What 377 owners told NHTSA about the 2015 Honda Civic Sedan Si

After owning my car for 2 years I got curious about transmission fluid and wanted to check it, when I couldn't find I went to Google and discovered I had a plug and no dipstick, I Googled where the plug was located and found out it was missing either since I bought it or sometime it came out in the first 2 years. I just got through going through forums and group discussions and I've learned that this is an extremely extremely extremely common issue and people's transsmissions are failing while driving and locking up the front wheels. I'm very scared of what might happen to me. I'm at 90k miles and all the reports seem to be around 70k to 120k miles. I don't want it to fail with my daughter in the car and on top of that people are saying it's costing them 6000 dollars to fix the transmission after it fails. All of this is due to the transsmission plug missing. Please for my sake and all other honda owners just look up "honda civic tran plug missing" and you will find 100s of reports from many sources

NHTSA ODI 11525283

The transmission went out and requires full replacement after being inspected by my local Honda dealership. It is available for further inspection upon request. My car stopped accelerating while on the interstate and required a tow on the shoulder of a 65-MPH highway. The vehicle and component issues were confirmed by my local Honda dealership. No. There were two warning messages that populated immediately as the car died. By that time it was to late and the vehicle was inoperable. No other warning messages or lamps prior to the incident. My VIN is associated with a previous safety recall (15V-574) that was issued for the same year, make, and model of vehicle. My VIN is identical to the range provided down to the production number. I believe that it is not a coincidence that it was manufactured in the same place and time down to the week of vehicles identified in that recall down to the production number, that is only barely out of range.

NHTSA ODI 11524456

The contact owns a 2015 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while her husband was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power. The transmission warning light and several other unknown warning lights were illuminated. Additionally, the vehicle made grinding sounds while driving. The vehicle was towed to a friend's body shop. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to tow the vehicle to a local dealer for a diagnostic test. The failure mileage was approximately 116,000.

NHTSA ODI 11522055

For the second time in 6 months, my car has malfunctioned at a stop light. Both times, the vehicle was unresponsive when I tried to go from fully stopped at a red light. In both instances, the (red) oil light and the battery light came on at the same time/after (meaning they weren’t on before) and the brake locked up. Pressing the gas pedal did nothing. Turning the car off completely and restarting cleared the issue in both cases, but I’m worried that it could happen again. Today when it happened, a vehicle behind me behaved aggressively toward me (even though I put my hazard lights on when I realized the problem), and brake checked me once I was moving again. The first time it happened, I took my car to a Honda dealership and they weren’t able to find anything wrong with the car. There were no codes that gave them any info about the issue and they weren’t able to replicate it. At that time, they did recommend a transmission fluid exchange, which I got. The car drove somewhat better (it had been jerky before) after the service, but the improvement was temporary as the jerkiness has returned. While this problem has only presented itself at stoplights l’m terrified of what might happen on a highway or in a situation where the people around me are even more aggressive than the man I encountered today.

NHTSA ODI 11518317

Car when Accelerator. is depressed The transmission searches bogs Down Loss of power switches gears jerks around Which makes it extremely unsafe when trying to pull out into traffic. Had a mechanic look at it and you stated. This is extremely common with this year in type of Car. Honda put a unsafe transmission in them and should replace. Especially with only 50 Thousand miles on it

NHTSA ODI 11515462

Failure of transmission control module Description fits exact diagnosis in recall. Check transmission light on at 45,000 miles. Andy Mohr wants money to inspect it. I an more than willing to if they will inspect it for free but it is not drivable. If they would come pick it up I would be happy to let them drive it all they want. The problem came with no warning on the Highway. car wouldn’t no longer switch to second gear. Purchased at Andy Mohr Honda in Bloomington at 17,000 miles off lease from some someone who barely drove it. Certified Preowned by Honda. Paid in full, feel ripped off. Yes, available for inspection on request No warning: transmission complete failure 2015 Silver Honda Civic Has been discussed with mechanics at Curry Buick in.Bloomington as well as our Winslow marathon which has great mechanics, they told me to contact you. The issue according to the NTHSB is the “TCM” or transmission control module. resulting in cars wheels locking up, or spinning out of control and not changing gears (this is what happened to me and repeated itself when I waited a week and tried driving around my neighborhood ) the issue is supposed to result in transmission and Powertrain failure, making engine wanting to redline very easily. I’m lucky I didn’t burn my engine up. I didn’t purchase a car in 2018 at 17,000 miles and expect the transmission to fall out at 45,000 miles. That’s unacceptable and I was never notified, and Andy mohr purports that my vehicle was either serviced or software changed resulting in no issue, however a transmission dying at 45,000 mi on a Honda Civic is not right and I suspect Honda notified the previous lessee and they did not service the car or had it improperly serviced. Otherwise I see no reason to have a car fall apart at 45,000 miles. I drive like grandma.

