2012 Honda Accord Problems

What owners report

Complaints on this model year cluster around a few recurring themes: seat discomfort that owners describe as back and neck pain, engine complaints ranging from a cold-start rattle to misfires and warning lights, steering vibration at highway speed plus power-steering leaks, and airbag warning lights or deployment questions that overlap with several passenger-inflator recalls. Seat and steering vibration reports often arrive at very low mileage, while engine and power steering complaints generally appear past 60,000 miles.

1. 1
   Seats

   Uncomfortable front seats (back and neck pain)

   • 55 complaints (15%)
   • median 350 mi at 0.9 yrs old (42 state mileage)
   • 9 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 2011–2018

   Owners describe the front driver seat as hard and poorly shaped, with the head restraint pushing the head forward and the lumbar support pressing into the lower back. Many say the discomfort shows up after 10 to 30 minutes of driving rather than on a short test drive, and that adjusting the seat, adding pads or cushions, or sitting on extra foam did not help. According to the complaints, dealers inspected the seats and usually said nothing was wrong, and owners reported no repair or replacement being offered. Reported at very low mileage, often within the first few hundred to a few thousand miles.

   What to check: Take a test drive of at least 30 minutes, including highway time, and adjust the lumbar and head restraint before deciding; ask the seller whether any seat parts or cushions were replaced.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “Front driver seat is causing neck,back and hip pain after driving 10-15 minutes, adjusting seat does not help. I took vehicle back to dealership, they inspected seat and said there is no problem, I told them there is a problem because no matter who drives the car everyone experiences the same pain. I googled Accord seat problem and found that there are several websites and hundreds of people having the same issue. …”

   NHTSA complaint #10497953, filed 2013-02, 30 miles

   “A month after purchasing this vechile, I noticed back pain. Every tiem I got into the car, I tried to repostion the seats to get comfortable. However, I was unsuccessful every time. I tried even adding a pad between the seat and my back and behind to make it more comfortable. All I find myself doing is moving and repositioning at stop lights or red lights on my hour drive to and from work. I am never comfortable in the car. …”

   NHTSA complaint #10543035, filed 2013-09, 1,500 miles
2. 2
   Engine

   Cold-start engine rattle, misfires and warning lights

   Mentioned in 7 of 60 sampled complaints

   Owners report a loud rattle from the engine for about one to two seconds right after a cold start, and complaints describe the variable valve timing (VTC) actuator being identified and replaced, sometimes at the owner's cost once the vehicle was outside warranty. Others describe the check engine, traction control or stability assist lights coming on along with shaking, rough running, a single-cylinder misfire, or a loss of power while driving. Dealer and shop diagnoses mentioned in the complaints include failed or misaligned piston rings, spark plug fouling and VTC faults; some owners say the misfire returned after repair and others say they were told the vehicle was not covered by a recall. Misfire and warning-light reports mostly appear between about 60,000 and 150,000 miles, while the cold-start rattle is usually described in cold weather after the car has sat for a long period.

   15 related service bulletins

   What to check: Start the car from cold, ideally after it has sat overnight, and listen for a brief rattle; scan for stored codes such as P0301-P0304 and P1009, and ask whether the piston-ring or VTC related bulletins were applied under warranty.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “I am experiencing the issue outlined in Honda TSB 09-010, at cold start-up, the engine rattles loudly for about 2 seconds. I contacted my local dealer that was well aware of this problem. Took it in and the dealer changed out the vtc controller. 63,000 miles. Not covered due to out of warranty (5 years/60,000 miles). I asked if there was an extended warranty or recall and the dealer said no. It is unacceptable that this is such a widespread known issue with the Accord and crv, yet Honda fails to issue a recall.”

