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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2024 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the cruise control feature became inoperable. There were several warning lights illuminated. The contact stated the cruise control light failed to activate and the brakes would inadvertently activate with no traffic nearby. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled, and while accelerating the speed would fluctuate. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic but was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was taken to a dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 70,000 |
| Oct 2024 | STEERING | Sticky steering on 2021 Honda CRV. Very unsafe issue Honda and Honda has not recalled 2021 models. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact stated while driving at 40 MPH, the contact stated that the automated brake warning light would illuminate. The contact stated that the brake would inadvertently engage. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power with no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 33,233. | Crash: No Fire: No Towed | 33,233 |
| Oct 2024 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I was driving on the street with no one in front of me going about 45 miles per hour when the car did "Phantom Braking" and the car tried to stop on its own. It beeped 3 times and BRAKE! flashed on my dashboard as if I was going to hit someone and the car overtook my brakes and tried to stop. There was no one in front of me. The very next day, it did it again. This is extremely dangerous and can cause an accident if someone is driving behind me and the car suddenly decides to stop on its own. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | ENGINE | I have a 2021 Honda Cr-v with 24,203 miles on my vehicle as of today oct.21 2024. I i checked my oil drip stick to make sure the oil at the right level. Today I notice I had more oil over the fill mark. I change my oil every 5000 miles with Ams-oil 0-20wt. I read that Honda knows of this on going problem. Should I go to the Honda dealer to address the oil dilution problem happening with my car? Please let me know. [XXX] [XXX] e-mail [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | POWER TRAIN | I bought this car new since 2021 the manufacturer warranty only lasted 60,000 miles warranty this car is fairly new and well taken care of I tooked it to a shop to get it looked at and the cvt housing is leaking and causing me issues like transmission sluggish and also power loss I’m scared that the leak can be leaking so bad that it can blow up my transmission due to over heat and causing major damage | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact received an undisclosed recall campaign for engine oil and gasoline dilution. The contact checked the engine oil and noticed that the engine oil was black and smelled of gasoline. The contact drove the vehicle to the local dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed; however, the engine oil was changed. The vehicle had not received any further repairs. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 22,500. | Crash: No Fire: No | 22,500 |
| Oct 2024 | LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The car's forward collision warning system is defective. The car will randomly bring up "BRAKE" on the dashboard with nothing even close to the car. This has started happening many times over the past few weeks, with even at least one instance of the car braking on its own. I brought this up to the dealership during my last oil change recently, and they inspected and looked into it. They said there was nothing wrong with the sensors/system and they documented it (specifically saying no problem found vehicle is operating normally at this time). However, a day or two after the dealership, the problem returned and it continues to persist. In addition to this, the blind spot warning system also randomly goes off when nothing is nearby, but not as often as the braking system, which is more dangerous in my opinion. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2024 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The forward collision warning and braking has activated a couple of times without any car front of me for a wide distance or when everything is all clear. It also happened a couple of times when turning a curve or exiiting, also without any car in front of me. The only thing I could notice was the dashboard flashing but I could not read it because I had to focus on the road. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2024 | STEERING | Steering clicking when turning while driving. Intermittent stiffness occurs while driving at various speed causing the driver to over correcting them increasing risk of accidents. Local auto shop recommends replacement of steering gear rack and pinion assembly. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2024 | STEERING | My vehicle (2021 Honda CRV EX-L, 47,000 miles) is currently out of factory warranty. However, issue with the steering rack has caused issues with sound and sticky steering. This is a known issue with this specific model. Honda diagnosed an issue with my vehicle as being power steering rack being faulty. A manufacture defect they added. This was after replacing a axle they suspected turned out it was not the issue. They will not honor a full replacement of this faulty part. At the moment after going back and worth, they are agreeing to take care of half the repair amount which we feel is unacceptable knowing that this issue is a manufacture defect. We are aware of a current investigation with the NHTSA that's looking into this matter but we wanted to reach out and ask if Honda should be liable for the cost of the repairs regardless of the warranty expired. Thank you, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2024 | STEERING | UNKNOWN : Steering wheel feels sticky or stuck when driving around slight turns. The wheel will jerk once it is made to go straight. Dealership couldn’t find any issues but did feel it when driven. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2024 | POWER TRAIN | Going down highway at 60mph, I heard a loud boom from pass side rear wheel I pull over safely to rest area, Got out thought maybe a tire blew but that wasn’t it, Got towed to a Honda Dealership and upon further inspection I was told the rear differential was cracked, The explanation I was told from Honda was I drove in reverse and hit something so hard that caused the cracks, What they couldn’t explain to me was why there was no other damage to the underneath of the car, I did have the extended warranty on my car but I believe Honda doesn’t want to honor it,I did some research and found this vehicle was having problems with a defective rear seal, Thank you if your able to ask more questions for me | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2024 | STEERING | My car began making a popping noise when I would make a slight left turn and began to straighten back out. It would also have a slight tug on the steering wheel when the popping noise would happen. It started out random and got worse and more frequent as time went on. I do feel like it was a safety concern because of the tug in the steering. I took my car to the dealership and they confirmed that it was the power steering rack and that they had had some problems with the manufacturer they were using and that the new manufacturer they were using had the part on back order. They just called me two weeks ago and replaced it on August 22nd. Since it has been replaced the steering issue and noise has not occurred again. The vehicle did not ever give me any warning indicators. