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Engine & cooling

2012 Honda Accord Engine problems

Owners have filed 53 complaints about the 2012 Honda Accord's engine & cooling with NHTSA - 14% of all its complaints, most recently on October 3, 2025. They describe 6 crashes, 1 fire and 6 injuries. Stalling, loss of power, oil consumption, overheating, head gaskets, timing chains and engine failure.

Complaints
53
Recalls
0
Crashes
6
Fires
1
Injuries
6
Deaths
1

Engine complaints

Engine & coolingTransmission & drivetrain

The contact owns a 2012 Honda Accord. The contact stated that while his daughter was driving at an undisclosed speed and coming to a stop, the driver heard an abnormal sound, and the vehicle suddenly stopped in the middle of the road. The contact stated that the driveshaft had separated from the vehicle and had fallen on the road. The vehicle was towed to Ron's Automotive Center Inc, where it was diagnosed that the driveshaft had failed and damaged the oil pan. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in a related recall. The failure mileage was approximately 193,000.

Filed Incident Engine and engine cooling · Power trainNHTSA 11691147
SteeringEngine & cooling

1) When starting the car ( cold ) it makes a rattling sound that goes away after a few seconds and does not make this sound again until the car cools off 2) sometimes when driving the steering wheel shakes during acceleration

Filed Incident Steering · EngineNHTSA 11645751
Engine & cooling

The contact owns a 2012 Honda Accord. The contact stated that upon cold starting the vehicle, there was an abnormal rattling noise detected. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle was leaking oil. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the solenoid switch, VTC activator, and gasket needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined the solenoid, VTC solenoid, and gasket needed to be replaced. The parts were replaced, and the vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was unknown.

Filed Incident Engine and engine coolingNHTSA 11596179
Electrical systemEngine & cooling

Car has frequent issues with starting and power loss inside and outside the car. This is my second time having a issue with my car not starting that did not have to do with the battery or alternator. I have 135xxx miles and keep up with maintenance so this is frustrating and expensive, happening months apart. The first time I had to have a new starter put in. The car also looses brightness on the dash board and in the headlights. The car stalls while starting since Ive had it.

Filed Incident Electrical system · EngineNHTSA 11547645
Engine & cooling

The contact owns a 2012 Honda Accord. The contact stated while driving approximately 55 MPH, the vehicle started losing motive power. The contact stated that the "check oil" warning light was illuminated. The contact slowed the vehicle down and drove it to the dealer. The contact stated that when she pulled into the parking lot, she heard a loud popping sound coming from the engine compartment. The contact had the vehicle towed to the local dealer who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the engine had...

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sustained internal damage and required a major overhaul. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 68,000.

Filed Incident Engine and engine coolingNHTSA 11509498
AirbagsEngine & coolingFuel systemCrash

2012 Accord exl - Engine Seizure! I had the air-bag recall done about 5 years ago. None of the air-bags deployed when the 2012 exl hit a telephone pole at 20 mph and broke the telephone pole in half. I finally found out about the class action lawsuit for the excessive oil consumption yesterday (1 Qt per 1,000 miles), 2 years after the engine seizure. I spoke with Honda headquarters (1919 Torrance Blvd., Torrance, ca 90501) today for an hour and a half. mostly on hold waiting for [[redacted]] to get her...

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stupervisor [[redacted]] to come to the phone. Honda Seemed to think my 2012 v6 exl is not part of the lot of cars they were supposed to fix in the excessive oil consumption class action lawsuit. If you have any advice on how I could recover any funds spent on my engine repair or if there is any recourse I could take with the airbags not deploying when I had the recall done 5 years ago at my local Honda dealer. Thanks [[redacted]] PS.. Cherokee Auto in North Atlanta Georgia has the car for sale with the faulty airbags... CarMax repossessed it, sold it for more than I owed them, wrote off $6500 as bad debt, and still say I owe them 750 and staying on my credit report. Pls help! TF INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

Filed Incident Air bags · Engine · Fuel / propulsion systemNHTSA 11499716
Transmission & drivetrainEngine & cooling

