What 1,812 owners told NHTSA about the 2018 Honda Accord Plug In Hybrid

While I was driving down Highway 101 near Mountain View near the Shoreline off-ramp, the vehicle's CBMS activated at highway speed even though there was no car in front of me. The weather was cloudy but visibility was good. The vehicle displayed "BRAKE" together with a warning sound, and the car suddenly decelerated. Luckily there was no car behind me, since the sudden braking could have easily caused an accident. I can confirm that this is repeatable -- on three occasions, the CBMS engaged at the exact same place where there was some surface imperfection in the road (due to recent asphalt patching). I had to step on the accelerator immediately to ensure the car behind me didn't rear end my car. I've read reports about the Honda Accord 2018 having this potential defect and wanted to make sure this report is filed, especially because it is repeatable. For now I've had to disable the vehicle CBMS to prevent an accident from occurring.

NHTSA ODI 11508834

The car out of no where breaks while driving and thinks it’s been involved in a collision.

NHTSA ODI 11508227

ALL dashboard warning lights come on.(brakes, VSC, steering, etc) Message says take to dealer. After doing a Google search, it appears to be a COMMON ISSUE for Honda Accords for 2018 and newer. They will come on and either stay on for days/weeks at a time and then just go off on their own. Dealer has no solution.

NHTSA ODI 11505685

Engine misfire causing limp mode. Dealer says head gasket blown. When misfire happens, all driver safety system warnings display. Car goes into limp mode which is dangerous if on high speed road. First appeared Oct-10-2022 with 59k miles on vehicle. Second appeared Nov-29-2022 with 60,300 miles on vehicle. Honda refuses to cover expense of replaceing head gasket and determining root cause.

NHTSA ODI 11499670

All of my safety features in my car when it comes to driving down the road have completely failed. Adaptive cruise control lane assist brake system errors. The car just stops in the middle of the road. And it will pull the car the car to the left or right thinking that there’s something in the road and there’s not it’s very dangerous.

NHTSA ODI 11499473

While driving in stop and go traffic on the highway with the adaptive cruse control system enabled the system will suddenly stop working. A message appears on the dashboard information panel "Braking Mitigation System Error/Failure: Bring to Dealer". This has occurred twice in 2022, and once or twice in 2021. When the car is turned off, then restarted, the system appears to reset itself. I brought the car to the dealership, they ran a "Diagnostic" and told me they detected software errors and needed to do a "Flash" reset, and that it was not covered under warranty. I contacted the Honda Corporation and provided my service records, and details of the incident. They were lacking in enthusiasm to investigate the issue, as they were more interested in informing me that the vehicle was over the 36,000 mile warranty period. There was no collision, but that does mean there won't be in the if there is a software malfunction with the Braking Mitigation System. I feel the Honda Corporation is not taking this safety issue seriously.

NHTSA ODI 11498538

Well I've had the car for about a year now and it has been good for the first few months, then I ran into a snag. All the orange warning lights for my safety features popped up and the vehicle was applying the brakes on its own. So I took it to the dealership and they told me it was a taillight, so I spent 500 bucks on one. Well after a month it's started to do it again this time worse, and it got so bad. I've had to pull over to the side of the road and restart the car because it kept braking while on the highway. Fast forward months down today and it's still doing it except much much worse. I tried to trade it in because I don't feel safe with vehicle anymore. But where I owe so much on it they won't let me get something else, so I'm stuck with it. I've made an appointment to see if they could check it out but at this point I just want it paid off and I want something else.

NHTSA ODI 11497761

One day all the car warning lights came on. After I backed out of the driveway, I placed the car in drive and tried to accelerate. When I stepped on the gas pedal the car barely accelerated. It barely moved. I turned of the engine and turned it back on again and the car was ok again, but this keeps happening from time to time. I've had the car checked a few times, but mechanics weren't sure what's wrong with the car. They keep getting a misfire code on number one, but after checking the spark plugs they said nothing is wrong with the spark plugs.

