2001 Honda Accord problems & reliability
920 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2001 Honda Accord, alongside 7 safety recall campaigns. Last verified Aug 7, 2026. Complaints are unverified reports submitted by owners to the federal Office of Defects Investigation.
Each complaint is counted once (by NHTSA case number), even when it names several vehicles.
101 complaints report injuries (118 injured, 2 deaths reported).
Federal crash records (FARS 2020–2023): 2001 Honda Accord vehicles were involved in 156 fatal crashes with 110 occupant deaths. Involvement counts are not adjusted for how many are on the road and do not imply fault or a vehicle defect.
Most reported problems
| Component | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Air Bags | 405 | 44% |
| Power Train | 209 | 23% |
| Electrical System | 78 | 8% |
| Vehicle Speed Control | 57 | 6% |
| Structure | 47 | 5% |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic | 43 | 5% |
| Seat Belts | 36 | 4% |
| Suspension | 33 | 4% |
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 29 | 3% |
| Tires | 24 | 3% |
Component groups as classified by NHTSA. A complaint can name more than one component, so shares may sum to more than 100%.
Common symptoms owners describe
Keyword analysis of complaint narratives; one complaint can describe several symptoms.
Mileage when problems occurred
Half of the failures with a reported odometer reading occurred by 85,000 miles (middle 50% between 51,000 and 127,000 miles), based on 545 complaints that included mileage.
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“The contact owns a 2001 Honda Accord. The contact purchased the vehicle and was provided a copy of NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V182000 (AIR BAGS) by the original owner of the vehicle. The local dealer was contacted; however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The dealer refused to release the vehicle…”
Air Bags · filed Jul 2, 2025
“Dealer has falsely stated that past airbag recall work was completed. The timeframe they gave of completion is incorrect. We owned the car during the timeframe they said the repairs were done, but they were not done. We had a mechanic from Honda call use around the stated time (years ago, I cant recall specifically…”
Air Bags · filed Nov 18, 2024
“the engibe over heats above 230 the car has for the 4th time broke down on major highway endangering the kids and in insecure area of the road where you can get murdered the dealer says this is normal defect of the coolant system i don't think buying a 2024 with known defects normal the dealer says there are so many…”
Engine · filed Oct 11, 2024
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Federal defect investigations
- Desiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture
Engineering Analysis EA21002 · opened Sep 17, 2021 · open
- Air Bag Inflator Rupture
Engineering Analysis EA15001 · opened Feb 24, 2015 · open · led to recall 22V945
- Honda EWR Reporting
Audit Query AQ14004 · opened Oct 30, 2014 · closed Apr 21, 2016
- Air Bag Inflator Rupture
Preliminary Evaluation PE14016 · opened Jun 11, 2014 · closed Mar 2, 2015 · led to recall 15V226000
- RUPTURING DRIVER'S AIR BAG INFLATORS
Recall Query RQ09004 · opened Nov 2, 2009 · closed May 6, 2010
- SRS READINESS INDICATOR ILLUMINATION
Preliminary Evaluation PE05043 · opened Aug 12, 2005 · closed Mar 24, 2006
- IGNITION-PARK INTERLOCK
Preliminary Evaluation PE05002 · opened Jan 13, 2005 · closed Feb 2, 2005 · led to recall 05V025000
- IGNITION-PARK INTERLOCK
Defect Petition DP04006 · opened Oct 8, 2004 · closed Jan 13, 2005
Technical service bulletins
276 manufacturer communications (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 2001 Honda Accord. The 10 most recent:
Service Bulletin - This bulletin is a notification of a class action settlement relating to airbag inflators. American Honda is offering a Customer Support Program (Warranty Extension) to cover any manufacturing defects…
A20-009 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Mar 10, 2020
Service bulletin - This bulletin has been cancelled because the collection is now complete. If you did the collection in this Service Bulletin on or before October 26, 2018 (RO date), use the Warranty Claim Information…
A18-077 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Oct 26, 2018
Service bulletin - This bulletin is a notification of a class action settlement relating to airbag inflators. American Honda is offering a Customer Support Program (Warranty Extension) to cover any manufacturing defects…
A18-046 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued May 24, 2018
Email template to remind owners of the takata recall and to schedule an appointment at their earliest convenience.
TAKATA_EMAIL TEM · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Dec 14, 2016
Posters sent to hawaiian independent repair facilities, automotive part stores, car washes, and gas stations to remind owners of the takata recall and to schedule an appointment at their earliest convenience.
TAKATA_HAWAII PO · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Sep 7, 2016
Flyer circulated to the residents of hawaii to remind owners of the takata recall and to schedule an appointment at their earliest convenience.
TAKATA_HAWAII FL · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Sep 7, 2016
Letter sent in conjunction with the florida highway safety and motor vehicles department to remind florida owners of the takata recall and to schedule an appointment at their earliest convenience.
TAKATA_FLORIDA D · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 29, 2016
Us virgin islands newspaper advertisements to remind owners of the takata recall and to schedule an appointment at their earliest convenience.
TAKATA_TEXT MESS · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 23, 2016
Text messages sent to remind owners of the takata recall and to schedule an appointment at their earliest convenience.
TAKATA_TEXT MESS · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 23, 2016
Advertisement in hawaiian newspapers to remind owners of the takata recall and to schedule an appointment at their earliest convenience.
TAKATA_HAWAII NE · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 21, 2016
TSBs are repair guidance manufacturers send to dealers — they are not recalls and repairs are not automatically free. Full documents are available on NHTSA’s site.
Safety recalls
The 2001 Honda Accord has 7 NHTSA recall campaigns — recall repairs are free at franchised dealers regardless of the vehicle’s age.
Check whether your specific vehicle is affected
Recall campaigns often cover only certain VIN ranges. Enter your VIN on the official NHTSA site to confirm whether your vehicle is included and whether the repair is still open.
Check VIN on NHTSA →Buying a used 2001 Honda Accord?
- · Decode the seller’s VIN with our free VIN decoder to confirm the exact year, engine and trim.
- · Check for unrepaired recalls by VIN on NHTSA’s official lookup — recall repairs are free.
- · Owners most often reported problems around 85,000 miles — budget accordingly if the car is approaching that mileage.