2001 Honda CR-V problems & reliability
142 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2001 Honda CR-V, alongside 1 safety recall campaign. 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.
8 complaints report injuries (9 injured, 1 deaths reported).
Federal crash records (FARS 2020–2023): 2001 Honda CR-V vehicles were involved in 42 fatal crashes with 32 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 | 52 | 37% |
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 24 | 17% |
| Engine | 9 | 6% |
| Tires | 8 | 6% |
| Visibility | 8 | 6% |
| Electrical System | 7 | 5% |
| Equipment | 7 | 5% |
| Power Train | 6 | 4% |
| Seat Belts | 6 | 4% |
| Unknown OR Other | 5 | 4% |
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 100,000 miles (middle 50% between 66,500 and 146,000 miles), based on 73 complaints that included mileage.
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“I bought this car from a private seller and he claimed the vehicle was in good condition. A day later the car has been dying on me while driving. Nothing shows on the check engine that something is wrong with it. The car will start and able to drive but then will die on me again. How do I find if it's covered under a…”
Engine · filed Jun 16, 2026
“Engine shuts off while driving. Speeds can be low or high. 20-65 mph. While driving, engine will cut off. Sometimes the electrics remain on and I can use power steering to pull to the side of the road, other times everything shuts down. It can happen while turning or regular straight driving. Sometimes it will restart…”
Engine · filed May 9, 2026
“The SRS light has come on in our 2001 Honda CR-V. Diagnostics at the dealership revealed that the control module is defective, and Honda does not cover its replacement. This is a safety issue, as the airbags will not deploy with the SRS light on. Honda should be responsible for this. Please issue a recall. It appears…”
Air Bags · filed Jan 21, 2022
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Technical service bulletins
77 manufacturer communications (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 2001 Honda CR-V. The 10 most recent:
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
Dealer message - On Monday, June 23, 2014, American Honda announced three recalls for various 2001-11 Honda models. As of August 4, 2014, affected VINs have been identified, and VIN status inquiry has been updated.
DLR MSG - Honda · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 6, 2014
Dealer message - On Monday, June 23, 2014, American Honda announced three recalls for various 2001-11 Honda models. As of July 23, 2014, affected VINs have been identified, and service bulletins 14-040, Safety Recall…
DLR MSG - Stop S · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jul 23, 2014
Honda: troubleshooting of diagnostic trouble codes (dtc) p1456 and p1457. Dealers are to run evap function test to find if there is a leak so the vehicle can be repaired. *kb
SB-99-075 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 9, 2013
Load carrying capacity reduced label for all honda vehicles. *pe
08-040 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued May 31, 2008
Speedometer shops can transfer odometer mileage. Honda service news. *tt
07012005 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jul 1, 2005
Transferring odometer mileage at odometer r&r. *tt
405 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Apr 16, 2005
Diagnostic trouble code p1298 is stored in the ecm/pcm. *tt
05006 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Feb 25, 2005
Rough idle, hard to start, poor engine performance, or malfunction indicator lamp (mil) comes on with diagnostic trouble code (dtc) p0301, p0302, p0303, p0304, or p0172. *tt *eh
03038 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Nov 5, 2004
Poor a/c cooling during hard acceleration. *eh
07012004 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jul 1, 2004
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 CR-V has 1 NHTSA recall campaign — 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 CR-V?
- · 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 100,000 miles — budget accordingly if the car is approaching that mileage.