2004 Honda Civic
The Verdict
The 2004 Honda Civic has 350 owner complaints filed with NHTSA. The most reported issues are electrical (167 complaints) and body (78 complaints). With a Klunk Score of 39/100, it earns a "Check Engine" rating. If you're shopping for a Honda Civic, consider the 2021 model year which has 62% fewer complaints.
Safe Bet
The 2021 has 62% fewer complaints
View the 2021 Honda Civic dashboard →
Klunk Score: Check Engine
More complaints than most vehicles. Known issues exist — budget for potential repairs.
How is this calculated?
The Klunk Score ranks this vehicle year against all others in our database based on total owner complaints filed with NHTSA. 100 = fewest complaints (top tier), 0 = most complained-about. Scores above 60 are better than average; below 40 means more problems than most.
Recalls 1
Active safety recalls from NHTSA for this vehicle year.
ON CERTAIN PASSENGER VEHICLES, SOME FRONT SEAT BELT ANCHORS MAY HAVE BEEN INSTALLED WITH AN INCORRECT WASHER, WHICH COULD RESTRICT ANCHOR MOVEMENT. AS A RESULT, THE SEAT BELT MAY BE IMPROPERLY POS...
Risk
AN IMPROPERLY POSITIONED BELT COULD INCREASE THE RISK OF INJURY IN THE EVENT OF A CRASH.
Remedy
DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE FRONT SEAT BELT ANCHORS FOR RESTRICTED MOVEMENT. IF AN ANCHOR DOES NOT ROTATE FREELY, THE DEALER WILL REPLACE THE WASHER WITH A COUNTERMEASURE WASHER. THE RECALL BEGAN ON...
Reported Apr 10, 2026
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Under the Hood
Each number is a complaint. Darker = bigger problem.
| Year | Body | Brakes | Electrical | Engine | Transmission |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 85 | 14 | 118 | 57 | 25 |
| 2001 | 153 | 40 | 393 | 129 | 387 |
| 2002 | 146 | 24 | 306 | 59 | 181 |
| 2003 | 147 | 36 | 180 | 64 | 96 |
| 2004 | 78 | 9 | 167 | 44 | 52 |
| 2005 | 85 | 16 | 140 | 41 | 31 |
| 2006 | 651 | 52 | 243 | 392 | 61 |
| 2007 | 603 | 41 | 206 | 259 | 88 |
| 2008 | 408 | 38 | 206 | 216 | 39 |
| 2009 | 160 | 46 | 122 | 47 | 18 |
| 2010 | 157 | 90 | 108 | 31 | 7 |
| 2011 | 58 | 29 | 61 | 16 | 4 |
| 2012 | 141 | 31 | 184 | 57 | 39 |
| 2013 | 98 | 31 | 127 | 37 | 17 |
| 2014 | 68 | 11 | 83 | 36 | 91 |
| 2015 | 93 | 10 | 72 | 39 | 163 |
| 2016 | 710 | 88 | 113 | 122 | 26 |
| 2017 | 354 | 27 | 87 | 87 | 19 |
| 2018 | 321 | 17 | 59 | 184 | 7 |
| 2019 | 154 | 23 | 26 | 135 | 7 |
| 2020 | 82 | 16 | 55 | 34 | 29 |
| 2021 | 88 | 14 | 20 | 7 | 2 |
| 2022 | 788 | 18 | 42 | 16 | 10 |
By Category
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Worst Problems
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See how the 2004 Honda Civic stacks up against rivals.
