2012 HONDA CR-V Complaints

2012 to 2014 honda crv's have a "blockage problem" on the driver's side of the heater core and the driver's side of the heater does not put out any heat. this is a safety issue as condensation builds up on driver's side of the windshield and snow/ice can build up on driver's side of the windshield due to no heat. honda has known of this problem (defect in heater driver side heater core) since at least 2014, see their service bulletin 14-063 dated november 20, 2014. our local honda dealer service department doesn't feel the heater flush produces worthwhile results on an ongoing basis and recommends heater core replacement at $1500-$2000. the service department at our local honda dealer was rather evasive about the cause of the driver's side heater core blockage/failure. my internet research leads me to believe the heater core has a defective design that throws off particles that accumulate in heater core and and gradually block driver's side of heater core and then no heat for driver's side including windshield. i'm using incident date of 11/29/23 because honda service department diagnosed heater core problem that date but driver's side had been gradually losing heat output for some month's. i attempted to resolve heater core issue with honda customer service but got nowhere.

I attempted to make a right turn and the steering wheel locked, not allowing me to continue turning. The steering wheel returned to its original position and I again attempted to make the turn. This time I was able to turn the steering wheel all the way and complete the turn. No warning lights appeared. I was on a side street when this happened and there was no traffic, but this could have been cause for an accident if I had been driving on a busy road.

In July of this year, I took a 20 minute drive with my kids and then went to a bagel shop. I tried to turn on the car and it acted like the battery had been drained. I got a jump, had my battery tested, and it was fine. A week later, it started happening nearly any time I took a short trip, and I needed to purchase a portable jump starter. I then had my alternator and battery tested again, and both were in working condition and passed. On September 12th, 2023, as I was pulling into my driveway, my power steering locked up on and off and I could not turn my car once it was in my driveway. I turned it off and it would not restart again (like I had left my lights on all night). I jumped it and let it run for an hour. I rode it around the block and it seemed fine, but I took it to a shop that I trust. They informed me that my alternator was only charging my battery when my high beam lights were on and that there was a service bulletin by Honda regarding a software update to the PCM if this occurred. Honda charged me $189 to have the software updated, and I needed a new battery because the faulty charging circuit fried a battery that I got this year. This should be a mandatory recall because if my kids and I were driving and my power steering locked like that on a highway, we could have been killed. If you had an actual recall on this, you could actually possibly save many lives on this popular vehicle!!!

As nearly every Honda CR-V driver of this generation will state, the car always experienced a startling 1-2 second grind upon cold start up in a Northeast USA winter. With 198,000 miles, it began to do it at every start, especially the first start-up in the morning. I knew a while back that it was a faulty VTC actuator that Honda first knew about in the 2000s, but didn’t resolve until recently. A local Honda dealer confirmed this noise is the “normal” VTC actuator noise, and shrugged it off. They also shrugged it off when it was under an extended, covered warranty and I complained about it then. As many reading this likely know, the VTC actuator malfunction has numerous implications to the tensioner and the timing chain, among other components of the engine. Honda was allowed to brush this off because this was never considered a mandatory safety recall. And clearly, there is an issue because there is a class action lawsuit currently in California and Illinois - what about the other 48 states? Or those who are not the original owners? (I received this car in 2017 when my uncle, the original owner, passed). The VTC actuator failure is not a mild inconvenience. It can have catastrophic consequences and Honda uses it to charge customers thousands of dollars. The entire experience of myself and many have truly made me lose faith in whatever the NHTSA is supposed to do in order to ensure the safety of drivers.

the lever on my back right seat will not release seat down. Needed to put a large item in my car and ended up having to tie it to the roof instead and drive very slowly on the interstate since my seat would not go down. did not feel safe and want to get this figured out asap since I am a furniture dealer. I popped the plastic "cap" off to see what is causing the issue... part of the white plastic piece of the upper lever has snapped off and that is causing the lever to not catch and seat not go down. I have not taken it anywhere yet as I can see what the problem is and believe those plastic parts are not sold separately so I suspect I need a whole new lever. There were zero warning signs or messages, lever just did not release starting a couple days ago. Thanks

The contact owns a 2012 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that an abnormal grinding was coming from the engine. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact also stated that after coming to a complete stop, the vehicle would hesitate while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact's husband spoke with the dealer and was informed that there were no recalls on the VIN. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 23,000.

