Used Honda Crosstour Buying Guide: Air Bag Recalls, Engines and Weak Spots

The used Honda Crosstour to buy is one whose passenger air bag inflator recalls are all closed, which on a 2010-2011 Accord Crosstour can mean seven or more separate campaigns. After that, it's an easy car to like. Every 2010-2015 Crosstour is an Accord underneath, with a 3.5-liter V6 in front drive or AWD, plus a front-drive 2.4 four-cylinder in later years. Treat it as a tall Accord hatchback with a cramped view out the back, not as an SUV, and you'll judge it fairly.

I ran each Crosstour year through NHTSA's recall API on Sunday, October 18, 2026, and read Consumer Guide's 2010-15 Accord Crosstour review. One quirk is worth knowing before you search yourself. The API files 2010-2011 cars under ACCORD CROSSTOUR, and if you search plain CROSSTOUR for those years you only see one campaign. That's an easy way to think a car is cleaner than it is.

Years, engines and the name change

Honda launched the Accord Crosstour for 2010 with a 271-hp V6, a five-speed automatic and cylinder deactivation, in EX (front drive only) and EX-L (front drive or AWD). For 2012 the name became just Crosstour. The 2013 update brought new styling inside and out, and by 2015 Consumer Guide's new-car page lists a 278-hp V6 with a six-speed and a 192-hp 2.4 four-cylinder as the base engine. Consumer Guide's used review dates the four-cylinder to 2012, and I didn't find a second source that settles whether it really arrived for 2012 or 2013, so don't trust a listing on that point. Decode the VIN with our Honda VIN decoder guide. The four was front-drive only, so an AWD car is always a V6.

Air bag recalls, in plain terms

This is the part people skip, and it's the part that can hurt you. For 2010-2011 cars the API lists 16V346, 17V030, 17V545, 18V042 and 19V502 covering passenger frontal inflators, plus 18V268 on 2010 cars. The plain CROSSTOUR search adds 18V661 for every year from 2010 to 2015, though its summary names 2014-2015 Crosstours, so ask the dealer which ones truly apply to your VIN. The summaries describe inflators that may rupture or explode after long exposure to humidity and heat cycling, throwing metal fragments. Two campaigns are about earlier fixes: 19V502 covers inflators that were themselves installed as a recall remedy or replacement part, and 19V378 covers replacement inflators that may have been installed incorrectly. So a car that "had the air bag recall done" in 2015 can still have open work. On 2012-2015 cars, 19V502 shows up, with 19V378 on 2012-2014.

• 10V402, 2010: the front passenger air bag may not have been assembled to spec.
• 12V030, 2012: a side curtain air bag inflator may not have been made to spec.
• 14V788, 2015: the curtain air bag inflator tube may be faulty on cars built in fall 2014.

Run the VIN through our Honda recall check by VIN, then ask a Honda service desk to print the open campaigns. Our Takata air bag recall check explains why a past repair doesn't always close the file.

What Consumer Guide flags

V6 cars from 2010-2013 can misfire on fouled spark plugs, and 2012-2015 engines can run rough when cylinder-deactivation rocker arms stick. A 2010-2011 with high oil use may have sticking piston rings, which is the one I'd worry about most, because it's expensive and the seller rarely mentions it. A loud rattle on a cold start across 2010-2015 can be a failing variable valve timing actuator. On 2013-2015 cars the starter may grind. Ask how much oil the car needs between changes, and listen to a cold start yourself rather than arriving to a warm engine.

Crosstour, Accord or Pilot?

If you don't need the hatch or AWD, an Accord sedan from the same years is cheaper and far more common, and our used Honda Accord guide covers it. If you want real SUV space or a third row, the used Honda Pilot guide is the better fit. Consumer Guide calls the Crosstour's rear visibility poor and its road noise pronounced, which is honest, and its sloped roof costs cargo height. The Crosstour wins on ride height and AWD in an Accord-feeling car.

Before money moves

A fake "clean" printout won't show you open recalls or a washed flood title, so check NMVTIS and buy your own report. We're a licensed CARFAX and AutoCheck reseller, unaffiliated with CARFAX, AutoCheck, Experian or Honda. Mid October 2026 pricing is roughly $5.50 as a guest, $4.50 or so for members and about $6.75 for the bundle, compared with about $39.99 to $44.99 retail. If checkout says something different, checkout wins.

Sources

• Consumer Guide: 2010-15 Honda Accord Crosstour; Consumer Guide: 2015 Crosstour
• NHTSA recallsByVehicle, Accord Crosstour 2010-2011 and Crosstour 2010-2015, queried Oct. 18, 2026
• NMVTIS