2013 Honda Civic Hybrid
Safety record from NHTSA: recalls, owner complaints, investigations and service bulletins.
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These records cover every 2013 Honda Civic Hybrid. To see whether one car still needs a recall repair, decode its VIN or check it with NHTSA.
Owner complaints
9 complaints
What owners report most
Latest complaints
- Hybrid propulsion system › Inverter
The contact owns a 2013 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle hesitated to start, and multiple warning lights illuminated, including the check engine warning light. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed with…
The contact owns a 2013 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle hesitated to start, and multiple warning lights illuminated, including the check engine warning light. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed with trouble code P1437. The contact was informed that the motor power inverter had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired, and the contact was referred to the dealer for further assistance. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer, where the same diagnostic results were confirmed. The dealer informed the contact that the motor power inverter had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for further assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.
- Power train
The contact owns a 2013 Honda Civic Hybrid. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle vibrated violently. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the continuously variable…
The contact owns a 2013 Honda Civic Hybrid. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle vibrated violently. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the continuously variable transmission (CVT). The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 105,000.
- Service brakes
On the morning of november 10, 2017, the "check breaks" light lit up while I was driving, then the breaks suddenly stopped working. Fortunately I was driving in slow city traffic, so I wasn't moving very fast, but in order to stop, I had to apply the parking break because the car kept on moving…
On the morning of november 10, 2017, the "check breaks" light lit up while I was driving, then the breaks suddenly stopped working. Fortunately I was driving in slow city traffic, so I wasn't moving very fast, but in order to stop, I had to apply the parking break because the car kept on moving after I hit the breaks several times. Fortunately I was able to stop the car without hitting anyone or anything. I was afraid to drive the car after that incident, so I called a tow truck and had it towed to the fairfax honda dealer in fairfax, va. The dealer checked it out and said that the reason the breaks failed was due to a failure in the electrical system and that a part # 01469-tr2-355 servo set needs to be replaced. The part IS going to cost around $3400 and IS not covered by the warranty. If that wasn't bad enough, the part IS also on international backlog and it will soon be a month and I still don't have a car. But now I am thinking that it sounds strange for the breaks to depend on the electric system of the car and that it could be a design flaw and IS a safety concern for me. One of the scariest experiences IS to have your breaks fail while driving and I don't want that to happen to me again. I bought the car as a certified pre-owned car at another honda dealer (pohanka in fredericksburg, va) in august of 2016, but now I am afraid that could happen again even after shelling out that amount of cash to have it fixed.
- Electrical system · Engine
I took my 2013 civic to honda yesterday to get a car key programmed, and now my car will not run. it vibrates real loud, and the odometer will not go to 2. I have to now get it towed back to honda on 10/30/17 and let them fix it, and I will not pay a dime. they did something to the computer…
I took my 2013 civic to honda yesterday to get a car key programmed, and now my car will not run. it vibrates real loud, and the odometer will not go to 2. I have to now get it towed back to honda on 10/30/17 and let them fix it, and I will not pay a dime. they did something to the computer while programming my key. I am very angry with them. I have not had major problems in the 4 years I have had the car, but if this IS not fixed at their expense, I will sue. all over just a car key.l
- Electrical system
6659 miles into owning this car honda pasadena charged me $220 to replace engine wiring that had been eaten by rodents. this car was parked in the same place as at least 3 other types of cars over a 13 year period and none of the others had this issue. I believe that honda pasadena was not only aware of this issue in general but was aware that there was a problem in the specific car I purchased.
- Steering · Suspension · Unknown or other
Undocumented vehicle maintenance that may degrade safety feature. purchased vehicle because it included fcw (forward collision warning) and ldw (lane departure warning) safety features. have learned that as part of a four-wheel alignment, calibration of these systems IS required. this IS not…
Undocumented vehicle maintenance that may degrade safety feature. purchased vehicle because it included fcw (forward collision warning) and ldw (lane departure warning) safety features. have learned that as part of a four-wheel alignment, calibration of these systems IS required. this IS not documented\disclosed in the owner's manual or product literature. concern -- how much will these systems be degraded or made inoperable by tire wear and/or wheel misalignment? this wheel alignment with calibration can only be accomplished at a honda dealership due to special equipment. no indication IS provided of system out-of-calibration warning on the dashboard system function/status lights.
