CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2013-2014 Honda Accord is showing signs of an electrical problem with the starter failing soon after the 36K mile warranty expires. It's compounded by reports that the OEM battery doesn't have sufficient amps to start the V6 reliably after a year or two.

For now we are rating this problem with the "Beware" seal because it's occurring so soon after the 36K mile warranty expires. The upshot is when your Accord won't start, that's never good, but especially bad when it's just a few years old.

Also once again, owners are complaining that the 2013 Honda Accord seats are uncomfortable. Uncomfortable seats has been a significant complaint with the Accord since the 2008 model year.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
15 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
11 / 0
Average Mileage:
17,604 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2013 Honda Accord engine problems

engine problem

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2013 Honda Accord Owner Comments (Page 1 of 2)

problem #38

Nov 112021

Accord

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

My 2013 honda accord coupe has had severe steering problems for the past year, the steering does not want to respond where i cant even drive my car anymore

- Daly City, CA, USA

problem #37

Oct 012020

Accord

  • 63,000 miles
While driving on the highway, I had the cruise control activated at approximately 70mph. My vehicle has adaptive cruise control and on two separate occasions within one day, there was no one in front of me but the car started braking hard. Fortunately, no one was behind me or they probably would have rear-ended me as it took me a few seconds to cancel the cruise control since it caught me by surprise. In at least one of the instances, there was a large tractor-trailer to the right of me so I'm not sure if it perceived it's shadow as being a vehicle. I bought this vehicle new in 2013 and this was the first time that the adaptive cruise control caused the vehicle to brake when no one was actually in front of me.

- Bloomington, IL, USA

problem #36

Jun 302020

Accord 4-cyl

  • miles
Vehicle stall, failed to accelerate. The stall is common and Honda needs to fix this issue before someone gets into an accident. I went to Honda and no issue was found, I am thinking this might be fuel pump recall.

- Arverne, NY, USA

problem #35

Aug 122019

Accord

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Takata recall my complaint is about ABS pump anti-lock brake part modulator assembly sedan cvt fits 13 Accord 503036 the lights are on in the dashboard and in the dealer told me to replace that part.

- Medford, NY, USA

problem #34

Sep 292017

Accord

  • miles
On fri Sept 29th, 2017 I had an sua (sudden unintended acceleration) in my 2013 Honda Accord that devastated part of an office building and wrecked my car. I was in a parking lot and backed up, hit a 3 foot high concrete bollard, was annoyed, put the car in drive, felt an odd lurch as though the bumper was stuck on something although it was not. I put my foot on the accelerator and at that moment the car rapidly accelerated to what felt like 30 or 40 miles an hour. I tried to brake but it felt as though there was no pressure under my foot. I gripped the steering wheel in terror and steered the car away from other parked cars and into a concrete wheelchair ramp with rails and an office building. The air bag went off. The concrete ramp and office building stopped the car in its tracks. I put it in park and got out. I'm doing ok but mostly very very grateful I didn't hurt or kill anyone. Minor airbag burn on my arm and a contusion to my knee. I feel the airbag only came out a little and hit my left arm, not the rest of my body. But I could be wrong about that. I'm glad because as a physical therapist I've seen some nasty air bag injuries. Also I did not have my seat belt on because I often put it on as I leave a parking lot. Not a good idea, but also no nasty seat belt injury. Just stiff arms, painful left knee and neck, a few days later. I realize everyone is going to say I had the foot on the accelerator but I was at a dead stop when I put the car in drive to accelerate and seriously, after almost 40 years of driving, I have never felt anything like this terror and loss of control. The policeman who came to the scene would testify to the fact that I was completely sane and sober at the time. Today, we heard the car will be appraised as totaled. I have driven and loved my Honda since 1991 but no more, and I would hate to think this car would be fixed and resold.

- Austin, TX, USA

problem #33

Sep 112018

Accord

  • 7,000 miles
I was in a parking lot trying to park my car in a spot on the right side. As I pressed the accelerator at a normal pressure, the car just started accelerating and did not stop. I first slightly hit a car which had just pulled out of a parking spot. I tried to use the brakes multiple times and tried to shift gears to make anything happen which could help stop the car. It was out of control and in order to avoid a cliff, I veered to the right after passing about 30 parked cars and hit an embankment with a tree on it. My car crashed into a parked Lexus SUV which then was lifted and moved to the right and hit another parked car. The air bags came out and the car stopped. My wife and I and other people could have died if there were any pedestrians in the parking lot. We both have many life threatening injuries and cannot drive due to those for a long time. In addition we are now quite frightened. The car was completely out of control and I could not stop it.

- Newbury Park, CA, USA

problem #32

Aug 272018

Accord

  • 52,557 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I had pulled into a parking stop and stopped. I was about to reverse to park straight when my car shot forward. The brakes were not working and the car accelerated forward until it was stopped by a brick column. I was in a parking lot in front of a retail strip center.

