1997 Honda Civic problems & reliability
373 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 1997 Honda Civic, alongside 1 safety recall campaign. 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.
42 complaints report injuries (51 injured).
Federal crash records (FARS 2020–2023): 1997 Honda Civic vehicles were involved in 82 fatal crashes with 72 occupant deaths. Involvement counts are not adjusted for how many are on the road and do not imply fault or a vehicle defect.
Most reported problems
| Component | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Air Bags | 140 | 38% |
| Vehicle Speed Control | 38 | 10% |
| Visibility | 33 | 9% |
| Electrical System | 30 | 8% |
| Tires | 27 | 7% |
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 25 | 7% |
| Power Train | 25 | 7% |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic | 22 | 6% |
| Structure | 18 | 5% |
| Unknown OR Other | 15 | 4% |
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 89,000 miles (middle 50% between 55,000 and 124,500 miles), based on 91 complaints that included mileage.
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“The contact owns a 1997 Honda Civic. The contact received a notification for NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V026000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact then received a notice that the parts were available. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it remained in their…”
Air Bags · filed Mar 30, 2022
“Good day: on 17 march 2020, honda advised me that my 1997 civic is included in nhtsa recall 20v-026, which affects the driver frontal airbag module. In the recall notice, honda said the repair parts are unavailable, and promised to notify me when the defective components become available. More than six months later, I…”
Air Bags · filed Sep 28, 2020
“Tl* the contact owns a 1997 honda civic. The contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 20v026000 (air bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. Honda of greeley (4535 w. 29th st, greeley, co 80634) was contacted and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact stated…”
Air Bags · filed Sep 15, 2020
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Federal defect investigations
- CONDENSER FAN MOTOR INOPERATIVE
Investigation SQ98012 · opened Jun 30, 1998 · closed Nov 2, 1998
Technical service bulletins
132 manufacturer communications (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 1997 Honda Civic. The 10 most recent:
Service bulletin - due to the floor design, a mispositioned floor mat could prevent the accelerator pedal from returning to the idle position. In this case, the vehicle may continue accelerating even though the driver…
A99034 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Sep 21, 2016
Service news article - planning on using a leak check dye to help find a leak? Here s the current list of vehicles that you shouldn t use dye on.
A15070B - 7-2-15 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jul 2, 2015
Honda: troubleshooting of diagnostic trouble codes (dtc) p1456 and p1457. Dealers are to run evap function test to find if there is a leak so the vehicle can be repaired. *kb
SB-99-075 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 9, 2013
Troubleshooting tips for dtc p1381. *nm
09012005 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Sep 1, 2005
Malfunction indicator lamp on with diagnostic trouble code p0420 or engine ping under load. *tt
05027 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jun 10, 2005
Transferring odometer mileage at odometer r&r. *tt
405 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Apr 16, 2005
Timesert 14mm drain plug thread repair kit. *tt
205 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Feb 16, 2005
Rough idle at cold start; malfunction indicator lamp (mil) comes on with diagnostic p0107 or p0108. *mj update. *tt
04004 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 10, 2004
Poor radio reception, seek-stop test. *sc
704 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jul 16, 2004
Dtc p1381 set check the ignition coil shield. *eh
07012004 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jul 1, 2004
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 1997 Honda Civic has 1 NHTSA recall campaign — 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 1997 Honda Civic?
- · 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 89,000 miles — budget accordingly if the car is approaching that mileage.