34 of the
697 complaints filed about the Honda Cr-V Hybrid
are about the transmission —
5% of everything owners reported.
The worst model year for it is 2021.
34
Complaints
5%
Share of all complaints
3
Crashes
0
Fires
Transmission & Drivetrain complaints by model year
2024 Honda CR-V Hybrid with approximately 91,000 miles. Vehicle is less than two years old, has received all required maintenance and mileage is predominantly highway driving. I experienced intermittent chugging/rough engine operation, particularly when the gasoline engine engaged at light throttle. There was no check-engine light. The vehicle subsequently displayed: “POWER REDUCED - Shutter grille system problem. Power may be reduced. See your dealer.” I brought the vehicle to an authorized Honda dealer. According to the technician's written diagnostic notes, no diagnostic trouble codes were present. During inspection, however, the technician found the engine coolant level low. The spark plugs were removed and the cylinders inspected. The technician found coolant leaking into cylinder #4, which was documented by borescope photograph. Honda authorized replacement of the cylinder-head gasket. My safety concern is that an internal coolant leak/head-gasket failure was present without a check-engine light or stored diagnostic trouble code, and the vehicle ultimately displayed a warning that power could be reduced. I am concerned that this condition could potentially result in unexpected reduced propulsion or overheating while driving. American Honda has also issued Service Bulletin 26-088, Product Update: 2023-26 CR-V Hybrid PGM-FI Software Update, dated August 7, 2026. Honda states that the update was developed “to better manage engine temperatures” by optimizing electric water pump operation. My Honda dealer has advised that the applicable campaign update will be performed on my vehicle. I am not alleging that the software condition caused my head-gasket failure, but I believe NHTSA should evaluate whether internal coolant leakage/head-gasket failures in these vehicles can occur without an appropriate engine warning or stored DTC and whether the condition could result in reduced power, overheating, or loss of propulsion while driving.
NHTSA complaint #11756658 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Manufacturer Dealer Diagnostic confirmed that Head Gasket is leaking on cylinder 1 and that this is a known issue. Vehicle just 3 months and barely 2000 miles out of new car warranty. Manufacturer fails to cover repair at 100% Power Loss while driving on the freeway on 2 separate occasions. Engine did not provide power in response to accelerator pedal, car slows down w/o control. Incident 1 traveling 65 mph Hwy [XXX] in [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11755481 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
i was driving my 2023 crv hybrid which is well maintained and has only 73200 miles i was only driving it for 10 min when the cylinder gas kit has blown out and vehicle went into limp mode and power has dropped luckily no one was behind and i pulled over.
NHTSA complaint #11753541 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I am reporting a systemic safety fraud involving three critical points:1. INHERENT DEFECT & CRASH LINK: This vehicle has a pathological history of 6 transmission fluid changes starting from 308 miles and multiple alignment failures. There is strong suspicion of inherent defects in both the POWERTRAIN and REAR DRIVETRAIN/STEERING systems. These defects likely contributed to the previous owner's 5-side collision in May 2022. The record suggests a "Sudden Loss of Motive Power" and "Control Instability" risk existed from day one.2. RECALL MALPRACTICE (#23V-844): Despite the massive structural damage from the crash (bent hinges and frame misalignment), the dealer (Planet Honda) certified the fire-safety recall as complete in Dec 2024. Installing electrical recall parts on a compromised chassis violates federal safety standards and creates an unaddressed fire hazard.3. FRAUDULENT CPO RE-SALE: The dealer and manufacturer conspired to "launder" this known-accident vehicle back into the market via the CPO program, concealing the lethal combination of mechanical failure and structural instability from the next victim.The vehicle is currently mothballed due to these hazards. This matter is under active investigation by the （AID）Colorado Department of Revenue, Auto Industry Division (Case #[[XXX]). I petition NHTSA to audit the i-HDS diagnostic logs from the Dec 2024 recall to investigate this safety compliance fraud. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11736337 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Transmission failure without any warning while driving. Vehicle engine immediately shut down resulting in no power and loss of power steering. Vehicle came to a complete stop within seconds. Fortunately I was on a country road with no traffic. Had I been traveling on a highway I could have been rear ended and suffered major injuries! I had to push the vehicle to the side of the road since there was no power.There was a recall of the 2023 model for the exact same transmission issue that I experienced. There are Honda owners driving 2022 CRV models like mine who are unaware that their vehicle has a faulty transmission who could suffer serious injury. These owners need to be informed immediately!
NHTSA complaint #11736405 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The vehicle experienced a premature failure of the head gasket; it was blown at 130,000 miles. I was close to home when I received a dash alert stating not to accelerate as the engine was nearing a critically high temperature. If I had not been able to get home so quickly, my safety may have been compromised as my car could have overheated forcing me to pull over on the shoulder of a busy bridge. My local dealership inspected the vehicle and has quoted me nearly $4,500 for the repair, despite it appearing as this is a known issue with this particular engine.
