1988 HONDA ACCORD — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 84 complaints · 0 recalls

Verdict & Safety Summary

Most-reported system: SEAT BELTS (29 complaints · 34.5%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 14
  • Fires 1
  • Injuries 21
  • Deaths 1
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution SEAT BELTS appears in 29 of 84 owner complaints (34.5%) in this vehicle snapshot. SEAT BELTS: 29 complaints, 34.5% of reports SEAT BELTS 29 · 34.5% · 4 crash reports POWER TRAIN: 9 complaints, 10.7% of reports POWER TRAIN 9 · 10.7% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 9 complaints, 10.7% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 9 · 10.7% · 4 crash reports ENGINE: 7 complaints, 8.3% of reports ENGINE 7 · 8.3% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 3 complaints, 3.6% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 3 · 3.6% · 1 fire reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 3 complaints, 3.6% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 3 · 3.6% FUEL SYSTEM: 3 complaints, 3.6% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 3 · 3.6% STEERING: 3 complaints, 3.6% of reports STEERING 3 · 3.6% · 2 crash reports STRUCTURE: 3 complaints, 3.6% of reports STRUCTURE 3 · 3.6% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 71 complaints, 84.5% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 71 · 84.5% · 10 crash reports 1 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
SEAT BELTS 29 34.5% 4 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 9 10.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 9 10.7% 4 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 7 8.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 3 3.6% 0 crashes · 1 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 3 3.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 3 3.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 3 3.6% 2 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 3 3.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 71 84.5% 10 crashes · 1 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jan 1995. 1995-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 1995-Q2: 9 owner reports 9 1995-Q3: 9 owner reports 9 1995-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1996-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 1996-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 1997-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1997-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1998-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 1998-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1999-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2001-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2001-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Oct 1994 Jan 2018 Investigation EA94035 ● Investigation EA94035
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q1 Owner reports 6
1995-Q2 Owner reports 9
1995-Q3 Owner reports 9
1995-Q4 Owner reports 1
1996-Q1 Owner reports 3
1996-Q2 Owner reports 5
1996-Q3 Owner reports 2
1996-Q4 Owner reports 5
1997-Q2 Owner reports 2
1997-Q3 Owner reports 4
1998-Q1 Owner reports 3
1998-Q2 Owner reports 3
1998-Q3 Owner reports 2
1998-Q4 Owner reports 2
1999-Q1 Owner reports 3
1999-Q3 Owner reports 1
1999-Q4 Owner reports 2
2000-Q1 Owner reports 1
2000-Q2 Owner reports 1
2000-Q3 Owner reports 1
2001-Q1 Owner reports 3
2001-Q2 Owner reports 1
2001-Q3 Owner reports 2
2001-Q4 Owner reports 1
2002-Q1 Owner reports 2
2002-Q2 Owner reports 1
2003-Q1 Owner reports 1
2003-Q2 Owner reports 1
2003-Q4 Owner reports 1
2004-Q1 Owner reports 2
2005-Q3 Owner reports 1
2017-Q3 Owner reports 1
2017-Q4 Owner reports 1
2018-Q1 Owner reports 1
Defect investigation 1 EA94035
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA records.

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 84 complaints · page 1 of 4

No complaints match the current filters.

EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources