10.0

really awful
Typical Repair Cost:
$18,000
Average Mileage:
33,000 miles
Total Complaints:
4 complaints

Most common solutions:

  1. not sure (4 reports)
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problem #4

Oct 272015

Civic EX-L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 33,000 miles

My wife was driving this car at a speed of about 30 miles per hours on an internal city road. She noticed a car waiting to take a left turn about 125-150 feet ahead. She applied the brakes but the car did not slow down. The car continued to run as if no brakes were applied. My wife continued to apply pressure on the brakes. She realized that brakes were just not working. She could not stop the car and she hit the car ahead of her. Luckily there were no body injuries, but the car's bumper, hood and head lights were damaged.

I had similar experience myself sometime in Oct'14 when the brakes did not work properly. But luckily that time I was able to avoid the crash since I could get my car in another lane on-time as there were no vehicles in that lane. But then the brakes were working fine afterwards and hence I ignored this incident.

There is something definitely wrong with 2012 Honda Civic brakes where they intermittently fail.

- shask01, Chesterfield, MO, US

problem #3

Jul 052015

Civic GX 1.8L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 80,000 miles

sometimes brakes does not stop, need to pump brakes to stop

Honda needs to look into this matter before somebody gets really seriously injured, brakes fail from time to time with no indication. stepped on brakes but no pressure while driving....need to pump on brakes several times to get pressure back while driving...very dangerous and at any time could cause an accident. need to investigate and have recall brakes inspections. brakes can fail at anytime, make sure you pump your brakes to get pressure back or car will NOT stop.

- d91709, Chino Hills, CA, US

problem #2

Jun 202013

Civic LX 1.8L V4

  • Automatic transmission
  • 6,000 miles

click to see larger images

brake failure brake failure

On 6-20-13, I was driving home in my barely 7-month-old 2012 Civic LX from work. Everything appeared fine until I got off an exit ramp from a local highway at 20-30 MPH where I found a road-repairing truck working on the ramp. So I hit the brake to try to slow down further and get around the truck. But the brake totally failed to respond--I felt as if the car was on black ice and the steering wheel was also out of control. I tried to control the car as much as I could and somehow managed to avoid hitting the truck, but the car crashed into a metal road sign-post by the ramp instead. It was dark (at night), but there was street light at the ramp and it was dry and fairly warm--I did not see any oil on the ramp either. The car was severely damaged (see the attached photos) and my insurance company decided not to repair it since it would cost well over $16,000 to repair it (the car was totaled). Luckily I was not seriously wounded aside from some bad scratches on one arm and some dizziness. My insurance covered for all the damages to the car, but I had to deal with all the hassles of a serious car accident even at >2 weeks after the accident, along with a ticket from the police for "failure to control the car" and significantly increased auto insurance premiums, plus lingering anxiety whenever I have to drive any car, fearing for another unexpected sudden brake failure. I found at least two other 2012 Civic owners reported very similar problems. This is a very serious safety problem that both the government and Honda itself should investigate immediately.

- Qingzhong K., Solon, OH, US

problem #1

Feb 012013

Civic EX

  • Automatic transmission
  • 13,000 miles

click to see larger images

brake failure

I was leaving work on 2/1/13 and stopped at a stop light waiting to get onto the highway, when the line of cars turned from the light onto the road leading to the on-ramp everyone began to slow down to begin to merge onto the highway. I went to brake and slow with the rest of the cars but my car did not stop, didn't even attempt to stop. I pressed the brake to the floor but it felt as if I had hit black ice and could not stop. I tried to swerve out of the way to not hit the SUV in front of me, but could not get out of the way without putting my car in the oncoming traffic lane. I rear ended the SUV in front of me going about 10-15 mph. Instantly my car turned off and the lights on the dash turned red and said "check airbags" I hit mostly on the passenger side which was probably the main reason that the air bag did not deploy. The entire front end of my car is smashed in and the car itself is totaled. I checked for black ice on the road and did not see anything slick or any ice that I could have slid on. I absolutely loved this car and barely had any problems with it or the brakes, only a grinding noise from my brakes when the weather was cold or drastic temperature changes.

- mharri16, Columbus, OH, US