2002 Honda Civic problems
Owners have filed 876 complaints with NHTSA about the 2002 Honda Civic. Air bags is the most reported problem area, at 28% of complaints. Next are transmission (13%) and drivetrain & axles (8%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 876 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 28% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 144 and 14
- Injuries and deaths
- 129 and 4
- Typical mileage
- 90,000 miles 598 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 65 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 48 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 57 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 77 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 92 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 71 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 55 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 45 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 41 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 16 |
| 200k+ miles | 31 |
What the data shows
Of the 598 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 90,000 miles. For air bags specifically, the median reported mileage is about 77,000 miles (148 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 144 complaints mention a crash; 14 complaints mention a fire; 129 injuries reported; 4 deaths reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 89% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2002 ranks 12th most-complained-about out of 37 model years of the Honda Civic with enough data (322 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 11 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Driver's side and passenger side takata airbags exploded during deployment. Shrapnel from the driver's side takata airbag lodged in the driver's neck causing fatal injuries. The passenger side takata airbag caused a fire on that side of the automobile as well.
2002 honda civic. Consumer states air bag on driver's side did not deploy upon impact during a collision *tgw the consumer stated her father was the driver of the vehicle and subsequently died from his injuries.
The death investigator's decedent owned a 2002 Honda Civic. The contact stated that after the decedent stopped at a stop sign, they attempted to make a left turn and struck another vehicle on the passenger side. The decedent's air bag was deployed which caused trauma to the decedent's neck. The decedent's vehicle caught fire shortly after impact. The other driver attempted to remove the decedent from the vehicle as authorities were called to the scene.
Electronic doors automatically locked by themselves within 5 to 10 seconds. This could cause a problem when getting out of the vehicle with the key still in the vehicle. Consumer contacted the dealer, who stated there was no solution for this problem. When the key was in the ignition, the doors locked by themselves.
Transmition went out at 74400 miles with no warning ⚠️ town driving took corner no 3rd or 4th gear on automatic transmition could only go20 miles an hour got it back home cost 2500 buck s to fix with hondas "good will " policy. Now it has blown cylinder head at 1400000 car loses coolant and comes out over flow tank