   NHTSA complaint #10924453, filed 2016-11, 63,000 miles

   “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. …”

   NHTSA complaint #11360522, filed 2020-09, 76,552 miles
3. 3
   Air bags

   Airbag warning lights and deployment questions

   • 50 complaints (13%)
   • median 60,000 mi at 5.3 yrs old (35 state mileage)
   • 26 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 2012–2024

   Complaints describe the airbag indicator staying lit, sometimes for long periods without a clear diagnosis, and in other cases airbags deploying in a lower-speed crash or failing to deploy in a collision. Owners report being told that parts were on order or that a campaign applied, and some describe replacement work carried out under a recall. Several complaints reference the passenger inflator campaigns directly. Mostly reported between about 40,000 and 130,000 miles.

   Recall 19V502000Recall 19V378000Recall 18V661000Recall 18V268000Recall 18V042000Recall 17V545000Recall 17V030000Recall 12V0300007 related service bulletins

   What to check: Have a dealer run the VIN to confirm every open airbag recall has been completed, check that the airbag indicator goes out after start-up, and ask for records if the passenger inflator was ever replaced.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “The contact owns a 2012 Honda Accord. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 45 MPH, the vehicle crashed into another vehicle causing the air bags to deploy excessively. The contact mentioned that the vehicle was repaired under an unknown NHTSA campaign number for the air bags. A police report was filed. …”

   NHTSA complaint #11316249, filed 2020-03, 131,500 miles

   “The contact owns a 2012 Honda Accord. The contact stated that the passenger side air bag warning indicator remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 87,000.”

   NHTSA complaint #10910400, filed 2016-09, 87,000 miles
4. 4
   Steering

   Steering wheel shake and power steering leaks

   • 41 complaints (11%)
   • median 12,197 mi at 1.3 yrs old (32 state mileage)
   • 1 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 2012–2026

   Owners describe a shimmy or shake in the steering wheel, and sometimes vibration through the whole car, at highway speeds and over uneven pavement, and say the car is hard to hold in a straight line on rough surfaces. Complaints say dealers balanced or replaced tires and rotated wheels, but the vibration often came back and the cause was not pinned down. Other reports describe whining from the engine bay traced to a leaking steering rack, internal pump damage and debris in the fluid reservoir, with the rack, pump and reservoir replaced. Vibration reports appear from very low mileage up through the first several thousand miles; power steering leak reports cluster between about 20,000 and 45,000 miles.

   What to check: Drive at highway speed and watch for wheel shake, then check the power steering fluid level and listen for a whine when turning; ask whether the rack or pump has been replaced.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “41000 miles power steering leaking , front wheel bearing needs replacing . Need to replace entire steering rack to tune of 1700 dollars. Steering leaking since 25000 miles. Honda should recall. Numerous complaints involving steering problems. Caveat emptor!”

   NHTSA complaint #10915631, filed 2016-10, 41,000 miles

   “Whining noise under the hood while engine was running and continued regardless of the car's speed. Cause: power steering rack was leaking. Internal damage to power steering pump. Power steering reservoir had debris in it causing the fluid to aerate. Solution: Honda dealership mechanic replaced the power steering rack, power steering reservoir and power steering pump. Note: had brought car in to the Honda dealership concerning this situation back on august 4, 2017. …”

   NHTSA complaint #11143319, filed 2018-10, 20,361 miles

Buying note. Verify by VIN that the passenger airbag recalls were completed, and plan a highway test drive plus a cold start to check steering vibration and the start-up rattle. A longer drive is worth the time, since seat comfort and low-speed behavior are hard to judge on a short one.

Summary written with AI from a sample of 60 NHTSA complaints for this model year (picked at random, with complaints that state a mileage and recent ones taken first), then checked automatically against the source records. Where a problem shows a complaint count, every complaint for this model year was matched with fixed keyword rules (written with AI and tested against the sample), and the mileage, age and repair figures are calculated from those complaints; owners' figures are as stated, not verified. Other counts refer to the sample. The excerpts come from NHTSA's public complaint records and are unverified; capitalisation is normalised, NHTSA staff notes are removed, and shortened text ends with “…”. Something wrong? Request a correction.