Complaints
2004 HONDA Civic Cracked Block TSB [XXXX] Honda settled in a class-action lawsuit that covers 2008 - 2009 Civic engine block failures with unlimited miles for an extended 10-year warranty period. Covered Civics will receive an engine repair or replacement at no cost. The covered Civic engine castings were built using thinner aluminum and the cracked block will leak coolant causing the engine to overheat. Civics Covered 2006 - 2008 - ALL VINs beginning with 2HG & 1HG 2009 - Check eligibility with VIN Civic VINs beginning with 2HG & 1HG - Check eligibility * Excludes SI and Hybrid. My 2004 Civic has an identical engine crack with a 1HG VIN, and only 130k miles. The location of the crack is identical to the TSB and is not a result of the vehicle's maintenance and driver habits. I have found several cases where Honda Goodwill Assistance covered costs of repairs on vehicles past warranty. The 2004 Honda Civic has been recalled 15 times by the NHTSA with the engine problems severity rating a 10, on a scale of 1 - 10 (10 being the worst). [XXX] labeled the 2004 Honda Civic with a red Alert Notice of the recalls rendering the appeal of owning a 2004 Civic an unreliable purchase. As well as, 2006 - 2019 Civics due to the TBS extended warranty on known engine issues. [XXX] reviews for a 2004 Honda Civics a 1 out of 5 (1 being the worst). Honda Recall, Q5A, Y58 on 2001 Civic airbags caused death, yet the recall was not announced until 2019. Placing a 10-year extended warranty has proven to not cover all Honda’s and should be reviewed on a case by case basis to catch any cars not covered by warranty. My Civic was agreed to be looked at by Honda, and I'm to send the detailed inspection report for review by the NA Honda Headquarters. Awaiting reply 11/14/2023. Our of Pocket Repairs est. $5,200 INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
It takes many attempts to get the drivers side seat belt to latch/click. I am concerned after seeing other recalls that mine maybe in fact affected as well.
I got into an accident today and airbag inflator that was replaced due to a recall never deployed upon impact causing me to slam into my steering wheel with my head. Officer looked in car and realized airbag never deployed. I drove car home. Now waiting for hopefully someone to give me an answer to why my airbag did not deploy?
Unknown
The air bag failed to deploy during the vehicular collision on Jan.27, 2022 at the intersection in a city in Virginia. The HONDA Civic LX 2004 was hit by another vehicle on the driver side; the air bag on the passenger side deployed BUT NOT THE AIR BAG ON THE DRIVER SIDE. The driver suffered head injury (hematoma and cuts on scalp) & lumbar fracture and has to be treated in ER and was hospitalized for a few days. The injured driver also cannot go back to work until completely healed and still undergoing treatment. The car was moved from the towing service company shop to the storage facility of USAA (as of this writing, the vehicle is still there). In the police report, in the box for "Airbag Deployed", the officer encircled YES but did NOT specify it was for the passenger side ONLY. The insurance company declared the car NOT REPAIRABLE based on their inspections.
It is not safe to drive because of the slippage is really hard and it still kicks when braking and can cause the car to keep driving while harshly pressing the brake to stop.
On Thursday the 2nd of December 2021 at 8:50 AM, I was driving by myself on the freeway heading to work and the hood popped up and smashed my entire windshield. I was unable to see and luckily managed to pull over to the left hand side of the road without hitting anything or anyone. I could have easily been hit by another car traveling at 70-80 miles per hour. Although glass shards hit me, I did not receive any personal injury. Stauffer Towing towed the vehicle to Caliber Collision. The windshield was replaced on Friday December 3rd by Caliber Collision in Salt Lake City. Caliber Collision also inspected the hood and related components. The hood will require replacement because the hinges were so badly damaged and I had to remove the hood so that this won't happen again. The hood latch had released and I later noticed that the metal supporting the latch is also having issues. The latch has been giving problems with opening and closing properly at times.
The contact owns a 2004 Honda Civic. The contact stated that the airbag warning light was illuminated on the instrument panel. The contact then received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V501000 (Air Bags). The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the recall was serviced; however, the airbag warning light remained illuminated on the instrument panel. The contact notified the dealer of the failure and he was informed that the warning light was related to a failure that was not associated with the recall. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was unknown.
DEALERSHIP SHOWED NO RECALL FOR THIS VIN , WHEN I ENTERED IT IN THEIR WEBSITE.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 HONDA CIVIC. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING, THE TRANSMISSION AND CHECK ENGINE WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED AND THE VEHICLE STARTED TO SHAKE AND INDEPENDENTLY DECELERATE. ADDITIONALLY, WHILE ACCELERATING THE VEHICLE WAS SKIPPING GEARS. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC AND DIAGNOSED THAT THE TRANSMISSION FAILURE WAS DUE TO A FAULTY CVT SKIPPING OR AN EGR VALVE AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO A DEALER AND WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 85,000.
