2005 Honda Civic Hybrid problems & reliability
48 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2005 Honda Civic Hybrid, alongside 6 safety recall campaigns. Last verified Aug 7, 2026. Complaints are unverified reports submitted by owners to the federal Office of Defects Investigation.
Each complaint is counted once (by NHTSA case number), even when it names several vehicles.
4 complaints report injuries (6 injured).
Most reported problems
| Component | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Power Train → | 21 | 44% |
| Air Bags → | 15 | 31% |
| Electrical System → | 11 | 23% |
| Unknown OR Other | 5 | 10% |
| Vehicle Speed Control | 4 | 8% |
| Engine | 2 | 4% |
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 2 | 4% |
| Fuel/propulsion System | 2 | 4% |
| Structure | 2 | 4% |
| Exterior Lighting | 1 | 2% |
Component groups as classified by NHTSA. A complaint can name more than one component, so shares may sum to more than 100%.
Common symptoms owners describe
Keyword analysis of complaint narratives; one complaint can describe several symptoms.
Mileage when problems occurred
Half of the failures with a reported odometer reading occurred by 96,500 miles (middle 50% between 68,250 and 145,000 miles), based on 42 complaints that included mileage.
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“I was seeing down the road and a truck was stopped at a green light I ran into him my airbags did not come out”
Air Bags · filed Mar 22, 2019
“My air bag light constantly stays on. No codes come up when auto repair shop hooked it up so I can't even get a diagnosis and attempt to repair. The safety hazard aspect worries me immensely but it's my only vehicle so I'm forced to drive it regardless. All available recalls have been performed. My car hesitated to…”
Power Train · filed Feb 27, 2019
“When starting from a complete stop the transmission shudders and lacks take off power which could be a dangerous problem.”
Power Train · filed Apr 17, 2018
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Federal defect investigations
- Pedestrian alert sounds
Defect Petition DP22005 · opened Jan 27, 2023 · closed Aug 7, 2023 · led to recall 22V063000
- Desiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture
Engineering Analysis EA21002 · opened Sep 17, 2021 · open
- Air Bag Inflator Rupture
Engineering Analysis EA15001 · opened Feb 24, 2015 · open · led to recall 22V945
- Air Bag Inflator Rupture
Preliminary Evaluation PE14016 · opened Jun 11, 2014 · closed Mar 2, 2015 · led to recall 15V226000
Technical service bulletins
43 manufacturer communications (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 2005 Honda Civic Hybrid. The 10 most recent:
Video - this video from honda senior vice president bruce smith is in response to a recall expansion that honda announced in january which applies to honda and acura vehicles equipped with certain takata psdi-5 driver…
A-PS-03312016-30 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Mar 31, 2016
Dealer message - this video from honda senior vice president bruce smith is in response to a recall expansion that honda announced in january which applies to honda and acura vehicles equipped with certain takata psdi-5…
A-PS-03312016-30 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Mar 31, 2016
Service bulletin - in certain vehicles, the front passenger airbag inflator could produce excessive internal pressure during airbag deployment. If an affected airbag deploys, the increased internal pressure may cause…
A15-067 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Mar 28, 2016
"service bulletin - american honda consolidated some models from the previous airbag inflator campaigns into this current bulletin based on information from nhtsa. Do an in vin status inquiry and, if indicated, repair…
A15-067 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Dec 19, 2015
"service bulletin - american honda consolidated the previous airbag inflator campaigns into this current bulletin based on decisions made by nhtsa. Do an in vin status inquiry and, if indicated, repair the vehicle even…
A15-040 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Dec 19, 2015
"service bulletin - this bulletin is replaced by s/b 15-067, safety recall: front passenger s airbag inflator can be over-pressurized if you did the repair in service bulletin 15-041 on or before september 30, 2015 (ro…
A15-041 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Oct 1, 2015
"service bulletin - american honda consolidated some models from the previous airbag inflator campaigns into this current bulletin based on information from nhtsa. Do an in vin status inquiry and, if indicated, repair…
A15-067 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Oct 1, 2015
Dealer message - on october 1, 2015, american honda, in compliance with a request from the nhtsa, will consolidate the following three national passenger's airbag inflator safety recall service bulletins. The bulletins…
AIRBAG INFLATOR · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Sep 25, 2015
"service bulletin - in certain vehicles, the front passenger airbag inflator could produce excessive internal pressure during airbag deployment. If an affected airbag deploys, the increased internal pressure may cause…
A15-041 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Sep 16, 2015
"service bulletin - in certain vehicles, the driver s (front) airbag inflator could produce excessive internal pressure during airbag deployment. If an affected airbag deploys, the increased internal pressure may cause…
A15-040 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Sep 16, 2015
TSBs are repair guidance manufacturers send to dealers — they are not recalls and repairs are not automatically free. Full documents are available on NHTSA’s site.
Safety recalls
The 2005 Honda Civic Hybrid has 6 NHTSA recall campaigns — recall repairs are free at franchised dealers regardless of the vehicle’s age.
Check whether your specific vehicle is affected
Recall campaigns often cover only certain VIN ranges. Enter your VIN on the official NHTSA site to confirm whether your vehicle is included and whether the repair is still open.
Check VIN on NHTSA →Buying a used 2005 Honda Civic Hybrid?
- · Decode the seller’s VIN with our free VIN decoder to confirm the exact year, engine and trim.
- · Check for unrepaired recalls by VIN on NHTSA’s official lookup — recall repairs are free.
- · Owners most often reported problems around 96,500 miles — budget accordingly if the car is approaching that mileage.