Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (battery, alternator, wiring, ignition, instrument cluster, infotainment).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2011 Honda CR-V owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
The contact owns a 2011 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was able to restart. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that a wiring harness had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 170,000.
Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2011 Honda CR-V. The contact discovered a mileage discrepancy after the purchase. The vehicle was a private sale. At the time of purchase, the mileage was 106,000. It was later discovered upon checking a Carfax Report that the mileage was 206,086.
DOOR LOCK ACTUATOR. It is constantly malfunctioning. You are driving with small kids, and the doors keep unlocking and locking as the vehicle is in motion. I am very concerned, especially with children inside. It gets to a point that it sounds like a machine gun while you are driving, so, if you forget about it, suddenly you hear the loud noise and you think there is a drive by shooting nearby. There was a class action lawsuit regarding this a few years ago and a recall on this part. Today I locked my car after I parked and went into my house, suddenly I heard this horn noise on and off by itself without touching the key or the fob. I find this extremely dangerous. Let's say you get trapped inside your car and suddenly you cannot get out. I looked a little dipper and found out that Honda did not want to fix this issue. This is unacceptable and very unfair. …
I'm driving along and the car door locks don't recognize that there already locked. They keep going off. The car is shut off and the door locks keep going off and the dom light keeps coming on every time the doors lock even though they are already locked. I couldn't get out of my car the other day because of this. I know now why someone sold it to the dealer ship. I've had the car a couple of months and I'm ready to sell it. I don't feel safe. Also the navigation date will not stay on the current day of 2024. It keeps rebooting back to Feb 2005. I bought it July 25, 2024 for $14,835. Apparently, I'm not the only car out there that has this problem. Why is this not being fixed. It is a SAFETY HAZARD TO GET LOCKED IN YOUR VEHICLE AND CANT GET OUT. I HAD TO CALL ROAD SIDE ASST. This is unacceptable when I pay this kind of money for a vehicle.
The door lock actuator has malfunctioned in my 2011 Honda CRV and this is not covered under a recall or warranty. This has caused my vehicle doors to not be able to open as well, my hatch will not unlock to enable me to open that. There was no warning or any other symptoms prior. From a safety perspective, if I were to be in an accident and have passengers in my vehicle, they would be unable to exit the vehicle if they were in the backseat of my vehicle. Also, how do I know that this won't eventually affect the drivers door which will then cause me to not be able to exit the vehicle in the event of an emergency.
At the beginning of the current year, 2002, the date displayed on the navigation system reverted to 2002 and the time changed to an incorrect time. No DIY user solutions have worked to fix these software issues. Honda has reported these issues in a number of vehicle models and claim they will "self-correct" eight months (August, 2022) from now.
The doors are automatically locking at 9 MPH while driving - when you initially pull out and meet the speed of 9 MPH AND then every time thereafter your speed is 9 MPH the doors will all lock. Passenger door and now rear hatch door does not unlock using the key remote OR the inside button to unlock. Currently all other doors are working.
Sporadically the passenger rear door and trunk will lock (then unlock randomly) and there's no getting them unlocked using the fob nor using the unlock button. The door simply has to unlock itself and the only way to get the trunk opened (till it decides to unlock itself) is to crawl thru the backseat and pull the inside lever.
Faulty actuator in front passenger door, door remains locked shut and as a result the hatch is also locked shut due to connection between doors. Honda has quoted me $900 to repair including needing to destroy interior panel and pay to replace part due to issue that was recalled in 2007-09 CR-V's. Approximately mileage is 160,000.
Honda Nav system reverted to 2002 and can be reset to correct date and time. System not getting online updates from sat in a timely manor. It appears to also be causing issues with on line CPU - on dash mileage reports on gas consumption will bounce from 5 MPG to 70MPG then may stay stable for a while.
Electrical complaints in other CR-V years
Frequently asked questions
How common are electrical problems on the 2011 Honda CR-V?
NHTSA has 55 complaints about the electrical system of the 2011 Honda CR-V, 10% of the model year's 554 complaints. The component named most often is instrument panel › speedometer/odometer (1 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2011 Honda CR-V electrical problems?
No. NHTSA lists no electrical system recall for the 2011 Honda CR-V, though it has 13 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 2011 Honda CR-V electrical problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 57,000 miles, and 13% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 1 crash, 1 fire and 0 injuries to electrical system 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.