I HAVE RECEIVED MANY RECALL NOTICES FROM HONDA STATING THE AIR BAG RECALL REPAIR IS FREE AND A FREE RENTAL CAR WILL PROVIDED FOR THE DAY OF THE REPAIR, HOWEVER THIS IS ABSOLUTELY FALSE! I HAVE CALLED THE DEALERSHIP IN MY AREA MULTIPLE TIMES AND AM CONSISTENTLY TOLD RENTAL CARS ARE NOT AVAILABLE AND THEIR RIDE SHUTTLE IS NOT AVAILABLE DUE TO THE PANDEMIC. I CALLED THEM BEFORE THE PANDEMIC AND WAS TOLD THE SAME THING, THAT A RENTAL CAR IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR THAT SERVICE! THEY SAID I CAN SIT IN THE WAITING ROOM FOR 4 HOURS (OR MORE!) DURING THE RECALL REPAIR AND THAT IS IT. I CANNOT MISS WORK TO RESOLVE THIS, I HAVE ALREADY DONE THAT IN THE PAST AS THIS IS NOT THE FIRST RECALL! I CONTINUE TO RECEIVE NOTICES IN THE MAIL TELLING ME MYSELF OR MY PASSENGERS COULD DIE IF THIS PROBLEM ISN'T RESOLVED, CAUSING SO MUCH ANXIETY, AND YET I CANNOT GET THE REPAIR SCHEDULED UNLESS I TAKE AN ENTIRE DAY OFF WORK, LOSE AN ENTIRE DAY OF PAY AND SIT IN THEIR WAITING ROOM FOR HOURS (DURING A PANDEMIC)! OCEAN HONDA WOULD NOT PROVIDE RENTAL CARS BEFORE THE PANDEMIC FOR THIS RECALL SO I CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY I CONTINUE TO RECEIVE THESE LETTERS STATING A FREE RENTAL CAR IS AVAILABLE FOR THE DAY OF THE REPAIR OR LONGER - IT IS SIMPLY NOT THE CASE! I HAVE CALLED AND CALLED AND AM MET WITH RUDE CALL CENTER AGENTS TELLING ME THIS IS JUST THE WAY IT IS, WHICH MAKES THE TEXT IN YOUR LETTERS OUTRIGHT LIES. IF I NEED TO BRING MY CAR IN FOR A RECALL AND A FREE RENTAL CAR IS AVAILABLE AS YOUR LETTER STATES, PLEASE HELP ME FIND A DEALER WHO WILL HONOR THE OFFER IN THE NEVER ENDING RECALL NOTICES THAT I RECEIVE OR TAKE ME OFF OF THIS MAILING LIST SO I DO NOT HAVE TO CONTINUE TO SEE THESE THREATS OF SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH TO ME OR MY PASSENGERS AS THEY ARE CAUSING TOO MUCH STRESS AND ANXIETY FOR ME!
WHEN I STOPED AT A STOP SIGN, MY AIRBAG DEPLOYED, KNOCKING ME UNCONSCIOUS. I PROCEEDED TO HIT A TREE GOING AT AN ACCELERATED SPEED. I WAS AIRLIFTED BY HELICOPTER TO A TRAMA HOSPITAL. I HAD 3 FRACTURED RIBS, A BROKEN STERNUM, AND 4 BROKEN BONES IN MY LOWER BACK. I FRECEIVED A CALL BACK ON THE PASSENGER SIDE AIRBAG. THIS ACCIDENT WAS BECAUSE OF FRAUD FROM TAKATA, AND HONDA. MY CAR SHOULD'VE BEEN RECALLED.
STEVENS CREEK HONDA (SAN JOSE, CA) SAID THEY FIXED THE SRS LIGHT PROBLEM(09 DEC 2019) BUT IT REAPPEARED A FEW DAYS LATER. UNCLEAR WHETHER THEY REALLY FIXED PROBLEM; CONTINUING TO WORK WITH AMERICAN HONDA MOTOR CO(CASE #10-214133 AND STEVENS CREEEK HONDA(DEALER) TO REMEDY AIRBAG PROBLEM..
I RECEIVED A SAFETY RECALL ALERT ON MY HONDA CIVIC AIR BAGS YEARS AGO. I TOOK IT IN TO MY HONDA DEALER AND THEY TOOK CARE OF THE PROBLEM. I RECEIVED A NEW SAFETY RECALL ALERT TODAY. THE PROBLEM HAS BEEN HANDLED (SEE ATTACHED).
