke on its own, but didn't completely stop. There was a car again in the left lane. had the car behind me been closer, I would have been rear-ended. There was also no cars in front of me at both times. The warning collision light did come on and beep. I did call the dealer, they check for recalls and there were none. No inspections have been done. I plan to take it to the dealer for inspection. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | On more than one occasion while driving the touch screen went black couldn’t access my navigation nothing couldn’t get the screen to turn on it wouldn’t do anything. Then it will tell me connect device when my phone is plugged in I’ve changed the cords replaced them with generic apple cords nothing bought apple cord and still nothing, apple car play doesn’t connect says you need to unplug device for car play to work nothing. The sensors are not working like they should there will be nothing around the car will alarm brake then it will automatically brake. I should not have to at to replace the touch screen in my vehicle it’s under warranty well under the miles as well. I work at a car dealership and the touch screen issue is a big problem I get several complaints about the touch screens not working. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | My 2021 Honda CRV is activating the brakes at inappropriate times. I've had 5 total instances that could have resulted in a rear-end collision both on the street driving 5-35 mph and freeway at 30-50 mph. The system on the dash board flashed "brake." However, there is more than a car space between the car in front of the car. The braking system activates and I am unable to counteract the brakes locking up on the car. I am very concerned that if I were to continue to drive my car , it may result in an accident with a car crashing into the back of my car. At this time I am waiting for the vehicle to be inspected. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2022 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | I bought the car back at September. After 2 week of commuting to work and back home, I notice a large crack near top edge of passenger side windshield one morning. The cracks then continue spread downward in multiple hairline pattern. Luckily my insurance through Progressive cover the windshield replacement cost with $0 glass deductible. The whole windshield was replaced and the camera system onboard was reprogram by Safelite. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced unintended braking. The contact then deactivated the collision mitigation braking system. 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 7,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 7,000 |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE | The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would independently downshift without warning. The contact also stated that the failure would occur while the cruise control was activated. In addition, the contact also stated that the lane-keep assist would fail to differentiate between road salt and line marking on the roadway, resulting in inadvertent sudden downshifting. The contact's husband had taken the vehicle to a dealer where their concerns were ignored and no diagnostic test was performed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 100. In addition to the above, the lane keep assist cannot distinguish between lines & cracks in the road, which is a big deal in Missouri, and an issue I fight with daily on roads I have no choice to travel on. And it's not downshifting that happens with the lane keep assist-it tries to correct, but the corrections if I don't fight them will either run me into the opposing lane or off the road. | Crash: No Fire: No | 100 |
| Feb 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER | When driving after dark on rural roads or roads with low light, and using the low-beam headlights, the road is only visible through the lower 1/3 of the windshield. Visibility forward is extremely limited. There is a band of darkness on the upper 2/3. This makes for very dangerous and limited visibility. The visibility improves when the high beams are used. This problem has was first noticed in 2021. I have a video I took of the issue. I took my car to the dealer for service and they say they cannot fix it. They claim, so far, that the headlights are working fine, but they admit that they are unable to check for nighttime issues as I describe. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | AIR BAGS | The srs light came on the dash board and yet to clear. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Hood latch sensor started beeping on a trip from Colorado to Wyoming 12/19/21. I had never opened the hood but it had recently had it’s first service, and I could find no visible issue. I had made an appointment with Freedom Honda because they have no shuttle service to my part of town for 12/30/21 I needed to get a ride from my son. On 12/21/21 I had to drive 40 miles and noticed the hood was actually vibrating. I have been told that the dealership needs to order a new hood latch. This vehicle has less that 5,000 miles on it. They are telling me to come pick it up and the part “a new hood latch” will possibly arrive on Tuesday the 4th. I do not feel safe driving this vehicle at this point. They are expecting me to pay for the new latch, when it is obviously a manufacturer defect. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I have a 2021 Honda Crv Awd. On 11/14/2021 the Forward Collision Avoidance System engaged . I was stopped at a red light and when the light turned proceeded in 30 feet the system engaged. There was no car or pedestrian in front of me. The car beeped and brakes engaged. Luckily the car behind me was able to stop. Like another car with the same problem brought it to the dealer and was told they couldn’t find anything was wrong. They did lower the sensitivity of the sensors. The also said that a leaf could set it off. My wife is not comfortable riding in the car now. She fears that it could happen on the HiWays. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS | I was driving and stopped for traffic, however, I was rear ended and resulted in a 4-car pileup. Upon being rear ended and pushed fast toward the car in front and crashing the car in front, the airbags did not deploy. I had a passenger as well. During the accident the driver seatbelt did not lock, however, the passenger one did lock to prevent harm. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Purchased car on July 7, 2021, that same day the car did not start when stepped on brake and pushed start button. Happened again on July 8, 2021. Called Dealer, Took it in on July 9, 2021. They could not duplicate problem. Assured me it was not a problem. Drove to CT on July 10, 2021, Did not start several times during the trip. On July 11, on return trip from CT a warning light came on dashboard. IN black letters in a red rectangular box - BRAKE. I called dealer on Monday July 12, 2021 and reported the warning. He said it meant there were cars in the way. The BRAKE IN A BOX occurred 2 more times (8/6 and 8/17). I called dealer who said it was not a problem. I subsequently searched the warning on line and it says "BRING YOUR CAR TO A DEALER. TO CONTINUE DRIVING COULD BE DANGEROUS!" I left the car with the dealer for 9 days. Sept 3 through September 11, 2021. They said they could not find anything wrong. I continue to have problems with starting the car, often getting the message that says TO START ENGINE: BRAKE+PUSH. Which is exactly what I do to start the car. When I picked up the car on September 11 (after 9 days with the dealer) the service manager told me he would contact their regional manager to report the problem to the regional manager. That's the last I heard from him except when I called and he said he had not heard from regional manager yet. I called again and left message but have not heard back. I have also submitted a complaint with HONDA and I have written 3 emails to the VP of Customer Relations. the VP has not responded to me at all. The complaint person contacted the dealer and dealer told him they could not duplicate the problem. After many weeks, complaint person contacted me to let me know this. He has no other recommendations. At this time i am afraid to drive the car and just drive it locally. I have avoided the highway, and any long trips because of my fear that there is something seriously wrong with the car and brakes. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | SERVICE BRAKES | Purchased car on July 7,2021. That same day the car did not start when stepped on brake and pushed start button. Happened again on July 8, 2021. called dealer. Took it in on July 9th,2021. They could not duplicate problem. Assured me it was not a problem. Drove to CT on July 10, 2021. Did not start several times during the trip. On July 11th, while returning from CT. a warning light came on dashboard. in Black Letters in a Red Rectangular Box - BRAKE. I called dealer on Monday the 12 and reported this. He said it meant there were cars in the way. The BRAKE IN A BOX occurred 2 more times (8/6 and 8/17). I called dealer who said it was not a problem. I subsequently searched the message on line - it says " BRING YOU CAR TO A DEALER. TO CONTINUE DRIVING COULD WELL BE DANGEROUS!" I left the car with dealer for 9 days, Sept 3, 2021 through September 11, 2020. They said they could not find anything wrong. I continue to have problems starting the car. Often getting a message that says: TO START ENGINE: BRAKE + PUSH | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |