2016 Honda CR-V problems & reliability
389 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2016 Honda CR-V, alongside 3 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.
28 complaints report injuries (36 injured).
Federal crash records (FARS 2020–2023): 2016 Honda CR-V vehicles were involved in 126 fatal crashes with 65 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 | 99 | 25% |
| Unknown OR Other | 84 | 22% |
| Fuel/propulsion System | 65 | 17% |
| Electrical System | 63 | 16% |
| Power Train | 45 | 12% |
| Air Bags | 32 | 8% |
| Vehicle Speed Control | 28 | 7% |
| Service Brakes | 18 | 5% |
| Steering | 17 | 4% |
| Structure | 17 | 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 20,000 miles (middle 50% between 9,450 and 39,625 miles), based on 220 complaints that included mileage.
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“Last night I was stopped at a light with my foot on the brake waiting for the light to turn green. The car suddenly wanted to move forward and was fighting the brake. I'm not a two-footed driver, so only my right foot was on the brake. I took my foot off the brake for a second and the car lurched forward on its own…”
Vehicle Speed Control · filed Jul 31, 2026
“Spontaneously shattered sunroof. I was driving on the freeway going 50mph and I heard an extremely loud 'bang' and then glass was falling down on me and my passenger. The sunroof had completely shattered with no explanation or prior indication of cracks, etc. No extreme temperatures fluxes - this was in San Francisco…”
Unknown OR Other · filed Jun 24, 2026
“Front passenger airbag light is on and I have been told it is the sensor. This has been recalled on other 2016 CRVs. I think more cars may be affected than those that are recalled.”
Air Bags · filed Jun 19, 2026
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Federal defect investigations
- Electrical overstress
Engineering Analysis EA19001 · opened Apr 19, 2019 · closed Sep 19, 2024 · led to recall 20V024
Technical service bulletins
85 manufacturer communications (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 2016 Honda CR-V. The 10 most recent:
Dealer Message - American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM) is investigating certain 2016-2019 Accords, Civics, CR-Vs, Odysseys, Pilots & Ridgelines with a customer complaint of fuel smell or leak from the fuel tank area. To…
APaS01242020902 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jan 24, 2020
Dealer Message - American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM) is investigating certain 2016-2019 Accords, Civics, CR-Vs, Odysseys, Pilots & Ridgelines with a customer complaint of fuel smell or leak from the fuel tank area. To…
APaS01072020908 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jan 7, 2020
Dealer Message - American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM) is investigating certain 2016-2019 Accords, Civics, CR-Vs, Odysseys, Pilots & Ridgelines with a customer complaint of fuel smell or leak from the fuel tank area. To…
APaS12022019902 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Dec 2, 2019
Dealer Message - American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM) is investigating certain 2016-2019 Accords, Civics, CR-Vs, Odysseys, Pilots & Ridgelines with a customer complaint of fuel smell or leak from the fuel tank area. To…
APaS11142019903 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Nov 14, 2019
Dealer Message - American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM) is investigating certain 2016-2019 Accords, Civics, CR-Vs, Odysseys, Pilots & Ridgelines with a customer complaint of fuel smell or leak from the fuel tank area. To…
APaS10282019903 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Oct 28, 2019
Service Bulletin - When cold-starting the engine and shifting to Reverse, the engine stalls in the first 10 to 14 seconds. There is too much oil clearance between the input and stator shafts, which allows ATF to drain…
A18-072 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Oct 15, 2019
Dealer Message - American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM) is investigating certain 2016-2019 Accords, Civics, CR-Vs, Odysseys, Pilots & Ridgelines with a customer complaint of fuel smell or leak from the fuel tank area. To…
APaS10092019903 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Oct 9, 2019
Dealer Message - American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM) is investigating certain 2016-2019 Accords, Civics, CR-Vs, Odysseys, Pilots & Ridgelines with a customer complaint of fuel smell or leak from the fuel tank area.
APaS09252019904 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Sep 25, 2019
Dealer Message - American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM) is investigating certain 2016-2019 Accords, Civics, CR-Vs, Odysseys, Pilots & Ridgelines with a customer complaint of fuel smell or leak from the fuel tank area. To…
APaS09092019901 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Sep 9, 2019
Dealer Message - American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM) is investigating certain 2016-2019 Accords, Civics, CR-Vs, Odysseys, Pilots & Ridgelines with a customer complaint of fuel smell or leak from the fuel tank area. To…
APaS08272019901 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 27, 2019
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 2016 Honda CR-V has 3 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 2016 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 20,000 miles — budget accordingly if the car is approaching that mileage.