THIS MODEL CAR HAS A DOCUMENTED ISSUE WITH THE START CLUTCH PERFORMANCE. THIS ISSUE CREATES A SAFETY HAZARD DUE TO THE UNPREDICTABLE ACCELERATION IT CAUSES. DESPITE RE-SURFACING PROCEDURES, THE ISSUE WILL RETURN. THIS IS NOT SIMPLY A WEAR ISSUE, THE PART(S) AND/OR DESIGN ARE FAULTY. THIS IS COMMON KNOWLEDGE AMONG HONDA MECHANICS WHO ARE FAMILIAR WITH THIS MODEL. PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU NEED MORE INFO OR DETAILS.
VEHICLE DRIVER SIDE SEAT BELT DOES NOT RETRACT. AFTER AIRBAG LIGHT CAME ON SEAT BELT WILL NOT RETRACT INTO THE SEAT BELT RETAINER. I FEEL VERY DANGEROUS AND HONDA WILL NOT ADDRESS THE ISSUE. STATING IT IS NOT UNDER WARRANTY.
MY HONDA CIVIC HAD AN AIR BAG RECALL, WHICH I TOOK THE CAR IN FOR. ABOUT 2 MONTHS AFTER THE FIX, MY AIR BAG LIGHT CAME ON. I HAD IT CHECKED OUT AT ANOTHER SHOP AND THEY RESET MY LIGHT. IT COME BACK ON APPROXIMATELY EVERY MONTH. IT SEEMS TO ME THAT IT IS SUSPICIOUS THAT I NEVER HAD ANY SUCH PROBLEM UNTIL THE HONDA DEALER REPLACED THE AIR BAG. THEY REFUSE TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM AND INSIST IT IS NOT THERE RESPONSIBILITY. COINCIDENCE I DON'T THINK SO. I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF THIS IS AN ONGOING ISSUED WITH OTHER HONDA OWNERS WHO HAVE UNDERGONE THIS PROCEDURE
I HAVE A 2004 HONDA CIVIC EX. DRIVING TO GLENDALE (1 HOUR FROM WHERE I LIVE) IN THE CITY I STARTED NOTICING THE TRANSMISSION WAS JERKING. SHORTLY AFTER THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. GOING UP A HILL MY TRANSMISSION WASN'T WORKING ANYMORE AND WAS REVVING WITHOUT GOING INTO GEAR. I WAS IN MOTION ON A HILL ON A VERY TIGHT ROAD WHERE ONLY 1 CAR CAN PASS AT A TIME. AND CARS WERE PARKED ON THE SIDE OF THE STREET. I ALMOST CRASHED INTO THE PARKED CARS BECAUSE I COULD'T CONTROL THE JERKING OF THE CAR AND THE TRANSMISSION SLIPPING. I HAD CARS COMING TOWARDS ME AND HAD THE CAR STALLED ON THE ROAD AND HAD TO BLOCK THE TRAFFIC FOR 30 MIN BEFORE MY FRIENDS COULD COME AND HELP ME MOVE THE CAR. THERE WAS LITTLE AMOUNT OF SPACE AND PARKING AND HAD TO PUSH THE CAR FOR A WHILE BEFORE FINDING A PARKING SPOT. THE CAR HAS ONLY 123,000 MILES, THE TRANSMISSION FLUID IS FRESH AND CLEAN AND NEVER HAD ANY TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS. WITHIN 15 MIN THE WHOLE TRANSMISSION BLEW UP! I REALLY HOPE HONDA CAN TAKE CARE OF THIS PROBLEM BECAUSE I SEE THAT THERE ARE MULTIPLE COMPLAINTS ABOUT HONDA'S TRANSMISSION FAILING IN THESE HONDA CIVICS BETWEEN 2000 AND 2004.
THE PASSENGER AIRBAG WENT OFF ON ITS OWN REALLY SCARED ME VERY DANGEROUS I WAS DRIVING I WAS ON THE STREET DRIVING ABOUT 15 20 MILES AN HOUR
TAKATA RECALL. MY AIRBAG LIGHT CAME ON AND THEN I SAW THE RECALL. MY MODEL SHOULD BE RECALLED AS WELL. ALSO EXTERIOR LIGHTING IS VERY DULL BOTH OF THESE HAVE BEEN PREVIOUSLY RECALLED. I WAS IN PARK, STARTED MY CAR AND THE AIRBAG LIGHT CAME ON. SCANNER SAYS IT'S THE INFLATOR
350 total