NHTSA ODI 11496138

While driving at highway speeds the automatic emergency braking will trigger. First the flashing of the dash and then the audible beeping and then the car brakes very hard and then releases without anyone ahead of me.

NHTSA ODI 11493739

WHILE DRIVING, ON THREE ACCOUNTS MY HONDS ACCORD INDEPENDENTLY APPLIED BRAKES WHILE MY FOOT WAS ON GAS PETAL. THE CAR SLOWED JERKED AND STOPPED. IT REGAINED SPEED AFTER I PULLED OFF THE ROAD. THERE WERE NO CARS IN FRONT OR BACK OR IN BACK OF THE CAR.NO WARNING LIGHT WENT ON. OUR AND OTHERS SAFTY WAS AT RISK WHEN THE CAR SUDDENLY STOPPED WITH NO INPUT FROM DRIVER. THIS IS A SERIOUS SITUATION. THE CAR WAS INSPECTED TWICE BY WESTBROOK HONDA WHERE IT WAS BOUHGT NEW. THEY INSTALLED NEW BRAKES ON THE CAR WITH 20 THOUSAND MILES DRIVEN SAYING THIS WAS NORMAL. NO SOLUTION HAS BEEN SUGGESTED OTHER THAN THERE WERE LEAVES IN THE WAY OF THE CAMERA. THEY DROVE THE CAR WITH NO ISSUE AND TOLD ME THEY NEVER HEARD OF SUCH A PROBLEM .

NHTSA ODI 11493635

With no object in front of the vehicle, the early warning braking system will activate and apply brakes. This is a very serious failure in the system. I have been able to avoid accidents only due to no cars being behind me when these brakes are applied. This is very dangerous at all speeds, but more so higher speeds.

NHTSA ODI 11492757

Automatic braking has randomly come on, causing harm or injury to those traveling in the vehicle. The few times that is has engaged has never been due to a close vehicle or object in front of the car.

NHTSA ODI 11491268

Braking system caused my daughter to have an accident. My 2018 Honda Accord sport has been braking on its own for quite some time now. I attempted to turn off all safety features but somehow missed the braking system feature. The car will brake on its own with nothing in front of it. It will give beeping noises and flash “brake” on the dashboard. On 10/12/2022 my daughter was on the interstate, the roads were wet with heavy traffic. She called me saying that she had an accident. The officer stated that speeding played a part in causing the accident. My daughter said the car just started beeping and she noticed she was going to slow in traffic so she preceded to get in the right lane. Upon doing so she said that my car just started spinning and she took her foot off the gas and never applied pressure to the brakes. She ended up on the other side of the road hitting a guard rail. I feel like the braking system played a huge part in this accident.

NHTSA ODI 11489072

The sensor is located under the license plate, and because of it being so low, anything that hits it on the road, such as a rock or insects, the sensor gets triggered. There’s no protective cap on it. And every single light turns on the dash. Such as the collision, lane departure, brake system and cruise control.

NHTSA ODI 11488802

While driving the vehicle loses power in traffic or on highway. The brakes won’t stop and the gas won’t accelerate. It’s like the car dies the light all come on reading warnings Break mitigation system, Break ABS loss of engine power. I have had this looked at by the dealership and they just replaced the battery and the problem keeps occurring. I’m scared as I travel with small children. I hope this matter is looked into because it cause myself and other having the same issue a serious accident.

NHTSA ODI 11488864

Periodically, at various speeds while driving, the “Brake” light will flash and sound on the dashboard, and there’s nothing in front of me. It causes the vehicle to brake and slow down drastically. It happens more often while driving at freeway speeds on the freeway. The vehicle will also light up with “Lane Departure” and will self correct when there is no need. I was informed by the dealer service department that “It probably was a glare from the sun or there was a reflection that caught the sensor to cause it to brake and do that.” It would happen at different times if the day.

NHTSA ODI 11488132

While driving using ACC, the warning message “Crash mitigation not working” comes on out of nowhere and the cruise control stops working. This has happened multiple times. Also, About a month ago, my whole left side of the dash completely stopped working. CAM DTC are the error codes and cruise control and necessary functions just stopped working all together. It feels very unsafe and unreliable.

NHTSA ODI 11487044

driving and without any vehicles nearby the brake lights came on and car brakes activated to a hard stop.

NHTSA ODI 11487056

While I was driving at 45mph and there was no vehicle/object in the object, Automatic Emergency Braking was applied and released. Luckily there wasn't any vehicle right behind otherwise I could have been rear ended. This whole experience was quite shocking and it took me a while to recover from it.

NHTSA ODI 11486298

Hi my car the date Monday 12 September 2022. The car don't start and on the display is warning. Brake system problem. Parking brake not available. Brake performance may be reduced. The rear right caliper side is all broken complete internally. This is a real safety problem.

NHTSA ODI 11484761

I was driving on the highway at about 45 mph when the car suddenly came to a stop without my touching the brake ( It wasn't as if the brakes were slammed on: the stop was relatively smooth but quick}. When I tried to use the accelerator to speed up, there was no response. I was unable to pull off the highway. I'm not sure what I did next, but I think I touched the brake. Within about 30 seconds I was able to resume using the accelerator. I don't think this was operator error. I drive this car infrequently, and it operates differently from the Tesla that I usually drive. But I don't think I was the cause of this.

NHTSA ODI 11484592

I have noticed a few times, at least 3 I can recall in the past year I’ve had the vehicle. The most recent being, i had just merged into a left lane. Traffic was light as it was around 8am going the opposite direction of heavy traffic and I was taking my child to school, and my car suddenly jerked like a hard brake motion. I could also hear what sounded like the abs trying to stop the car, kind of like thump but followed by a deep grinding sound like when you suddenly slam on the brakes. I looked to my side and there was no cars near me just the vehicle that was a few cars ahead of me and no one behind. The car was drove fine after that but it worries me that it could do it at the wrong time.

NHTSA ODI 11484600

I have had this vehicle since June 2018 and I have not had any issues until the last month or so. The first incident happened while driving to work and it was raining, when I turned into the parking lot a number of warnings started going off : Electric Parking Brake System Problem, Brake System Problem, Brake Hold System Problem, Electric Power Steering System Problem, Adaptive Cruise Control System Problem. Parked my car, went in my office and called the dealership. They told me it was most likely because of the rain and that the issue should resolve on it's own. By lunch time it had stopped raining, went to get lunch and the warnings were gone, but now when accelerating I would lose power. So I go the the dealership, they check to see what the issue is and they can't find anything. Told me to come back if it does it again. Few weeks later, driving down the interstate going 75 and I start losing speed for no reason and car almost crashes into me due to the dramatic decrease in speed and once again all the warnings are back on - but it's not raining this time! Honda can't find any issues and I'm so frustrated because it's a danger to me!

NHTSA ODI 11484297

I have a 2018 Honda Accord 2.0. Twice it left me stranded on the side of the road due to a failing fuel pump. the first time it kicked back on after an hour and all the lights turned off so they said a diagnostic cannot be performed. The second time I was driving in the middle of the road and the engine cut off and would not start, luckily I had some space to pull over but I was still in traffic and I called a tow truck. It took 6 1/2 hours to finally get it to the Honda dealership and they told me my fuel pump had failed and there is a recall for 2018 2.0s but not my specific Vin so I have to cover the cost. It’s $1055 plus taxes even though there’s an active recall for other 2018 2.0‘s but not my exact vehicle. The part is on back order and can take up to a month they are providing no service car and no help on the recall.

NHTSA ODI 11483671

Extended highway driving(500+miles). Collision Mitigation Problem continues to show as alert in dash. Does seem to reset when vehicle turned off and back on but this is not a new problem and a major reason for purchase

NHTSA ODI 11481655