In the accident, side curtain airbags malfunctioned. They started to deploy but did not finish deploying. Pictures and incident report are available. The car was a total loss and was not returned to owner

While I was driving the car, an indicator with "Battery" symbol showed up on the monitor. All off a sudden I see all the lights went ON/OFF and I couldn't steer the wheel. The Power Steering stopped working and the car was running. Since I was near a 4-way stop sign, I managed to pull my car on the side without an accident. Then I got roadside assistance to tow my car to a mechanic shop. They said the "Alternator" need to be replaced. I did that and went for a "Battery" checkup based on the indicator. The battery was good. It would have been a life threatening incident if I were somewhere on a highway. I wanted to make sure this is taken care seriously by the manufacturer and find a fix. Because it just impacts all electrical things and we can't steer the car!

In September of 2012, my wife and I purchase a new Honda CR-V. We have owned it since and it has been a reliable vehicle. Unfortunately, on Friday, June 23, 2023, my wife called me from the gym parking lot stating that the power steering on her 2012 Honda CR-V was not working. I drove up to the parking lot and confirmed that the electric power steering system ("EPS" or "EPAS") was not working. When this condition exist, the steering and turning is almost IMPOSSIBLE to implement. The vehicle was towed to Space Coast Honda in Cocoa Florida late in the day. The next morning, Saturday, June 24, 2023, the dealer called and said that the EPS had failed and the module would have to be replaced. They estimated the delivery of the part to take one to two weeks. The next week, the dealer said that the part is backed ordered and would now take 2-4 weeks. On July 26, after almost five weeks of sitting in the side parking lot of the dealer, I went out to the dealer to find out more about why the part was taking so long to arrive. They then said that they have no idea when it will be available and could take a year…..or more! On Wednesday, July 26, 2003, I drove out to the dealer to remove more personal items along with starting the vehicle. When I did start the vehicle, the Power Steering functioned properly. We returned later in the day and drove the CR-V home. I have used the CR-V several times and the power steering now works fine…..BUT FOR HOW LONG? Since that time, we have found out that the failure of the Honda CR-V EPS system has been known to Honda for many years. There are numerous YouTube videos and web sites which describe this failure and Honda’s failure to address this safety concern to ensure that drivers of this model can safely and reliably utilize their vehicle. However, with no regard to the safety of the Honda CR-V driver, passengers and others around them, Honda continues to sell CR-Vs (2012-2016…and perhaps with other years affected) with this known

I was at a corner waiting for traffic to clear so I could make a turn left. When I started to accelerate the vehicle started to hesitate and continued. The on coming car had to slam on their brakes and swerve to avoid hitting my passenger side. Since that time I had found out there was a service bulletin relating to this problem. Honda Service Bulletin 17-040. This is my granddaughters car and now I am reluctant to let her drive the vehicle. It is a very serious safety issue!! My frustration is that when I have discussed the issue with 2 different Honda dealers they didn't disclose there was a bulleting but rather recommended changing the transmission fluid and the information was confusing. One dealer recommended changing the fluid once and another recommended I change it three times at the same appointment. Since the incident I have had an opportunity to drive my other granddaughters 2011 Honda CRV and it is displaying the same shudder issue on acceleration and when you are at 40 miles and try to accelerate which she noticed. Obviously, if you were trying to pass another vehicle on a two lane highway and it started the shudder you would be involved in a head on crash resulting in serious injury or death. I believe there should be a recall to correct this problem. The cost to replace the torque converter is $3,000 +. The bulletin 17-040 states the affect vehicles are 2012-14. It needs to be revised to include 2011 Honda CRV vehicle. I found the bulletin myself through a group that shares information regarding Honda CRV vehicles. The bulletin was issued on May 20, 2017 06492 Version 1. The vehicle number for the 2011 Honda CRV is 5J6RE4H72BL017198