2018 Honda Accord problems & reliability
1,875 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2018 Honda Accord, alongside 6 safety recall campaigns. Last verified Sep 21, 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 components.
26 complaints report injuries (39 injured).
Federal crash records (FARS 2020–2023): 2018 Honda Accord vehicles were involved in 174 fatal crashes with 89 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Engine → | 552 | 29% |
| Forward Collision Avoidance → | 337 | 18% |
| Fuel/propulsion System → | 303 | 16% |
| Electrical System → | 289 | 15% |
| Service Brakes → | 249 | 13% |
| Unknown / Other | 248 | 13% |
| Fuel System, Gasoline → | 165 | 9% |
| Power Train → | 136 | 7% |
| Vehicle Speed Control → | 111 | 6% |
| Steering → | 60 | 3% |
Component groups as classified by NHTSA. A complaint can name more than one component, so shares may sum to more than 100%.
All 32 reported components →Common symptoms owners describe
Keyword analysis of complaint narratives; one complaint can describe several symptoms.
Mileage when problems occurred
Among the 564 complaints that included a usable odometer reading, the median reported incident mileage was 24,970 miles (middle 50% between 8,000 and 69,701 miles).
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“I am not sure WHAT component failed. My lights on my dash will not go off. I have done everything I was told to do, ever down to a new Battery. & they will not go off. My car will not go over a certain speed. Before this, there were no problems. No warning lights & it was driving perfectly fine. PLEASE HELP. When I…”
Unknown / Other · filed Sep 16, 2026
“Side airbag not working properly ("SRS problem" intermittently showing up on dashboard): DTC checked and found B0020-13: Open or increased resistance in the left side airbag inflator. No accident on this side of the vehicle has occurred to my knowledge. A few months ago back in March my car was impacted on the right…”
Air Bags · filed Sep 15, 2026
“My car starting shutting off on me suddenly while driving. No warning lights. Eventually had it towed to honda. Honda informed me it was the head gasket that blew with only 109,000 miles on the car at the time. My car had the 1.5 turbo engine that is now currently under investigation for this same issue. Ended up…”
Engine · filed Sep 15, 2026
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Federal defect investigations
- Inadvertent Automatic Emergency Braking
Engineering Analysis EA24002 · opened Apr 15, 2024 · open
- Inadvertent Automatic Emergency Braking
Preliminary Evaluation PE22003 · opened Feb 21, 2022 · closed Apr 18, 2024
Technical service bulletins
307 manufacturer communications (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 2018 Honda Accord. The 10 most recent:
Owner Notification Letter - Honda has developed software updates to the Honda Sensing system to enhance driver experience by modifying the circumstances when the advanced driver assist system (ADAS) decelerates the…
ONL6UV09092026 · Other · issued Sep 10, 2026
Tech Line Summary - Customers may report that the center display unit changes screens on its own, registers unintended inputs, or operates erratically without user interaction. The condition may be more noticeable when…
AATS31549 · Other · issued Aug 31, 2026
Dealer Message - Under certain conditions, the cylinder head gasket effectiveness may be reduced which may cause vehicles to experience overheating, coolant loss, misfire, and/or DTCs P0300 through P0304 stored.
AEBM08262026901 · Other · issued Aug 26, 2026
Service Bulletin - Under certain conditions, the cylinder head gasket effectiveness may be reduced which may cause vehicles to experience overheating, coolant loss, misfire and/or DTCs P0300 thru P0304 stored.
A26-004 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 26, 2026
Service Bulletin - Under certain conditions, the cylinder head gasket effectiveness may be reduced which may cause vehicles to experience overheating, coolant loss, misfire and/or DTCs P0300 thru P0304 stored.
A26-003 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 26, 2026
Service Bulletin - On certain 2018-2022 Accord and 2018-22 Accord Hybrid vehicles equipped with the Wireless CarPlay and Android Auto software upgrade, a programming issue within the Wireless CarPlay and Android Auto…
A26-068 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 21, 2026
Dealer Message - Due to a software programming issue within the Wireless CarPlay and Android Auto system, an invalid "License Authentication Error" message may appear on the Display Audio screen after approximately…
AEBM08212026901 · Other · issued Aug 21, 2026
Service Bulletin - Honda has developed software updates to the Honda Sensing system to enhance driver experience by modifying the circumstances when the advanced driver assist system (ADAS) decelerates the vehicle or…
A26-091 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jul 31, 2026
Service Bulletin - American Honda has identified a condition that may affect Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS) operation. Due to software programming issues of the Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS)…
A26-091 v1 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jul 24, 2026
Dealer Message - Due to software programming issues of the Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS), unexpected vehicle deceleration may occur.
AEBM07242026901 · Other · issued Jul 24, 2026
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 2018 Honda Accord has 6 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 2018 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.
- · Among complaints with usable mileage, the median reported incident mileage was 24,970 miles. This does not predict when a particular vehicle will develop a problem.