2010 Honda Civic problems & reliability
396 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2010 Honda Civic, alongside 8 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.
22 complaints report injuries (32 injured, 47 deaths reported).
Federal crash records (FARS 2020–2023): 2010 Honda Civic vehicles were involved in 169 fatal crashes with 122 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 → | 96 | 24% |
| Service Brakes → | 65 | 16% |
| Structure → | 43 | 11% |
| Unknown OR Other | 37 | 9% |
| Visibility/wiper → | 34 | 9% |
| Electrical System → | 23 | 6% |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic → | 23 | 6% |
| Engine → | 19 | 5% |
| Steering → | 19 | 5% |
| Visibility → | 18 | 5% |
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 40,000 miles (middle 50% between 18,875 and 67,000 miles), based on 256 complaints that included mileage.
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“The contact owns a 2010 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while her daughter was driving at various speeds, the vehicle unexpectedly shut off. There was no warning light illuminated. Due to the failure, the vehicle was shipped back to the contact's home state, where the contact also experienced the failure while…”
Fuel System, Gasoline · filed Apr 9, 2026
“The contact owns a 2010 Honda Civic. The contact stated that the vehicle was repaired under an NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V042000 (Air Bags); however, the repair caused the driver’s side seat belt buckle to not be detected while latched closed. The driver’s side seat belt warning light illuminated. The local dealer…”
Seat Belts · filed Jan 27, 2026
“I hit a bumb and my engine started smoking and then airbag triggered on both driver and passenger side”
Air Bags · filed Oct 20, 2025
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Technical service bulletins
52 manufacturer communications (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 2010 Honda Civic. The 10 most recent:
Service Bulletin - Warranty Extension: Customer Support Program For Front Passenger's Airbag Inflator.
A18-066 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jun 30, 2026
Service Bulletin - There is a pop or clunk from the front suspension area when driving over bumps. This usually occurs after completing a tight (full lock) turn.
A07-078 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jan 27, 2026
Service News - The navigation clock and date are incorrect. This is due to a limited GPS receiver Capacity resulting in a rollover of the internal chip memory; the rollover occurred on January 1, 2022, at 12:00AM local…
A21120B · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jun 13, 2023
ServiceNews Article - The clock shows the incorrect time. This issue is due to a limited GPS receiver capacity resulting in "rollover" of the internal chip memory; the "rollover" will occur on January 1, 2022 at 12:00AM…
A21120B · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jan 29, 2022
Service Bulletin - There's a gap between the A-pillar trim and the headliner. The tolerances vary between some A-pillar trim and headliners.
A11-064 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Dec 22, 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…
A20-016 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Mar 10, 2020
Warranty Extension: Customer Support Program For Front Passenger's Airbag Inflator for 2010-12 Accord and Other Listed Years and Models (Expires September 30, 2028)
19-003-1 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 13, 2019
Service Bulletin - American Honda is conducting an inspection of certain vehicles that have previously had the passenger's airbag inflator replaced as part of the Takata Passsenger's Airbag Inflator recall. If you…
A18-115 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued May 10, 2019
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…
A19-002 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jan 18, 2019
Service bulletin - American Honda is conducting an inspection of certain vehicles that have previously had the passenger's airbag inflator replaced as part of the Takata Passsenger's Airbag Inflator recall.
A18100B · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Oct 13, 2018
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 2010 Honda Civic has 8 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 2010 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 40,000 miles — budget accordingly if the car is approaching that mileage.