2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Fuel/Propulsion System (17) · Fuel System, Gasoline (15) · Power Train (14)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
🛣️ Complaints by mileage
64 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (1)
Fuel System, Gasoline:delivery:fuel Pump 2023-12-18 · campaign 23V858000 · 2,490,460 vehicles
Defect: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2013-2023 Honda Accord, Civic Coupe, Civic Sedan, Civic Hatchback, Civic Type R, CR-V, HR-V, Ridgeline, Odyssey, Acura ILX, MDX, MDX Hybrid, RDX, RLX, TLX, 2019-2022 Honda Insight, Passport, 2020 Honda CR-V Hybrid, 2018-2019 Honda Clarity PHEV, Fit, and 2015-2020 Honda Accord Hybrid, Pilot, Acura NSX vehicles. The fuel pump inside the fuel tank may fail.
Risk: Fuel pump failure can cause an engine stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will replace the fuel pump module, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed September 6, 2024. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are KGC and KGD. This recall is an expansion of NHTSA recall numbers 21V-215 and 20V-314.
Service bulletins (18)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Power Train 2023-11-14 · A18-090 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
service bulletin - there is a software problem in the pcm, which may cause the mil to come on with dtc p26a3 (electric water valve malfunction), dtc p100c (electric vtc motor speed signal circuit malfunction) and/or p0010 (variable valve timing control [vtc] malfunction). there are up to three updat
Fuel System, Gasoline 2022-09-15 · ONL6PH09152022 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
owner's notification letter - our records indicate that a product update has not been completed on this vehicle (vehicle identification number [vin number]). on clarity plug-in hybrid vehicles, there is a software error in the miles per gallon calculation, which affects the hv range display and cau
Visibility 2021-07-06 · ONLO9V07062021 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
owner notification letter - on some 2018-21 clarity plug-in hybrid models, the a/c condenser may leak refrigerant. american honda is extending the warranty on the a/c condenser to 10 years from the original date of purchase with unlimited miles. this warranty extension provides coverage for the orig
Visibility 2021-05-28 · ABOM05282021 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
dealer message - today, may 28, 2021, american honda is announcing a warranty extension for certain 2018-2020 accord and accord hybrid, 2018-2020 civic, 2017-2021 civic hatch, 2017-2021 civic type r, 2018-2021 clarity phev, and 2019-2021 insight vehicles. this warranty extension covers the a/c conde
Visibility 2021-05-28 · A21-017 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
service bulletin - american honda is extending the warranty on the a/c condenser to 10 years from the original date of purchase with unlimited miles. this warranty extension only covers vehicles that have a defective a/c condenser from the factory. the a/c condenser was not manufactured to specifica
Power Train:automatic Transmission:control Module (Tcm/Pcm/Tecm) 2021-02-11 · A21-008 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
service bulletin - the hybrid system failure message comes on the mid, and dtc p1d8d (generator motor inverter short) is stored.
Showing the 6 most recent of 18 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-10-10 · Visibility/Wiper“known a/c condenser issue was replaced twice and now the evaporator is leaking. due to this, i'm unable to use the a/c to defrost the windows in the early morning and thus, creates a dangerous driving environment. evaporator, which is part of the a/c unit, was not covered under the extended warranty (which is a known clarity issue) and now the con…”
2026-10-01 · Exterior Lighting“this honda does not display outside turn signals, found similar problem on honda civic and accord which have recall for this problem. doing research civic and accord have the same body control module as my honda clarity where the problem is located , i contacted my honda dealer and explained this to service advisor , but he was unable to help me. t…”
2026-09-28 · Lane Departure: Warning“multi-purpose camera unit failure, error code u3000-49…”
2026-08-15 · Unknown Or Other“component failure: 2018 honda clarity phev air conditioning evaporator core. complete refrigerant leak. available for inspection/repair at norm reeves honda huntington beach. confirmed july 29, 2026, via borescope/uv dye. repair estimate: $3,151-$3,217. safety risk: vehicle is inoperable without a/c on southern california freeways during extre…”
2026-08-10 · Lane Departure: Assist“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 br…”
2026-07-15 · Lane Departure: Warning“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 readin…”
2026-06-12 · Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings“to whom it may concern, i am the owner of a 2018 honda clarity, and i am submitting this complaint to request that the national highway traffic safety administration (nhtsa) 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, w…”
2026-06-08 · Fuel/Propulsion System · 💥 crash“here is an update to the issue i had raised with your office in march-april 2026: honda van nuys performed the 35,000-mile routine maintenance on the honda clarity on february 24, 2026. at that time, honda van nuys recommended (and i approved) that they clean the throttle. the odometer read 33,882 miles. i drove the car 337 miles when the uninten…”
2026-05-15 · Engine“i will first start with our problems/concerns. we had experienced a complete lost power in freeway speed (65 mph) when the battery is depleted, that is when the battery bar goes to zero bar instead of 2 bars usually. i attached a photo from the video i took for your reference. this experience was the engine ramp up and not getting any power while d…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.