2018 Honda Accord

Owner complaints, recalls, fuel economy and safety ratings from public NHTSA and EPA data, updated Oct 17, 2026.

The 2018 Honda Accord is a large car running on gasoline, rated 26 to 47 mpg combined, with a 5-year fuel cost of $6,910 to $12,490 at U.S. average prices. NHTSA gives it 5 stars overall. Owners filed 2,007 complaints with NHTSA, and engine led with 582 of them. There are 6 recall campaigns, covering air bags, fuel system, seat belts and others.

Written by AI from public EPA and NHTSA data. Not a review.

Fuel economy
26–47 mpgcombined; city 22–47, highway 32–47; every version of this model year
Five years of fuel
$6,910–$12,490U.S. average; Ohio $6,170–$11,160 at local prices; every version of this model year; fuel only, not other costs of owning it; 15,000 miles a year, at EIA fuel prices for the week of Oct 12, 2026
NHTSA overall safety rating
5 starslowest across the versions NHTSA tested
Recall campaigns
6over its history; check a VIN for open ones
Owner complaints
2,007filed with NHTSA; not adjusted for sales

Trims

NHTSA's VIN data lists these trims for the 2018 Accord. A trim's engine and numbers are shown as its own only where EPA names versions after the trim and no other version could be it; "seen with" means a source shows that engine on the trim, not that it was the only one. Recalls and complaints cover the whole model year: whether a recall applies to a car depends on its VIN, on NHTSA's recall lookup.

Problems owners report

Owners have filed 2,007 complaints with NHTSA about the 2018 Accord. These are unverified owner reports, counted by the part of the car they name; one complaint can name several parts. Counts aren't adjusted for how many were sold, so they don't show how reliable a car is.

Complaints by part of the car
PartComplaintsCrashesFiresInjuries
Engine582731
Forward collision avoidance3537012
Fuel/propulsion system322401
Electrical system3161236
Unknown or other275605
Service brakes2627012
Fuel system, gasoline175000
Power train144101
Vehicle speed control1201114
Steering69202
Structure63611
Air bags60508
20 more parts
Lane departure56306
Back over prevention33000
Seat belts33001
Electronic stability control (ESC)28100
Engine and engine cooling28000
Visibility/wiper28101
Exterior lighting26000
Wheels19100
Suspension17000
Visibility10000
Service brakes, hydraulic7000
Seats6000
Parking brake4101
Tires4000
Equipment3000
Fuel system, diesel2000
Service brakes, air2000
Equipment adaptive/mobility1000
Latches/locks/linkages1000
Traction control system1000

Complaints by model year

Newer years have had less time to collect complaints, and counts aren't adjusted for sales, so a shorter bar doesn't mean a more reliable year.

  1. 2006432
  2. 2007525
  3. 20081,520
  4. 2009726
  5. 2010580
  6. 2011296
  7. 2012381
  8. 20131,436
  9. 20141,011
  10. 2015641
  11. 2016610
  12. 2017584
  13. 20182,007
  14. 2019790
  15. 2020403
  16. 2021289
  17. 2022311
  18. 2023229
  19. 2024228
  20. 2025111
  21. 202611

Every Accord year side by side

Recalls

NHTSA lists 6 recall campaigns for the 2018 Accord over its history. Campaigns are matched by model and year, so each one may apply to a given car, and its repair may already be done: check a VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup for the open recalls on that exact car.

Air bags: sensor

NHTSA campaign 26V332000 · reported May 21, 2026 · 98,892 vehicles potentially affected

Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2018-2021, 2023 Acura TLX, 2019-2024 RDX, 2017-2020, 2022-2026 MDX, 2017-2021, 2023, 2025 Honda Ridgeline, 2017-2022 Pilot, 2019-2021 Passport, 2018-2026 Odyssey, 2019-2022 Insight, 2019-2021 HR-V, 2018-2020 Fit, 2020-2022 CR-V Hybrid, 2017-2022 CR-V, 2017-2018, 2021 Civic Type R, 2017-2021 Civic hatchback, 2016-2020 Civic coupe, 2016-2022 Civic, 2017-2022 Accord Hybrid, and 2016-2022 Accord vehicles. The front passenger seat weight sensor may crack and short circuit, which can cause the air bags to deploy unintentionally during a crash.

