My cars had a clunking type noise coming from the front left of vehicle, sounds happens on both left and right turns, and sometimes the steering wheel STICKS. Making a knocking sound and sometimes feels difficult to turn the wheel. I had to have the steering gearbox assembly replaced at cost of over $3015 before taxes.
Honda HR-V harsh shifting problems
10 of the 1,890 owner complaints about the Honda HR-V describe harsh or hard shifting, most of them for the 2016 model year.
- owner complaints
- 10
- worst model year
- 2016
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
By model year
- 20231
- 20222
- 20211
- 20191
- 20181
- 20172
- 20162
Often reported together
Steering noise 3Jerking 2Grinding brakes 2Transmission failure 1Stalling 1
What owners say
•What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? CVT, yes this is a known issue •How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? On Tuesday, April 21st, 2026 our Honda HRV catastrophically and dangerously failed. Our Honda HRV Navi is the all-wheel-drive (AWD) and we are the original owners. It shuddered and dropped speed from almost 70 mph, to about 20 mph, putting us and others at risk for a rear end collision. My wife is traumatized by these events and for being stranded on the side of the road. •Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? Yes, it was repaired at a high cost. •Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? Honda dealership •Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? No. This was the first time there was any indication of a problem. The transmission was serviced on March 6th, 2026 at Honda a Honda Dealership. There were NO warnings of problems (i.e. NO slipping or hesitation during acceleration, NO engine revving without speed gain, NO sudden jerking or shuddering when driving, NO delayed engagement unusual noises (whining, grinding, clunking), NO fluid leaks of transmission fluid, and NO overheating or burning smell. When I queried the servicing dealership, I was told the March 6th, 2026 routine maintenance CVT service found no metal shavings or other issues in the transmission fluid. It was a routine scheduled and dealer suggested maintenance. On Tuesday, April 21st, 2026 our Honda HRV catastrophically and dangerously failed. Our Honda HRV Navi is the all-wheel-drive (AWD) and we are the original owners. It shuddered and dropped speed from almost 70 mph, to about 20 mph, putting us at risk for a rear end collision. My wife (the registered owner) is traumatized by these events and for be
Driving on the highway loud clunk heard and car started rattling. Pulled over to inspect underneath car and couldn’t see anything. Brought it to the dealership and they confirmed the rear differential seized due to a bad seal causing a leak and both rear CV axels broke. Going over 55 mph causes vehicle to severely shake.
The contact owns a 2017 Honda HR-V. The contact stated that while driving at undisclosed speeds, the vehicle stalled. There was an abnormal clunking sound coming from the vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to shift into gear. The vehicle was pushed to the side of the roadway. The vehicle was under load between 1200-1500 RPMs. The contact stated that while the RPM was at 1,200, there was an abnormal growling sound. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the failure was related to Technical Service Bulletin: 21-047. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, but the failure had not been determined. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and confirmed there was no warranty coverage on the vehicle. The failure mileage was approximately 95,000.
Transmission needs to be replaced, I was driving on the highway then pulled off to exit, when I got to the end of the exit ramp the car crunched and clunked when I tried to step on the gas. I rolled into a parking lot across the street. Had it happened a minute earlier I would have crashed on the highway due to the transmission failure. Honda service says it’s metal shavings in the transmission. It’s related to the recent software issue but because my car is over the extended warranty of 7 years or 150,000 miles they do t want to cover the cost, or help me with getting into a new car. I still owe over $6,000 on it.
Sticky Steering: Experienced a clunking sound from front drivers side steering the last two weeks. Last night while driving approximately 15mph the steering got stiff then overcorrected, veering off to the left into oncoming traffic. The car came to a rest after hitting a curb and the airbags deployed. Both injuries and damaged sustained. This is the second occurrence of the vehicle suddenly veering off to the left lane.
The steering is jerky and clunky at all times - whether the lane departure feature is on or not. The steering wheel requires more effort to overcome needed correction. I have read others have reported the same problem.
Brakes are soft when breaking. Also when stopping over small bumps or uneven road the brakes starts to grind and clunk causing it to have problems stopping. This is going less than 20 MPH. If I where to have a car in front of me which many times I do I have to swerve so I do not hit them. Honda should look into this. The roads are clear no rain or anything for it to have such bad breaking. I can literally feel my brake pedal moving while the clunking and grinding is happening and the car does actually not slow down. It's like the brakes pedal looses its function.
At 15,837 miles of normal driving and without excessive loads; the right rear strut on our new vehicle broke. It made a clunking sound in the right rear of the car. When ordering the new strut, the dealer told us that they were backordered from so many replacement requests.
Noticeable clunking noise during braking over bump(s)
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Honda HR-V harsh shifting
Which Honda HR-V years have harsh or hard shifting problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2016 (2 complaints), 2017 (2 complaints) and 2022 (2 complaints).
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