Honda Accord: Years to Avoid and Best Years to Buy
Honda Accord: 15 model years scored from 8,179 NHTSA owner complaints and 71 recall campaigns. Worst year 2018, best year 2021.
Honda Accord: which years to avoid
Across 14 scored model years the Honda Accord ranges from 30/100 in 2018 to 86/100 in 2024 — a 56-point spread, so which year you buy matters more than whether you buy an Accord at all. The weakest year’s complaints concentrate in Engine (548 of them).
Avoid: 2013, 2018, 2019 — scored below 45 on the complaint and recall record.
Safest years: 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2023, 2024 — scored 70 or better.
Scored from NHTSA complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. How the score works · every car’s years to avoid.
Editor's note
The Accord has one of the longest clean stretches in the dataset, interrupted twice. The 2013 model year, the first of the ninth generation, carries complaints about the continuously variable transmission, the direct-injection four-cylinder's starter, and Bluetooth and infotainment faults. The 2018 model year, the first of the tenth generation, repeats the pattern with a 1.5-litre turbo that suffers the same oil-dilution problem as the CR-V, plus complaints about the heater and the infotainment screen. In both cases the second and third years of the generation are markedly better. The 2021–2024 cars score in the 70s and 80s. The Accord Hybrid, from 2014, has a separate and generally strong record.
Read the guide
Used Honda Accord: two launch years to skip in a long clean record — written and signed by Adir Trabelsi, 2026-09-01.
How the Accord changed, run by run
The federal record falls into 4 stretches of years that behave alike. A redesign shows up here as a step in the complaint rate that then holds.
2011–2012
Mean score 73/100, about 23 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Air Bags more than anything else (173 complaints). 16 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
2013–2017
Mean score 66/100, about 73 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Electrical System more than anything else (1,376 complaints). 15 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
2018–2019
Mean score 39/100, about 165 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Engine more than anything else (720 complaints). The record falls 27 points against the years before it. 11 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
2020–2024
Mean score 76/100, about 56 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Forward Collision Avoidance more than anything else (218 complaints). The record improves by 37 points against the years before it. 18 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
Year-by-year data table
Best year in our data: 2021 (score 76). Worst: 2018 (score 30, AVOID).
| Year | Score | Verdict | Running cost / yr | NHTSA complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | DATA PENDING | $2,580 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 86 | BUY | $2,720 | 0 | 3 |
| 2023 | 82 | BUY | $2,860 | 0 | 5 |
| 2022 | 69 | CAUTION | $4,078 | 248 | 4 |
| 2021 | 76 | BUY | $3,918 | 231 | 4 |
| 2020 | 68 | CAUTION | $4,344 | 352 | 5 |
| 2019 | 48 | AVOID | $5,191 | 671 | 6 |
| 2018 | 30 | AVOID | $7,948 | 1,869 | 6 |
| 2017 | 73 | BUY | $4,927 | 534 | 3 |
| 2016 | 70 | BUY | $5,187 | 604 | 4 |
| 2015 | 74 | BUY | $5,064 | 599 | 5 |
| 2014 | 65 | CAUTION | $5,716 | 977 | 4 |
| 2013 | 49 | AVOID | $6,382 | 1,418 | 5 |
| 2012 | 73 | BUY | $5,215 | 380 | 8 |
| 2011 | 73 | BUY | $5,214 | 296 | 9 |
Running cost is fuel or energy plus the maintenance band midpoint for that car at its age today, re-priced to your country. Purchase price, insurance and depreciation are not included.
Photographs and every generation of the Accord, through the years →
Accord sub-models & family
Variants & trims on record
Body, powertrain and trim variants of the Accord on the federal record. Variants folded into this nameplate are counted in this page's data; the rest have too thin a record for a page of their own yet.
What goes wrong on the Honda Accord
Across every Accord model year in our index, owners report these component groups most often. The cost beside each one is the representative repair for that group at a US independent shop, re-priced to your country.
- Electrical System2,005 complaints across all Accord years · typical job: Alternator, battery-drain or body-module diagnosis and replacement$540–$1,310
- Engine1,493 complaints across all Accord years · typical job: Cooling-system or timing-drive repair$1,040–$2,220
- Unknown Or Other1,106 complaints across all Accord years · typical job: Diagnosis and mixed repair$360–$940
- Service Brakes837 complaints across all Accord years · typical job: Pads, rotors and caliper service, both axles$580–$1,140
- Steering787 complaints across all Accord years · typical job: Electric power-steering rack or column motor replacement$1,020–$2,500
- Forward Collision Avoidance703 complaints across all Accord years · typical job: Radar or camera module replacement and calibration$780–$2,160
Flat-rate labour hours x local shop rate plus a parts band. An estimate of what this class of failure costs, not a quote. Formula.
FAQ
Which Honda Accord years should I avoid?
On the NHTSA record the years to avoid are 2013, 2018, 2019 — each scores below 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. The 2018 is the weakest at 30/100, with its complaints concentrated in Engine.
What are the best Honda Accord years to buy?
2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2023, 2024 all score 70 or better. The strongest is the 2024 at 86/100, on 0 complaints and 3 recall campaigns.
What is the most common Honda Accord problem?
2,005 of the complaints filed against the Accord across all its model years sit in the Electrical System group — more than any other component.
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Sources: NHTSA, EPA · Methodology · Updated 2026-10-04