Honda Clarity Complaints

228 consumer complaints on file.

#11773539October 25, 2026
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
# NHTSA VEHICLE SAFETY COMPLAINT **Subject: Sudden Unintended Braking, Violent Vehicle Bucking, and Loss of Propulsion – 2020 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid** **Vehicle Information** - Manufacturer: Honda - Model: Clarity Plug-In Hybrid - Model Year: 2020 - Mileage: Approximately 35,000 miles - Incident Date: October 2026 (exact date to be confirmed) - Incident Location: [XXX] - Servicing Dealership: DCH Paramus Honda, [XXX] - Vehicle Identification Number (VIN): [Insert VIN] ## Description of Safety Incident I am reporting a serious and potentially life-threatening vehicle safety malfunction involving my 2020 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid, which experienced sudden, unintended, violent braking and a subsequent severe loss of propulsion while traveling on a public roadway. The incident occurred approximately five minutes after I picked up my vehicle from DCH Paramus Honda, an authorized Honda dealership, following a warranty-covered replacement of the air-conditioning condenser. The vehicle had approximately 35,000 miles and was operating normally before this repair. While driving home to [XXX], at the intersection of [XXX], my vehicle suddenly and unexpectedly began violently jerking and bucking, with the wheels seemingly locking, before coming to an abrupt stop. **There was no vehicle, pedestrian, or other obstacle directly ahead of my car. The roadway was clear, and there was no apparent reason for emergency braking.** I did not intentionally activate the emergency parking brake or initiate an emergency stop. Immediately following this event, numerous dashboard warning indicators illuminated, including the following specific messages: - **Collision Mitigation Braking System Problem** - **Power System Problem** The vehicle was initially unable to function normally. After restarting it, the car operated only at severely reduced power, with a m INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11770282October 10, 2026
VISIBILITY/WIPER
Known A/C condenser issue was replaced twice and now the evaporator is leaking. Due to this, I'm unable to use the A/C to defrost the windows in the early morning and thus, creates a dangerous driving environment. Evaporator, which is part of the A/C unit, was not covered under the extended warranty (which is a known Clarity issue) and now the consumers are left having to pay for the repair.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11768328October 1, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, EXTERIOR LIGHTING
this Honda does not display outside turn signals, found similar problem on Honda Civic and Accord which have recall for this problem. doing research civic and accord have the same body control module as my Honda clarity where the problem is located , I contacted my honda dealer and explained this to service advisor , but he was unable to help me. the car shows fast blinking at gauge cluster turn signal indicator just like turns signals from the civic and accord recalls
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11767419September 28, 2026
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Multi-Purpose Camera Unit failure, error code U3000-49
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11758781August 22, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
The 2020 Honda Clarity's multipurpose windshield camera fails intermittently, often at startup. The vehicle displays Brake System and Honda Sensing-related warnings, disabling Collision Mitigation Braking, adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist, and road-departure mitigation. The vehicle may otherwise operate, but multiple driver-assistance safety systems are unavailable. A dealer attributed the issue to the windshield camera module and possible calibration. The warnings began approximately June 2025 and remain intermittent. The camera is available for inspection. No crash, fire, injury, or police report.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11757196August 15, 2026
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
COMPONENT FAILURE: 2018 Honda Clarity PHEV Air Conditioning Evaporator Core. Complete refrigerant leak. Available for inspection/repair at Norm Reeves Honda Huntington Beach. Confirmed July 29, 2026, via borescope/UV dye. Repair estimate: $3,151-$3,217. SAFETY RISK: Vehicle is inoperable without A/C on Southern California freeways during extreme heat. Operating in 100+ degree heat causes heat exhaustion, reduced driver alertness, and high accident risk. DEALER/INDEPENDENT CONFIRMATION: Confirmed by Norm Reeves Honda Superstore Huntington Beach (July 29, 2026) using borescope camera and UV dye. Written estimate provided. No independent inspection. MANUFACTURER/POLICE/INSURANCE: No inspections by American Honda, police, or insurance. Component is inside the vehicle and available for manufacturer inspection. WARNING SIGNS & TIMELINE: Aug 9, 2025: A/C blowing warm (95,737 mi); pressure checked as "normal." Feb 16, 2026: Total failure; condenser replaced under TSB 21-017 (101,548 mi). Dealership missed concurrent evaporator evaluation. Apr 24, 2026: A/C failed again (103,562 mi). Dealership photographed active "AC leak," marked "Requires Immediate Attention," but abandoned repair for 3 months. Jul 29, 2026: Catastrophic evaporator failure confirmed (107,857 mi per the dealer). PATTERN & REQUEST: This documents a pattern where 2018-2021 Clarity evaporator failures follow factory-defective condensers (TSB 21-017). Dealership missed multiple opportunities to diagnose/prevent this (August, February, and April). Vehicle is now unsafe for hot-weather commuting. Reporting to NHTSA to establish a record for potential warranty extension/recall regarding concurrent evaporator/condenser failures. Records and photos available. * More details in attached docs.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11757198August 15, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
