Diagsheet

2018 Honda CR-V · symptom sheet

Brakes on its own (automatic emergency braking)

  • 244owner reports
  • 25,000median miles
  • $4,000median quote
  • 5involved a crash

Newest report Aug 23, 2026 · checked Sep 9, 2026

557 of the 2,132 complaints on this car are about collision avoidance. 244 of those describe phantom braking, which makes it the most reported problem on the 2018 CR-V.

Tick what matches of 244 reports

107
82
48
85
23

What got replaced

Owners who name the part that was replaced mention the radar or camera sensor (22 reports), the software (9 reports) and the windshield (5 reports).

Recalls and investigations

No recall on collision avoidance covers the 2018 model year as of Sep 9, 2026.

NHTSA investigations into collision avoidance on the CR-V

EA24-002opened Apr 15, 2024
Collision avoidance · model years 2017 to 2022

Inadvertent automatic emergency braking. Open.

NHTSA summary
On February 21, 2022, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation (PE22003) to assess reports of inadvertent activation of the Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS), an automatic emergency braking (AEB) system, in model year 2017-2019 Honda CR-V and 2018-2019 Honda Accord vehicles. The reports allege that activation of the AEB system occurs while driving with no apparent obstruction in the vehicle's forward path, resulting in sudden vehicle deceleration. Honda indicated that they were aware of a total of X,XXX reports that may relate to the alleged defect. Honda provided analysis of the alleged defect and alleges that some customers possibly had an inadequate understanding of the CMBS and its limitations. However, many consumer complaints allege that Honda dealerships were unable to reproduce the condition or state that they were informed that this is considered normal CMBS operation. To date, ODI has received a total of 1,294 consumer complaints of inadvertent activation of CMBS in 2017-2022 Honda CR-V and 2018-2022 Honda Accord vehicles. A total of 31 complaints alleged a crash and 50 alleged an injury. The Total column in the Failure Report Summary removes duplicate reports and shows the total number of reports with unique VINs from all Manufacturer, ODI, and EWR data sources. In some cases, there were multiple reports associated with a particular vehicle in which recurring failures were alleged. In total, there were X,XXX reports
PE22-003opened Feb 21, 2022
Collision avoidance · model years 2017 to 2019

Inadvertent automatic emergency braking. Closed apr 18, 2024.

NHTSA summary
On February 21, 2022, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation (PE22003) to assess reports of inadvertent activation of the Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS), an automatic emergency braking (AEB) system, in model year 2017-2019 Honda CR-V and 2018-2019 Honda Accord vehicles. The reports allege that activation of the AEB system occurs while driving with no apparent obstruction in the vehicle's forward path, resulting in sudden vehicle deceleration. Honda indicated that they were aware of a total of X,XXX reports that may relate to the alleged defect. Honda provided analysis of the alleged defect and alleges that some customers possibly had an inadequate understanding of the CMBS and its limitations. However, many consumer complaints allege that Honda dealerships were unable to reproduce the condition or state that they were informed that this is considered normal CMBS operation. To date, ODI has received a total of 1,081 consumer complaints of inadvertent activation of CMBS in the subject vehicles. A total of 24 complaints alleged a crash and 42 alleged an injury. The Total column in the Failure Report Summary removes duplicate reports and shows the total number of reports with unique VINs from all Manufacturer, ODI, and EWR data sources. In some cases, there were multiple reports associated with a particular vehicle in which recurring failures were alleged. In total, there were X,XXX reports, 84 injury incidents and 40 crash

What owners paid

7 of the 244 reports quote a price. Each dot is one quote. The middle half runs $470 to $8,000.

$470$4,000$8,000
$0k$2k$4k$6k$8k

When it happens

The middle half of failures fell between 14,000 and 42,000 miles, from the 77 reports that gave a mileage.

618
2319
1520
1021
8422
4223
3024
2125
1326

What owners wrote

“While traveling on Rt 29 in Maryland at normal highway speed, heard a beeping sound and then saw that the emergency brake warning was flashing on the instrument cluster. Beeping and light were active for several seconds. There were no cars within several hundred feet of my vehicle. This is the second time this has happened in the last 60 days.”

Filed Mar 22, 2022

“Driving down road at approximately 30mph, no obstructions in road or vehicles in front of me and the car suddenly slowed down to approximately 10mph due to automatic braking system engaging.”

Filed Mar 16, 2022

“The automatic braking system engaged without warning and without reason as I was not within close proximity to any other vehicles or obstructions.”

Filed Mar 13, 2022

“Driving on parkway at 50 mph, our vehicle began braking on its own. There was no vehicle in front of our vehicle. This occurred twice in past month.”

Filed Mar 4, 2022

Should you keep driving it?

This page can't tell you that. 5 of 244 reports involved a crash and 6 people were hurt. Owners who file are the ones who had a bad experience, and nobody checks their reports. If the problem affects steering, braking, power or a fire risk, treat it as a safety fault and have it inspected before a long or high-speed drive.

File your own report with NHTSA. Complaint counts are how a problem gets an investigation.

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