- Kingwood, TX, USA

problem #31

Oct 262017

Accord

  • 55,000 miles
My mother owns a 2013 Honda Accord LX and she was put into a very dangerous position today and Honda is lucky that no one was killed or seriously injured!! she was pulling into a parking stall at her workplace, her foot was on the brake and she was creeping into the stall as per normal. The car then suddenly accelerated onto a bunch of bushes and the side walk before she was able to completely stop the vehicle. This is a well documented problem online with hundreds of stories sharing the exact same thing (please see link ). Honda needs to address this problem and take complete responsibility and fix it asap! they completely side-stepped my direct line of questioning and are hiding something. I am filing a formal police report with local houston pd. This needs to be addressed or the NHTSA and Honda will have a law suit on their hands.

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #30

Sep 292017

Accord

  • 28,000 miles
On fri Sept 29th, 2017 I had an sua (sudden unintended acceleration) in my 2013 Honda Accord that devastated part of an office building and wrecked my car. I was in an office park parking lot and backed up, hit a 3 foot high concrete bollard, was annoyed, put the car in drive, felt an odd lurch as though the bumper was stuck on something although it was not. I put my foot on the accelerator and at that moment the car rapidly accelerated to what felt like 30 or 40 miles an hour. I tried to brake but it felt as though there was no pressure under my foot. I gripped the steering wheel in terror and steered the car away from other parked cars and into a concrete wheelchair ramp with rails and an office building. The air bag went off. The concrete ramp and office building stopped the car in its tracks. I put it in park and got out. I'm doing ok but mostly very very grateful I didn't hurt or kill anyone. Minor airbag burn on my arm and a contusion to my knee. I feel the airbag only came out a little and hit my left arm, not the rest of my body. But I could be wrong about that. I'm glad because as a physical therapist I've seen some nasty air bag injuries. Also I did not have my seat belt on because I often put it on as I leave a parking lot. Not a good idea, but also no nasty seat belt injury. Just stiff arms, painful left knee and neck, a few days later. I realize everyone is going to say I had the foot on the accelerator but I was at a dead stop when I put the car in drive to accelerate and seriously, after almost 40 years of driving, I have never felt anything like this terror and loss of control. The policeman who came to the scene would testify to the fact that I was completely sane and sober at the time. Today, we heard the car will be appraised as totaled. Good news meaning it will no longer be driven.

- Austin, TX, USA

problem #29

Feb 012017

Accord

  • 36,000 miles
Car in the morning hesitates just pulling out of its parking space. Put the car in reverse and it won't move. Put it in drive and same issue. It seems as if it's trying to warm up maybe? when it does start moving, it runs at 5-10 mph at 3K rpms. I let it roll slowly and after a few minutes it starts to drive normal. Going uphill, I experience a similar issue where the car is running at very high rpms at low speeds. I get the effect in eco and in S mode. It doesn't seem to matter. Car is a 2013 has about 42K miles and started to experience this issue about 4-5K miles ago. I just assumed it was because the car wasn't warm enough or because its a 4 cylinder. Looking further into this noted that this seems to be a common issue with Honda's cvt.

- Laguna Hills, CA, USA

problem #28

Aug 272015

Accord

  • 19,500 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Adaptive cruise control applied hard braking while vehicle traveling at 70 mph with no vehicle in front of the reported malfunctioning vehicle. Braking was severe enough to propel occupants against seat belts and caused the vehicle to veer to the left with the potential to cause a rear end collission

- Olympia, WA, USA

problem #27

Sep 142015

Accord

  • 25,000 miles
Cannot steer when turning and when turning the wheels keep turning, cannot get the speed up normally have to pump the gas hard for car to accelerate.

- Washington, DC, USA

problem #26

Aug 102015

Accord

  • 200,000 miles
Vehicle was parked. Upon pressing brake to shift to "drive" the vehicle jolted multiple times then accelerated forward. The vehicle collided with another vehicle directly in front injuring a person who was between both vehicles at the time.

- Woodland Hills, CA, USA

problem #25

Dec 062014

Accord 4-cyl

  • 20 miles
Driving on a busy S.E. street in Washington DC, driving about 20 to 30 mph., heard a noise that sounded like a tire blowing out or some other type of noise emanating from underneath the car. I tried to press the brake, but instead the car accelerated and would not stop. It sped up at least another 15 to 20 more mph, and again, would not stop. There were vehicles in the back, so I could not use the emergency brake or shut the car off. There were also vehicles on the side and in front of my vehicle. I had to make a decision on how to slow the car down without hitting any pedestrians or any other vehicles. Decided to try and stop the car by hitting something stationary and ran into a set of steps that belonged to an office building. Airbags deployed and two passersby stopped to assist me and my passenger out of the car. We were both transported by ambulance to a hospital with substantial injuries to the chest, rib, neck and back for myself and the passenger.

