Selling a Honda Clarity that's stopped working

Honda used the Clarity name for its alternative-fuel sedans. From 2017 to 2021 it came in three versions sharing one sedan. The Electric stopped at the end of 2019, and Honda said the Plug-in Hybrid and Fuel Cell would end production in August 2021. NHTSA's records for the Clarity are short: 226 complaints and five recalls.

Three Claritys, one body

Before these, Honda built the FCX Clarity from 2008 to 2014, a hydrogen car with a 100 kW stack. Our NHTSA pull under the Clarity model name holds no 2008-2014 complaints or recalls, so this page covers the 2017-2021 cars.

The five recalls

Three of them hit the 2017-2018 Clarity Fuel Cell:

• 18V-068 (January 2018, 471 cars): the fuel cell control unit could misread a small voltage drop in a cell "causing the vehicle to have reduced, or a complete loss of, power." Dealers installed new software.
• 18V-921 (December 2018, 1,082 cars): Honda recalled cars already fixed under 18V-068, because that software remedy "may have been incomplete."
• 19V-315 (April 2019, 1,082 cars): parts inside the water pump can corrode until the pump fails, and a failed pump can stall the car. Dealers replace the pump.

The other two:

• 20V-326 (June 2020, 128 cars): rear seat belts on certain 2019 Claritys of all three types may not lock as intended.
• 23V-858 (December 2023): a fuel pump recall covering millions of Hondas and Acuras lists the 2018-2019 Clarity Plug-in Hybrid. A deformed impeller can leave the pump inoperative, and then "the engine may not start or can stall while driving."

What owners reported

Complaints bunch up on one year: 162 of the 226 are on the 2018. Across all years the most-named components are the engine (29), the electrical system (27), the fuel and propulsion system (24) and the gasoline fuel system (20). NHTSA files every version under one name, and only the Plug-in Hybrid carries a gas engine, which is worth knowing when you read those engine counts. The owners' written descriptions weren't part of what we reviewed, so what actually failed isn't known here.

NHTSA's own records supplied these numbers on October 10, 2026. Three of the recalls each list two model years, so the column totals 8 against five campaigns.

Fix it or sell it?

We found no Clarity-specific Honda warranty extension, so the main free help is recall work. Start there:

1. Run the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. A Fuel Cell that loses power or stalls, or a Plug-in Hybrid that won't start, matches a recall listed above.
2. Get a written quote for anything else, and set it beside what a running Clarity of your version and year sells for.
3. Battery trouble on the Electric? Our EV battery guide explains how to weigh it.

What a junk car is worth covers what changes an offer on a car that doesn't drive.

Selling the Clarity whole

1. Know your version. Fuel Cell, Electric or Plug-in Hybrid changes what the buyer is looking at, so say which.
2. Request an offer online, or call (877) 421-6008.
3. Say where it is: a garage, an apartment lot, a dealer's service bay. Mention whether it rolls in Neutral. Pickup is free anywhere in the US.
4. Sell the whole car as it sits, charging cable and all. If anything has been removed, list it.
5. Keep the title and a photo ID handy for the driver. Still leased? Read our leased car guide first. Plate rules are in after you sell.

Other Honda pages: the Insight, the Accord and the Prologue.