Honda Sensing Problems in 2023-2025 Models: What Owners Really Experience

False Emergency Braking Remains the Most Frequent Complaint

One of the most widely reported issues across the 2023-2025 Honda lineup — including Civic, Accord, CR-V, HR-V, Pilot, Odyssey, and Passport — is phantom emergency braking triggered by the Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS), a core part of Honda Sensing. Drivers describe sudden, violent braking on open highways when no obstacle is present. Common triggers include overhead road signs, shadows from bridges, curved overpasses, and even sunlight reflections on wet roads. In numerous owners report the vehicle braking from 75 mph to under 30 mph in seconds with no vehicles, pedestrians, or objects ahead. The dashboard flashes “BRAKE” and the seatbelt pretensioners activate, often causing near rear-end collisions from following traffic.

Radar Sensor Contamination and Complete System Shutdown

The millimeter-wave radar unit mounted behind the front Honda emblem is extremely sensitive to dirt, snow, ice, heavy rain, and even dense bug splatter. When contaminated, the entire Honda Sensing suite (adaptive cruise control, lane keeping, road departure mitigation, and CMBS) disables itself and displays “Radar Obstructed” or “Camera/Radar Blocked” messages. In northern states and Canada, owners of 2023-2025 CR-V and Civic report the system becoming unusable for weeks during winter because the radar never fully clears even after washing. Honda’s current solution is to clean the emblem area, but many drivers note that the sensor stays obscured after highway driving due to road spray hitting the lower bumper area the emblem heater cannot reach.

Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS) Pulling and Fighting the Driver

The 2023 refresh introduced a more aggressive Lane Keeping Assist System that uses both camera and steering torque to keep the vehicle centered. Instead of gentle corrections, many owners experience constant “ping-ponging” between lane lines or the car actively fighting the driver’s input on gentle curves. On crowned roads the system repeatedly steers toward the shoulder, forcing drivers to grip the wheel harder or completely disable LKAS. 2024-2025 Accord and 2025 CR-V Hybrid owners particularly suffer from over-correction at speeds above 65 mph, making long highway trips exhausting.

Adaptive Cruise Control Dropping to 0 mph Unexpectedly

A dangerous subset of CMBS complaints involves adaptive cruise control suddenly decelerating to 0 mph on the highway. Owners of 2023-2025 Pilot and 2024 Pilot report the system misreading stationary overpass supports, stalled vehicles on the shoulder, or metal guardrails as imminent collision hazards and initiating maximum braking. The issue appears more prevalent when traffic is light and the vehicle is following at longer distances, suggesting the system struggles with depth perception in certain lighting conditions.

Traffic Sign Recognition Errors and Speed Limit Confusion

The camera-based Traffic Sign Recognition system frequently misreads temporary construction signs, truck speed limits, or electronic message boards and slams the brakes or refuses to accelerate past the erroneous limit. 2023-2025 HR-V and Civic owners in areas with frequent roadwork report the car refusing to go above 35-45 mph on 70 mph highways because it detected a “25 mph when workers present” sign miles back.

Cold Weather Total Honda Sensing Failure

In sub-freezing temperatures many 2023-2025 models display “Honda Sensing Unavailable – Low Temperature” and disable every driver-assist feature for 20-40 minutes after startup, even after the cabin is warm. Owners in Midwest and Northeast states consider this a major safety concern because blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, and automatic emergency braking are all offline during the most slippery driving conditions.

Dealer Response and Lack of Permanent Fixes

Most dealerships acknowledge the complaints but state the systems are “operating as designed” and refuse software updates or hardware replacement unless a specific TSB exists. As of late 2025, Honda has issued only minor calibration updates for certain VIN ranges of 2023 CR-V and 2024 Accord, but the majority of affected vehicles have no official fix. Some owners have successfully forced radar unit replacement under warranty when diagnostic logs show repeated false activations, but the new unit often exhibits the same behavior after a few thousand miles.

Aftermarket Windshield Replacement Nightmare

Any windshield replacement with non-OEM glass or incorrect camera calibration causes permanent Honda Sensing malfunctions. The front camera housing must be recalibrated by the dealer using a special static and dynamic procedure, and many third-party glass shops either skip this step or perform it incorrectly, leaving owners with constant “LKAS Problem” and “ACC Problem” warnings that only Honda can clear — often at a cost of $200-400 if the vehicle is out of warranty.

Real-World Owner Workarounds That Actually Help

Experienced owners have developed several practical mitigations:

• Turn off Road Departure Mitigation entirely — it is the most aggressive and least useful feature

• Set adaptive cruise “distance” to the shortest following gap to reduce phantom braking events

• Disable Traffic Sign Recognition in the settings menu

• Keep the windshield and Honda emblem surgically clean and apply Rain-X religiously

• Accept that below 32 °F the system will be offline for the first 30 minutes and drive accordingly

While Honda Sensing in 2023-2025 models represents a significant step forward in camera resolution and processing power compared to 2018-2022 cars, the calibration appears overly sensitive and prone to false positives that can create more danger than they prevent. Many loyal Honda owners now disable large portions of the suite and drive as if the technology simply isn’t there — a disappointing outcome for features marketed as safety essentials.