- Air bags
I received nhtsa recall 14v-349 JJ7 and was told by the dealership that only one of the two affected airbags was available. they said honda IS projecting the other to be available in april, 1-2 months from the date of the notice. the notice says to take care of this immediately, but honda says replacement parts are being manufactured. the notice says the fault can cause serious injury or death... *tr
- Engine
TL* the contact owns a 2013 honda civic hybrid. While driving approximately 65 mph, the vehicle downshifted to 15 mph independently while making a jerking motion. Also, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a dealer for diagnostic testing, which indicated that a…
TL* the contact owns a 2013 honda civic hybrid. While driving approximately 65 mph, the vehicle downshifted to 15 mph independently while making a jerking motion. Also, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a dealer for diagnostic testing, which indicated that a random misfire caused the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 21,000. Updated 4/6/15*cn
- Wheels
This safety complaint IS not about the vehicle, it IS about the goodyear tires I installed. I have goodyear assurance tires for summer driving and use the oem tires for winter driving. I was driving home yesterday and the left rear tire suddenly went down and the TPMS warning light came on. Upon…
This safety complaint IS not about the vehicle, it IS about the goodyear tires I installed. I have goodyear assurance tires for summer driving and use the oem tires for winter driving. I was driving home yesterday and the left rear tire suddenly went down and the TPMS warning light came on. Upon inspection I found the left rear tire almost completely out of air pressure. I carefully drove the car back to my business and parked it. We removed the rear tire the next morning and the inside side wall had several separations causing the tire to deflate. We inspected the remaining tires and they all were separating on the inside side wall as well. the front side wall on all of the tires IS full of tiny cracks like you would see on a very old/aged tire. these tires are less than two driving seasons old and have very little mileage on them. What concerns me the most IS that all four tires are failing the same exact way. I am so lucky this did not occur the day before in heavy traffic at higher speeds. I contacted my local dealer and he would only offer a partial credit for another set of goodyear tires if I could provide the sale receipt. I kept asking what about the safety concerns with no reply given. I contacted goodyear customer support and they were only willing to give me partial credit towards another set of goodyear tires or dunlop tires. I asked them about safety and all of the similar reports on the internet and the customer rep (tom) said any information gained by searching the internet was irrelevant. I was told it may be a warranty issue. I began wondering how many people are driving a car around with tires that are defective and could fail at any time, or for that matter have failed and have caused injury and/or death. please take the time to research this, what if one of your family members IS driving a car with these tires??? *tr
Defect investigations
NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened these reviews into vehicles including this one.
- Pedestrian alert sounds
NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for…
NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and electric vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,536 KG or less or are defined as low-speed vehicles. The standard became fully applicable to all such vehicles manufactured on or after March 1, 2021.On January 27, 2023, NHTSA opened Defect Petition (DP) 22-005 to evaluate the subject matter described in the petition. On June 24, 2023 and as supplemented on June 25, 2023, the petitioner notified NHTSA he was withdrawing his petition. The petitioner indicated that, based on his review of data, there is no justification for asserting potential benefits that could be derived from actions sought by my petition. Based on the petitioner's withdrawal, DP22-005 is closed. Closure of this DP does not represent a determination by NHTSA regarding the subject matter of the petition.
- Desiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture
From 2000 through 2017, Takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("PSAN") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004L. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant…
From 2000 through 2017, Takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("PSAN") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004L. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant to burn too quickly when ignited. The rapid burning can cause the inflator to rupture during deployment, potentially causing serious or even fatal injury to vehicle occupants. See 2016 Blomquist Report at www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/documents/expert_report-hrblomquist.pdf.Consequently, all frontal inflators using propellant 2004 that do not contain a "desiccant" (a substance that traps and holds moisture) in US vehicles are under recall. These "non-desiccated" inflators either have been or are required to be replaced.In some cases, the remedy part for these recalled inflators was, or will be, an inflator using either propellant 2004 or 2004L that does contain a desiccant. None of these "desiccated" remedy parts (which were installed in older model year vehicles) are currently under recall for a degradation concern. Certain subsets of desiccated PSAN inflators using propellant 2004 for use as original equipment, however, have been recalled for a degradation concern. All Takata inflators produced with propellant 2004L contain desiccant, and none of these desiccated inflators using propellant 2004L are under recall for a degradation concern. There have been no reported field ruptures in any non-recalled desiccated PSAN inflators.It is understood that desiccants fully saturate at some threshold, at which point any additional moisture will not be captured. This means the degradation process observed in non-desiccated inflators using propellant 2004 may also occur in non-recalled desiccated inflators using propellant 2004, assuming additional moisture enters the inflator and high temperature cycling occurs. Based on available information, desiccant saturation can occur within the first five years in the worst environments, and the time required for full saturation is affected by multiple factors. While no present safety risk has been identified, further work is needed to evaluate the future risk of non-recalled desiccated inflators using propellant 2004.Three entities -- Takata (now known as TK Global), the Independent Testing Coalition, and Exponent -- have been studying the long-term behavior of Takata desiccated PSAN inflators using propellant 2004L (as well as 2004) in the presence of moisture and temperature cycling. The research efforts, which include development of predictive modeling techniques and field sample analysis, are ongoing. To date, none of the researchers have identified field evidence showing that propellant 2004L is undergoing a degradation process that leads to aggressive deployment and potential rupture. However, the time in service of such inflators remains short compared to that of the inflators using propellant 2004. Further study is needed to assess the long-term safety of desiccated inflators using propellant 2004L.The Office of Defects Investigation is opening this investigation to examine whether a safety defect related to propellant degradation exists in non-recalled desiccated PSAN frontal inflators manufactured by Takata. This investigation will require extensive information on Takata production processes and surveys of inflators in the field. Lists of recall actions that may have used desiccated PSAN inflators as remedy parts, as well as the makes and models originally manufactured with them, is available with the downloadable version of this document (see nhtsa.gov/recalls?nhtsaId=EA21002 -- note this information is subject to change/revision as the investigation proceeds). This investigation does not supersede EA15-001, which remains open.
- Electrical overstress
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this investigation to determine if the failure of airbags to deploy during severe crashes, in certain vehicles, was the result of a safety related defect. During the investigation a complex failure was studied that can result in non-deployment of subject vehicle air…
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this investigation to determine if the failure of airbags to deploy during severe crashes, in certain vehicles, was the result of a safety related defect. During the investigation a complex failure was studied that can result in non-deployment of subject vehicle air bags and other restraint system devices in severe crash events. The subject vehicles may be equipped with an airbag control unit (ACU) for the supplemental restraint system (SRS) Electronic Control Unit (ECU) manufactured by ZF-TRW. The ECU receives signals from crash sensors mounted in the vehicle and deploys the vehicle air bags and seat belt pretensioners in accordance with manufacturer design specifications. The ECU in the subject vehicles contains a model DS84 application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) which controls the communication of the crash sensor signal, firing commands (i.e., when to deploy the airbag(s) and/or pretensioners), and fault information (e.g., diagnostic trouble codes). In September 2016, FCA announced recall 16V-668 for certain model year (MY) 2010 to 2014 Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep products manufactured with the subject ZF-TRW ACU. In this recall, FCA discussed an EOS condition that resulted in a failure of the subject DS84 ASIC, which caused air bag non-deployment. FCA noted that the defect condition had only been observed in vehicles equipped with sensor harnessing routed across the front of the vehicle. Other FCA vehicles that also used the subject ACU, but were not equipped with cross-car harnessing, had not experienced EOS failures, despite similar time in service. During the course of this investigation, ODI sent two separate Information Request (IR) letters to six vehicle manufactures (including FCA, Hyundai, Honda, Kia, Mitsubishi, and Toyota) and one IR letter to ZF-TRW. These IR letters resulted in ODI receiving comprehensive data from these manufacturers and suppliers. Studies of this data found that the DS84 ASIC does