2008 Honda Accord problems & reliability
1,520 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2008 Honda Accord, alongside 8 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.
52 complaints report injuries (67 injured, 1 deaths reported).
Federal crash records (FARS 2020–2023): 2008 Honda Accord vehicles were involved in 232 fatal crashes with 138 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic | 451 | 30% |
| Air Bags | 379 | 25% |
| Engine | 210 | 14% |
| Exterior Lighting | 113 | 7% |
| Electrical System | 104 | 7% |
| Power Train | 70 | 5% |
| Service Brakes, Electric | 58 | 4% |
| Service Brakes | 56 | 4% |
| Unknown OR Other | 48 | 3% |
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 41 | 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 29,000 miles (middle 50% between 19,000 and 74,280 miles), based on 1,061 complaints that included mileage.
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“The contact owns a 2008 Honda Accord. While attempting to register the vehicle, the contact was informed of NHTSA Campaign Number: 09E063000(EQUIPMENT). The contact indicated that the vehicle could not be register at local DMV office due to the incomplete recall; the contact indicated that the part listed in the…”
Equipment · filed May 21, 2026
“CV Axle broke without warning. Minimal safety risk, had to push the car across traffic to a parking lot. Had the vehicle towed to independent garage for repair.”
Power Train · filed May 20, 2026
“My daughter was in a accident on the freeway which was pretty bad the car is totaled and she was injured because the air bags never came out.”
Air Bags · filed Apr 30, 2026
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Federal defect investigations
- SRS Control Module Failure
Preliminary Evaluation PE15029 · opened Aug 18, 2015 · closed Jun 17, 2016 · led to recall 16V594000
- Inadvertent Side Air Bag Deployment
Engineering Analysis EA14004 · opened Jul 29, 2014 · closed Jan 4, 2016
- Inadvertent Side Air Bag Deployment
Preliminary Evaluation PE14004 · opened Jan 31, 2014 · closed Jul 29, 2014
Technical service bulletins
109 manufacturer communications (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 2008 Honda Accord. The 10 most recent:
Service Bulletin - Warranty Extension: Customer Support Program For Front Passenger's Airbag Inflator.
A18-066 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jun 30, 2026
Service News - The navigation clock and date are incorrect. This is due to a limited GPS receiver Capacity resulting in rollover of the internal chip memory; the rollover occurred on January 1, 2022, at 12:00AM local…
A21120A · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jun 13, 2023
ServiceNews Article - The clock shows the incorrect time. This issue is due to a limited GPS receiver capacity resulting in "rollover" of the internal chip memory; the "rollover" will occur on January 1, 2022, at…
A21120A · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jan 25, 2022
Dealer Message - The May episode of Tech2Tech is now posted. We've got some valuable information for you, so check it out! This month we're featuring "Replacing That Leaky Front Rocker Arm Oil Control Valve."
APP05122020 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued May 12, 2020
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…
A20-016 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Mar 10, 2020
Service Bulletin - The front rocker arm oil control valve is leaking.
A20-023 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Mar 5, 2020
This SKU is a Front Upper Ball Joint. The customer communication requested return of unsold inventory to inspect for the outer diameter of the ball joint housing being too small. The outer diameter being too small would…
DORE5C4S09 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jul 11, 2019
Service Bulletin - American Honda is conducting an inspection of certain vehicles that have previously had the passenger's airbag inflator replaced as part of the Takata Passsenger's Airbag Inflator recall. If you…
A18-115 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued May 10, 2019
"Service bulletin - American Honda is announcing a powertrain warranty extension as a result of a settlement of a class action captioned, Soto et al.v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc., Case No. 3:12-cv-1377-SI (N.D…
A13-078 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Dec 20, 2018
"Service bulletin - American Honda is extending the warranty coverage on the Piston Rings and Pistons for 2008-11 Accord L4 to 8 years from the original date of purchase or 125,000 miles, whichever comes first. The…
A12-087 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Dec 19, 2018
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 2008 Honda Accord has 8 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 2008 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 29,000 miles — budget accordingly if the car is approaching that mileage.