Differential or transfer case failure on the 2007 Honda CR-V
2 injuries 2 of the 19 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When differential or transfer case failure gets reported
Owners of the 2007 Honda CR-V report differential or transfer case failure at a median of 30,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 20,000 miles and a quarter after 45,000 miles, from 19 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 110,000 miles. It is the 6th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 15,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 80,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 62,720 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
53% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17,280 miles | 20,902 miles | 30,000 miles | 45,000 miles | 80,000 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 2 an injury is mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $900–$4,200 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 13 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2015, at a median of 100 miles, and latest on the 2009 at 195,000 miles.
By volume the 2007 is the worst of them, which makes this a problem of this specific year rather than of the model as a whole.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
2007 honda crv turned out to be very bad on snow and/or ice covered roads. Rear end feels like it wants to kick out to the right. Took it to be serviced and was told the rear differential fluid needed to be drained and the clutches burnished. Drove better after that, 6 weeks later car making noise like a bearing was going out. Was told that my rear tires were cupped due to not having rotated them. Car had 20,000 miles on it. Since tires were already ruined, I waited to take it in again till 30,000 miles. Now the front tires were bald in the center and rear tires still cupped. They drained the rear differential fluid again and again burnished the clutches as well as performed the 30k suggested maintenance. 4k miles later, while driving on bad roads, the rear end once again feels like it wants to slide off the road to the right. Feels like it needs a couple hundred pounds of extra weight in the rear. Oh, forgot to mention, have had the tires replaced and today had it aligned. I have had 2 other honda's (accords). Very pleased, but absolutely can't stand this car. I don't feel safe driving it. *tr
Tl*the contact owns a 2007 honda cr-v. The contact stated that the vehicle pulls to the right and makes a loud grinding noise when driving in reverse. He took the vehicle to the dealer three times for the failure and they changed the brake oil differential and suggested that the oil be changed every three to four thousand miles. This corrected the failure temporarily, but the grinding noise recurred a week later and the vehicle began pulling to the left again. A report was filed with the manufacturer and they stated that a representative will inspect the vehicle. The vehicle has not yet been inspected. The failure mileage was 21,804 and current mileage was 92,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2007 honda cr-v. The contact stated that the vehicle pulls to the right and makes a loud grinding noise when driving in reverse. He took the vehicle to the dealer three times for the failure and they changed the brake oil differential and suggested that the oil be changed every three to four thousand miles. This corrected the failure temporarily, but the grinding noise recurred a week later and the vehicle began pulling to the left again. A report was filed with the manufacturer and they stated that a representative will inspect the vehicle. The vehicle has not yet been inspected. The failure mileage was 21,804 and current mileage was 92,000.
Also reported on the 2007 Honda CR-V
Other body or interior problem
Other electrical problem
Airbag inflator rupture
Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure
Other suspension problem
Other powertrain problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 19 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does differential or transfer case failure happen on the 2007 Honda CR-V?
Across 19 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 30,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 20,000 miles and a quarter after 45,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is differential or transfer case failure on the 2007 Honda CR-V?
19 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.2 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed