← New search

2016 Honda Civic

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

More warning signs than most Civic years

Owner complaints for the 2016 Honda Civic are substantially higher than the model-year median of 183.5.

About this comparison →

When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

494 reports with mileage · 586 unknown

NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.

What to inspect

Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.

  • Steering. Review the 444 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Electrical System. Review the 119 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Engine. Review the 95 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

36 crash reports4 fire reports13 injury reports

What owners actually said

1,080 reports
Mileage unknown · Sep 27, 2022
Structure

My paint is peeling off around the rear windshield of the car. Not sure what is causing this. My honda civic is a cobalt blue color, when brought to the dealer it was stated they have seen this on the color blue my car is as well as white. Car was not in a accident and no one is at risk.

NHTSA ODI #11486731

47,466 miles · Sep 21, 2022
Steering

The contact owns a 2016 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel was drifting and failed to move as needed and continued to jerk. The contact forced the steering wheel into position however, the action would overcorrect the vehicle. The contact stated that while his wife was …

Read full complaint

The contact owns a 2016 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel was drifting and failed to move as needed and continued to jerk. The contact forced the steering wheel into position however, the action would overcorrect the vehicle. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel was jerking and the vehicle was difficult to turn. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer again where it was diagnosed and determined that the power steering rack needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 47,466.

NHTSA ODI #11485683

Mileage unknown · Sep 17, 2022
Power TrainSteering

Steering wheel has some extra resistance (sticking, stiff and jerky) when making small corrections at any speeds, resulting in extra pressure being applied to break the resistance, resulting in sharp (hard) correction changes.

NHTSA ODI #11485003

Mileage unknown · Sep 16, 2022
Tires

Tire size: 215 / 50 R 17 While driving on a highway, a tire pressure warning appeared. Shortly after, theTPMS malfunction light came on and immediately the driver side rear tire blew out. My car spun 360 degrees and I managed to bring it to a stop. Luckily the cars behind me slowed down while I maneuvered to the curb. I was on…

Read full complaint

Tire size: 215 / 50 R 17 While driving on a highway, a tire pressure warning appeared. Shortly after, theTPMS malfunction light came on and immediately the driver side rear tire blew out. My car spun 360 degrees and I managed to bring it to a stop. Luckily the cars behind me slowed down while I maneuvered to the curb. I was on a drawbridge and I could have driven off of it into the water below. The tread of the tire completely separated from the side walls of the tire. All that was left on the rim were the two side walls. I recovered the tread and I have the wheel with the side walls still on it. I showed it to the dealer and the service technicians had no idea about what happened. As of now the manufacturer has not been made aware. This 2016 Honda Civic was purchased from a dealer and there are still 3 of the same tire on the car. I drove the remaining distance to my destination on the rim where I put on the spare. I couldn’t change the tire where the blowout happened because I was on a bridge with very little shoulder.

NHTSA ODI #11484891

Mileage unknown · Sep 1, 2022
Steering

Car abruptly pulls to the passenger side and requires significant force to keep car centered on the road. The system then lets go and car overcorrects into incoming lane requiring quick reaction to prevent car from hitting oncoming vehicles. This issue occurs on nearly every use of the vehicle especially if driven more than 30 m…

Read full complaint

Car abruptly pulls to the passenger side and requires significant force to keep car centered on the road. The system then lets go and car overcorrects into incoming lane requiring quick reaction to prevent car from hitting oncoming vehicles. This issue occurs on nearly every use of the vehicle especially if driven more than 30 min. The design of this car is drive by wire and there is no mechanical link between steering wheel and rack and pinion. This problem seems unrelated to the avoidance system as it happens when it is both on and off. Honda dealership seems unconcerned with the issue even though there is a recall for that same issue for both the 2017 and 2018 model years. The issue was related to a magnet for a sensor within the rack.

NHTSA ODI #11482390

Mileage unknown · Aug 30, 2022
Unknown Or Other

AC compressor is leaking causing damage to the rest of the system and in the winter frost to build up on the inside of the car and during the summer the humidity in the car become so much your windows fog up to dangerous conditions.

NHTSA ODI #11481964

Mileage unknown · Aug 29, 2022
Steering

Steering sticks when driving on the highway. When make small steering adjustments it has resistance, then suddenly becomes easy. This can cause oversteering when correcting.

NHTSA ODI #11481823

236,000 miles · Aug 25, 2022
Engine

The contact owns a 2016 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently decelerated to 5 MPH. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact returned the vehicle to the dealer who diagnosed that the catalytic convertor had failed and that the inner cooler with gaske…

Read full complaint

The contact owns a 2016 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently decelerated to 5 MPH. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact returned the vehicle to the dealer who diagnosed that the catalytic convertor had failed and that the inner cooler with gaskets was defective. The catalytic converter was replaced; however, the failure reoccurred. The contact had returned the vehicle to the dealer. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 236,000.

NHTSA ODI #11481236

Mileage unknown · Aug 17, 2022
Steering

Same problem others have reported. At highway speeds the steering will become hard to manage and if going into a curve very dangerous. When this happens have to pull over at next exit and shut car off. Dealership service department claims the VSA modulator needs replacing (at a cost of 1500$).