Risk: Air bags that deploy unintentionally during a crash increase the risk of injury.

Remedy: Dealers will replace the seat weight sensors, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 7, 2026. Owners may contact Honda's customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are BOL, WO9, OOA, WOM, XOH, NOC, POD, BOE, UOF, POB, EOG, AOI, QO8, TOJ, DO7, and SOK. This recall expands previous NHTSA recall number 24V064. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning May 29, 2026.

NHTSA's record and documents

Fuel system, gasoline: delivery

NHTSA campaign 23V858000 · reported Dec 18, 2023 · 2,490,460 vehicles potentially affected

Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2013-2023 Honda Accord, Civic Coupe, Civic Sedan, Civic Hatchback, Civic Type R, CR-V, HR-V, Ridgeline, Odyssey, Acura ILX, MDX, MDX Hybrid, RDX, RLX, TLX, 2019-2022 Honda Insight, Passport, 2020 Honda CR-V Hybrid, 2018-2019 Honda Clarity PHEV, Fit, and 2015-2020 Honda Accord Hybrid, Pilot, Acura NSX vehicles. The fuel pump inside the fuel tank may fail.

Risk: Fuel pump failure can cause an engine stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Dealers will replace the fuel pump module, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed September 6, 2024. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are KGC and KGD. This recall is an expansion of NHTSA recall numbers 21V-215 and 20V-314.

NHTSA's record and documents

Seat belts: front

NHTSA campaign 23V158000 · reported Mar 9, 2023 · 448,613 vehicles potentially affected

Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2017-2020 CR-V, 2018-2019 Accord and Accord Hybrid, 2018-2020 Odyssey, 2019 Insight, and 2019-2020 Acura RDX vehicles. A manufacturing issue with the front seat belts may cause the seat belt buckle channel to interfere with the release button, preventing the seat belt buckle from latching.

Risk: An unlatched seat belt cannot properly restrain the seat occupant during a crash, increasing their risk of injury.

Remedy: Dealers will replace the driver and front passenger seat belt buckle release buttons or the buckle assemblies as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed April 18, 2023. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are NDA, QDB, BDC, MDD, LD9. TDF, FDG, ODH, YDI, ZDE.

NHTSA's record and documents

Back over prevention: sensing system; Electrical system: body control module; Exterior lighting; Visibility/wiper; Visibility: defroster/defogger/hvac system; Visibility: power window devices and controls

NHTSA campaign 20V771000 · reported Dec 10, 2020 · 737,233 vehicles potentially affected

Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2018-2020 Accord Sedan, Accord Hybrid, and 2019-2020 Insight vehicles. A software error may cause intermittent or continuous disruptions in communication between the Body Control Module (BCM) and other components. This may result in malfunctions of various systems such as the windshield wipers and defroster, rearview camera, exterior lights, audible warning of a stopped vehicle, and power window operation. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 103, "Windshield Defrosting and Defogging Systems" and number 111, "Rear Visibility" as well as FMVSS numbers 104, 108, 114, 118, and 305.

Risk: Various system malfunctions such as inoperative windshield wipers, defroster, rearview camera, or exterior lighting can increase the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will update the BCM software, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin February 22, 2021. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's number for this recall is X95.

NHTSA's record and documents

Fuel system, gasoline: delivery

NHTSA campaign 20V314000 · reported May 28, 2020 · 135,995 vehicles potentially affected

Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Acura NSX, 2019 Acura RDX, RLX and RLX Sport Hybrid, 2018-2019 Honda Accord, Civic Hatchback, Civic Type R and HR-V, 2019-2020 Insight and 2019 Fit vehicles. The low-pressure fuel pump inside the fuel tank may fail.

