Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (headlights, tail lights, turn signals, interior lights).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2005 Honda Accord owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
This is the second time that this vehicle causes an accident due to involuntary acceleration defect. I was coming to a complete stop to park the car when all of a sudden it accelerated on its own and sped into a building. First it hit an iron bench pushing it into the wall. The car missed hitting a young mother and her four little kids by mere seconds. My insurance company sent one of their own adjusters to inspect the damages, and determined that the car should be repaired. In the meantime the people at the body shop where the car was towed to kept telling me that the car was not safe to be put on the road again. I pleaded with my insurer to have it totaled as I was too afraid to drive it again after two accidents, and my conscience did not allow me to sell the car after the repairs putting somebody else in same kind of danger. …
As I was coming to a complete stop, parking, the car sped up involuntarily. I kept pressing on the brakes, but it did not make any difference until the car was stopped by hitting a building. I was told that the dealer inspected the brakes while the car was at the body shop, and did not find anything wrong with them. The car was repaired, and I continued driving it. The involuntary acceleration occurred several times again, but I did not think anything of it because I was not coming to a complete stop, and it adjusted its speed again. Until...I had another accident eight years later due to none other than involuntary acceleration. See a separate complaint.
Headlights have top layer coming off the finish. The headlight then turns yellow and the clear lens becomes cloudy. This greatly reduces the amount of light on the road when driving at night. This causes increased danger of a car hitting an animal or pedestrian when driving at night. Aftermarket lens cleaning kits only offer a temporary fix. The only true fix is to replace the headlights, at a cost of almost $1000. The headlights are a safety devise that should last the life of the car, just like a seat belt or air bag. This headlight problem can be found on every car manufacture, not just Honda. Cloudy headlights should be replaced at no cost.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 Honda Accord. The contact stated while driving approximately 3 MPH. The air bag deployed on low impact when she hit a lamp base pole on the driver's side bumper. The contact injured her right forearm which required surgery. The vehicle was not taken to an dealer or an independent mechanic to be repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 116,000...updated 04-10-14 updated 06/30/2017
The cluster lights and the dome light will get dim. The dome light does when you open the doors. The cluster lights will while the head lights are on. The lights on the radio do the same. The radio will make a loud noise and stop playing until you turn off and turn back on.the wiring to back speakers is put in wrong dont work at all. The seat belts will lock when trying to pull them and it dont matter if its in motion or stationary.
The head unit failed making the entire control panel dark. The only way to repair this is to have to purchase an entire audio unit which did not fail. Parts were the front panel for $243.44 and the head unit for 900.65 plus installation costs. As this was a safety issue we had no choice but to replace. The lights should not fail and the cost is excessive requiring replacement of working parts.
Car was running fine. No problems. All of a sudden the airbag light came on. I stopped the car and checked the seat on the passenger side and seat belts trying to figure out why it was on. I got back into the car and continued home. When slowing to turn into driveway a loud banging noise occurred. The car was put in park and immediately started rolling backwards. This could have been a hazard if a car had been passing by or if this had happened in busy traffic. I could have rolled back and hurt someone, hurt myself or rolled back into oncoming traffic. Also if someone had been walking behind the car and gotten ran over and killed. Anyway it was later towed to a dealer and diagnostics ran. The dealer informed me that I needed a new transmission. That is not right. My car was like new with a little over 68 thousand miles on it. I still owe on it and purchased it brand new. …
Loss of lights on controls for heating, defrost and all other climate controls. Over a period of several weeks, I had an intermittent loss of backlight to the climate controls for my car. This presents a hazard during nighttime driving as the dome lights must be switched on and it takes longer to find the appropriate control for defrost for the windshield. This is also related to the backlight on the radio, which was a known problem with Honda accords for a very long time. The lights would go out, then come back on again when I went over a bump or turned the headlights on or off (indicating an electrical instead of bulb problem). The loss of function increased gradually in terms of number of outages, length and duration. The car was taken in after two near accidents due to trying to turn on the defroster while driving. …
My headlights appear to not illuminate very far in the night on the low beam. Additionally as a contributing the outer casing of the headlights are dull and the plastic appears to have deteriorated. While the dealership I saw 3 other hondas with the same clouded outer casings. On the hwy at night I notice nights are noticeably providing less light on the road - and I am not comparing to the new style type lights - just regular lights on other cars shine way further out. The dealership suggested at nearly $100 each I could have a body shop work on them. This appears to be safety hazard from poorly designed materials used for the headlights and it feel Honda should remedy this as it is making my headlight not perform as intended or expected. …
The audio unit display lights go dim 1-2 minutes after the headlights are turned on. The radio dials and HVAC control switches also go completely out. The only light on in the area is the small green light showing which HVAC button has been selected. The instrument panel lights do light up and are controllable with the dimmer switch. I have checked the fuses; none were blown. I can cope with the problem by turning on the interior overhead light to see the controls.just very inconvenientand creating a unsafe condition. This is a problem with earlier model years (2003-2004) of this model run. In 2007 Honda issued a 7 year/100,000 mile warranty extension letter for these years. There is also a service bulletin for these repairs. Perhaps Honda should havne extended this warranty extension to include the 2005 models.
Headlight complaints in other Accord years
Frequently asked questions
How common are headlight problems on the 2005 Honda Accord?
NHTSA has 21 complaints about the lights of the 2005 Honda Accord, 3% of the model year's 656 complaints. The component named most often is headlights (2 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2005 Honda Accord headlight problems?
No. NHTSA lists no lights recall for the 2005 Honda Accord, though it has 15 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2005 Honda Accord headlight problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 72,000 miles, and 18% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 4 crashes, 0 fires and 1 injury to lights problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.