NHTSA ODI 11514998

The contact owns a 2015 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration with the ABS and air bag warning lights illuminated. Additionally, the transmission was slipping while coming to a stop. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, and the dealer confirmed that there was no recall associated with the VIN. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V574000 (Power Train) however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The failure mileage was approximately 190,000.

NHTSA ODI 11512874

When I was merging onto the highway, my car suddenly stopped being able to move forward when the gas pedal was pressed. I was able to steer it to a safe location and tested the rest of the shifter positions but the car would not move at all in any of them. After having it towed to a dealership it was found that the CVT belt had come apart, necessitating a full transmission replacement.

NHTSA ODI 11511399

I bought the 2015 Honda Civic in 2019 and had to replace the transmission in 2020 and now in February of 2023 I need to replace the transmission again. No service lights came on for transmission until the shop told me my trans was going out and I would need to replace it again. He said it is a common problem for the 2015 Honda civic because of the CVT transmission.

NHTSA ODI 11507957

The contact owns a 2015 Honda Civic. The contact stated that on numerous occasions while driving at approximately 40-50 MPH in cold weather, he would depress the brake pedal at a fast pace, and the vehicle would hesitate and stall. The contact was able to restart the vehicle after each failure. Additionally, the contact stated that after the vehicle was parked for hours, he was able to start the vehicle however, while the accelerator pedal was depressed, the engine revved and the RPM increased but the vehicle failed to respond as needed. The transmission warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 108,000.

NHTSA ODI 11505905

At 40mph heard a whining sound followed by grinding. Car lounges forward comes to a brisk stop. Total transmission failure. 127000 miles

NHTSA ODI 11505644

Driving down the freeway the the car made a loud noise and would no longer accelerate. There was no warning. All maintenance was up to date. I was told it needs a new transmission. This is unacceptable. Only have 70K miles on it.

NHTSA ODI 11503719

The passenger side drive shaft or axle snapped in half due to excessive rusts under the vibration dampener. I was accelerating from a red light while going uphill, heard a clunk, all of a sudden car would not go forward or go into park. I had to hit the brakes to avoid rolling backwards and hitting a car behind me. Then I had to put it in neutral to get to a safe area and get my car towed. The car has about 51,000 mi on it. We are in Pennsylvania so we do get a lot of road salt, still it doesn't seem like this should have failed just driving forward. The mechanic says he hasn't seen a failure like this in a car of this age. The portion of the axle under the dampener was clearly quite tapered due to chronic rusting, finally just snapped where it was so thin. It appears that the dampener traps salt and moisture against the shaft.

NHTSA ODI 11503338

The the cap to my automatic transmission keeps popping off. I'm concerned that this could lead to contamination of the transmission fluid and premature failure of the transmission.

NHTSA ODI 11503340

The car was driving fine until I heard a grinding sound and pulled over to the side of the road. I turned the car off and on again, put it in drive, and pressed the gas pedal but instead of driving the car started to roll backwards down the hill I was stopped on. No check engine or other warning lights came on. I had the car towed to a mechanic who said the transmission was broken and needed to be replaced. The car is outside of the manufacturer's power train warranty but is only 7 years old with 95,000 miles. I was lucky to be driving on a residential road with no other cars around when the transmission failed instead of potentially driving on a busy highway. After having the car repaired I learned that this car once had a recall regarding broken drive pulley shafts. There are 0 open recalls tied to my VIN so I believe the software update recall was performed before I purchased the used car. I'm wondering if the software update was sufficient if the transmission still failed only a few years later.

NHTSA ODI 11499637

Pressure caused transmission plug to pop out unknowingly. Vehicle now jerks at low speeds or when accelerating from a full stop position. Likely that missing plug is allowing dirt and debris into transmission fluid. Transmission likely negatively impacted. This vehicle has less than 75,000 miles. Seems this vehicle should have been included with the NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID: 15V574000

NHTSA ODI 11499483

The contact owns a 2015 Honda Civic. The contact stated while driving approximately 15 MPH, felt a vibration and noise at low speed and would go away as soon as the vehicle got up to speed. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact had driven the vehicle to an independent mechanic who referred the contact to a transmission shop. The vehicle was diagnosed and determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a dealer for diagnoses. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The contact researched online and related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V574000 (Power Train). The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

NHTSA ODI 11498136

There is no dipstick to check transmission fluid level. My car with no warning light or check engine light lost acceleration and had almost close to stop. Thank god I wan’t on highway. Upon taking i into mechanic they said a screw was loose and transmission fluid was leaking. It ha happened to me twice. The problem has not been confirmed by dealer. Transmission fluid can neither be measured nor condition of transmission fluid can be seen without dipstick. Very importantly there is no warning light for it.

