1996 Honda Accord

Problems owners report

Complaints filed with NHTSA about the 1996 Honda Accord, by the system named in each complaint. One complaint can name several.

• Air bags109
• Engine and engine cooling96
• Service brakes, hydraulic74
• Electrical system40
• Vehicle speed control29
• Power train27
• Unknown or other25
• Tires21
• Visibility21
• Structure19

NHTSA ODI complaints (public domain) · updated 23 Oct 2026 · 24 injuries and 1 deaths reported

Compared with other years

NHTSA ODI complaints by model year

Fatal crashes in the US

From 2020 to 2023, 58 1996 Accord vehicles were involved in crashes on US public roads in which someone died; 48 people died inside them, and 11 of the vehicles rolled over. This is a count, not a crash rate: it grows with the number of cars on the road.

NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), crash years 2020–2023 (public domain)

New York safety inspections

At its first New York inspection the 1996 Honda Accord failed the safety check 2.25% of the time — 54% more often than the average 1996 passenger car (1.47%). Median odometer at inspection: 143,693 miles.

NY DMV Vehicle Inspections (vezn-fmmk), initial inspections since Aug 2021 · how we count

In the Netherlands

23 first registered in 1996 are on Dutch roads; 4% arrived later as imports.

Most common APK defects

• Bandenspanning niet op juiste waarde17
• Dimlicht onjuist afgesteld8
• Stofhoes stuurinrichting beschadigd, dicht niet af6
• Remverschil op 1 as te groot5
• Band(en) aanwezig met een profieldiepte van 1,6 t/m 2,5 mm5
• Overmatige vloeistoflekkage overige vloeistoffen5
• Uitlaatsysteem niet gasdicht / onveilige afvoer uitlaatgasse4
• Ruitenwisserinstallatie geeft onvoldoende zicht4

Colours

RDW Open Data: registered vehicles and APK defects (CC0) · defect descriptions in the RDW's Dutch wording

In the United Kingdom

35 cars built in 1996 were licensed for the road at the end of 2025, and 201 more were declared off the road (SORN).

Department for Transport and DVLA, vehicle licensing statistics (table VEH0124, year of manufacture) · Open Government Licence v3.0

In Finland

76 of these cars first registered in 1996 were in use in Finland on 30 Jun 2026, with an average of 302,000 km on the odometer at their last inspection.

Traficom (Finnish Transport and Communications Agency), open data on vehicles in use · CC BY 4.0

In New Zealand

262 1996 cars are on the New Zealand register; 20% arrived as used imports, 79% were sold new in New Zealand.

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, Motor Vehicle Register (March 2026) · CC BY 4.0

Fuel consumption

Official Canadian test results for 5 variants: combined 9.5–12.4 L/100 km (about 19–25 mpg US), CO₂ 219–285 g/km.

Litres per 100 km. Natural Resources Canada, Fuel consumption ratings (open.canada.ca) · Open Government Licence – Canada

Recalls in Canada

1 Transport Canada recall for the 1996 Honda Accord.

Transport Canada Vehicle Recalls Database · Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada

Recalls

Whether a recall was fixed on a particular car is known only to the manufacturer: check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

NHTSA recalls · summaries in NHTSA's own words

Service bulletins

What Honda told its dealers about the 1996 Honda Accord: known faults, fixes and updates.

NHTSA manufacturer communications (public domain)