Honda Civic: Years to Avoid and Best Years to Buy
Honda Civic: 5 model years scored from 1,613 NHTSA owner complaints and 15 recall campaigns. Worst year 2012, best year 2013.
Honda Civic: which years to avoid
Across 5 scored model years the Honda Civic ranges from 68/100 in 2012 to 84/100 in 2013 — a 16-point spread, so which year you buy matters. The weakest year’s complaints concentrate in Air Bags (149 of them).
Safest years: 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 — scored 70 or better.
Check carefully: 2012.
Scored from NHTSA complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. How the score works · every car’s years to avoid.
Editor's note
No Civic year on record rates AVOID; the one to be careful with is the 2012, a CAUTION at 68 on 454 complaints, the most of any year. Buy a 2013 or 2014, which score 84 and 82 on 316 and 290 complaints, and note that the 2013 has no recall campaigns at all. The site holds the Civic from 2011 to 2015, and the record has two halves. The 2011 to 2013 cars are air bag cars, with Air Bags the top component at 51, 149 and 112; the 2011 carries nine safety-critical campaigns, eight of them passenger-side inflator module recalls. The 2012 adds Steering at 74 and Electrical System at 59, with campaigns for a wrong steering column (12V548000) and a misaligned fuel line O-ring (11V288000). The 2014 and 2015 are transmission cars: Power Train is 98 and 175, and campaign 15V574000 covers both years for transmission control software. The 2015's 377 complaints pull it to 72, still a BUY.
Read the guide
Used Honda Civic, Fit and HR-V: what the record says year by year — written and signed by Adir Trabelsi, 2026-09-16.
Year-by-year data table
Best year in our data: 2013 (score 84). Worst: 2012 (score 68, CAUTION).
| Year | Score | Verdict | Running cost / yr | NHTSA complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 72 | BUY | $4,636 | 380 | 1 |
| 2014 | 83 | BUY | $4,580 | 291 | 2 |
| 2013 | 84 | BUY | $4,726 | 319 | 0 |
| 2012 | 68 | CAUTION | $5,068 | 455 | 3 |
| 2011 | 75 | BUY | $4,952 | 168 | 9 |
Running cost is fuel or energy plus the maintenance band midpoint for that car at its age today, re-priced to your country. Purchase price, insurance and depreciation are not included.
Photographs and every generation of the Civic, through the years →
Civic sub-models & family
Variants & trims on record
Body, powertrain and trim variants of the Civic on the federal record. Variants folded into this nameplate are counted in this page's data; the rest have too thin a record for a page of their own yet.
What goes wrong on the Honda Civic
Across every Civic model year in our index, owners report these component groups most often. The cost beside each one is the representative repair for that group at a US independent shop, re-priced to your country.
- Air Bags429 complaints across all Civic years · typical job: Airbag module, clockspring or sensor replacement$600–$1,700
- Power Train323 complaints across all Civic years · typical job: Transmission service or clutch-pack repair$1,290–$4,040
- Electrical System178 complaints across all Civic years · typical job: Alternator, battery-drain or body-module diagnosis and replacement$540–$1,310
- Unknown Or Other145 complaints across all Civic years · typical job: Diagnosis and mixed repair$360–$940
- Steering133 complaints across all Civic years · typical job: Electric power-steering rack or column motor replacement$1,020–$2,500
- Service Brakes111 complaints across all Civic years · typical job: Pads, rotors and caliper service, both axles$580–$1,140
Flat-rate labour hours x local shop rate plus a parts band. An estimate of what this class of failure costs, not a quote. Formula.
FAQ
What are the best Honda Civic years to buy?
2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 all score 70 or better. The strongest is the 2013 at 84/100, on 319 complaints and 0 recall campaigns.
Which Honda Civic years should I avoid?
The 2012 is the weakest year we score, at 68/100 (CAUTION), on 455 complaints and 3 recalls. Check the year-by-year table above before committing to any particular car.
What is the most common Honda Civic problem?
429 of the complaints filed against the Civic across all its model years sit in the Air Bags group — more than any other component.
Sources: NHTSA, EPA · Methodology · Updated 2026-10-04