My 2012 Honda Accord is using oil in between my 3000 mile oil changes and it should not be using that much, in between changes I put 1.5 quarts of oil in the engine. I have read that some Hondas are having this problem I only have 125000 miles on my car and take really good care of my vehicles the inside still looks new. Also the air conditioner isn't blowing cold enough air. I purchased it in May of 2014 I love my car, my mechanic says it's the rings in the engine, I don't drive car erratically. Hope you can help get my car fixed correctly, My Machanic noticed this the last couple of oil changes

Filed Incident Power train · Unknown or other · EngineNHTSA 11472902
Engine & cooling

The contact owns a 2012 Honda Accord. The contact stated while in a drive-through with the vehicle in idle, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the piston rings had failed and needed to be replaced. The dealer also informed the contact that the vehicle could not be repaired under an extended warranty associated to the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 120,640.

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11463641
SteeringElectrical systemEngine & cooling

Twice in the past couple of months my car has turned off while in drive and I lost power steering/braking. Both times were luckily in my apartment parking lot. They occured about 10-15 seconds after backing out and putting it in drive. The second time I almost slid into a car driving by since I wasn't able to brake.

Filed Incident Steering · Electrical system · EngineNHTSA 11456010
AirbagsBody, doors & structureEngine & cooling

I don't have a air bag due to someone stealing the whole air bag

Filed Incident Air bags · Structure · EngineNHTSA 11432594
Engine & cooling

The contact owns a 2012 Honda Accord. The contact stated that the engine was misfiring in cylinder number 1. The contact stated that the check engine and traction control warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was diagnosed at a local mechanic and was repaired but continued to experience failure. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was approximately 147,000.

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11430720
Engine & cooling

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 honda accord. The contact stated while driving 65 mph, the check engine warning light illuminated. There was an abnormal sound coming from the vehicle. While attempting to pull over into a parking lot, the vehicle started shaking abnormally. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the number 3 cylinder was misfiring. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle remained undriveable. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer were made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 112,000.

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11416283
Transmission & drivetrainEngine & cooling

This vehicle consumes so much oil to the point that there is not hardly any oil when the oil change is due

Filed Incident Power train · EngineNHTSA 11404877
Engine & cooling

ENGINE SEIZURE

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11387439
Engine & cooling

I am experiencing the issue outlined in honda tsb 09-010, at cold start-up, the engine rattles loudly for about 2 seconds. Notice issue after driving vehicle 95,000 miles. Was not able to have dealership check the issue because it only happens when vehicle has been sitting idle in the cold for a long period of time. Plus vehicle is garage kept. Now that extended warrenty has expired, wondering if this a recurring issue, would a recall force honda to resolve issue.

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11384499
Acceleration & cruise controlDriver assistanceEngine & cooling

The check engine light and vehicle stability assist lights came on first while the car was stationary. The obd codes were scanned and the code p0341 was read. The camshaft position sensor was replaced and the lights turned off and the p0341 codes were cleared. The second time the lights came on the car was in motion. The obd codes were scanned again and the code p1009 was read meaning the vtc actuator is bad and needs to be replaced. This is a very common issue with all 2008-2012 accords and there has been service bulletins issued regarding the problem. There has also been a class action lawsuit about the issue. If there is not already, there needs to be a recall issued.

Filed Incident Vehicle speed control · Electronic stability control (ESC) · EngineNHTSA 11360522
Engine & cooling

Upon start of I heard a rattle and it stopped after a couple seconds. I got online and see it seems to be a common problem for my honda the vtc actuator goes out frequently.

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11292197
Transmission & drivetrainEngine & cooling

Engine/transmission has stuttering/jerking at low speeds in 1st or 2nd gear daily.

Filed Incident Power train · EngineNHTSA 11209464
SteeringTransmission & drivetrainEngine & coolingCrash

The timing between shifts on the automatic shifts are good sometimes and when air conditioning is on it makes noises and causes the car to have latency in gear shifts, the front wheel hub covers fall off causing the tire to roll over the plastic and rip it off the body , the coolant system is definitely compromised because the car overheats too fast especially in hot weather, the debris from the road get caught up in and around the engine and air filtration system from the wheel covers being faulty the parking...

