Home / Car Problems Checker / 2012 Honda Civic

Owner-Reported Problems · NHTSA

2012 Honda Civic — Problems & Complaints

NHTSA has 455 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.

455

Complaints

filed with NHTSA

Involved a Crash

owner-reported

Involved Fire

owner-reported

Injuries

across all reports

Years to Avoid

Honda Civic — Complaints by Model Year

Years flagged AVOID have at least twice this model's average complaint count — the strongest public-data signal of a bad year.

2010 Honda Civic

397 complaints

2011 Honda Civic

169 complaints

2012 Honda Civic

455 complaints

2013 Honda Civic

319 complaints

2014 Honda Civic

292 complaints

2015 Honda Civic

380 complaints

2016 Honda Civic AVOID

1,081 complaints

2017 Honda Civic

599 complaints

2018 Honda Civic

596 complaints

2019 Honda Civic

346 complaints

Problem Areas

What Owners Complain About Most

Air Bags 149 reports

Steering 74 reports

Electrical System 59 reports

Power Train 49 reports

Service Brakes 39 reports

Vehicle Speed Control 38 reports

Structure 35 reports

Engine 32 reports

In Their Own Words

Recent Owner Reports

Air Bags ODI 11057796 12/31/2017

TAKATA RECALL, THE AIRBAGS TURN OFF WHEN GOING DOWNHILL ON A STREET AND HIGHWAY WHEN TRYING TO USE THE BRAKES AND WHILE NOT USING THE BRAKE. THIS HAPPENS WHEN THE CAR IS IN MOTION. THIS CONTINUES TO OCCUR AND HAS HAPPENED MORE THEN ONCE.

Engine ODI 11385554 12/30/2020

THE VEHICLE SEEMS TO BURN OIL VERY FAST EVEN THOUGH IT HAS BEEN MAINTAINED PROPERLY THROUGHOUT THE YEARS. I'VE HAD TO FILL UP THE OIL 3 TIMES BETWEEN OIL CHANGES DUE TO THIS ISSUE AND NO LEAKS HAVE BEEN FOUND AFTER A THOROUGH SEARCH.

Unknown Or Other ODI 11385555 12/30/2020

THERE IS A LATENCY DELAY BETWEEN MY PHONE AND BLUETOOTH OF ABOUT 4 SECONDS AND HAS BEEN THAT WAY SINCE I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE.

Suspension ODI 10816952 12/30/2015

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 HONDA CIVIC. WHILE DRIVING AT SPEEDS BELOW 40 MPH AND ACCELERATING, THE CONTACT HEARD A GRINDING NOISE COMING FROM THE FRONT END OF THE VEHICLE. NO FURTHER INFORMATION WAS AVAILABLE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHO WAS UNABLE TO DUPLICATE THE FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 57,000.

Service Brakes ODI 10817126 12/30/2015

THE BRAKES DRAG EACH TIME THE BRAKES ARE APPLIED, THIS IS A CONSTANT ISSUE. IT HAS BEEN FOR SOMETIME NOW. *JS

Same Vehicle

Recalls & Crash Tests

Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2012 Honda Civic, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.

Check Another Car

Problems Checker

Any year, make and model: open the Car Problems Checker. Data: NHTSA (US DOT, public domain), cached up to 7 days.

Questions

FAQ

Is the 2012 Honda Civic reliable?

Owners have filed 455 safety complaints with NHTSA for the 2012 Honda Civic, most often about air bags. Compare the complaint counts across model years above — a year with far more complaints than the model's average is the strongest 'avoid' signal in public data.

Which Honda Civic years should I avoid?

The rule of thumb used by analysts: a model year whose complaint count is well above the model's own average (we flag 2× or more) usually had a real manufacturing or design problem — not just noisy reporting. Use the year-by-year strip on this page.

Where do these complaints come from?

Directly from NHTSA, the US government road-safety agency. Any owner can file a Vehicle Owner Questionnaire; NHTSA publishes them as public domain data. We cache each lookup for up to 7 days.

Do complaints mean a recall is coming?

Sometimes. NHTSA opens defect investigations when complaint patterns emerge, and investigations can end in recalls. Check the recalls page for this vehicle to see what has already been recalled.