1997 Honda Civic: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 452 complaints
452
Total Complaints
77,400mi
Median Mileage
AIR BAGS
Top Issue
78
Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

47,000 25th Percentile
77,400 Median Mileage
119,837 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

AIR BAGS
70
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL
53
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
23
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:SENSOR/CONTROL MODULE
20
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
19
VISIBILITY:POWER WINDOW DEVICES AND CONTROLS
17
TIRES
17
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
15
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL:ACCELERATOR PEDAL
12
TIRES:TREAD/BELT
9

Severity Assessment

78
Crashes
2
Fires
60
Injuries
0
Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"COMPUTER FAILED WHICH CAUSED TOTAL LOSS OF BRAKES, PEDAL WENT TO THE FLOOR WITHIN 24HOURS BEFORE FAILURE, THERE WAS A TICKING SOUND COMING FROM THE ENGINE FIREWALL. PLEASE DESCRIBE DETAILS. *AK"
"LOCATION OF IGNITION SWITCH IS TOO LOW, CAUSING DRIVER'S KNEE TO TURN IGNITION KEY TO THE OFF POSITION."
"CONSUMER STATES WHEN TAKING THE GAS CAP CAME OFF THE FUEL TANK FLAMES WERE COMING OUT THE TANK AROUND THE FILLER NECK. CONSUMER HAS CONTACTED THE DEALER, CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM IS UNKNOWN. *AK"

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28