NHTSA complaint #11688230 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
My 2022 Honda CR-V Hybrid began displaying multiple warning messages around February 2025: “Transmission System Problem,” “Blind Spot Info System Problem,” and “Emission System Problem.” The issue was eventually traced to incorrect transmission fluid used from the time of purchase. A diagnostic report confirmed widespread internal transmission damage (e.g., shift solenoids stuck, low fluid pressure, excessive clutch slippage). As the transmission failed, it overwhelmed the vehicle’s main computer (PCM), causing a breakdown in the F-CAN network and disabling connected safety systems like the blind spot monitoring and emissions modules. The drivability of the vehicle deteriorated rapidly—gear shifting became rough and unpredictable. The car began struggling to accelerate above 40 mph, especially during inclines or highway merges. This posed a safety risk not only to me but also to passengers and other drivers due to reduced control and system failures. I rely on this vehicle for work and have since had to limit driving to local roads only, avoiding highways entirely. The issue was confirmed by an independent service center. Diagnostic reports and dashboard photos were submitted to the manufacturer, but they have not accepted responsibility. Their representative acknowledged the symptoms but insisted it was the selling dealer’s issue. Meanwhile, the transmission continued to degrade. I believe this defect originated at the manufacturing or pre-delivery stage. The wrong fluid caused irreversible internal damage that has now jeopardized the vehicle's powertrain and safety systems. Despite reports, photos, and repeated communication, the manufacturer has delayed action, and the vehicle is now outside the powertrain warranty mileage due to this delay.
NHTSA complaint #11673853 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I own a 2021 Honda CR-V Touring hybrid and have had 2 incidents of what I have learned is called sudden unintentional acceleration (SUA). I bought the car new and took possession of it in the spring of 2021. The first incident occurred Nov 14, 2023 when I was parking at a restaurant. I was slowly pulling forward into a parking spot where there were unattended cars on either side of me as well as in front of me. Suddenly, without warning, I was surging with full force into the minivan parked ahead of me as well as the front end of the car parked next to it. I slammed on the brake but not before I had pushed the minvan several feet forward. I did not know how this happened but, even though I knew that I had not stepped on the gas pedal nor had something interfered with it, I assumed that I must have done something to cause this accident. Thousands of dollars of damage was done to my car as well as the other two vehicles that were struck. The second incident was June 11, 2025. I was slowly advancing forward into a hotel parking space. There was a curb at the end of the space with some landscaping behind that. The landscaping had an uphill incline with some large evergreens about 8-10 feet from the curb. Once again, the car suddenly surged forward, jumping the curb, and accelerating into the evergreens. I slammed on the brake, feeling like I was putting my foot through the floor. This was an exact repeat of the previous incident and I am absolutely certain that I did nothing to cause this acceleration to occur. I was able to back out of the evergreens and my car does not appear to be damaged. Airbags were not deployed in either incident. I went on-line and there are numerous reports of similar incidents among CR-v owners but I do not see any recalls or actions taken by Honda on this problem. I intend to take the car to the Honda dealer in the next week. I fear the next incident may result in injury or death.
NHTSA complaint #11666749 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
It happened twice so far, while driving on the Highway, suddenly the car would no longer respond to the accelerator pedal and the car started losing speed meanwhile the warning lights flashes on the dashboard., In a panic we had to cruise to park on the highways shoulder. shut the car off thinking the car may have overheated or something, then restarted the engine and the dashboard was very normal, we proceeded to drive cautiously to mechanic, the mechanic found no error code to lead him to any diagnoses. The car drives normally after each incident. we are very concerned that this event could happen in critical situation and cause accident or the faulty component may causing this issue may lead to other more serious power train trouble that will not be covered by warranty in the future. by searching online, we found too many owners have had the same experience but we solution was offered by Honda. We urge you to investigate and help owners to be safe on the roads.
NHTSA complaint #11648470 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
My Honda CR-V Hybrid would stop working on the highway at high speeds. Sporadically, I would be driving at speeds from 55-75mph and the accelerator pedal would stop working and my car would start slowing to a halt. I would have to pull over to the side of the highway quickly, turn the car off, and then restart it. It usually would work but occasionally the car would stop a mile or two down the road and I would have to restart it again. This occurred six times between 11/24 and 1/25. In all cases, the car would still have electrical power but the accelerator would simply stop responding. This led to several dangerous situations where I needed to maneuver around trailer trucks while rapidly slowing. In all cases, there was no warning lights or messages. I had two different mechanics, including the dealership where I bought the car, look at it and neither could find a source of the problem. This problem as occurred to other owners of Honda CR-V's if you search for this problem on Reddit and other forums. I ended up selling the car back to the dealership at a loss and buying a different used car.
NHTSA complaint #11644302 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Within the past 3 months, twice now, the battery indicator goes to zero and engine loses power and you can't accelerate. This is very dangerous where we live as it is a 2 lane mountain highway with few spots to safely pull over. There are a number of posts about this know issue, all stating the same scenario and that no Honda dealerships will fix it as they "can't determine an issue". I called our dealer after this happened the first time and was instructed to not restart the vehicle and just have it towed in. That is not realistic.
