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2023 Honda HR-V: windshield wiper failure

17 of the 689 complaints about the 2023 Honda HR-V describe windshield wiper failure.

owner complaints
17
of this car's complaints
2%
recalls
0
Is there a fix? 20 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below

Windshield wiper failure by model year

  • 2025
    2
  • 2024
    4
  • 2023
    17
  • 2022
    1
  • 2018
    1
  • 2017
    3
  • 2016
    1

What owners say

Filed Apr 10, 2024 · MO

I was driving and the back glass on my HRV shattered. It was pouring rain and I had been running my rear defrost and wipers and I heard a loud pop and there was glass everywhere.

Filed Feb 22, 2024 · Visibility · CA

While parked about to drive out to work @ about 18:30, I turned on my car and my rear windshield spontaneously shattered. My wiper is still intact, but my entire windshield has spider web-like cracking all over, leaving a hole on my left side, slightly big. Please see photos attached. (My recalled seatbelts were already serviced by AutoNation Valencia.) I found an online article from last month where this is a random, on-going issue with Honda 2023 HR-V models: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Jan 18, 2024 · NY

On Dec 30th I was sitting in my car l, engine running, wipers and defroster on. I hear a loud pop and my rear windshield shattered There was a large hole in the upper left and the glass all around the edges shattered. The rear wiper remained on even though I turned it off

Filed Jan 15, 2024 · Visibility · MI

The rear windshield exploded and shattered into pieces when I turned on rear defroster. No warning, no impact or other vehicles involved. This is a safety issue, I have my 3 year old son at the backseat, and the pieces of shattered glass flew pretty far out, and luckily I wasn't driving fast in the highway. I took my car to the dealer and they are ordering part to fix my rear windshield and my rear wiper.

Filed Dec 26, 2023 · Visibility · CA

On 12/21/23, I went out to my secure garage to my 2023 Honda HRV and found that the back window had completely shattered. After further investigation, I did not find any obvious external reason for this incident. I had driven the car on 12/20/23, which was a rainy day and may have activated the rear wiper and/or rear defogger. But to my knowledge, there was no impact of any kind to the window. The component that failed was the rear window. No one was hurt; however, this could've been a safety issue if it happened on the road. There was no warning prior to the incident. The vehicle was purchased on 11/26/22 and was last serviced on 10/30/23, where no problems were noted. I called Honda, thinking this may be a product defect. They confirmed that it wasn't and that it was not covered by their warranty. I am going through my insurance company and am waiting for a window which is on back order, with no arrival date known. [XXX] Vallejo, CA INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Dec 19, 2023 · Visibility · CT

Rear windshield spontaneously shattered. Remote started the vehicle walked up to it and it just shattered. Didn’t touch it. Wipers weren’t on. Vehicle was in park in a parking garage with cameras. Found tons of reports online of others having the same issue. This needs to be recalled!!!

Filed Nov 16, 2023 · Visibility · 10,100 miles · FL

The contact owns a 2023 Honda HR-V. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked in a parking lot at night, the contact heard a loud explosion. The contact exited the vehicle to check the surrounding but had not seen anything unusual. Two days later, the contact noticed that the rear windshield had shattered after activating the windshield wiper. The contact stated that the rear windshield had shattered without impact. The dealer was made aware of the failure; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 10,100.

Filed Oct 26, 2023 · Visibility · ND

Rear windshield shatters. No collision, nothing hit car, no theft, no vandalism. Driving 40 mph in Blizzard conditions. All Wheel Drive, rear defroster on, rear wiper on. 2023 HR-V Sport. The first time operating both rear wiper and rear defroster synchronously. A sudden unexpected pop & entire rear windshield shatters. Rear wiper then began pushing glass into rear hatch area. Turned off wiper, continued driving. As this issue has been reported numerous times in the new generation 2023 Honda HR-V's, I was not shocked. Just A bit startled. My conclusion is use of inferior glass or rear wiper hole causing an issue or rear defroster exceeding parameters. Outside temp was 30'F, wet heavy snow falling with 8 inches by 16:30, 10/25/2023, Minot, ND. Photo taken with iPhone 14 in heated garage. Shattered rear windshield is being reported by many owners of the new generation 2023 Honda HR-V. In looking at rear the shattered windshield, most astonished how very thin the glass is, as compared to most auto glass. An attempt at weight reduction? Honda of America needs to address this asap, it is unsafe! I was not injured, just startled by the sudden unexpected loud pop & shattered glass then falling into hatch area. From retired DoD civil servant, "integrated electronic systems mechanic," (Minuteman 3 ICBM's), please seriously consider this observation. Very thin gray tinted rear windshield glass. Hole for rear wiper located through bottom center of rear glass. Rear defroster temp parameters to high for thin glass? Possible combination of all three. Again, 1st time rear wiper & defroster used synchronously. Blizzard conditions at time of rear windshield failure.

