2024 Honda Accord: What to check before buying

The wheel feels sticky or notchy during small corrections, usually after 30 minutes or more of highway driving. Clicking, popping, or creaking when the wheel turns at low speed or while parked is also common. Trouble often starts early, between about 3,300 and 6,000 miles. Dealers commonly replace the steering rack or gearbox under warranty, but several reports say the sticking came back, one at 60,000 miles after a fix at 30,000. A few cars lost power steering or had the wheel lock along with a dash full of warning lights. One owner was quoted $4,000 for a gearbox after warranty.

Most of these filings are about the fuel pump recall, 24V763000, and not about failures. Owners report dealers had no parts and repairs dragged on far longer than they found reasonable. A smaller group describes real symptoms: stalling on hills or at 25 to 35 mph, hesitation when accelerating uphill, a gushing fuel sound, and gasoline spilling out at the nozzle after refueling. Some problems continued after the car passed the recall inspection. One fuel injector failure, with warning lights and a tow, came at 11,000 miles.

Gasoline smells and fuel leaks raise fire fears tied to the fuel pump recall. One car caught fire from the high-pressure fuel pump after a recall visit, with no warning beforehand. Many owners say dealers had no recall parts, some for more than 60 days. Others say dealers tested the pump, found no crack, and refused to replace it. A faulty fuel injector on national back order sidelined one car at 10,000 miles. Sudden power loss into limp mode at freeway speed also appears, with a brake system warning.

Every warning light comes on at once and the car stops accelerating, sometimes on a highway or in heavy rain. A brake system warning often stays lit afterward. Restarting usually clears it, and dealers often find nothing. Other faults include false stop and yield sign alerts, false radar-cleaning messages that shut off cruise control and lane assist, and a grainy black-and-white backup camera. Some reports tie the faults to the integrated control module recall. One recall repair stalled on a backordered part and left the car without a working speedometer or defrost.

The car brakes hard by itself with nothing ahead, at speeds from 20 mph up to 55 mph. Drivers report near rear-end collisions and whiplash. These filings include 2 crashes and 3 injuries. Others see an amber brake system light flash on and off again and again, which dealers cannot trace. Several cars stopped and refused to move with a brake system failure message and a cascade of other warnings. Lifting the electric parking brake switch while driving applies the brakes hard, and radar can react to cars in a neighboring turn lane.

Hybrids shake and stutter when the gas engine kicks on at idle or low speed, with jerky, reduced power. It shows up in traffic or drive-thrus, often with the climate control running, and as early as 1,100 miles. Dealers often find no fault codes. Repeated injector replacements and misfires appear, with one car on its third set within a year. Other cars shook with the check engine light on and several driver-assist warnings. One car failed to accelerate, jerked, and then caught fire under the hood, a total loss.

Drive power cuts out suddenly while driving, including at 65 to 75 mph on highways. Warnings for the brakes, transmission, parking brake, and driver aids scroll across the dash. Hybrids have also refused to move after stopping at a light. A restart usually brings the car back, but at least one needed a tow and a replacement powertrain control module that was not communicating with the charging system. Separate reports describe loud popping from the drive shaft when turning at low speed and an unexpected shift into park in traffic.

Automatic emergency braking slams the car to a full stop on an empty road. Drivers report it at 30 to 40 mph and at 55 mph, sometimes on wet roads or gentle curves, and as early as 550 miles. For some it keeps happening. Dealers often cannot duplicate the problem. This category includes 1 crash with 2 injuries, where the car locked up, showed a BRAKE message, veered right, and was struck from the side. Owners stress the rear-end collision risk when someone is following close behind.

Exterior rubber molding around the front windows and doors comes loose, as early as about 2,000 miles, and can come loose again after dealer replacement. One skid plate fell off at highway speed and dragged under the car. The 2 crash reports here are mixed. In one side-impact crash a rear passenger door tore off the body. In another, the gas pedal did not respond in an intersection. With only 4 complaints, there is no single clear pattern.