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2024 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I was driving on the middle lane of a major highway, going around 70 mph, when a plastic grocery bag floated in front of the car, at a height of about two feet off of the ground. My vehicle suddenly slammed on the brakes. It slammed hard and I could not make it stop. I tried to push the brake but it was already down. I was nearly rear-ended and could have easily caused a multiple car accident. I may have been using the cruise-control at the time, but I'm not sure. I do not recall if the vehicle flashed an orange "BRAKE" warning. I did not take the vehicle to a dealer to try to recreate the problem. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2024 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | My vehicle lost brakes as I was driving. The dealer stated it was because of wiring problem but I read where crv were having a problem with the accident mitigation system. They replaced my wiring harnes to my rear view mirror. The dealer couldn't explain why I lost power to my brakes. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2024 | STEERING | COMPONENT IS THE POWER STEERING RACK. THE STEERING BECAME HARD TO STEER AND SEEMED TO STICK WHEN TURNING THE WHEEL. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE AS THE STEERING FAILS TO RESPONE AS EXPECTED WHEN YOU ARE TURNING THE WHEEL. DEALER HAS CONFIRMED THE PROBLEM AND WHEN I CONTACTED HONDA THEY VERIFIED THAT THIS IS AN ONGOING PROBLEM WITH THIS MODEL. THERE WERE NO WARNING LIGHTS OR ANY OTHER MESSAGES FOR THIS PROBLEM. WHEN THE MANUFACTURE WAS UNABLE TO SUPPLY A REPLACEMENT PART DUE TO BACKORDER THE DEALER PROCURED THE PART FROM ANOTHER DEALER. AFTER THIS PART WAS INSTALLED I EXPERIANCE A GROULING NOISE WHEN TURNING THE STEERING WHEEL AND QUICKLY EXPERIANCED THE SAME STICKING WHILE TURNING THE WHEEL. THE DEALER IS STILL WAITING FOR ANOTHER REPLACEMENT FROM THE MANUFACTURE. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2024 | STEERING | The car has the sticky steering issue that has already been reported by numerous owners of Honda Civic and CRV. The dealer said the unit needs to be replaced and the car is not safe to drive. There are no parts available and the car has been at the dealership for two months. If it involves a manufacture defect, why has there been no recall by Honda. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2024 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES | A few times while using the vehicle’s cruise control system, our 2021 Honda CRV suddenly started braking on its own automatically, for no apparent reason. It was sudden, surprising, jarring, and scary. Thank goodness no one was injured. The vehicle components have not been inspected yet by any party and is available for inspection. There were no warnings prior to the sudden automatic braking. We are reporting this to Honda today as well. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2024 | LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the Lane Departure warning light illuminated. The contact also stated that the Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking feature was activated inadvertently without other vehicles nearby. The dealer was contacted, but the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 56,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 56,000 |
| Jul 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | On [XXX] at approximately 7am, I was driving eastbound on [XXX] in Missouri, just west of Waynesville, MO. Weather was clear, not a lot of traffic. My sunroof glass exploded. There were no cars around me, I had not seen anything fly out from anywhere and hit the sunroof and I don't recall hitting any type of large bump or pothole prior to the glass shattering. The noise it made was very loud; like an explosion. The sunshade was open at the time and the tempered glass shattered all over the inside of my car. Despite shattered glass everywhere, I was not injured. There were no passengers in the car at the time. Since most of the glass fell inside the cabin, I closed the sunshade so no more would fall on me and pulled over in Waynesville. I was then able to drive on to my destination in Florissant, MO with the sunshade closed. Once there, a mechanic broke out the rest of the glass for me and installed crash wrap until I could get the window fixed. He also vacuumed out as much glass from the cabin as he could. I contacted my insurance company, sent photos and a claim was started. In the end, my insurance company took care of the claim, minus deductible. There were no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the glass exploding. I had also just had a multi point inspection with my tire rotation and oil change just 3 days prior at Pinegar Honda in Springfield, MO and there was no notation that the glass was cracked or otherwise compromised in any way. I don't know if this is a problem occurring with Honda CR V's or if it's just a fluke occurrence with my particular vehicle. The mechanic was unable to determine what caused the glass to shatter. I am reporting this just in case this is happening with other vehicles and the problem is more pervasive. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2024 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I was driving on a 2 lane road. There were no other vehicles on the road. The word brake flashed on the dashboard and the car suddenly braked hard. Items on my back seat fell to the floor. The car then resumed normal driving. There was no wind or items blowing across the path of the road. This has not happened before. If there had been a car behind me it might have caused an accident. The vehicle has not been inspected by any entity. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2024 | STEERING,LANE DEPARTURE | While driving at highway speeds my steering wheel gets stuck to one side requiring manual assistance to move it back to center after turning. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2024 | STEERING | When turning the vehicle to the left, the electronic system freezes the steering requiring a substantial "jerk" of the wheel to come out of the turn. Obviously, having to overcorrect the steering has bad potential outcomes. The Honda dealer described it as a failed electronic steering unit. There were no warnings. The vehicle has 50,000 miles. Parts are on back order and we have no idea when it will be repaired. The local Honda dealer that has the car is Fred Anderson Honda, 330 Woodruff Rd, Greenville, SC 29607 864-565-7535 | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS | Important safety recall unresolved. There are defects to the internal short circuit from environmental humidity. This issue may cause the airbags to deploy and increase the risk of injury. There is a limited supply of parts; according to the recall letter, the dealership confirmed the current status. I called the manufacturer's care program and was told there are no changes in the status of the recall being repaired. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |