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2008 Honda AccordProblems, recalls & complaints

NHTSA has logged 1,521 owner complaints about the 2008 Honda Accord, most often about the service brakes, hydraulic. It is covered by 8 safety recalls, and for recall 19V-502 the manufacturer reports only 36% of affected cars repaired.

2008 Honda Accord
28
CarFlaw IndexYear to avoid2.6× the Accord median · #3 of 42 years by complaints
Safety recalls8Lowest repair rate 36%Owner complaints1,521127 with a crash, fire or injuryTypical failure mileage22kService brakes, hydraulic, median miles

Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls, investigations and manufacturer recall reports, through October 21, 2026. Updated daily. Photo: Elise240SX, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Complaints by system

Where the 2008 Honda Accord has problems

1,521 complaints grouped by the system owners reported.

Box size = number of complaints naming that system. Darker = larger share. One complaint can name more than one system.
Complaints by system
SystemComplaintsCrash, fire or injury
Service brakes, hydraulic4514
Air bags37952
Engine2108
Exterior lighting1132
Electrical system1058
Power train706
Service brakes, electric581
Service brakes563
Engine and engine cooling413
20 other systems31735

Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Complaints are submitted by the public and are not verified by NHTSA.

8 recalls

2008 Honda Accord recalls and how many were fixed

Each ring shows the share of affected cars repaired, from the manufacturer’s latest quarterly report to NHTSA. Recall repairs are free at authorized dealers.

36%repaired · 2020 Q4

Passenger side: inflator module

Recall 19V-502 · Jun 27, 2019 · 9,555 vehicles · 3,462 repaired

Risk. An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Problem, fix and repair progress →

49%repaired · 2020 Q4

Passenger side: inflator module

Recall 19V-378 · May 16, 2019 · 19,138 vehicles · 9,375 repaired

Risk. An incorrectly installed air bag inflator may not properly deploy the passenger frontal air bag in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury.

Problem, fix and repair progress →

85%repaired · 2019 Q3

Passenger side: inflator module

Recall 18V-268 · Apr 26, 2018 · 1,335 vehicles · 1,131 repaired

Risk. An incorrectly installed air bag may deploy improperly in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury.

Problem, fix and repair progress →

94%repaired · 2019 Q1

Passenger side: inflator module

Recall 17V-545 · Aug 31, 2017 · 3,257 vehicles · 3,066 repaired

Risk. In the event of a crash, an incorrectly installed passenger frontal air bag inflator may deploy the air bag improperly, increasing the risk of injury.

Problem, fix and repair progress →

Show 4 more recalls
70%repaired · 2018 Q2

Passenger side: inflator module

Recall 17V-030 · Jan 10, 2017 · 977,708 vehicles · 688,617 repaired

Risk. An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Problem, fix and repair progress →

64%repaired · 2018 Q1

Passenger side: inflator module

Recall 16V-346 · May 24, 2016 · 2,719,386 vehicles · 1,734,324 repaired

Risk. An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Problem, fix and repair progress →

55%repaired · 2018 Q1

Air bags

Recall 16V-056 · Feb 2, 2016 · 341,444 vehicles · 187,921 repaired

Risk. If the air bag control unit fails, the air bags may not deploy in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of occupant injury.

Problem, fix and repair progress →

–no report yet

Automatic transmission: control module (tcm/pcm/tecm)

Recall 11V-395 · Aug 4, 2011 · 1,512,107 vehicles

Risk. THIS COULD RESULT IN A SHORT CIRCUIT CAUSING THE ENGINE TO STALL.

Problem, fix and repair progress →

Recalls apply to specific cars. To see whether a recall is still open on yours, enter the 17-character VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls or with Honda.

Mileage at failure

When do service brakes, hydraulic problems start?

22kmiles, median

Based on the odometer reading in 414 service brakes, hydraulic complaints. 100% were reported before 100,000 miles.

median0k50k100k150k200k+
347under 30k miles413under 100k miles1100k miles or more
Owner-reported costs

What owners say repairs cost

Dollar amounts owners wrote in their complaints when describing a repair or a quote. These are not price estimates; a system is shown only when at least 8 owners mentioned a cost.

Service brakes, hydraulic

50 owners mentioned a cost

$220median

Middle half: $191 – $400

Air bags

28 owners mentioned a cost

$605median

Middle half: $486 – $1,050

Engine

13 owners mentioned a cost

$1,562median

Middle half: $700 – $2,000

Service brakes, electric

11 owners mentioned a cost

$250median

Middle half: $231 – $285

If a problem is covered by a recall, the dealer fixes it for free. Some manufacturers also reimburse owners who paid for a repair before a recall was announced.

Best & worst years

2008 vs. every other Accord year

Bars show complaints per model year. Colors show the CarFlaw verdict: complaints weighted for crashes, fires and injuries, adjusted for years on the road and compared with the Accord median. How we score

'76'77'78'79'80'81'82'83'84'85'86'87'88'89'90'91'92'93'94'95'96'97'98'99'00'01'02'03'04'05'06'07'08'09'10'11'12'13'14'15'16'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25'26
  • Avoid
  • Caution
  • Solid
  • Best
  • Not rated
NHTSA crash tests

2008 Honda Accord safety ratings

2008 Honda Accord 4-DR. w/SAB in NHTSA's New Car Assessment Program. Photos are from NHTSA's crash tests.

2008 Honda Accord frontal crash test, NHTSA
Frontal crashNot rated
2008 Honda Accord side barrier test, NHTSA
Side barrierNot rated
  • Stability control: Standard
  • Forward collision warning: No
  • Lane departure warning: No
3 investigations

NHTSA defect investigations

Federal investigations that included the 2008 Honda Accord, and the recalls they led to.

  1. Inadvertent Side Air Bag DeploymentEA14004 · closed Jan 4, 2016
    No recall
  2. Inadvertent Side Air Bag DeploymentPE14004 · closed Jul 29, 2014
    No recall
  3. SRS Control Module FailurePE15029 · closed Jun 17, 2016
    Led to recall 16V-594
In owners' words

What Accord owners report

Recent service brakes, hydraulic complaints filed with NHTSA, shortened. Personal details are removed.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 HONDA ACCORD. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING, THE ABS, THE VSC AND BRAKE WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER TO BE DIAGNOSED. THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS UNSAFE TO DRIVE. THE CONTACT WAS ALSO INFORMED THAT THE REPAIR…
Complaint 10860664 · Apr 21, 2016 · 83,000 miles
2008 HONDA ACCORD. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO BRAKE, ENGINE, ELECTRICAL, AIR BAG LIGHT, SEAT BELT, LIGHT PROBLEMS AND RADIO PROBLEMS. *SMD THE CONSUMER STATED THE PISTONS WERE REPLACED A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO. THE ENGINE HAS BEEN MISFIRING SINCE JULY 2014. THE COILS, SPARK PLUGS AND FUEL INJECTORS…
Complaint 10680196 · Nov 4, 2015
I BOUGHT A NEW 2008 HONDA ACCORD EXL-6 VEHICLE. I HAVE 72,000 MILES ON IT, MOSTLY HIGHWAY DRIVING. I'VE HAD MY REAR BRAKES REPLACED TWICE. THE DEALER TRIED TO TELL ME 30,000 IS AVERAGE FOR BRAKES. ALSO HAD ALL MY SPARK PLUGS REPLACED. # 3 WENT BAD AND THEY SUGGESTED I REPLACE ALL OF THEM. AGAIN,…
Complaint 10455409 · Apr 16, 2012

Own a 2008 Accord?

Decode your VIN to see the recalls for your exact car, then confirm open recalls with NHTSA.