COMPONENT FAILURE: 2018 Honda Clarity PHEV Air Conditioning Evaporator Core. Complete refrigerant leak. Available for inspection/repair at Norm Reeves Honda Huntington Beach. Confirmed July 29, 2026, via borescope/UV dye. Repair estimate: $3,151-$3,217. SAFETY RISK: Vehicle is inoperable without A/C on Southern California freeways during extreme heat. Operating in 100+ degree heat causes heat exhaustion, reduced driver alertness, and high accident risk. DEALER/INDEPENDENT CONFIRMATION: Confirmed by Norm Reeves Honda Superstore Huntington Beach (July 29, 2026) using borescope camera and UV dye. Written estimate provided. No independent inspection. MANUFACTURER/POLICE/INSURANCE: No inspections by American Honda, police, or insurance. Component is inside the vehicle and available for manufacturer inspection. WARNING SIGNS & TIMELINE: Aug 9, 2025: A/C blowing warm (95,737 mi); pressure checked as "normal." Feb 16, 2026: Total failure; condenser replaced under TSB 21-017 (101,548 mi). Dealership missed concurrent evaporator evaluation. Apr 24, 2026: A/C failed again (103,562 mi). Dealership photographed active "AC leak," marked "Requires Immediate Attention," but abandoned repair for 3 months. Jul 29, 2026: Catastrophic evaporator failure confirmed (107,857 mi). PATTERN & REQUEST: This documents a pattern where 2018-2021 Clarity evaporator failures follow factory-defective condensers (TSB 21-017). Dealership missed multiple opportunities to diagnose/prevent this (August, February, and April). Vehicle is now unsafe for hot-weather commuting. Reporting to NHTSA to establish a record for potential warranty extension/recall regarding concurrent evaporator/condenser failures. Records and photos available. More details in the attached docs.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11755819August 10, 2026
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
The forward-facing Honda Sensing camera mounted behind the windshield (Nidec monocular camera, Honda part number 36160-TRW-A04) failed at approximately 85000 miles on XXX The failure produced simultaneous dashboard warnings and disabled multiple driver assistance systems at once, including Collision Mitigation Braking System (automatic emergency braking), Forward Collision Warning, Road Departure Mitigation, Lane Keeping Assist, and Adaptive Cruise Control. There was no impact, no windshield damage, and no obstruction of the camera lens. The failure appears to be internal to the camera assembly and occurred without warning during normal driving. Because all of these safety systems depend on this single camera, one component failure removed every forward collision protection on the vehicle simultaneously. The sudden appearance of multiple warning lights at once was also distracting while driving. The vehicle is out of warranty and Honda has offered no repair assistance. Dealer replacement is quoted at approximately $1,500 to $2,000 including required camera calibration. This same camera failure is widely reported by owners of Honda Sensing equipped vehicles, including Clarity, Odyssey, Pilot, Civic, and HR-V models, typically at [XXX] to [XXX] of age, which suggests a durability or thermal defect in the camera assembly rather than an isolated failure. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11752625July 24, 2026
AIR BAGS
I was rear ended on the freeway that l caused my car to hit a guard rail, head on. I remember getting rear ended and then blacked out on hitting the guard rail. I then had chest pain. My driver's side airbags deployed with the driver's side front foot area airbags deploying. The airbags on the steering wheel did not deploy. There's a dash cam footage of this below that shows my car hitting head on with the guard rail at 31mph. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
3
Deaths:
1
#11750678July 15, 2026
LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
It looks like this is possibly at this point a wide spread issue with most if not it will be all honda clarity models. The lane departure warnings, adaptive cruise control, front camera honda sense electronics keep to go out and then will work for a little bit. sometimes just not work at all for months, then work for like a day or two. After reading many of many complaints about this it will seems to be pretty much widespread across all yearly models.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11746360June 25, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN
My 2019 Honda Clarity has had a hybrid battery failure that triggers “Check Engine” and “Power System” warnings, making the vehicle unsafe and unreliable to drive. I brought the car to Norm Reeves Honda Cerritos on 12/29/2025, and the battery—still under warranty—has been on backorder for over 6 months with no repair completed. The dealer repeatedly requested new diagnostic readings but has not fixed the issue. I have asked for a loaner due to safety concerns, but none has been provided. The ongoing delay leaves me with a vehicle that cannot operate safely, and Honda has not offered a timely resolution. Despite ongoing communication with American Honda Automobile Customer Service and Norm Reeves Honda Superstore Cerritos, the issue has remained unresolved.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11743727June 12, 2026
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
