AI Damage1987 Honda Accord: common problems
Owners of the 1987 Honda Accord filed 111 complaints with NHTSA, most often about seat belts and fuel system. Details by component below, with sources.
Key figures
- Owner complaints
- 111
- involving a crash
- 11
What fails most often
- 1 Seat belts 31% of all complaints
- 2 Fuel system 23% of all complaints
- 3 Vehicle speed control 8% of all complaints
- 4 Powertrain 6% of all complaints
- 5 Engine and cooling 5% of all complaints
- 6 Exterior lighting 5% of all complaints
- 7 Tires 5% of all complaints
- 8 Service brakes 5% of all complaints
- Seat belts: 34 complaints (31% of all), 4 of them with a crash reported by the owner.
- Fuel system: 25 complaints (23% of all).
- Vehicle speed control: 9 complaints (8% of all), 3 of them with a crash reported by the owner.
- Powertrain: 7 complaints (6% of all).
- Engine and cooling: 6 complaints (5% of all).
Engines and transmissions
US-market versions per EPA. On the right: how many NHTSA complaints name this engine or transmission type.
- 2 L · petrol · 4 cyl
- automatic, 4-speed
- manual, 5-speed
Drive: FWD
Symptoms owners describe
How many of the 111 NHTSA complaints mention each symptom (automatic count from complaint text; one complaint can mention several).
Components owners complain about
| Component | Owner complaints | involving a crash | Technical service bulletins (TSB) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seat belts | 34 | 4 | 0 |
| Fuel system | 25 | 0 | 0 |
| Vehicle speed control | 9 | 3 | 0 |
| Powertrain | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Engine and cooling | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Exterior lighting | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| Tires | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Service brakes | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Electrical system | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Suspension | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Steering | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Structure | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Visibility | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Wheels | 2 | 0 | 0 |
What owners report
Short excerpts of NHTSA complaints in the original wording. These are owner statements not verified by NHTSA; personal data removed.
Vehicle ran into garge door due to applying brake pedal and accelerator pedal at same time. Believed problem was due to both pedals designed too close together. Feel free to provide any further details on this matter.
Driver's and passenger's side seatbelts came loose during a crash. Dealer has replaced the buckle.
While driving at night, pulled turn signal lever to dim headlights; instead, driver'sfingers slipped and caught top edge of lever, the spriing in lever pulled the lever back turning off the headlights entirely, resulting in loss of control/ crash. *
When the car was involved in an accident the drivers seatbelt did not restrain and released. Please describe. Tt
While driving, steering wheel locked preventing from turning, therefore losing control, resulting in an accident/injury. Tt
Vehicle was hit on front right passenger side, passenger side seat belt buckle came loose. Tt
Backing into garage car accelerated on its own in reverse causing accident. Tt
Headlight wiring failed, causing loss of low beams/poor visibility.
When owners complained
NHTSA complaints by filing year. The peak shows at what age the problems show up most.
Comparison
By complaint count this model year ranks 3,319 of 36,656 model years in the NHTSA data (top 9% most complained about).
On average one model year of the Accord has 503 complaints (49 years in the data). This year has 111, below average.
What to check before buying
- Seat belts. Belt pretensioners after airbag deployment, SRS codes.
- Fuel system. Fuel smell, leaks, rough running, fuel-system codes.
- Vehicle speed control. Accelerator pedal, cruise control, throttle codes.
- Powertrain. Shift quality under load, harsh shifts, transmission codes, CV joints.
Other years of this model
- Accord 19817 sources
- Accord 198210 sources
- Accord 19837 sources
- Accord 198422 sources
- Accord 198513 sources
- Accord 198654 sources
- Accord 198888 sources
- Accord 198986 sources
- Accord 1990192 sources
- Accord 1991212 sources
- Accord 1992206 sources
- Accord 1993186 sources
- Accord 1994369 sources
- Accord 1995543 sources
- Accord 1996472 sources
- Accord 1997460 sources
- Accord 19981,200 sources
- Accord 19991,135 sources
- Accord 20001,183 sources
- Accord 2001922 sources
- Accord 20021,050 sources
- Accord 20031,987 sources
- Accord 20041,018 sources
- Accord 2005656 sources
- Accord 2006433 sources
- Accord 2007524 sources
- Accord 20081,521 sources
- Accord 2009727 sources
- Accord 2010581 sources
- Accord 2011296 sources
- Accord 2012374 sources
- Accord 20131,427 sources
- Accord 2014982 sources
- Accord 2015601 sources
- Accord 2016754 sources
- Accord 2017608 sources
- Accord 20182,149 sources
- Accord 2019960 sources
- Accord 2020628 sources
- Accord 2021388 sources
- Accord 2022329 sources
- Accord 2023168 sources
- Accord 2024226 sources
- Accord 2025140 sources
- Accord 202629 sources
- Accord 999926 sources
Questions and answers
What are the most common problems with the 1987 Honda Accord?
Owner complaints to NHTSA most often mention: seat belts, fuel system, vehicle speed control. Total complaints: 111. The most frequent symptoms in complaint texts: seat belts (25%), rust, corrosion (10%), headlights and tail lights (7%).
How many service bulletins (TSB) were issued for the 1987 Honda Accord?
NHTSA lists 0 manufacturer service bulletins for this year. A bulletin tells dealers how to diagnose or fix a known issue; it is not a recall.
Should I buy a 1987 Honda Accord from a US auction?
Owner complaints describe defects, not crash damage. Before bidding, check the components listed above and review the lot photos: VinWind builds a report of visible and hidden damage by VIN.
Other 1987 models
Read also
Sources: public NHTSA data (USA): service bulletins and owner complaints; YouTube: links to videos credited to their authors. Complaints are owner statements not verified by NHTSA, and describe defects rather than crash damage. Data updated 2026-11-05.