For years the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry have been high on the shopping list of those looking for a dependable sedan. Honda owners are often loyal to the brand and for good reason. Right out the gate the 2018 Honda Accord won the prestigious 2018 North American Car of the Year award. It has also garnered multiple Car & Driver “10 Best Cars” mentions. But even Hondas can have problems sometimes.
The information presented below was collected from NHTSA.gov complaints, recall information, various Facebook groups and online forums plus experience from covering the industry for the last 15 years.
Fuel Pump Failure
Fuel pumps are a commonly shared item across manufacturer product lines. There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel for each model when using a common fuel pump can save a ton of money in development costs. But when things go wrong, it can hit a massive number of vehicles at once. In this case the in-tank fuel pump Honda used in everything from the 2018-2020 Honda Accord to the 2018-2020 Acura MDX was prone to failing. An error in the fuel pump impeller manufacturing process made it less dense than it should be. Over time the impeller would deform and negatively affect the pump’s ability to move fuel. The result was an engine that may be low on power, hard to start, or just dies. There were actually multiple recalls for this problem starting with NHTSA recall 20V-314, followed by NHTSA recall 21V-215, and finally NHTSA recall 23V-858 with each recall adding more vehicles. In total over 2,500,000 Honda and Acura vehicles were impacted by these faulty fuel pumps. Dealerships will replace the bad fuel pumps with an improved version for free.
Body Control Module (BCM) Software Glitches
Modern vehicles are pretty much a computer server room on wheels. Specialized computer modules spread across the entire vehicle are networked and constantly communicating. One of the main components that tells everything what to do is the Body Control Module (BCM). These modules have replaced many of the traditional switches and relays of old. No longer is the headlight switch directly connected to the headlight bulb, it just tells the front end lighting module to trigger the headlight relay. So when a BCM starts acting up, it can cause havoc across multiple systems. That’s exactly what happened to 2018-2020 Honda Accords that started to experience a dashboard full of warning lights and malfunctioning electronic components. Here’s just a few things listed in NHTSA recall 20V-771 that might be affected:
- Windshield wipers
- Windshield defogger
- Automatic headlights
- Rearview camera
- Power windows
It took a few months but Honda found the issue and a trip to the dealership for a software update should put things right again.
Faulty Airbag Sensor
“We are getting an airbag warning intermittently. It happens most often when our daughter (about 80-90lbs) is in the passenger seat.” – NHTSA ID# 11727438
“Passenger airbag intermittently works correctly. Sometimes the airbag comes on with an 85lb and 110lb children, but not always. According to the manual, the children are well above the 65lb minimum weight. At another time, sensor did not come on with a 160lb adult. Weight sensor does not appear to be working properly.” – NHTSA ID# 11710212
“Supplemental Restraint System Issue warning light illuminated on dash board. Immediately took to dealer and dealer diagnosed to be bad air bag sensor. No prior warning lights have been noticed.“ – NHTSA ID# 11652590
Airbags save countless lives every year, but they operate on the razor’s edge of safety. Think about it: an explosive device fires off to generate gas used to inflate a temporary bag with a precise amount of force. A whole host of sensors are used to detect which airbags to set off and even how much force they need to exert. In the case of NHTSA recall #24V-064 a group of 2020-2022 Honda Accords plus most of Honda’s product line for 2020-2022 had a seat weight sensor defect. The seat weight sensor determines if anyone is in the seat and if they are, how much they weigh.
In this case the sensor malfunction could lead to the passenger side front and knee airbags going off in a wreck when the seat is occupied with a child or small person, increasing the risk of injury. The root cause is something not commonly seen in a recall form: natural disaster. Per the recall: “Due to a natural disaster at the manufacturing plant of a tier-2 supplier, the tier-1 supplier temporarily changed the base material in the printed circuit board of the seat weight sensor, which was not sufficiently verified for its intended use.“ Owners of affected vehicles have been notified and a new sensor with the correct materials is to be swapped out by the dealership.
Interior Rattles
Owners of 2018 Honda Accord models have reported various annoying interior rattles in their cars. Over on Reddit and AccordXClub.com owners have been trying to track down and solve these annoyances. Some culprits include the overhead console, strut mounts, package tray, and dashboard. The package tray rattle has TSB 19-044 issued stating the fix is to apply a piece of foam tape to quiet things down again. None of these issues are likely to trigger a recall, but as recently as 2023 Honda was still investigating the strut rattle issue.
Conclusion
The tenth generation Honda Accord is still a compelling option on the used car market. From the efficient Accord Hybrid to the sporty 6-speed 252 horsepower Accord Sport 2.0T there is something for everyone. The best bet for buying a used 2018-2022 Honda Accord is to run the VIN through the NHTSA website for any active recalls. Next is a pre-purchase inspection from an independent shop, something that is absolutely mandatory for any used vehicle purchase today.