To Whom It May Concern, I am the owner of a 2018 Honda Clarity, and I am submitting this complaint to request that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigate what appears to be a widespread defect involving the front camera system used by Honda Sensing. My vehicle has experienced a failure of the front camera system, which has disabled numerous critical safety features, including: • Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) • Automatic Emergency Braking (Collision Mitigation Braking System) • Blind Spot Warning • Forward Collision Warning • Lane Departure Warning • Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS) • Parking Collision Warning • Rear Cross Traffic Warning When the front camera fails, these safety systems become unavailable, significantly reducing the vehicle's ability to assist the driver in avoiding collisions and maintaining safe operation. After researching this issue online, I discovered that thousands of Honda owners have reported similar failures involving Honda Sensing cameras and related driver-assistance systems. Many owners have reported receiving warning messages, loss of safety functions, and repair estimates costing thousands of dollars. This appears to be a recurring problem rather than isolated incidents. I believe this defect presents a serious safety concern because drivers may unexpectedly lose access to critical collision avoidance and lane safety technologies that were included as standard safety equipment on the vehicle. The failure of a single camera component should not disable so many essential safety systems without a more robust fail-safe solution. I respectfully request that NHTSA investigate this issue and determine whether a safety recall or other corrective action is warranted for affected Honda vehicles, including the 2018 Honda Clarity. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. I would be happy to provide additional information, repair records, photographs, diagnostic reports, or any other documentat
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11742767June 8, 2026
AIR BAGS, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Here is an update to the issue I had raised with your office in March-April 2026: Honda Van Nuys performed the 35,000-mile routine maintenance on the Honda Clarity on February 24, 2026. At that time, Honda Van Nuys recommended (and I approved) that they clean the throttle. The odometer read 33,882 miles. I drove the car 337 miles when the unintended acceleration accident occurred on March 18, 2026 – 2.5 weeks after Honda Van Nuys cleaned the throttle. The airbags deployed. The throttle seems to be the part that failed based on the attached EDR report. The odometer read 34,219 at that time. The car is now considered totaled by GEICO. In addition, Honda Van Nuys has done all maintenance work on the Honda Clarity, including some major removal of the dashboard and back seats, since I purchased the car there in 2018, as outlined in the attachment. I have reached out to Honda Van Nuys and hope your office can encourage them to respond. This is a safety issue. The attachment elaborates further. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11740506May 27, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Currently the high voltage inverter is squealing, it is currently at the dealership. They have verified it is the inverter that is malfunctioning but they will not warrenty the repair because they are saying it needs to completely fail and throw a code. This is the right time to fix it prior to catastrophic failure, can you please help.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11740510May 27, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
I am writing to report an unresolved high-voltage safety defect involving the Motor Power Inverter Module on my 2019 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid. The vehicle's high-voltage hybrid propulsion inverter is emitting a severe, high-pitched mechanical squealing noise during acceleration and regenerative braking.The high-voltage inverter serves as the foundational link regulating current between the lithium-ion battery and the electric drive motor. A failing inverter module presents an immediate, unreasonable safety hazard. Internal failure, thermal runaway, or component degradation within the inverter stack creates an imminent risk of sudden high-voltage isolation fault. This will result in an immediate vehicle stall and a total loss of propulsion while driving at highway speeds, leaving the vehicle stranded in traffic with no power to accelerate out of harm's way, creating a severe crash hazard.Furthermore, an authorized Honda dealership—Visalia Honda (Groppetti Automotive) in California—has failed to properly diagnose, isolate, or resolve this high-voltage drivetrain defect despite the vehicle being brought in specifically for this issue. Despite the component being legally covered under California’s mandated 15-year/150,000-mile extended emissions and hybrid warranty, the dealership has taken no constructive corrective action, allowing a known, physically degraded high-voltage component to remain active on public roadways.Federal intervention and a formal technical investigation into Honda's clarity hybrid propulsion inverter systems are required to address this vehicle stalling hazard before an electrical failure results in a highway collision.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11738192May 15, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
