2002 HONDA CR-V — Complaint #377235
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:PARK/NEUTRAL START INTERLOCK SWITCH filed October 9, 2002
NHTSA complaint #377235 (ODI reference 767711) concerns a 2002 HONDA CR-V and was filed on October 9, 2002. The owner reports the failure occurred on August 8, 2002. The vehicle had 5,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to California based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as power train:automatic transmission:park/neutral start interlock switch, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: yes, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. A complaint that flags a crash, fire, or fatality is escalated on NHTSA's internal review queue and factors more heavily into any Preliminary Evaluation decision on this make and model. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same HONDA CR-V cohort independently describe similar power train:automatic transmission:park/neutral start interlock switch failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2002 HONDA CR-V shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
WHILE I WAS SHOPPING, MY PARKED CRV POPPED OUT OF GEAR, GOING FROM PARK TO NEUTRAL. IT THEN ROLLED BACKWARDS INTO ANOTHER PARKED VEHICLE. I LEFT MY CRV IN PARK, AND IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO HAVE REMOVED THE KEY UNLESS IT WAS IN PARK. HONDA READILY AGREES THIS TO BE THE CASE. HONDA HAS TORN MY CAR APART, SEARCHING FOR THE CAUSE, AND COME UP WITH NOTHING. SUBSEQUENTLY, I HAVE SEEN MANY NEWS REPORTS OF HONDA'S "POPPING" OUT OF GEAR, AND I AM AFRAID. I DRIVE A TREACHEROUS MOUNTAIN/CANYON ROAD TO AND FROM WORK EACH DAY; I CANNOT AFFORD TO HAVE THIS HAPPEN ON THAT ROAD, FOR ALL REPORTS INDICATE THAT THE DRIVER LOSES CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE WHEN IT HAPPENS. I AM THANKFUL THAT MY CRV WAS PARKED WHEN IT POPPED OUT OF GEAR.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 377235 |
| ODI Number | 767711 |
| Date Filed | October 9, 2002 |
| Failure Date | August 8, 2002 |
| VIN | JHLRD78812C |
Similar POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:PARK/NEUTRAL START INTERLOCK SWITCH Complaints for 2002 HONDA CR-V
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 HONDA CR-V. AFTER PARKING THE VEHICLE, IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO SHIFT THE GEAR LEVER OUT OF PARK. THE CONTACT HAD TO CONTINUOUSLY DEPRESS THE BRAKE PEDAL AND FORCE THE GEAR OUT
THE GEAR SHIFTER BECAME HARD TO SHIFT AT TIMES, THE CONSUMER WAS TOLD TO MAKE SURE THE BRAKE WAS PRESSED HARD ENOUGH WHEN THE GEAR WAS PLACED INTO PARK OR BEING TAKEN OUT OF PARK. THREE WEEKS LATER T
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.