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break doesn't work well and it's been having the same problem since the day I bought it off the show room floor also the tie rods wear out so fast causing major problems while on highway shaking and vibrating the car and steering wheel, also the car burns oil so fast that you have to change the oil and filter at max 3000 miles, being that the newer models are having timing belt recalls in june 2019 this leads me to question why my model wouldn't have the same issues if not worse

Filed Incident Steering · Power train · EngineNHTSA 11205928
Acceleration & cruise controlEngine & coolingFuel systemCrashFire4 injuries1 death

Driving my honda on a cold night at 20 degree, I hit my brakes and the car accelrated at a extreme high speed, I was unable to stop and crashed totalling my vehicle

Filed Incident Vehicle speed control · Engine · Fuel / propulsion systemNHTSA 11192434
AirbagsBody, doors & structureEngine & coolingCrash2 injuries

'Takata recall'. I have taken measures for the safety recalls, adhering to required dates provided by nhtsa of this vehicle, one being the air bags recalls. I was involved in a recent car wreck (january 12th, 2019)at which the driver front air bag deployed from steering wheel. The opposing passenger ran a red light at a street/intersection perpendicular to the street I was traveling on. I t-boned her 2010 honda accord in the rear panel, driver's side. I was traveling at speed limit, approx 42 mph and she was...

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traveling at excessive speed but I am unaware of her speed limit. My vehicle continued in a straight path but completely totaled the front end and driver's side front panel, frame, etc. As for my my injury, I felt burnt on both wrists at the time of impact, but due to shock of accident I did not seek medical attention. Over a course of 4-5 days my left wrist showed significant burns and only now, 23 days later, has the left wrist burn begun to heal but will most definitely leave an obvious scar.

Filed Incident Air bags · Structure · EngineNHTSA 11174322
Engine & cooling

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 honda accord. The contact heard an abnormal noise coming from the engine. The contact called burns honda (325 nj-73, marlton, nj 08053, 1-888-667-2937) and was informed that the warranty was expired and the vehicle was unable to be repaired. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 126,000.

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11161923
Engine & cooling

Vtc acuator is faulty. For 2 years now I've had a grinding noise when I start the car and no car shop has been able to tell me what is wrong up until yesterday I found out it's the vtc actuator that's making the grinding sound and it's been draining my oil. I call america honda to see if it has a recall for this faulty part and all I am told is that if I have had the car for less than 3 years or under 35 thousand miles then it would be covered under warranty. Which the car is 2012. So the $700 that all shops want...

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to fix this part is being put all on the owner with no warning that this problem will happen. This has had a lawsuit before for the excessive oil being lost but not for the actual problem which is the vtc actuator. Honda needs to recall all of the cars that they have sold with the faulty vtc acuators and pay for this mistake they have known about for years. When my engine dies it will be on honda for not properly making and selling these faulty cars.

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11161447
Engine & cooling

Engine grinds during cold startup. Engine noise progressively louder during driving and idling. Honda was aware of the problem and finally issued a fix but my car is out of the warranty period that they've advertised. I feel cheated because honda seems to have waited until enough cars were out of warranty before issuing a costly fix that they've known of for close to a decade.

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11099961
AirbagsAcceleration & cruise controlEngine & coolingCrash

I was at a stop sign on private property. I attempted to move forward to make a left turn and the car suddenly accelerated. I couldn't stop it - but a tree about 20 feet away did. Even if I had floored the gas pedal, the car would not have gone that fast that quickly. I have read of others that have had the same experience. Honda just says there is nothing wrong with the car.

Filed Incident Air bags · Vehicle speed control · EngineNHTSA 11098960

Honda Accord engine complaints by year

Accord engine problems, every year

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Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints and recalls, checked . Complaints are owners' own reports and are not verified. How we use the data

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