I own a 2001 Honda Civic LX. I purchased the vehicle overseas from a civilian employee of the United States army. This person had purchased the vehicle from the original owner. On or about 12 July 2009 my wife and I were in the vehicle when I noticed the distinct odor of an electrical short coming from the steering column. The next day, my wife saw puffs of smoke coming from the steering column and a much stronger odor associated with an electrical short. The problem was diagnosed by a local garage in schertz, tx and exactly matches the symptoms of the following recall Feb 24, 2004 | recall id# 75776. The complaint goes beyond the initial electrical problem as my wife attempted to bring this to the attention of both a local Honda dealer, gilman Honda in selma, tx and to Honda.com via their customer service hotline. Both entities stated words to the affect of "that VIN doesn't exist." Through investigation, we discovered that Honda dropped the VIN once the vehicle shipped overseas as part of the military new car sales program. Neither entity, either the local dealer or Honda usa made any attempt to resolve this very serious safety matter. This is a potential problem for any military service member that purchases an american car while stationed overseas and needs some regulatory Agency to mandate a fix.

- Schertz, TX, USA

The instrument cluster on my 2001 Honda Civic LX progressively underwent failure from intermittent to highly unreliable over a period of 6-8 months. At times I was driving with no instrument display. Repairs are being performed by a Honda dealer.

- Bethesda, MD, USA

The SRS indicator light came on and has been on for 2 years. I was T-boned on the passenger side by the gas tank, and the airbags did not deploy. I had taken the car to the dealer numerous times for maintenance & was never informed of this possibility due to the indicator light being on. Had I known, it would have been fixed or inspected. Now the dealer says it is not under warranty & at 100 hr. I do not want to have to hunt & peck to find the source of this electrical malfunction. Honda should extend the warranty to include electrical wiring & safety system components on 2001 models, based on 100's of other complaints by other Civic owners. Also, the right window motor is burned out (since 2007), it almost stalls when in reverse (since 2005), have noticed a lag in acceleration in lower gears (60K), also abrupt downshifting (sometimes) & it makes an odd humming seeming to come from rear of vehicle when accelerating (this last week). Mileage is 87K, way too soon for a Honda to give out.

- Sierra Vista, AZ, USA

On 3/21/07 my 2001 Honda Civic ex with 109K miles displayed on engine light reporting a P0740 torque converter failure. This was diagnosed by willet Honda in morrow, ga and two other independent shops. A transmission repair/replacement of $2400 was the recommendation. The car was running fine then and now, 35K miles and two yrs later, the car is still running fine with the engine light on. American Honda has offered no help. I cannot pass an emission test with the light on and I am very confident something else is wrong like a sensor. A research of this problem shows it is quite common among Civics and other may have paid for unnecessary transmission repairs.

- Sharpsburg, GA, USA

Buzzing sound coming from ignition switch when turned mostly to the off position. Otherwise no issues.

- Highland, IL, USA

Car does not start when I turn the key. It usually start after the 8 or 9 try. It started doing that about 6 months ago, but in the past few weeks it has happened about every time I try to start the car.

- Goose Creek, SC, USA

The contact owns a 2001 Honda Civic. While driving 5 mph, the SRS light illuminated. The mechanic stated that the circuit box failed, which meant that the air bags would not deploy during a crash. As of November 15, 2007, the dealer had not repaired the vehicle. The current and failure mileages were 95,000.

- Renton, WA, USA

2001 Honda Civic experienced problems with headlight failures and dashboard gauges. The front headlights would cut out intermittently in which Honda replaced two bulbs. The left front headlight cut out and one bulb was replaced. The right front headlight cut out again and one bulb was replaced. The gauges were erratic along with flickering front headlights. Honda could not verify the problem. The consumer felt that he should not be responsible for the repairs. The dealer told the consumer the problem was not related to the recall.

- Stow, OH, USA

The air bag light of the consumer's 2001 Honda Civic illuminated twice. The SRS light was repaired and it may have attributed to the garage door opener. The air bag light stayed on.

- Saint Louis, MO, USA

Problems with keyless entry and headlights. The headlights only worked on high beam. The vehicle had been taken to several mechanics for the problem but they could not help. The keyless entry did not work when the vehicle was returned to the consumer and after that the headlights did not work again. The doors had to be opened and locked manually. The headlights did not work due to a previous accident.

- Belleville, NJ, USA

Low beam lights failed while driving, it was discovered that the head light combo switch failed and the electrical connection attached to the switch melted. After the componets were replaced, the consumer was advised by the dealer to replace the wiring harness to avoid a potential fire.

- Greenville, SC, USA

Low beam headlights failed while driving. Dealer said that headlight switch failed and the electrical connector attached to it failed. The switch was replaced and cleaned. The consumer was told to replace the wiring harness to avoid a potential fire.

- Greenville, SC, USA

Wind noise can be heard inside the vehicle, the dealer resealed the windshield molding, noise while braking, faulty ECM fuse caused the vehicle to stall while stopped, rattle in dash, dealer replaced the felt tape between the air ducts and vents, cd player skips and was replaced, faulty front spring caused noise in the front end, both left doors leak, the drivers seat is loose at the track, a ripped seal caused the sunroof to leak, steering wheel not centered.

- Wise , VA, USA