Complaint volume
129 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2021 Honda Civic Complaints
129 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2021 Honda Civic, grouped by component category.
129 Total complaints
5 Crash reports
2 Fire reports
1 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are steering, forward collision avoidance, air bags. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 5 crash reports, 2 fire reports, 1 injury report, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 12 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 37,704 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to steering, forward collision avoidance, air bags?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2021 Honda Civic?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2021 Honda Civic
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2021 Honda Civic complaints?
5 Crash
2 Fire
1 Injury
0 Fatality
3 Towed
1 Medical attention
What are the most common 2021 Honda Civic complaint categories?
STEERING 46
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 12
AIR BAGS 8
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 6
SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 6
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 4
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 2
ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 2
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE 2
SEATS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 2
129 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2023 | STEERING | Steering wheel tries to stick in place randomly. Does not happen daily but has happened multiple times. The only way to make it stop is to stop driving the car for a few hours. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | SEAT BELTS | Seatbelt does not latch properly. Reported to dealership at last oil change appointment. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | the vehicle has brakes with out cause. Two times I was on the street no cars in sight and the car just brakes without notice or cause. Then it happened again yesterday on the freeway. It was raining no cars close and it just brakes again in the middle of the freeway. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | STEERING | My car has about 24k miles on it and at about 20-22k I started to notice something wrong with the steering. I was on an off ramp at about 45 mph and encountered a steering overcorrection that I didn't feel I caused on my own without another factor related to the vehicle being present. Since then I have been paying more attention to it and have the following to report. So far I only experience it when the vehicle is hot or warmed up and it feels like the steering wheel is sticking and then when you finally get it to break free you end up with a steering overcorrection or like a swerve that you didn't intend to cause due to your normal human driving inputs. There is definitely something going on here, my car did not do this for the first 20k miles and now it's essentially every time I drive it long enough to get warmed up. I hope that NHTSA is able to help us out here. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The front windshield camera that utilizes Honda Sense safety tech keeps misreading certain traffic signals and inadvertently activates the phantom braking. Sometimes it blinks ultimate times to even cause the vehicle to apply it’s emergency brakes despite no objects present on or near the intersection(s) of major traffic light routes and or construction sites with very bright lighting. Luckily no other motorists were behind me. The Lane Departure warning feature would also mistake the vehicle for moving over the designated lane when driving down or uphill or in some interstate highways even though the vehicle is maintaining centered lane control. I have consulted my nearest Honda dealership on the matter and was told the manufacturer would have issue a recall for the Honda Safety Sense since they do not have the hardware nor software to resolve the matter in a timely fashion. Not sure if other 10th generation Honda Civic owners are experiencing the anomaly but it’s a monthly occurrence. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2022 | VISIBILITY | The contact owns a 2021 Honda Civic. The contact stated while driving 5 MPH and approaching a stop sign, the rear-view mirror casing detached from the vehicle without warning or impact. The contact detected an abnormally loud explosion. The contact stated that she taped the casing back together. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who informed her that the failure was due to the rear-view mirror being struck. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and opened a case and spoke with the dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 15,071. | Crash: No Fire: No | 15,071 |
| Nov 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The coating on the wiring harness is soy based and rodents chew the wires causing multiple electronic failures. Power steering failed, Adaptive Cruise Control failed, Automatic Emergency Braking failed, Lane Keeping Assistance failed. Vehicle is extremely unsafe! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2022 | STEERING,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Rodents chewed thru the main computer cable while car was parked in our car port. When I went to start car it started but immediatley the warning lights on dash began flashing that the road assist features, brakes and steering were not operating.Called road side assistance for a tow to Arrowhead Honda were they replaced main computer cable and reprogrammed computer. This is the second time this has happened. I think the manufacture should change the exterior coating on the cable should be changed to a material that rodents are not attracted to. