2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid: adaptive cruise control problems

Filed Aug 10, 2026 · Driver assistance · TX

The forward-facing Honda Sensing camera mounted behind the windshield (Nidec monocular camera, Honda part number 36160-TRW-A04) failed at approximately 85000 miles on XXX The failure produced simultaneous dashboard warnings and disabled multiple driver assistance systems at once, including Collision Mitigation Braking System (automatic emergency braking), Forward Collision Warning, Road Departure Mitigation, Lane Keeping Assist, and Adaptive Cruise Control. There was no impact, no windshield damage, and no obstruction of the camera lens. The failure appears to be internal to the camera assembly and occurred without warning during normal driving. Because all of these safety systems depend on this single camera, one component failure removed every forward collision protection on the vehicle simultaneously. The sudden appearance of multiple warning lights at once was also distracting while driving. The vehicle is out of warranty and Honda has offered no repair assistance. Dealer replacement is quoted at approximately $1,500 to $2,000 including required camera calibration. This same camera failure is widely reported by owners of Honda Sensing equipped vehicles, including Clarity, Odyssey, Pilot, Civic, and HR-V models, typically at [XXX] to [XXX] of age, which suggests a durability or thermal defect in the camera assembly rather than an isolated failure. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Jul 15, 2026 · Driver assistance · FL

It looks like this is possibly at this point a wide spread issue with most if not it will be all honda clarity models. The lane departure warnings, adaptive cruise control, front camera honda sense electronics keep to go out and then will work for a little bit. sometimes just not work at all for months, then work for like a day or two. After reading many of many complaints about this it will seems to be pretty much widespread across all yearly models.

Filed Jun 12, 2026 · Driver assistance · CA

To Whom It May Concern, I am the owner of a 2018 Honda Clarity, and I am submitting this complaint to request that the federal safety agency investigate what appears to be a widespread defect involving the front camera system used by Honda Sensing. My vehicle has experienced a failure of the front camera system, which has disabled numerous critical safety features, including: • Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) • Automatic Emergency Braking (Collision Mitigation Braking System) • Blind Spot Warning • Forward Collision Warning • Lane Departure Warning • Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS) • Parking Collision Warning • Rear Cross Traffic Warning When the front camera fails, these safety systems become unavailable, significantly reducing the vehicle's ability to assist the driver in avoiding collisions and maintaining safe operation. After researching this issue online, I discovered that thousands of Honda owners have reported similar failures involving Honda Sensing cameras and related driver-assistance systems. Many owners have reported receiving warning messages, loss of safety functions, and repair estimates costing thousands of dollars. This appears to be a recurring problem rather than isolated incidents. I believe this defect presents a serious safety concern because drivers may unexpectedly lose access to critical collision avoidance and lane safety technologies that were included as standard safety equipment on the vehicle. The failure of a single camera component should not disable so many essential safety systems without a more robust fail-safe solution. I respectfully request that the federal safety agency investigate this issue and determine whether a safety recall or other corrective action is warranted for affected Honda vehicles, including the 2018 Honda Clarity. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. I would be happy to provide additional information, repair records, photographs, diagnostic reports, or any other documentat

Filed Apr 3, 2026 · Driver assistance · CA

I was just driving normal and a message on my dashboard started to appear saying to clean my windshield or the collision mitigation system cannot work, We cleaned the windshield several times and it didn’t work the light still on, mow it got worst all of the lights turned on when I drive the car, adaptive cruise control light, road departure mitigation system problem light, lane keeping assistance problem light, collision mitigation system problem light and Brake system light, I checked online and there’s alot of people complaining from the same thing, they said it’s an issue with the front windshield camera but honda wants to charge thousands of dollars to fix it and there’s other honda models with the same problem too. I don’t know if it’s safe to drive it or if more lights are going to come up.

Filed Mar 25, 2026 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · CA · crash · 1 injury

