2002 Honda Civic problems & reliability
702 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2002 Honda Civic, alongside 11 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.
78 complaints report injuries (98 injured, 4 deaths reported).
Federal crash records (FARS 2020–2023): 2002 Honda Civic vehicles were involved in 133 fatal crashes with 95 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 | 241 | 34% |
| Power Train | 185 | 26% |
| Exterior Lighting | 53 | 8% |
| Seat Belts | 51 | 7% |
| Electrical System | 49 | 7% |
| Suspension | 35 | 5% |
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 31 | 4% |
| Unknown OR Other | 26 | 4% |
| Vehicle Speed Control | 25 | 4% |
| Steering | 23 | 3% |
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 91,452 miles (middle 50% between 53,100 and 130,000 miles), based on 477 complaints that included mileage.
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“The contact owns a 2002 Honda Civic. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V501000(Air Bags) and would like to be removed from the recall distribution list. The local dealer and manufacturer were contacted.”
Air Bags · filed Apr 4, 2025
“The death investigator's decedent owned a 2002 Honda Civic. The contact stated that after the decedent stopped at a stop sign, they attempted to make a left turn and struck another vehicle on the passenger side. The decedent's air bag was deployed which caused trauma to the decedent's neck. The decedent's vehicle…”
Air Bags · filed Feb 28, 2025
“I recently purchased the car . I see on several forums , the transmission in this car for this year is prone to leaks and failures and Honda is aware . I’m having that issue .”
Power Train · filed Feb 10, 2025
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Federal defect investigations
- 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
- Low Beam Headlights Stop Illuminating
Engineering Analysis EA11012 · opened Sep 12, 2011 · closed Sep 17, 2012 · led to recall 12V136000
Technical service bulletins
316 manufacturer communications (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 2002 Honda Civic. The 10 most recent:
Service Bulletin - This bulletin is a notification of a class action settlement relating to airbag inflators. American Honda is offering a Customer Support Program (Warranty Extension) to cover any manufacturing defects…
A20-014 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Mar 10, 2020
Service Bulletin - This bulletin is a notification of a class action settlement relating to airbag inflators. American Honda is offering a Customer Support Program (Warranty Extension) to cover any manufacturing defects…
A20-009 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Mar 10, 2020
Service bulletin - This bulletin is a notification of a class action settlement relating to airbag inflators. American Honda is offering a Customer Support Program (Warranty Extension) to cover any manufacturing defects…
A18-049 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued May 25, 2018
Service bulletin - This bulletin is a notification of a class action settlement relating to airbag inflators. American Honda is offering a Customer Support Program (Warranty Extension) to cover any manufacturing defects…
A18-046 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued May 24, 2018
Dealer message - On December 19, 2017 following a joint inspection, American Honda and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) confirmed that a Takata driver?s airbag inflator ruptured in the crash of…
ACC12192017901 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Dec 19, 2017
"service bulletin - for vehicles with sci compressed natural gas (cng) fuel tanks, honda is no longer replacing the fuel tank and solenoid valve altogether. If you replace the fuel tank solenoid valve, you must now…
A13-022 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Feb 10, 2017
Service bulletin - the fuel gauge does not work and the low fuel indicator blinks with fuel in the tank. The pcm may need to be replaced.
A15021 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Oct 4, 2016
Posters sent to hawaiian independent repair facilities, automotive part stores, car washes, and gas stations to remind owners of the takata recall and to schedule an appointment at their earliest convenience.
TAKATA_HAWAII PO · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Sep 7, 2016
Flyer circulated to the residents of hawaii to remind owners of the takata recall and to schedule an appointment at their earliest convenience.
TAKATA_HAWAII FL · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Sep 7, 2016
Letter sent in conjunction with the florida highway safety and motor vehicles department to remind florida owners of the takata recall and to schedule an appointment at their earliest convenience.
TAKATA_FLORIDA D · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 29, 2016
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 2002 Honda Civic has 11 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 2002 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 91,452 miles — budget accordingly if the car is approaching that mileage.