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What 314 owners told NHTSA about the 2013 Honda Civic

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (314)Crash / fire / injury (36)Airbags (110)Electrical system (39)Brakes (37)Steering (37)Body & structure (23)Engine (22)Transmission & drivetrain (22)Speed control (20)Fuel system (17)Seats (16)

2 of 314 complaints match · Engine · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

Sep 21, 2015SteeringSpeed controlBrakesEngineCrash

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 HONDA CIVIC. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE THE KEY WAS IN THE ON POSITION, THE VEHICLE FAILED TO START. THE VEHICLE WAS ABLE TO START AFTER ANOTHER ATTEMPT AND THE VEHICLE DROVE FORWARD INDEPENDENTLY. IN ADDITION, THE BRAKES FAILED TO RESPOND AND THE STEERING WHEEL LOCKED WARNING INDICATOR ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE DROVE OVER THE SIDEWALK AND CRASHED INTO A BUILDING. A POLICE REPORT WAS NOT FILED AND THERE WERE NO INJURIES. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 15,447.

NHTSA ODI 10766542

May 12, 2014Body & structureSpeed controlEngineCrash

THIS LETTER IS TO INFORM YOU ABOUT A SEVERE MALFUNCTION THAT CAUSED AN ACCIDENT. I WAS TRAUMATIZED BY A SUDDEN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION WITH MY 2013 HONDA CIVIC. LUCKILY NO ONE GOT HURT IN THIS EVENT, BUT I?M HOPING THAT THIS FACT WILL NOT REDUCE THE ATTENTION FROM THIS SEVERE MALFUNCTION. FOLLOWING IS A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE EVENT THAT HAPPENED ON MAY 10, 2014 AT 6:30PM: I WAS DRIVING SLOWLY, UNDER 5 MILES PER HOUR, APPROACHING A PARKING NEAR THE SIDEWAYS. THERE WAS ONE CAR ALREADY PARKED, AND I WAS GOING TO PARK BEHIND IT. I WAS ABOUT TO COMPLETE MY PARKING, AND MY LEG WAS GENTLY APPLYING THE BRAKES (I WAS ALMOST AT A COMPLETE HALT). SUDDENLY, THE CAR MADE A VERY LOUD NOISE AS IF SOMEONE PRESSED ON THE GAS ALL THE WAY (IT WAS AN AWFUL NOISE), AND THEN IT SHOT ITSELF FORWARD AT A CRAZY SPEED. AS THE CAR DROVE ITSELF INTO THE PARKED CAR IN FRONT, I PULLED THE HANDBRAKE AND PRESSED HARDER ON THE BREAKS IN THE SPLIT SECOND THAT I HAD TO REALIZE SOMETHING IS WRONG. SINCE I WAS AT A VERY LOW SPEED, THE IMPACT DIDN'T DEPLOY THE AIRBAGS. THE PARKED CAR IN FRONT OF ME STOPPED THE CAR FROM GOING FORWARD UNCONTROLLABLY. ALL OF THIS HAPPENED IN A MATTER OF SECONDS. AT THIS POINT THE CARS ENGINE DECREASED THE RPM BACK TO NORMAL, AND THE CAR STOPPED PUSHING ITSELF FORWARD, THOUGH AT THAT POINT I ALREADY DEPLOYED THE HAND BRAKE. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10587718

Working with the data? Download all 314 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 13, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2013 Honda Civic verdict →