Honda Civic vs Honda Civic Hybrid: which is more reliable?
The Honda Civic and the Honda Civic Hybrid are level on the federal record — 80/100 against 81/100 across the years we score. Which one to buy is decided by the model year, not the badge.
The record, side by side
Honda Civic
- 5 model years scored
- 1,613 owner complaints on record
- about 28 complaints per year on the road
- 15 recall campaigns, 11 safety-critical
- best year 2013 (84/100) · worst 2012 (68/100)
Honda Civic Hybrid
- 5 model years scored
- 1,578 owner complaints on record
- about 27 complaints per year on the road
- 7 recall campaigns, 6 safety-critical
- best year 2014 (85/100) · worst 2012 (73/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Civic against Civic Hybrid
The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.
What owners actually complain about
Honda Civic
- Air Bags — 429 complaints
- Power Train — 323 complaints
- Electrical System — 178 complaints
Honda Civic Hybrid
- Air Bags — 411 complaints
- Power Train — 312 complaints
- Electrical System — 170 complaints
Both nameplates have Air Bags as their largest complaint group, so the choice between them is about how often, not about what.
Years to avoid on each
Honda Civic: no model year scores below 45; the strongest are 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015.
Honda Civic Hybrid: no model year scores below 45; the strongest are 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015.
A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.
What each costs today
A recent used Honda Civic prices at about $10,000 and a Honda Civic Hybrid at about $10,000 — they price within $1 of each other, which at this level is the same money, and they return 32.0 against 44.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Honda Civic or the Honda Civic Hybrid more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Honda Civic Hybrid scores 81/100 against the Honda Civic's 80/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.
Which Honda Civic and Honda Civic Hybrid years should I avoid?
Honda Civic: no year scores below 45. Honda Civic Hybrid: no year scores below 45. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Honda Civic and the Honda Civic Hybrid?
The largest complaint group on the Honda Civic is Air Bags (429 complaints); on the Honda Civic Hybrid it is Air Bags (411).
Is the Honda Civic or the Honda Civic Hybrid cheaper to own?
A recent used Honda Civic prices at about $10,000 and a Honda Civic Hybrid at about $10,000, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.