What goes wrong with a 2020 Honda CR-V?
Owners and drivers have submitted 564 complaints about this vehicle to NHTSA. They are reports, not confirmed defects, and here is what they are about.
Owners and drivers have submitted 564 complaints about the 2020 Honda CR-V to NHTSA, spread across 45 component categories. The most reported category is forward collision avoidance, with 92 reports. A complaint is somebody telling the federal government what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect, not a manufacturer finding, and not a failure rate.
- Complaints submitted
- 564
- Component categories
- 45
- Most reported
- Forward collision avoidance
- Latest report
- August 12, 2026
Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, as ingested August 17, 2026
What these numbers are, before the table
These are complaints submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. They are reports, not confirmed defects and not a manufacturer finding, and they are not a failure rate: a car that sold well collects more of them than a rare one for no other reason than that more people own it.
The component category is chosen by the person filing, out of NHTSA's own list, which is why one of the largest categories on almost every vehicle is "unknown or other". Read the table as a map of what owners chose to report rather than as a ranking of what breaks.
All 45 categories.
Most reported first. Crashes, fires, injuries and deaths are counts of reports that also mentioned one, as recorded by the person filing.
| Component | Complaints | Crashes | Fires | Injuries | Latest report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward collision avoidance | 92 | 6 | 0 | 2 | July 12, 2026 |
| Air bags | 47 | 8 | 0 | 7 | June 23, 2026 |
| Electrical system | 43 | 3 | 2 | 2 | June 6, 2026 |
| Engine | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | August 12, 2026 |
| Steering | 36 | 1 | 0 | 1 | July 30, 2026 |
| Fuel/propulsion system | 35 | 0 | 0 | 1 | June 23, 2026 |
| Unknown or other | 34 | 4 | 0 | 2 | May 24, 2026 |
| Service brakes | 30 | 3 | 0 | 3 | June 28, 2026 |
| Power train | 19 | 3 | 0 | 2 | June 1, 2026 |
| Engine | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | April 30, 2026 |
| Forward collision avoidance | 17 | 2 | 0 | 2 | August 25, 2024 |
| Electrical system | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | March 21, 2025 |
| Lane departure | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | May 6, 2026 |
| Service brakes | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | July 13, 2025 |
| Unknown or other | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1 | September 12, 2024 |
| Vehicle speed control | 11 | 3 | 0 | 1 | June 23, 2026 |
| Fuel system, gasoline | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | May 14, 2026 |
| Seat belts | 9 | 2 | 0 | 1 | November 24, 2025 |
| Exterior lighting | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | December 2, 2025 |
| Fuel/propulsion system | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | March 21, 2025 |
| Structure | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | February 19, 2025 |
| Visibility/wiper | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | May 16, 2026 |
| Power train | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | November 25, 2024 |
| Tires | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | May 9, 2024 |
| Air bags | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | June 21, 2024 |
| Seats | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | September 2, 2025 |
| Service brakes, hydraulic | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | August 5, 2025 |
| Steering | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | March 2, 2025 |
| Structure | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | April 6, 2024 |
| Suspension | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | April 26, 2026 |
| Wheels | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | March 29, 2023 |
| Electronic stability control (ESC) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | July 7, 2020 |
| Engine and engine cooling | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | August 2, 2025 |
| Seat belts | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | July 30, 2024 |
| Service brakes, hydraulic | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | March 25, 2026 |
| Vehicle speed control | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | November 25, 2024 |
| Visibility | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | September 16, 2023 |
| Wheels | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | June 18, 2024 |
| Engine and engine cooling | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | July 7, 2026 |
| Fuel system, gasoline | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | August 22, 2024 |
| Lane departure | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | February 4, 2022 |
| Seats | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | October 18, 2020 |
| Suspension | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | June 30, 2022 |
| Tires | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | July 18, 2021 |
| Visibility/wiper | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | December 11, 2021 |
Of the 564 complaints filed about this vehicle, 41 mentioned a crash, 2 a fire and 28 an injury. These are counts of what reporters wrote, not findings, and NHTSA does not verify them at the point of filing.
What to do if your car is doing one of these
A category on this page is not a diagnosis. If your car is making a noise, showing a light, or leaking something, the useful question is what that symptom means and whether it needs the shop tonight or next week.
The symptoms guide works the other way round from this page: it starts with what you can hear, see or smell and says whether it is roadside, a tow, or a booking. If what you are seeing matches a recall campaign on this vehicle, the repair is free at a franchised dealer.
Who works on CR-Vs in Brooklyn?
We do, at 619 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11218, family owned since 1977. Diagnostics first, then the work, and a flatbed if it will not start where it sits.
NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, owner-submitted complaints. Anyone may file one, they are published as filed, and NHTSA opens an investigation only when a pattern in them warrants it. A complaint that led to an investigation and a complaint that did not look identical in this table.
Registration counts: New York State DMV registration file, five New York City counties, August 17, 2026 snapshot. A registration is a record in a state database, not a car on the road, and the borough is where the registrant receives mail rather than where the car is driven. How we counted.
Fuel economy: EPA and DOE ratings published at FuelEconomy.gov, unaveraged, so each configuration is its own row. Recalls and complaints: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, the agency's own wording, as ingested August 17, 2026. Complaints are reports members of the public filed, not confirmed defects. The NYC registration study is the analysis these counts sit on top of.
234 vehicles in this directory, covering 520,848 registered cars. Data as of August 17, 2026.