Filed Oct 15, 2023 · Visibility · PA

I drove the vehicle in the rain with the front and rear wipers on and the rear defrost on. After pulling into a parking space and turning off the car, I unloaded items from the car and closed all of the doors. Upon returning to the parking lot, others in the lot informed me that there had been a cracking sound and glass in the upper left-hand corner of the rear windshield had fallen into the trunk. They confirmed that there had not been an impact which caused the crack and there was nothing in the trunk to suggest an impact. While attempting to cover the rear windshield in the rain, more of the glass fell into the trunk. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer for evaluation. Had this occurred while the vehicle was operating, it could have posed a safety risk for individuals in the back seat and a distraction risk for the driver.

Filed Oct 9, 2023 · SC

On 10/9/2023 my back windshield exploded without any type of impact whatsoever. I was driving down a road headed to work driving about 40 mph and without any warning or impact I heard a loud exploding noise and then the entire back glass shattered into thousands of pieces. No back windshield wiper or no back defogger was being used at the time either. This happened without any type of warning or any type of incident at all. The noise this made would be enough to startle a driver and cause an accident not to mention the shattered glass that was everywhere. I have contacted the dealer where I purchased the car new and at first was told by the head of their service department that they had never heard of anything like this and that my insurance should cover it. After calling back a second time their receptionist acknowledged that yes they were aware of the problem and two other people had brought their HRVs in with the same thing happening to them. She said their sales manager would be giving me a call back. At this time I have not heard back. I have taken numerous photos of the damage and my insurance company has agreed to make the repairs even though this damage is clearly a defect in this Honda product. Numerous other incidents can be found online.

Filed Sep 28, 2023 · Visibility · OR

At 4:30 pm on 9/25/2023, I was driving my car on a paved road leading out of Jacksonville,Or. to a nearby town. The weather was mild, no wind and slight mist. I was not using the wipers. Without any warning, the rear window exploded, shattering all of the window and leaving a very small open rectangle on the bottom of the window. There was no sign of a projectile either in the car or in the shards of glass.Had a passenger or my dogs been in the back seat, they would have been subject to flying glass particles. I was shocked and thought someone had fired gun at my car. I was able to do a u- turn and return home where I called my insurance. They immediately called Safelite and made an appointment for window replacement. The job was done 9/28/2023.

Filed Sep 27, 2023 · FL

I left work at about 430 p.m. and at just that time, it started to rain and then some torrential rain. Because of the heavy rain, I did use my rear defroster, the rear wiper, front wiper and front defroster. My drive as far as distance is about 18 miles, but because of the weather, traffic was slow. Then the rain stopped so I did not need to use the rear wiper. About 1-1/2 miles from my exit I heard a pop, pulled over to the shoulder of the road and saw that the back window on the left side had a hole and the rest of the glass was shattered. As time went by, as I was slowly driving home (the rest of the drive is about 5 miles), more and more of the glass was falling in. Now most of the glass is missing.

Service bulletins that may apply

Related recalls

No recalls on record for this model year.

Questions about the 2023 Honda HR-V wipers

Is windshield wiper failure a common problem on the 2023 Honda HR-V?

17 of 689 owner complaints about the 2023 Honda HR-V (2%) mention windshield wiper failure. The model year with the most reports is 2023.

Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2023 Honda HR-V?

There are 0 recalls and 20 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.

Other symptoms on the 2023 Honda HR-V

Jerking 30Lane assist 17Windshield crack 12

All model years of the Honda HR-V

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