2021 Honda CR-V · symptom sheet
Brakes grind, pulse or wear early
- 27owner reports
- 7,000median miles
- 2involved a crash
Newest report Jul 10, 2026 · checked Oct 2, 2026
27 of the 332 complaints on this car describe brake wear.
Tick what matches of 27 reports
Brake wear on other CR-V years
Report counts are for each model year on its own, so a newer car has had less time to collect them. Model years with too few reports of it for a sheet: 2014, 2016, 2022, 2024, 2026.
What this problem usually is
Brake reports cover a wide spread of symptoms. Grinding or squealing is common, and so is a pulsing pedal or a shake through the car when stopping. Others describe pads and rotors worn out long before they expected, a brake warning light, or a pedal that goes soft or sinks toward the floor. The most serious ones say the car didn't stop in time.
What got replaced
Few of these reports name the part that was replaced.
Recalls and investigations
No recall on the brakes covers the 2021 model year as of Oct 2, 2026.
When it happens
The middle half of failures fell between 3,000 and 16,500 miles, from the 8 reports that gave a mileage.
Is this a known problem?
The manufacturer has sent NHTSA 1 service bulletin or notice for the 2021 Honda CR-V that deal with this problem. Newest first.
Federal rules make a manufacturer send NHTSA a copy of any notice about a defect that goes to more than one dealer or owner. Most of these are service bulletins, the repair instructions manufacturers send to dealers. NHTSA generally leaves safety recall bulletins out of this file, and recalls are listed separately.
American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM) is searching for certain 2018-2021 Accords, 2019-2017 Civics, 2017-2021 CR-Vs, 2018-2021 Odysseys & 2018-2021 Pilots with a customer complaint of an unexpected CMBS operation or a brake application.
What owners wrote
“The automatic emergency brakes deployed for no reason while I was driving through traffic. There was nothing in the road and nothing that should have triggered the emergency brakes. It could have caused an accident”
Filed Apr 13, 2026
“Today was the fourth time that the automatic breaking system engaged when there was no other car present to trigger it. I was going under 5 miles an hour. The car next to me was making a left-hand turn, and there was no car in front of me to cause the breaking system to engage with such a force that I thought I was rear-ended by a truck”
Filed Mar 25, 2025
“Driving on empty road about 40 mph. Brakes engaged momentarily and red brake light came up on dash. Happened in daylight with excellent visibility. No cars in front or other lane and nothing on roadway. Car has 1040 miles on it. Will report to dealer but expect little resolution.”
Filed May 26, 2022 · 1,040 miles
Should you keep driving it?
This page can't tell you that. 2 of 27 reports involved a crash and 1 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. How reports land on this sheet.
Guide Taking it to a shop? How to describe this problem so it gets found