Honda · CR-V Hybrid · 2021
2
Recalls
99
Complaints
5/5
Safety Rating
The 2021 Honda CR-V Hybrid has 2 recalls and 99 owner-reported complaints on file with NHTSA. Overall safety rating: 5 out of 5 stars. Most reported issue: forward collision avoidance (17 reports).
Source: NHTSA Public Records · Updated Apr 28, 2026
The 2021 Honda CR-V Hybrid page works best as a research starting point. Complaint totals show how much owner-reported activity exists, while recalls and investigations help show whether any of that activity turned into formal safety action.
Because this is a newer-era vehicle page, it usually helps to compare this year against nearby model years before deciding whether a complaint pattern looks isolated or persistent. On this page, the most prominent complaint area is forward collision avoidance with 17 reported complaints.
This page combines three types of NHTSA data: recall campaigns (official manufacturer or government actions), owner complaints (unverified consumer reports), and crash test ratings (where available). A vehicle with many complaints is not necessarily less reliable — complaint volume correlates with sales volume and vehicle age. Recalls indicate identified defects, not overall quality. To compare this model year with others, use the year navigation in the sidebar or return to the model overview page.
If you are researching a used vehicle, start with the complaint categories, compare them against the recall list, and then check nearby model years to see whether the same issue profile repeats. That usually produces a better buying or research signal than treating the raw complaint total as a standalone safety ranking.
Frontal Crash Test

Side Crash Test

Overall Frontal Rating
Driver and Passenger Assessment
Driver Side
Passenger Side
Overall Side Rating
Side Barrier and Side Pole Tests
Driver Side
Passenger Side
Rollover Resistance
16.4% rollover risk in single-vehicle crash
Safety Features
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Pilot, Accord, Civic sedan, HR-V, Odyssey, 2020 Civic coupe, Fit, 2021-2022 Civic hatchback, 2021 Civic Type R, Insight, 2020-2021 CR-V, CR-V Hybrid, Passport, Ridgeline, Accord Hybrid, 2020 Acura MDX, 2022 Acura MDX, 2020-2022 Acura RDX, and 2020-2021 Acura TLX vehicles. The front passenger seat weight sensor may crack and short circuit, failing to suppress the air bag as intended.
Remedy Status
Dealers will replace the seat weight sensors, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 28, 2024, October 18, 2024, and August 2025. This is a phased recall. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for these recalls are XHP and VHQ.
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2020-2022 CR-V Hybrid vehicles. The 12-Volt battery cable routed outside of the body frame is missing a fuse on the power circuit, which can allow the battery cable to short circuit or overheat during a crash.
Remedy Status
Dealers will replace the battery cable, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 29, 2024. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's number for this recall is FGB.
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has received 48 Vehicle Owner Questionnaire (VOQ) reports and some Early Warning Reporting (EWR) field reports alleging intermittent loss of motive power in Model Year (MY) 2020–2022 Honda CR-V Hybrid vehicles. These incidents are alleged to occur without warning at highway speeds and are accompanied by a flashing check engine light immediately before the loss of motive power occurs. Motive power can be restored by turning the ignition off and back on. However, this action also clears the check engine light and any fault codes that were set. The fault’s intermittent nature, combined with the lack of fault codes, often results in many visits to repair facilities yielding no repairs. Honda indicated it was unaware of any related complaint or repair trends. ODI is opening this Preliminary Evaluation (PE) to determine the scope and severity of the alleged fault and to fully assess the possible safety consequences. To review the ODI reports cited in the Opening Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov.
On February 21, 2022, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation (PE22003) to assess reports of inadvertent activation of the Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS), an automatic emergency braking (AEB) system, in model year 2017-2019 Honda CR-V and 2018-2019 Honda Accord vehicles. The reports allege that activation of the AEB system occurs while driving with no apparent obstruction in the vehicle's forward path, resulting in sudden vehicle deceleration. Honda indicated that they were aware of a total of X,XXX reports that may relate to the alleged defect. Honda provided analysis of the alleged defect and alleges that some customers possibly had an inadequate understanding of the CMBS and its limitations. However, many consumer complaints allege that Honda dealerships were unable to reproduce the condition or state that they were informed that this is considered normal CMBS operation. To date, ODI has received a total of 1,294 consumer complaints of inadvertent activation of CMBS in 2017-2022 Honda CR-V and 2018-2022 Honda Accord vehicles. A total of 31 complaints alleged a crash and 50 alleged an injury. The Total column in the Failure Report Summary removes duplicate reports and shows the total number of reports with unique VINs from all Manufacturer, ODI, and EWR data sources. In some cases, there were multiple reports associated with a particular vehicle in which recurring failures were alleged. In total, there were X,XXX reports, 93 injury incidents and 47 crashes involving vehicles with unique VINs that may relate to the alleged defect. PE22-003 has been upgraded to an Engineering Analysis to further assess the scope, frequency, and potential safety related consequences of the inadvertent AEB activations. The scope has been expanded to include assessment of model year 2020-2022 Honda CR-V and Accord vehicles. To review the ODI reports cited in the Opening Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov.
NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and electric vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,536 KG or less or are defined as low-speed vehicles. The standard became fully applicable to all such vehicles manufactured on or after March 1, 2021.On January 27, 2023, NHTSA opened Defect Petition (DP) 22-005 to evaluate the subject matter described in the petition. On June 24, 2023 and as supplemented on June 25, 2023, the petitioner notified NHTSA he was withdrawing his petition. The petitioner indicated that, based on his review of data, there is no justification for asserting potential benefits that could be derived from actions sought by my petition. Based on the petitioner's withdrawal, DP22-005 is closed. Closure of this DP does not represent a determination by NHTSA regarding the subject matter of the petition.
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 saf...
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While traveling northwest at 37 mph, the automatic brake system engaged jolting the driver. The camera shows no objects in front of but there were two vehicles traveling southeast in the opposite lane prior to the brakes applying. There were shadows from trees. If there was a veh...
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Traveling on 4 lane highway at 65 mph on slight upgrade-check engine light started flashing and vehicle started to shudder slightly and went into "limp" mode I think. Started to slow down with NO power. Turned on emergency flashers and was able to pull over without incident, alth...
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When I accelerate up a hill at speed I lose power of the car. Once I pull over and turn the car off and wait a few minutes, the car starts up and drives fine. I have taken it in to be fixed and one time they changed spark plugs and a head gasket and then about 8 months later it ...
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Engine overheating in short trips with full coolant and oil. My car is 4 years old and after years of mysteriously going into limp mode and no help from the dealer, I believe it has a bad head gasket. this started when the car was 3 years old.
The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel failed to turn in the intended direction. No warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that the failure had occurred several times. The vehicle w...
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My 2021 Honda CR-V Hybrid has experienced three identical and dangerous incidents over a one month period beginning around 60,000 miles. Each time, while driving at highway speeds (60-70 mph) climbing hills or grades, the vehicle suddenly loses all acceleration power accompanied ...
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UNKNOWN. On 4/13/25 morning, I was with my wife driving towards a park and our car decelerated suddenly from 37 miles to 20 miles and then slowed down. Luckily no driver behind us was close otherwise the car would have crashed. We pulled over to the side of the road and shut ...
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The steering is sticky at highway speeds like something is wrong with the steering input. The steering doesn't react then all of a sudden the steering wheel releases and over compensates requiring a quick opposite steering input. Difficult to drive on the highway. A real safety i...
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Brittle / torn top black windshield seal gasket tendency to fog / moisture / rain/water penetration inside the car . Also decolorize all black plastic side panels
Showing 10 recent complaints from 99 total
View Full Complaint LogThe strongest comparison flow is usually: exact vehicle-year page, then nearby years of the same model, then other 2021 Honda models. That sequence helps separate one-off year spikes from broader make-wide patterns.
The 2021 Honda CR-V Hybrid has 2 recalls recorded by NHTSA.
NHTSA has received 99 owner-reported complaints for the 2021 Honda CR-V Hybrid.
The 2021 Honda CR-V Hybrid received an overall safety rating of 5 out of 5 stars from NHTSA.
The most commonly reported complaint categories for the 2021 Honda CR-V Hybrid are forward collision avoidance (17 reports), electrical system (12 reports), engine (8 reports).
Yes. NHTSA has 2 recalls on record for the 2021 Honda CR-V Hybrid. Scroll up to review the published recall summaries, consequences, and remedies. To check for unrepaired recalls on your specific vehicle, use your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Look up recalls and complaints for any year, make, and model.
This page summarizes publicly available data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Complaint counts reflect reports submitted to NHTSA by vehicle owners and do not by themselves prove defect severity or vehicle safety. Safety ratings may not be available for all vehicle-years. This site is not affiliated with NHTSA or any vehicle manufacturer. For official information, visit the official NHTSA page for this vehicle.