NHTSA complaint #11641878 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
On 1/21/25 I had multiple warning lights appear while driving along the highway @ 60 mph. The error messaging included “transmission failure, loss of power, emissions control…”. I had not seen alerts prior to this incident, and was not aware of changes in performance other than a recent, minor, decrease in fuel efficiency. Fortunately, I was able to safely exit the freeway & park in a nearby shopping center. My vehicle was towed to the local dealer, Marin Honda. After a week of evaluation, and consulting with Honda America tech support, the dealer reports difficulty isolating the problem and determining appropriate repair. At this time a cracked piston has been identified, and the plan is for a technician to use a barescope to evaluate the cylinder for damage, and the potential need to replace the engine. I am concerned that multiple owners of this model & year have reported the same problem, including loss of power while traveling at high speed (see CRV Owners Club) Their vehicles were also determined to have cracked pistons, with and without cylinder damage. It has also been noted that when the fuel injector remains open it may be a contributing factor to a cracked piston. Could this be relevant to the current recall issued for the fuel pump on the 2024 CRV? Whatever the cause, the potential for catastrophic engine failure places drivers and their passengers, as well as other drivers, at great risk of a serious accident.
NHTSA complaint #11638988 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
My car lost power and the engine light came on when on the freeway. I was in the middle of merging from [XXX] to [XXX] on a San Diego freeway. Because of the highway interchange situation, I was in the far left lane and needed to merge about 4-5 lanes to the right to get to the next off ramp. This was so scary!! Though I had my hazard lights on, cars coming up behind me didn't expect a car to be slowing down in the middle of the freeway as the car decelerated down to 20 mph. I was very lucky that my car was not rear-ended. I used the side roads and the electric power to of my hybrid engine to drive about 7 miles to a Honda dealer. They asked me to turn off my car (big mistake). Honda had my car for 3 days and drove it about 70 miles, but could never duplicate the issue. I am [XXX] and frequently from Southern to Northern California alone. I have driven over 700,000 miles in my lifetime and never had a car's combustion engine stop on the freeway. I researched this unique situation and found out other Honda CRV-Hybrid owners have experienced this, but Honda had no solution. They told me they knew it was a cylinder issue and the tech saw "misfire codes" but without more details, there was nothing they could do. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11631172 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
At least two times I can recall after starting vehicle and shifting into reverse the car moved forward instead of reverse. I applied the brake and tried again, but the same thing happened. At that point I shifted into park, turned the vehicle off, and restarted it. After doing this and shifting into reverse the vehicle backed up normally. Fortunately I did not hit anything. Additionally another incident occurred where I was changing lanes to make a left turn at approximately 40 MPH the steering became very heavy and I was briefly unable to steer to change direction. While in the turning lane and unable to turn, I placed the vehicle in park, shut off the vehicle and restarted it. This cured the problem and I was able to proceed.
NHTSA complaint #11626708 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
When starting the vehicle engine shakes and rattles, when motor is idling and charging the EV battery and also when going from EV to Gas and Gas to EV engine shakes and rattles. When accelerating the engine shakes and rattles. Engine feels sluggish and a loud ticking noise can be heard. Seems the engine is struggling and accelerating it feels the engine rocks back and forth. When transmission is changing gears I also feel the engine rock back and forth.
NHTSA complaint #11616753 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Fuel Injectors failed on all 4 cylinders. They replaced them, still having issue. Blown head gasket was what they diagnosed next and repaired. Picked up vehicle, when driving it down the interstate (70 mph speed limit) the check engine light started flashing. An error came up indicating a Critical Failure. Vehicle stopped accelerating and would not move, luckily I was able to coast to the emergency lane. American Honda states they want to replace the cylinder head now.
NHTSA complaint #11614882 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
This is the second time this vehicle has randomly lost power / internal combustion engine stalled while driving on the interstate. Vehicle was traveling approximately 70mph steady for 10 minutes when the incident occurred. The combustion engine began to shutter and stalled, check engine light began blinking. Hybrid battery went down to zero and had to make an emergency departure off the highway with no power. Vehicle had to be powered off and powered back on to resume normal operation. Because the CELlight cleared the dealership cannot look up the fault and mark it as NPF. When I search this issue, it seems to be fairly common with the 2020+ honda hybrids (crv and accords). This type of power train failure / stall is extremely dangerous especially on highways with little or no warning and time to react. We are begging the NHTSA to have Honda do a through investigation and recall to remediate the engine stall failures on these hybrid vehicles ASAP as this is extremely dangerous for our family and other drivers around us.
NHTSA complaint #11608368 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the vehicle independently decelerated with the check engine warning light illuminated. The accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to respond as intended. The contact drove the vehicle to the shoulder of the road and turned off the vehicle. The contact stated that when the vehicle was restarted, the check engine warning light was no longer illuminated. The contact proceeded to drive the vehicle without any further issues. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the failure could not be duplicated. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer twice due to the failure and each time the failure could not be duplicated. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 23,000.
NHTSA complaint #11606895 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Car was parked on flat ground, and I turned on the car and put it into reverse. The reverse sound started and the reverse camera displayed on the screen as normal, but when I pressed the accelerator, the car drove forward instead of back. I put the car in park then back to Reverse, but the same thing happened. I turned the car off, then started again, and after that it reversed normally again.
NHTSA complaint #11603583 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.