not have sufficient protection against negative electrical transients or electrical overstress (“EOS”) that can be generated in certain severe crashes. An electrical transient occurs when the electrical power supplied to a circuit changes momentarily over a short duration of time. In these severe crash cases, the crash sensors and other powered wiring can be damaged and short circuited so as to create a negative electrical transient of sufficient intensity and duration (that are outside the vehicle manufacturer's specification) to damage the ASIC before the restraint device deployment signal is received by the SRS ECU. This damaged signal can lead to incomplete or nondeployment of the air bags and/or pretensioners. Airbag non-deployment and/or lack of pretensioner operation can increase the risk or severity of injury in a crash.A total of 8 fatalities and 14 injuries were associated with known EOS events. The common element in all investigated manufacturers vehicles is the SRS ECU containing a DS84 ASIC manufactured by ZF-TRW. The risk associated with the ASIC is equally shared among all OEMS involved in the investigation. The actual real-world risk can be mitigated by other factors which were assessed by ODI during this investigation. The first mitigating factor involves protections built into the ACU design which protect the DS84 ASIC from damage. There are multiple strategies and levels of protection employed by different OEMs that provide effective EOS mitigation. The two most common strategies at the ACU level are circuit protection diodes on the remote senor signal lines, and current limiting resistors that protect critical components. The second mitigating factor is found at the vehicle level and involves the location and routing of the wires leading from the crash sensors to the SRS ECU. If the wires are well protected in a crash and are not routed with other power wires carrying large currents, the risk for an EOS event is significantly reduced or eliminated. These design specific factors combine to produce a spectrum of risk for the vehicles equipped with ACUs using the DS84 ASIC. Given the many of years of field exposure, it is possible to divide the subject population into two groups; vehicles which have experienced EOS events, and vehicles which have not experienced EOS field events. Four of the six OEMs involved in this investigation have experienced EOS field events on at least one of their models equipped with a DS84 ASIC. All vehicle models (including the Toyota models identified in the Failure Report Summary of the opening resume for this investigation) with field events have been recalled. In an abundance of caution, ODI kept this investigation open five years to monitor field performance and did not identify any field events on vehicles not included in existing safety recalls. Given the spectrum of risk identified in this investigation and that all vehicles with a demonstrated unreasonable risk have been recalled, ODI is closing this investigation. ODI is closing this investigation with the following manufacturer safety recalls: 16V-668, 18E-043, 18V-137, 18V-363, and 20V-024. With the recall actions taken by the subject vehicle and equipment manufacturers, this investigation is closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exists on other model or model year vehicles outside of the recall scopes. The agency reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances.
Service bulletins
Technical service bulletins and other communications the manufacturer sent dealers about this vehicle. Ask a dealer for the full document by its number.
- 10187899Owner Notification Letter - This warranty only covers vehicles that have a defective motor power inverter, also known as intelligent inverter unit. The motor power inverter may fail over time due to a defective solder joint. This failure will result in the charging system, PGM-FI system, and IMA system warning lights coming on. The decreased power supply to the 12-volt battery can lead to a series of system malfunctions.
- 10185042Dealer Message - Today, December 18, 2020, American Honda is announcing a warranty extension for certain 2012-2015 Civic Hybrid vehicles. This warranty extension covers the intelligent inverter unit (IIU) to address possible concerns of various warning lights turning on and diminishing electric motor power, braking or steering assistance control. American Honda is extending the warranty coverage of the IIU to 15 years from the original date of purchase or 150,000 miles, whichever comes first.
- 10184658"Service Bulletin - The Motor Power Inverter (MPI), also known as the Intelligent Inverter Unit (IIU), may fail over time due to a defective solder joint. This failure may result in one or more of the following DTC(s): -P1440 (MPI Module Output Circuit Malfunction) -P1437 (MPI Module Short Circuit) -P15A5 (Motor Current Sensor Circuit Malfunction) -P0A78 (MPI Module Internal Circuit Malfunction) -P0AE1 (Bypass Contractor Malfunction) -P0A3C (Motor Control Module (MCM) Overheating) -P0A3F (Motor Rotor Position Sensor Circuit Malfunction) -P0DA8 (MPI Module Voltage Malfunction) -P1634 (MPI Module Signal Circuit Malfunction) -P0AEE (MPI Internal Circuit Malfunction) -P0A27 (High Voltage Contactor Stays Activated) American Honda is extending the warranty coverage of the motor power inverter (MPI) on these vehicles to 15 years from the original date of purchase or 150,000 miles, whichever comes first."
- 10160545ServiceNews Article - When removing and installing a cable reel, you need to keep both the cable reel and the steering angle sensor in position. If you don't , the VSA indicator may come on along with one or more VSA DTCs. And when you run the Neutral Memorization Procedure in the i-HDS, it won't complete.
- 10128869Service bulletin - A new replacement IMA battery will require an update to the IMA battery software. If the IMA battery is being replaced on the affected models, please check and install the latest version of the IMA battery software as needed.
- 10115219Service bulletin - For any TPMS-related warranty repairs, all recorded DTCs must now be entered into the warranty claim. Make sure your repair order includes those DTCs.
- 10100421Service bulletin - navigation system information.
Every Honda Civic Hybrid model year
Bars are owner complaints, dots mark years with recalls. Select a year to open its report.