I went to fill up my tank yesterday and the cover to the gas tank wouldn't open, tried to use my fingers to open it (no luck) but didn't want to scratch or bend the cover by using something metal. I took it to the service area of a Honda dealership today and he said it would cost around $150 to fix. Of course I just passed my 100,000 extended warranty, so it comes out of my pocket. The fact that any of us have to pay for the fix is ridiculous, it's a faulty part - it should be fixed free of charge. Lame. I'll update this if the cost is anything more or less than the $150.

When I pushed on the fuel door release lever, there was a pop and the door did not open. I assumed, that the door got jammed and tried to pry it open, but did not succeed. I did not want to use a metal object, as it would scratch the paint. After approximately 20 minutes of trying to open the door from outside, I decided to look inside the trunk.

Contrary to what some say, THERE IS an easy way of opening the fuel door manually from inside the trunk. You have to undo the buttons that keep trunk liner attached to the left wall, put your hand underneath the liner and find the cable, that is attached to the fuel door lock. Turn it half a turn counter-clockwise and pull it out. The door will open easily. Then after you fill up, FIRST put the cable back, turn it clockwise half a turn to secure in place and then close the lid.

I decided to fix it myself because the dealership is open only on weekdays, which means I would have to take a day off work to go there. Although the car was still under warranty, it would still cost me.

All I did, is I removed the fuel door release lever, then removed the plastic trim panel on the column between front and rear door, removed the trim around the hood release lever, removed the trim on the floor and repaired the broken cable with cable ties. Then replaced all the trim panels. It worked great since. The cost was approximately 2 dollars - for cable ties.

I recommend this solution to everyone who does not want to go to the dealer for any reason and for these who want to save money. I am not a car mechanic and I do not know much about cars, but the whole procedure took me approximately 2 hours. For someone who is more of a handyman, it will take 1 hour or even less.

As I was on my way to the beach in Racine, WI I had to stop and get fuel at a gas station. I got out of th car and pressed my fuel door release, and there was nothing. No resistance, no door opened, nothing. The lever went all the way to the floor. I needed gas, was on Empty and about 10 miles from my house so I tried my best to pry open the gas door, when I heard a pop and it flung open. Well the plastic nob broke off as well, and now it just flaps open when I drive. I did not get it fixed yet, however, I do not have the extra $200.00 dollars I was quoted from our Honda dealership. I think this is something that the Dealership should fix for free, warranty or not. It was not my fault and as I can see, there are alot of complaints out there for this happening to Civics, but no known recall out there. That is not fair. I received a quote and am in the fight for them to fix it free of charge. Hope it comes down to that. I refuse to pay for it. How annoying!!!

This is the second time (which happens to be about a year after the first incident) this problem has happened (didn't bother reporting on this site the first time but after the second time and out of warranty I'm really pissed). The first time it was an inconvenience, this time it's an annoyance of a poorly designed part. I brought it into the dealer to see how much it would cost to repair and they told me $200 CAD (about $171 USD)... but after searching the internet I've found this is a common problem with aftermarket solutions. One that was suggested to me was this http://www.fueldoorfix.com which I'm looking into $20 and DIY some time vs. $200 and about 1 or more hour(s) of waiting at the dealer, I'm going to take my chances with the former.

While attempting to put fuel into the car pushed lever to release fuel door and nothing happened. Messed with pointless lock nothing still. A friend looked at it and much to his shock and awe there is no emergency fuel door release like found on American cars. Had to dismantle the truck interior to grab on to a multi point connector for multiple cables to pull with extreme force to open. Once open had difficulty closing. this is a real nightmare of an issue, and I would expect better from a company like Honda. Extremely disappointed!