2005 Honda Civic problems
Owners have filed 401 complaints with NHTSA about the 2005 Honda Civic. Air bags is the most reported problem area, at 32% of complaints. Next are engine (7%) and cruise control (6%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 401 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 32% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 91 and 12
- Injuries and deaths
- 91 and 3
- Typical mileage
- 75,000 miles 275 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 | 56 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 35 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 35 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 16 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 32 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 23 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 28 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 14 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 15 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 6 |
| 200k+ miles | 15 |
What the data shows
Of the 275 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 75,000 miles. For air bags specifically, the median reported mileage is about 87,000 miles (79 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 91 complaints mention a crash; 12 complaints mention a fire; 91 injuries reported; 3 deaths reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 96% 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 2005 ranks 28th most-complained-about out of 37 model years of the Honda Civic with enough data (169 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 10 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.
Our new 2005 honda civic had both front wheels lock while my wife was going to work, driving down the freeway in fort worth tx. The car was totaled, crashing into a guard rail, blowing the air bags, spinning around, starting a fire at the left front wheel and starting my wife's coat on fire as she was getting out. We have an eye witness who has a degree in engineering, photos, a police report and the car itself.
Ltr FM (tx) re his wife new honda which was totaled in a near fatal accident, the transmission locked up, honda won't assist them or release the title, car was paid for. The vehicle crashed into a guardrail when the transmission locked up and caught on fire.
Cpsc# I1180266a. 2005 honda civic hybrid. Consumer stated that she was in a motor vehicle accident and the airbag did not deploy. The consumer rear ended a vehicle that was stopped.
I,was,in,a,accident,my,car,was,totalled,I,was,turning,the,corner,both,cars,hit.I,do,not,remember,everything,I was,hurt,both,airbags,deployed.I,was,hurt,in,my,left,arm,my,jacket,and,shirt,were,burned.I,was,taken,by,ambulance.to,the,hospital,arm,burns,and,chest,pains.they,did,xrays,meds,and,the,told,me,to,follow,up,w/my,pcp,they,sent,me,for,more.xrays.I,now,had,no,car,burns,your,recall,was,never,sent,before,that,date.I,just,got,it. This,is,so,wrong.I,hope,you,are,doing,something,about,it.
Dt: consumer has a new honda civic. The SRS indicator light has not worked properly since he owned the vehicle. The SRS indicator light alerts consumer of potential problems with airbags or seat belts. The SRS light has been on since he first purchased vehicle. Took vehicle to dealer 4 times for the SRS light, and the light remained on. Dealer reset the computer, hoping the SRS light would not come on any more, but SRS light continued to come on.