- Temple Hills, MD, USA

problem #24

Nov 052014

Accord 4-cyl

  • 101,000 miles
While driving alone into a marked space in a public parking lot, my foot slipped off the brake and hit the accelerator. The vehicle then accelerated into the concrete base of a light pole. Immediately, the vehicle bumper crumpled, the left side of the hood crumpled, and the passenger side air bag activated. There was no one except myself in the vehicle and the driver side airbag did not activate. At this date, November 10, I have no idea how much damage was done to the vehicle.

- Sacramento, CA, USA

problem #23

Jun 022014

Accord 6-cyl

  • 11,000 miles
While using the adaptive cruise control (acc) I was traveling at 75 mph. This system is suppose to reduce your speed when it sees another vehicle in front of you and then bring you back up to speed when the obstacle is no longer present. I was on a 4 lane limited access highway (2 lanes each direction). I was in the left lane. There were no cars in front of me but there was an 18 wheel truck about 150 feet in front of me in the right lane. We were approaching a left curve and on a slight incline to the curve. As we entered the curve the acc sonar detector saw the 18 wheeler in the other lane and disengaged the acc and applied the brakes, without warning. This brought my speed down quickly from 75. This is the second time this occurred in similar circumstances. The real danger here is that there was no reason for the car to brake; the sonar saw an obstacle in a different lane; had another vehicle been following me the surely would have been a crash. I am a former crash investigator. As such, I can tell you this situation will be problematic. Fortunately, the car gives you the option of using the acc or traditional cruise control - I have disabled the acc for safety concerns.

- Elverson, PA, USA

problem #22

Aug 032014

Accord 4-cyl

  • 8,000 miles
While turning right to park in a residential townhouse parking space, the car accelerated suddenly and hit a tree which was very close but at the top of a slanting hill. It felt like the car was slipping on ice but there was no ice. A person outside of the car heard a strange noise. It felt like there was no ability to control the car. I tried to back up, I felt the same slipping so I stopped and left the car. The same person heard the noise again when I was backing up. I am an experienced driver with a clean driving record for over 20 years and have never experienced this. It was Sunday afternoon and there were no weather related issues. This was the 3rd stop of the day over a 1-2 hour period. This is a quiet street so there were no traffic issues. The car was leaking oil so it was towed to the body shop.

- Basking Ridge, NJ, USA

problem #21

May 082014

Accord 4-cyl

  • 13,500 miles
I recently had a very serious issue with my 2013 Honda Accord regarding unintended acceleration. While pulling into a parking spot at a garden nursery I applied the brakes but they did not respond in anyway, the engine then revved up making a loud noise, the car lunged forward over several railroad tie barriers, bushes, hit a truck that was parked in the lot and came to rest in a mulch pile. Luckily the truck and mulch stopped the car and I was able to put it into park and turn it off. There is considerable amount of damage to the side of my car and the property of the nursery. This happened on May 8, 2014 at 5:00 pm. It was a gravel parking lot, dry sunny day. This Honda was purchased new in 2013 and is a 4cyl with cvt transmission and has approximately 13,000 miles. The car had to be towed to the dealership where it sits now waiting for a Honda representative to investigate this issue. It was a blessing that no one was standing in front of my car. Much of my decision to purchase a Honda was because of reliability and safety; however, I do not feel safe driving this vehicle. This is my first Honda and I am thoroughly disappointed and alarmed after this incident.

- Louisville, KY, USA

problem #20

Apr 052014

Accord 4-cyl

  • 8,200 miles
While coming to a stop in my parking spot, I applied the brake and the vehicle suddenly accelerated, with engine surge /loud noise and there were no brakes...... car plowed over parking spot barrier, into shrubs, balcony beam and neighbor's screened patio. There is considerable damage to my vehicle, shrubs, neighbor's patio and my balcony. This was a terrifying event. Investigations by insurance co and mechanic are pending at this time.

- St Petersburg, FL, USA

problem #19

Nov 072012

Accord 4-cyl

  • 700 miles
Since I first purchased my 2013 Honda Accord, the Honda has intermittent hesitations after stopping at traffic lights, stop signs, parking and so forth. For instance, for the second time in the last five days, I stopped, went into a store, returned, cranked Honda Accord, backed out, and the car would not "go." It simply "stalled", February 03, 2014. This was mentioned in 2012 to service manager, [xxx], at Honda dealership service center; in mobile, al, he had one of his technicians to test drive my Honda. Technician returned and claimed, after testing, and test drive, that he could find nothing wrong. I did not receive any paperwork other than a verbal assurance that I was probably just getting adjusted to the "new car." After that, every two weeks or so, I would have a "whole week of intermittent" hesitations and stallings. This is very dangerous when trying to get through a traffic light - I have to really press down on the accelerator for the car to finely decide to "go". this problem was verbally reported again to [xxx], service manager, and technicians, January 10, 2013 - miles 5,384. The report was, "give it some time, the car is still new." - now, at 24,200 miles, this 2013 Honda Accord still scares me. Yesterday (2/3/2014), at a four-way stop, my Honda stalled, the engine did not "turn off", but the car would not "go." For about 15 seconds which is dangerous when in the middle of the road. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Grand Bay, AL, USA

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