Risk: If the fuel pump fails, the engine can stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Honda will notify owners and dealers will replace the fuel pump assembly, free of charge. The recall began July 22, 2020. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138.

NHTSA's record and documents

Back over prevention: sensing system; Visibility: rearview mirrors/devices

NHTSA campaign 18V629000 · reported Sep 13, 2018 · 232,140 vehicles potentially affected

Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2018 Honda Accord and 2019 Honda Insight vehicles. In certain scenarios, the back-up camera center display may not function properly. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 111, "Rearview Mirrors."

Risk: If the rearview camera display does not show what is behind the vehicle, it can increase the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the display audio unit software, free of charge. The recall began October 30, 2018. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are K2G and V2F.

NHTSA's record and documents

Service bulletins and investigations

Carmakers sent NHTSA 342 service bulletins and notices that cover the 2018 Accord, the latest on Oct 1, 2026. They tell dealers how to fix known issues.

The parts they mention most: electrical system (75), service brakes (63), hydraulic (46), equipment (40), engine and engine cooling (39).

NHTSA defect investigations

Opening an investigation isn't a finding of a defect. Outcomes are as NHTSA's summary states them. A recall is shown as an investigation's outcome only where NHTSA's summary names it; other recalls NHTSA's file lists with it are marked as listed, not caused.

InvestigationPartOpenedStatus
Engineering analysis EA24002
Inadvertent Automatic Emergency Braking
Forward collision avoidanceApr 15, 2024Open
NHTSA's record and documents
Defect petition DP22005
Pedestrian alert sounds · covers 43 makes
Electrical systemJan 27, 2023Closed Aug 7, 2023
Petition withdrawn
NHTSA's record and documents
Preliminary evaluation PE22003
Inadvertent Automatic Emergency Braking
Forward collision avoidanceFeb 21, 2022Closed Apr 18, 2024
Upgraded to EA24002
NHTSA's record and documents

Maintenance

Oil

The owner's manual gives the oil and how often to change it. We show oil facts only once we've checked them against the manual, and we haven't yet for the 2018 Accord.

Oil change near you: Jiffy Lube · Take 5

Used ones for sale

See used 2018 Honda Accords for sale on: Autotrader · CarMax

These are searches on those sites; we don't copy or check their listings. Your ZIP is used for these links and never kept.

Specs

EPA class: large cars. EPA greenhouse gas score: 5–10 out of 10. Each version EPA tested:

VersionEngineTransmissionFuelCity / hwy / comb
Accord
Front-Wheel Drive
1.5 L, 4 cyl, turboAutomatic (variable gear ratios)Regular Gasoline30 / 38 / 33
Accord
Front-Wheel Drive
1.5 L, 4 cyl, turboAutomatic (AV-S7)Regular Gasoline29 / 35 / 31
Accord
Front-Wheel Drive
1.5 L, 4 cyl, turboManual 6-spdRegular Gasoline26 / 35 / 30
Accord
Front-Wheel Drive
2.0 L, 4 cyl, turboAutomatic 10-spdRegular Gasoline23 / 34 / 27
Accord
Front-Wheel Drive
2.0 L, 4 cyl, turboManual 6-spdRegular Gasoline22 / 32 / 26
Accord 2.0T Sport/Touring
Front-Wheel Drive
2.0 L, 4 cyl, turboAutomatic 10-spdRegular Gasoline22 / 32 / 26
Accord Hybrid
Front-Wheel Drive
2.0 L, 4 cylAutomatic (variable gear ratios)Regular Gasoline47 / 47 / 47

Compare

Sources and dates

Fuel cost: EPA mpg with fuel prices for the week of Oct 12, 2026 and electricity prices for Jul 2026. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (Oct 2026). Complaints are unverified reports owners filed with NHTSA. About the data