NHTSA ODI #11479758

Mileage unknown · Aug 8, 2022
Engine

Received recall notice on my vehicle per cylinder 2 & 3 misfiring. I brought my vehicle into service and I was told this recall did not apply to my vehicle as it was specific civics that had this problem (with my VIN on this recall) Honda then took this notice and disposed of it. I received another recall for drivability of my v…

Read full complaint

Received recall notice on my vehicle per cylinder 2 & 3 misfiring. I brought my vehicle into service and I was told this recall did not apply to my vehicle as it was specific civics that had this problem (with my VIN on this recall) Honda then took this notice and disposed of it. I received another recall for drivability of my vehicle, still nothing done. About a year later my car was in and out of Honda due to my check engine light being illuminated. This was the trend from at least October 30, 2021 to present time. When my vehicle was brought in due to the check engine light being illuminated and the vehicle juddering, Honda replaced the solenoid purge valve as it was misfiring ($147). October 29, 2021 preformed a transmission fluid service ($159.95) and brake system fluid flush ($129.87) which I never approved of as I have never done any flush on any of my vehicles. December 10, 2021 my car was loosing power while car had only been running for less than 5 minutes, then died out in the middle of the road. Had car towed to Honda for diagnostic once again.. they performed a valve adjustment and replaced the gasket cover ($408.10). Which did not fix the problem but I was still responsible for the bill. Resulting in a “cracked engine” block per Honda’s diagnosis after all this extra work was put into my vehicle. I was giving a diagnosis of cylinders 2 and 3 being below specification (exact recall on vehicle, cylinders 2 and 2 under specification) resulting in the car needing a new engine, priced out to about $10,000 for a used engine and labor. Honda refuses to do anything about this problem.

NHTSA ODI #11478083

Official recalls

5

26V332000 · Air Bags:sensor:occupant Classification:front Passenger

May 21, 2026

Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2018-2021, 2023 Acura TLX, 2019-2024 RDX, 2017-2020, 2022-2026 MDX, 2017-2021, 2023, 2025 Honda Ridgeline, 2017-2022 Pilot, 2019-2021 Passport, 2018-2026 Odyssey, 2019-2022 Insight, 2019-2021 HR-V, 2018-2020 Fit, 2020-2022 CR-V Hybrid, 2017-2022 CR-V, 2017-2018, 2021 Civic Type R, 2017-2021 Civic hatchback, 2016-2020 Civic coupe, 2016-2022 Civic, 2017-2022 Accord Hybrid, and 2016-2022 Accord vehicles. The front passenger seat weight sensor may crack and short circuit, which can cause the air bags to deploy unintentionally during a crash.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: Air bags that deploy unintentionally during a crash increase the risk of injury.

Remedy: Dealers will replace the seat weight sensors, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 7, 2026. Owners may contact Honda's customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are BOL, WO9, OOA, WOM, XOH, NOC, POD, BOE, UOF, POB, EOG, AOI, QO8, TOJ, DO7, and SOK. This recall expands previous NHTSA recall number 24V064. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning May 29, 2026.

23V858000 · Fuel System, Gasoline:delivery:fuel Pump

Dec 18, 2023

Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2013-2023 Honda Accord, Civic Coupe, Civic Sedan, Civic Hatchback, Civic Type R, CR-V, HR-V, Ridgeline, Odyssey, Acura ILX, MDX, MDX Hybrid, RDX, RLX, TLX, 2019-2022 Honda Insight, Passport, 2020 Honda CR-V Hybrid, 2018-2019 Honda Clarity PHEV, Fit, and 2015-2020 Honda Accord Hybrid, Pilot, Acura NSX vehicles. The fuel pump inside the fuel tank may fail.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: Fuel pump failure can cause an engine stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Dealers will replace the fuel pump module, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed September 6, 2024. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are KGC and KGD. This recall is an expansion of NHTSA recall numbers 21V-215 and 20V-314.

16V725000 · Parking Brake

Oct 11, 2016

Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain model year 2016 Honda Civic two door and four door 1.5L turbo and 2.0L vehicles. The electric parking brake (EPB) may not engage if it is applied immediately after turning the ignition off.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: If the EPB is not applied, the vehicle may roll away, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will update the vehicle's software to allow the EPB to engage immediately after the ignition is turned off, free of charge. The recall began on November 8, 2016. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's number for this recall is KC6.

16V526000 · Exterior Lighting

Jul 11, 2016

American Honda Motor Co. (Honda) is recalling certain model year 2016 Civic 2-Door vehicles manufactured February 23, 2016, through May 20, 2016. The affected vehicles may have a damaged LED side marker light circuit board inside the taillight assembly, making the marker light inoperable. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Assoc. Equipment."

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: If a side marker light does not function, vehicle visibility can be decreased to other drivers, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will inspect both the taillight assemblies, replacing them as necessary, free of charge. The recall began on August 31, 2016. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's number for this recall is KB8.

16V074000 · Engine And Engine Cooling:engine

Feb 9, 2016

Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain model year 2016 Civic vehicles manufactured September 22, 2015, to February 3, 2016 and equipped with 2.0L engines. The affected vehicles have engines with piston assemblies that may have been manufactured without a piston wrist pin circlip or with an incorrectly installed piston wrist pin circlip.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: If a circlip is missing or incorrectly installed, the piston wrist pin may not be secure and may drift and damage the engine cylinder causing the engine to seize, and increasing the risk of a crash or a fire.

Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and replace the piston assemblies and damaged engine components, as necessary, free of charge. Parts are expected to be available in the Summer of 2016. Owners were mailed an interim notification beginning March 31, 2016, and will be mailed a second notice when parts are available. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's number for this recall is JX9.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

0

No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.

Go deeper into Honda Civic problems