2013 Honda Civic

Typical pattern

8.7% of complaints about the 2013 Honda Civic came in the first year, which is unremarkable for a 2013 vehicle — around the middle of the 210 model-years on record. The median complaint arrives at 5.3 yr in service. The most-reported system is air bags (115 complaints), typically at 6.6 yr or about 60,000 miles.

Complaints: 436
Median age at failure: 5.3 yr
Median mileage: 23,300 n=256
Crash / fire / tow: 11.7% of reports
Safety recalls: 0

When each system is reported — middle 50% of complaints

System

0y2y4y6y8y10y12y14y

Air bags

115 reports · 60,000 mi

6.6 yr

19.1%

Steering

38 reports · 25,000 mi

6.2 yr

10.5%

Electrical system

38 reports · 36,000 mi

6.8 yr

5.3%

Service brakes

37 reports · 17,617 mi

6.6 yr

8.1%

Other

28 reports · 31,989 mi

5.8 yr

3.6%

Structure

22 reports · 46,000 mi

6.0 yr

18.2%

Engine

22 reports · 11,000 mi

4.5 yr

9.1%

Power train

21 reports · 10,780 mi

3.8 yr

Speed control

18 reports · 6,450 mi

1.7 yr

22.2%

Seats

16 reports · 14,000 mi

1.8 yr

18.8%

Fuel / propulsion

15 reports · 26,000 mi

3.8 yr

In owners’ own words

Service brakes 376 mi 4 mo in service

I BOUGHT A NEW CAR AN DRIVING AT 245 MILES I FELT RUBBING FEEL WITH BRAKES TOOK CAR BACK TO HONDA SERVICE! HONDA ROAD TESTED VEHICLE AN CONFIRMED THERE WAS A PROBLEM, REMOVED PADS CLEANED AN REINSTALLED. RETURNED CAR SAME DAY, THIS WAS DONE AT 376 MILES. SAME ISSUE ON FEBRUARY 1,2013 2 WEEKS LATER TOOK CAR IN AN NOW THEY SAY THE CALIPERS ARE STICKING CAR HAS 600 MILES THEY ARE KEEPING IT FOR A WEEK DUE TO NOT HAVING THE PARTS. I DON'T FEEL SAFE, NEVER TOOK CAR ON FREEWAY DUE TO THIS ISSUE! WHAT CAN I DO? PURCHASED ON 12-19-2013. *TR

Service brakes 35 mi 1.0 yr in service

PURCHASED A 2013 HONDA CIVIC ON 08/31/13. ON 09/02/13 CAR HAD TO BE TOWED BACK TO CULVER CITY DEALERSHIP. WHILE PULLING AWAY FROM CURB WHEEL FELT HEAVY AND THE CONSOLE LIT UP WITH RED, ORGAN AND YELLOW LIGHTS, INDICATING THAT THE POWER STEERING AND BREAKS NEEDED TO BE CHECKED AND LOW OIL PRESSURE. MY SON AND I WERE GOING DOWN HILL AND PICKING UP SPEED WITH NO POWER STEERING OR BREAKS. HE CONTINUED TO PUMP THE BREAKS BUT THERE WAS NO RESPONSE, HE FINALLY PULLED THE EMERGENCY BREAK AND TURNED THE WHEEL EXTREMELY HARD INTO THE CURB. CAME THREE FEET FROM HITTING A PARKED BMW.

Service brakes 11,000 mi 1.7 yr in service

I'VE BEEN DRIVING FOR 35 YEAR AND HAVE REPLACED BRAKES AND ROTORS NUMEROUS TIMES. I'VE NEVER HAD TO REPLACE BRAKE PADS ON A 18 MONTH OLD CAR. WITHOUT WARNING THEY WORE PREMATURELY DOWN TO THE METAL. AFTER SEARCHING FOR SIMILAR COMPLAINTS, I FOUND A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT FROM 2010 WITH THE ACCORD. HONDA LOST BUT THEY HAVEN'T FIXED THE ISSUE WITH THE CIVIC. THERE ARE COUNTLESS COMPLAINTS FROM OTHER HONDA OWNERS. THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT FROM TWO DEALERS REFUSE TO ADMIT TO THE PROBLEM AND REFERRED ME TO CORPORATE. NO MORE HONDAS FOR ME. *TR

Steering 50 mi 11 mo in service

PURCHASED 2013 NEW HONDA CIVIC HF TWO DAYS AGO. INITIALLY NOTICED VIBRATION FROM RIGHT SIDE OF VEHICLE AT 70 MPH. NOW IT SEEMS THAT VIBRATION OCCURS AT ALL SPEEDS. APPOINTMENT MADE WITH HONDA TO CHECK PROBLEM. DEALERSHIP INITIALLY GUESSED THAT THERE WAS A FLAT SPOT IN TIRE AND IT NEEDS TO BE RUN. THAT DID NOT TAKE CARE OF PROBLEM. TIRES ARE A BRIDGESTONE EP20 ECOPIA 135/65R15. *TR

Other Civic model years

How to read this

This is what owners reported, not a reliability rating. People file with NHTSA about alarming failures, not routine ones, and complaint volume tracks how many cars were sold.
Failure ages come from the incident date on each complaint, populated on about 83% of records. Mileage is shown where reported — NHTSA’s 2021 system change cut mileage capture to roughly 15%, so it thins out sharply after MY2020.
Every rank compares this vehicle only against others of the same model year. A 2025 car has not had time to accumulate five-year failures, so comparing early-failure share across years is meaningless.
Fourteen make-months distorted by media storms and mass recalls — Toyota in February 2010 ran 11× normal volume across 33 models — are excluded.
Recalls are manufacturer actions and authoritative; complaints are not. A recall listed here may already have been performed on any individual car. Check a specific VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.