I had an unintended acceleration happen as I was easing into a parking spot of a covered parking garage. The car accelerated like a jet plane taking off. I jammed on the brake. The only thing that stopped the car was the concrete wall that was 4 feet away. My airbags activated. We had taken the car to the Honda dealer for its 35,000-mile check-up on February 24, 2026. The Honda dealer has prepared all maintenance, including Honda recalls, since we bought the car in 2018. I'm scared about what caused the unintended acceleration and concerned that others could be injured. Electronic throttle control? Cruise control? Sensors? Wiring problems? What activated it? I believe this is a Honda mechanical problem. I have researched online that others have had unintended acceleration problems with the Honda Clarity and CRV–another plug-in hybrid–but not enough claims to lead to a recall. I have gotten a runaround. Our insurance carrier has declared the car a total loss but refuses to have the computer assessed to determine the cause. The local Honda dealer says it’s not their problem, claiming that we would have to tow the car to them and pay them to replace all safety items. They would then reboot the computer and delete all data, so they could not assess the cause. They said the Clarity has no “black box.” I contacted American Honda Corporation's customer service. Their engineers would not look at the car either unless our insurance company asked and paid them to do it. I have that Case Number. You would think that American Honda Corporation would be concerned, particularly since this unintended acceleration could have killed pedestrians if it had happened on the street or killed me if the concrete wall had not stopped the car. We had the Honda Clarity towed to our house to see if we could find someone to check out the computer. The towing company has driven the car, even though the airbags were activated. After 30 days, our insurance company will take the car for salvage.

Filed Dec 7, 2023 · Driver assistance · CA

No Accident occurred but wanted to report a problem with my vehicle. Dealership diagnosed my vehicle with a malfunction in the "multipurpose camera unit/millimeter wave radar." Because of this malfunction, my vehicle lost all its driving assistant abilities such as: Adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning, land departure warning, lane keep assistance, and automatic emergency braking. Attached a picture of a screenshot of my cell phone showing all the things that are affected by the one camera malfunctioning.

Filed Jul 29, 2022 · Brakes, Driver assistance · AZ

The software in the car dashboard randomly pops errors like - road departure mitigation, brake system, brake hold system problems, etc. This has happened many times this year. I have taken it to the dealership to get fixed a couple of times (most recently on July 16 2022). They say they have reset the software but the problem still reoccurs and is very frustrating since in some cases the vehicle if it has parking brake set remains immobilized. Also, the safety systems in the car like Lane Keep Assist, Road Collision Mitigation and Automatic Cruise Control get disabled when these errors popup. I filed a case with Honda customer service (Case #13070724) on Jun 9, 2022 and have been following up with them weekly to get this fixed

Filed Oct 7, 2019 · Electrical, Engine · 3,700 miles · NJ

Tl* the contact owns a 2018 honda clarity plug-in hybrid. While driving 5 MPH, the battery was depleted and the engine mode engaged; however, the vehicle lost power and failed to accelerate. The vehicle was recharged and worked as designed. The engine system, adaptive cruise control, road departure, and power steering warning indicators were illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer and dealer were not contacted. The failure mileage was 3,700. The VIN was invalid.

Filed Jul 6, 2018 · Brakes, Electrical · 470 miles · CA

Although car less than one week old and under 470 miles, all the warning indicators illuminated on the instrument panel while vehicle was stationary after starting the car: engine system problem, brake system problem, adaptive cruise control problem, road departure mitigation system problem. Turning car off and restarting engine did not clear the problem, and lights remained on while driving. Vehicle was taken to dealership where it was purchased (honda of pasadena).

Filed Jun 6, 2018 · Acceleration, Brakes · 2,525 miles · PA

At the time of the occurrence the vehicle had been owned for approximately 90 days and had approximately 2500 miles on the odometer. When initially started in a stationary poistion the information display provided multiple apparently spurious alarms and warnings. These warnings continued when the vehicle was in motion. Turning the vehicler off and restarting the vehiclewould not clear the warnings. The display would cycle displaying *adaptive cruise control problem*,*lane departure mitigation system problem*, and *emmissions control system problem*. Addtionally the brake system and lane departure mitigation system malfunction lights and check engine light were illuminated the vehicle was taken to a dealer who reset the codes using proprietary honda vehicle analysis software. The warning and codes did not re-appear. The cause for the warnings was not determined. These apparently spurious warnings present a safety concern. They provide a distraction to the driver while cycling on the informaiton display and could cause a driver to ignore valid warnings in the belief they too are spurious. The issue is such that it warrants monitoring by the manufacturer and ntsb to determine the root cause of the problem and frequency of occurrence.

Filed Jun 2, 2018 · 3,500 miles · CA

I have driven the clarity for 4 months. This has happened three times in heavy traffic with honda sensing turned off and no cruise control. If I am following the car ahead closely and the vehicle ahead slows down , but not enough for an accident, the clarity stops unnecessarily quickly, scaring me and putting me at risk of getting hit from behind. It's scary. I am very capable of stopping the car on my own and do not need the car overcompensating. If I turn all the safety features off, I do not understand why this is happening.