NHTSA ODI 11497177

No warning lights. No check engine lights. No dipstick to check transmission fluid. Changed the transmission fluid in 8/2021 around 90k miles and my transmission went out ON THE HIGHWAY WITH NO WARNING LIGHTS GOING 70 MPH. NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. NOTHING. TRANSMISSION LIGHT COMES ON AFTER MY CAR IS AT A STOP.

NHTSA ODI 11496836

The contact owns a 2015 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while stopped in first gear, while driving at low speed, the clutch made an abnormal metallic grinding sound. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the clutch spring needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was provided a case number. The failure mileage was approximately 68,000.

NHTSA ODI 11495825

I was driving home from work and as I took off from a standstill, I accelerated and my car began to reach 4000-5000 RPM immediately but my speedometer read 4-6 mph. I made it to through the intersection and drove until I reached a safe parking lot. It began puttering through the parking lot, almost jerking, but sounded like I was accelerating at top speeds. Then, it stopped completely. I had it towed to a mechanic that I trust and it turns out that my transmission plug/cap was missing entirely, and all my transmission fluid leaked out without any notice, warning light, or message. I had driven without the cap for days likely before the car began to fail. I was alone and driving in the dark when it occurred which made me panic even more trying to get out of the road in rush hour traffic. After the tow truck began to drive away, I found this puddle of transmission fluid on the concrete. After the mechanic inspected and diagnosed all the damages/failures, he informed me that my entire transmission needs to be replaced along with other affected parts including a pump, new transmission cap, and transmission fluid. I found several other complaints reported to NHTSA about others having the same transmission failure and missing transmission cap/plug. This is my daily driver to/from work as well as transportation for me to take my parents to doctors appointments. Now, not only am I without a mode of transportation to work/medical appointments, but I am having to replace or rebuild the transmission. I was quoted $5366 for a new transmission…WITHOUT labor, replacement cap, new fluid. All for a $25 cap that popped off…NHTSA or Honda need to address this issue and find a solution. I could have been injured trying to navigate to a safe place while my car was stalling and sputtering.

NHTSA ODI 11493736

While driving at the interstate speed of 70 mph all of my warning lights came on at one time and the car began to run roughly. I stopped the car for a few moments about 30 minutes. When I started the car back it ran rough but the although the lights went out and went back to normal. I stopped on a steep incline at a stop sign and when I attempted to merge into traffic the transmission will not engage. The shifter moves through all gears freely but the shift but the transmission is not engaged. Has not been inspected yet is I don't have the money to have it towed to a dealer. I've read where there's a recall on the transmission but my VIN is not listed in that recall and it is my assumption that Honda will not make the repairs

NHTSA ODI 11492021

Noticed at around 58,000 miles my trans fluid fill plug kept popping out, I cleaned the vent cap and that helped for a few weeks. Back to popping out time after time. I did a trans fluid change the first time I noticed it. Still kept popping out. Now the transmission is starting have little shimmies or slips, I’ve notice it more and more. There’s no good reason this should be happening to a vehicle with 60,000 miles on it, it absolutely has to be some kind of recall or manufacturer defect. Please advise.

NHTSA ODI 11491356

Under 78,000 miles just out of warranty, bought certified used in 2016. Car randomly started shaking/jerking when slowly accelerating. I thought I had a flat tire. Tires were fine and shaking went away as I went up to higher speeds. Progressively got worse throughout the day, more shaking and jerking and then wasn’t shifting at higher speeds. Check emission and transmission warnings popped up. I immediately took to a small shop who said they didn’t have the tech to properly diagnose the transmission issue. They took it for a test drive after clearing the computer and transmission went capoot. Towed to Honda and they said transmission bad, lots of broken metal inside. $7200 before tax for a fix. They’ve offered me $2000 to help cover cost but still outrageous. My VIN wasn’t part of the recall. Car isn’t even paid off, this is insanity. Honda is supposed to be reliable.

NHTSA ODI 11485736

With no warning, the transmission went out on the Civic. It left my son stranded on the side of a busy road. The car still ran, but would not engage in drive or reverse. I had to have it towed and they have concluded the transmission is shot. The mechanic stated the 2015 model is known for this, but mine is not in the recall. This should really be looked into, $7000 out of my pocket when there is a known defect really bothers me.

NHTSA ODI 11480573