I will first start with our problems/concerns. We had experienced a complete lost power in freeway speed (65 mph) when the battery is depleted, that is when the battery bar goes to zero bar instead of 2 bars usually. I attached a photo from the video I took for your reference. This experience was the engine ramp up and not getting any power while driving on freeway, escpecially obvious during uphill slope. It is a safety hazard where we had to manuver in order avoid traffic since we could not maintain freeway speed. This originally happened around 2022, but we checked with Norm Reeves Honda Cerritos and they told us nothing is wrong and because there was no fault code, nothing they can do. When the Recall service canoaign 24-031 came, we were relieved because we think the problem is going to be fixed. We brought our Honda Clarity to the dealer on 2/3/2025 for the recall and everything was fine (meaning we can drive on HV after our battery is depleted). But around December 2025, my wife experienced the same situation where she couldn’t keep up with the freeway speed after exhausted the electric range of 34 miles. We took it to dealer again on 1/16/2026 and described the situation, dealer came back and said nothing has been found and there were no fault code. After that, the only way that we are trying to do is to avoid the battery to get down to zero miles, but since our battery is only getting 34 miles full charge instead of the 47 miles when it was new (dealer also said this is normal depreciation, I am not sure about that). Again, thank you for helping since losing engine power and speed on freeway is pretty scary and I hope this is enough information for my case. Here are answers to your questions. VIN: [XXX] Mileage: 85300 Dealership: Norm Reeves Honda Cerritos Details: Vehicle losing power on freeway speed after battery is depleted. As described above. First time it happened: Around 2022 First time dealer address my concern rather than told me th INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION A
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11737243May 12, 2026
LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
The forward-facing multipurpose camera unit (ADAS camera) failed internally while driving, causing the simultaneous deactivation of multiple critical safety systems including Collision Mitigation Braking (CMBS), Road Departure Mitigation, and Lane Keeping Assist (LKAS). The failure is indicated by persistent dashboard warning messages stating 'System Fault' or 'Honda Sensing Problem'.A professional diagnostic scan confirmed DTC code U3000-49 (Multipurpose Camera Unit Internal Failure). The sudden and unpredictable loss of these automated safety features reduces the vehicle's ability to assist in avoiding collisions and increases the risk of a crash, particularly in emergency situations. This appears to be a widespread manufacturing defect in the camera hardware that poses an unreasonable safety risk to drivers and passengers.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11729216April 4, 2026
VISIBILITY/WIPER
Driver’s side sun visor increasingly hard to operate and finally broke internally due to high forces to adjust. Cannot use to shield driver’s eye from sun glare as intended thus reducing visibility. Passenger side also increasingly hard to operate but has not broken yet due to low use. Known problem for Hondas as indicated by TSB’s for other models and large number of videos on how to replace.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11729066April 3, 2026
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
I was just driving normal and a message on my dashboard started to appear saying to clean my windshield or the collision mitigation system cannot work, We cleaned the windshield several times and it didn’t work the light still on, mow it got worst all of the lights turned on when I drive the car, adaptive cruise control light, road departure mitigation system problem light, lane keeping assistance problem light, collision mitigation system problem light and Brake system light, I checked online and there’s alot of people complaining from the same thing, they said it’s an issue with the front windshield camera but honda wants to charge thousands of dollars to fix it and there’s other honda models with the same problem too. I don’t know if it’s safe to drive it or if more lights are going to come up.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11727031March 25, 2026
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
I had an unintended acceleration happen as I was easing into a parking spot of a covered parking garage. The car accelerated like a jet plane taking off. I jammed on the brake. The only thing that stopped the car was the concrete wall that was 4 feet away. My airbags activated. We had taken the car to the Honda dealer for its 35,000-mile check-up on February 24, 2026. The Honda dealer has prepared all maintenance, including Honda recalls, since we bought the car in 2018. I'm scared about what caused the unintended acceleration and concerned that others could be injured. Electronic throttle control? Cruise control? Sensors? Wiring problems? What activated it? I believe this is a Honda mechanical problem. I have researched online that others have had unintended acceleration problems with the Honda Clarity and CRV–another plug-in hybrid–but not enough claims to lead to a recall. I have gotten a runaround. Our insurance carrier has declared the car a total loss but refuses to have the computer assessed to determine the cause. The local Honda dealer says it’s not their problem, claiming that we would have to tow the car to them and pay them to replace all safety items. They would then reboot the computer and delete all data, so they could not assess the cause. They said the Clarity has no “black box.” I contacted American Honda Corporation's customer service. Their engineers would not look at the car either unless our insurance company asked and paid them to do it. I have that Case Number. You would think that American Honda Corporation would be concerned, particularly since this unintended acceleration could have killed pedestrians if it had happened on the street or killed me if the concrete wall had not stopped the car. We had the Honda Clarity towed to our house to see if we could find someone to check out the computer. The towing company has driven the car, even though the airbags were activated. After 30 days, our insurance company will take the car for salvage.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0

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