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES | While accelerating on a multi-lane freeway, the dashboard speed suddenly indicated 0 MPH and flashed warnings for power steering, emergency braking, suspension, and many other systems. Steering became almost impossible to control, with no resistance felt through the wheel, and small movements of the wheel resulting in unpredictable jerky movements of the vehicle. It was almost impossible to control the vehicle while exiting the freeway and coming to a stop. OBD scanner pulled only one code: U0416(68) Invalid data received - vehicle dynamics control module | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Forward collision warning and braking has falsely activated with no vehicles ahead of car. First, "BRAKE" warning flashed for no reason while driving on a three lane road on Virginia Rt 286 and Rt 50 interchange. Second, driving in right lane, vehicle ahead was taking exit and was clear of my path, car flashed BRAKE warning, then started braking. Third, while using Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) on highway, a passing car changed lanes into my lane. Due to distance, a car length, and smaller speed difference, emergency brakes activated. However, if a passing car operating at a faster speed (>5 mph est.) the car won't brake. The third problem is annoying as it creates an unsafe situation for people following too close (which they should not). Additionally, my brain is processing the situation faster than the HONDA SENSE can, Honda needs to expand their recall from Accord, CR-V, and Pilot to ALL vehicles with HONDA SENSE. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | If your new car needs an expensive repair, which your bumper-to-bumper warranty should cover, the service staff tells you statements such as, "We cannot duplicate your complaint." These statements free them from the need to repair your brand-new car. Then, the dealership staff, Group 1 Automotive (owner), and Honda, USA (in my case), work to talk you into a trade or a costly insurance claim or string you along until your warranty runs out. Or they talk you into buying an additional warranty that only offers you the same type of answer of non-duplication. By the time your warranty runs out, the costly not fixed repair is massive and usually a situation only the manufacturer can repair. You know what that means. Either you decide to pay for a trade-in, or you fall into the trap of only the dealership being able to handle the repair they knew was needed. Either way, because the dealership refused to honor your warranty, you are charged by them possibly thousands to make up for them not being able to duplicate your concerns. Or, as I have learned, repair your vehicle the right way the first time. I read about a woman whose tire light would not go out until she bought a new tire because the dealership sold her the wrong size tire. Or another possible SCAM is to give you unpleasant surprises. After you have your car a while, you learn that your payments are possibly much higher than you expected, or you do not have the vehicle that you thought you bought. One of Group 1 Automotive dealerships took advantage of a Vietnam Veteran with an increase of payments possible contract SCAM after he had eye surgery. The moral to that story, make sure you can read your contract before leaving the dealership because you need to ensure that you signed exactly as you bargained. My signed contract from Honda of Slidell informed me that I had bought 2020 when I bargained for a 2021. It was not until I convinced Honda of Slidell management that I was willing to inform the public of their m | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I experienced a false positive forward collision alert warning and subsequent, brief automatic emergency braking during two (2) episodes. Fortunately, my safety nor any surrounding motorists' safety was not at risk. The problem was not reproduced or confirmed by the dealer though my car ADAS was inspected by them. Of the five episodes, I only recorded the last three episodes which did not include an automatic emergency braking component. The episodes only feature the collision warning alert. They are as follow: 02/21/2022, 1930; 02/22/2022, 0805; and 04/01/2022, 0810. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | SUSPENSION | rear suspension making cluncking noise over bumps off brakes at any speed | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STEERING | Honda uses a soy-based insulation on the wires in its new cars. We have a brand new, less than 4,000 miles, Honda Civic. I recently went out to start it in the morning and received warning lights on virtually ALL of the systems you list. Why? Apparently rabbits are attracted to the soy-based insulation and will chew it. Honda knows about this problem -- they have had class action lawsuits filed against them already because THOUSANDS of consumers have had their Hondas disabled when rodents chewed the insulation on the wiring harnesses. I had to have the Honda towed into the dealership here in Helena, Montana because it was COMPLETELY DISABLED -- including no power steering. Notably, the service technician told me "it's a common problem -- rodents like the soy insulation." The cost to repair the 18" wire harness was $350.00!! Rather astounding sum to unclip both ends and clip in a new wire harness. But here's the rub. Honda knows about this problem and have already had class action lawsuits filed against the company for the obvious design and manufacturing flaw. If anyone doubted that, all they have to do is ask what Honda does to deal with the problem. The answer: They sell and install "hot chili tape" that they wrap on the wire harness so rodents/rabbits won't chew it. Obviously, they wouldn't need to produce their own chili tape if there wasn't a known -- well known -- problem with their wiring insulation. This is a very real problem for consumers because virtually everywhere on the planet there are rodents and rabbits. So if you park your Honda anywhere, you may wake up to find it no longer works and you will be stranded. This is particularly a problem in rural areas such as Montana, where dealerships can be hundreds of miles away. Honda does not warn consumers of this problem -- although they do laud their "bumper-to-bumper" 30,000 mile warranty. Oddly enough, the wire harness is located between the bumpers...but the warranty does NOT cover this. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE | Was merging onto the crossover lane and it senses the water barrels by the wall as you go slightly left in the lane it doesn’t seem to understand that and pulls you toward the wall and hits the auto brakes almost causing an accident. This was in the 10 freeway by morongo and it has happened multiple times. I have taken those assist programs off as it’s almost killed me | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE | I’ve had multiply times where my dash with start indicating I need to break while I’m driving an will break for me while on the freeway or street with traffic. For the lane departure my car will just start turning out of a lane there was two incidents where I almost hit the wall divider on the Freeway from my car almost turning me into it. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Automatic Emergency braking has gone off twice in 1 month on it's own. No car in front of me and the brakes went off and the "BRAKE" light went off on the dashboard. Yes, my safety was put at risk. I am not seeing any recalls for this Honda but I have read that this is an ongoing problem. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Driving home from work. Cruise set at 73mph. I had just passed another car and was about 600 yrd in front of them on the PKWY, when the car just started breaking and ding, I get multiple warnings on the dash as I'm trying to get out of the way of other vehicles. the car drove normal the next 5 miles under my control but the dash is still lit with a Collision Mitigation system problem, Adaptive Cruise Control Problem, Road Departure Mitigations system problem, Drive Carefully systems initializing problem, Brakes system light. I'll note that there was not bad weather, there was no rain or snow. it was 80F. There was no impact, accident, etc. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | was in reverse backing into parking spot. my foot was on the break; however, the car accelerated rapidly resulting in hitting a post. there were no warnings that registered took it to Honda and reported, they indicated they were not aware of this issue and did not run diagnostics as requested | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE | Three issues I been having every since I got my car. 1. Car navigation displays not working properly, screen completely freezes or black-out. 2. Brake warning sign appears randomly in dashboard even if theres no vehicle in front, probably an issue with the car detection sensor camera . 3 Probably the most important. The car shuts down. Oil light and battery light shows in dashboard when this happens, usually when the vehicle is coming to a stop. This is an outgoing issue that is really concerning. I have take the car multiple times to the dealer and the have failed to solve any of this issues, the previously told me it was the turbo but never replace it, then i was told it was the electronic wastegate nothing was done then, now two days ago April 21, 2022 this happen again, haven't take the car to the dealer because I know they aren't going to do anything about it. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Car will randomly hit the brakes when adaptive cruise control is on. It will hit the brakes even though it doesn’t detect anyone in front, it will slow down a good 10-15mph before speeding back up. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I was driving at 55 mph on a clear day with no vehicles or other obstacles in front of my car when the collision mitigation braking system (cmbs) activated and stopped the car suddenly. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | MANY times I've pressed the gas after a full stop and had the engine roar in response while the car only moved forward a few feet rather than at full speed. My life is in danger if I'm trying to make a turn across traffic when I have a space to do so and I CAN'T make the turn SAFELY because the car has "stalled" by not moving forward quickly after I let go of the brakes. It's a brand new car, and I took it to Honda. They said they couldn't replicate the incident. Since it happens sporadically, I have no idea what causes it but I DO know that it's VERY dangerous. Another issue happens when I'm driving in cruise control. Another car is in a turning lane, and my car will slow down abruptly. The car is in the NEXT lane, not in my lane, so having my car suddenly slow down is very dangerous as I can get rear ended. Again, this is dangerous. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | The contact owns a 2021 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while driving at 50 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently decelerated. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 200. | Crash: No Fire: No | 200 |
| Nov 2021 | SUSPENSION,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES | 2125 miles on this Type R, fresh off the show room floor. At low speed turning into the slight dip in my driveway, the suspension in Sports Mode flexed enough for the driver side tin rotor back plate at the driver front wheel to get caught on the lower control arm. Drove it to Honda, and yes, they confirmed that this had happened, that the thin tin plate had indeed become stuck on the LCA! Screeching like you cannot believe b/c when this happens, the top of the plate is flexed onto the top of the brake rotor and it goes metal to metal. Honda told me they have no idea how this happened but myself, a professional mechanic can clearly see exactly what happened. Honda tried to bill me for this warranty repair to the tune of $475. I told them "NO!" They backed down. Yes, this vehicle is available for inspection any time you want. And yes, I can make the problem happen again just by hitting the dip while making a left-hand turn into my driveway. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |