Honda · Civic · 2016
2016 Honda Civic: problems & reliability
NHTSA has logged 1,082 owner complaints and 5 safety recalls for the 2016 Honda Civic. The most-reported problem area is the steering (41% of complaints), followed by electrical system and engine. Make sure every open recall has been fixed by a dealer before you buy.
Common 2016 Honda Civic problems
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Steering problems
446 owner complaints to NHTSA (41% of all complaints for this model year) involve the steering, including 4 crashes, 1 injury. One owner reported: “My front driver side wheel completely detached from the vehicle’s body while I was driving home causing the left side of my car to collide with the street pavement and skid to a stop. The driver door airbags deployed, fluid leaked from…”
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Electrical system problems
119 owner complaints to NHTSA (11% of all complaints for this model year) involve the electrical system, including 4 crashes, 3 injuries. One owner reported: “no one was hurt. just a finder binder to my car only. the other drivrr had a truck and it didnt do any damage to back bumper.”
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Engine problems
95 owner complaints to NHTSA (9% of all complaints for this model year) involve the engine, including 1 crash, 2 fires. One owner reported: “I have had the vehicle for 4 years and kept up on maintenance; the last maintenance was performed in march 2020. I was driving the vehicle on a city street (2-way street) and started hearing a clicking noise and smelled smoke. The front…”
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Brakes problems
93 owner complaints to NHTSA (9% of all complaints for this model year) involve the brakes, including 9 crashes. One owner reported: “While doing normal city driving in early morning, I drove over metal plates on the street which had occasionally in the past caused my automatic braking system (cmbs) to warn me to brake as if it sensed a hazard, but never applied the…”
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Visibility & wipers problems
67 owner complaints to NHTSA (6% of all complaints for this model year) involve the visibility & wipers. One owner reported: “My A/C system experienced a total failure at around 79,000 miles. I took the vehicle to a service center, and they confirmed the failure is the A/C Evaporator. This component is now broken and available for inspection upon request. This…”
Owner complaints by area
| Area | Complaints | Share | Chart |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steering | 446 | 41% | |
| Electrical system | 119 | 11% | |
| Engine | 95 | 9% | |
| Brakes | 93 | 9% | |
| Visibility & wipers | 67 | 6% | |
| Body & structure | 48 | 4% | |
| Transmission & powertrain | 36 | 3% | |
| Exterior lighting | 30 | 3% |
1,082 complaints filed with NHTSA in total, reporting 36 crashes, 4 fires, 16 injuries. A complaint can involve more than one area.
2016 Honda Civic recalls
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Air bags › Sensor › Occupant classification › Front passenger
Risk: Air bags that deploy unintentionally during a crash increase the risk of injury.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the seat weight sensors, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 7, 2026. Owners may contact Honda's customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are BOL, WO9, OOA, WOM, XOH, NOC, POD, BOE, UOF, POB, EOG, AOI, QO8, TOJ, DO7, and SOK. This recall expands previous NHTSA recall number 24V064. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning May 29, 2026.
Full recall summary
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2018-2021, 2023 Acura TLX, 2019-2024 RDX, 2017-2020, 2022-2026 MDX, 2017-2021, 2023, 2025 Honda Ridgeline, 2017-2022 Pilot, 2019-2021 Passport, 2018-2026 Odyssey, 2019-2022 Insight, 2019-2021 HR-V, 2018-2020 Fit, 2020-2022 CR-V Hybrid, 2017-2022 CR-V, 2017-2018, 2021 Civic Type R, 2017-2021 Civic hatchback, 2016-2020 Civic coupe, 2016-2022 Civic, 2017-2022 Accord Hybrid, and 2016-2022 Accord vehicles. The front passenger seat weight sensor may crack and short circuit, which can cause the air bags to deploy unintentionally during a crash.
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Fuel system, gasoline › Delivery › Fuel pump
Risk: Fuel pump failure can cause an engine stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the fuel pump module, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed September 6, 2024. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are KGC and KGD. This recall is an expansion of NHTSA recall numbers 21V-215 and 20V-314.
Full recall summary
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2013-2023 Honda Accord, Civic Coupe, Civic Sedan, Civic Hatchback, Civic Type R, CR-V, HR-V, Ridgeline, Odyssey, Acura ILX, MDX, MDX Hybrid, RDX, RLX, TLX, 2019-2022 Honda Insight, Passport, 2020 Honda CR-V Hybrid, 2018-2019 Honda Clarity PHEV, Fit, and 2015-2020 Honda Accord Hybrid, Pilot, Acura NSX vehicles. The fuel pump inside the fuel tank may fail.
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Parking brake
Risk: If the EPB is not applied, the vehicle may roll away, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will update the vehicle's software to allow the EPB to engage immediately after the ignition is turned off, free of charge. The recall began on November 8, 2016. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's number for this recall is KC6.
Full recall summary
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain model year 2016 Honda Civic two door and four door 1.5L turbo and 2.0L vehicles. The electric parking brake (EPB) may not engage if it is applied immediately after turning the ignition off.
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Exterior lighting
Risk: If a side marker light does not function, vehicle visibility can be decreased to other drivers, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will inspect both the taillight assemblies, replacing them as necessary, free of charge. The recall began on August 31, 2016. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's number for this recall is KB8.
Full recall summary
American Honda Motor Co. (Honda) is recalling certain model year 2016 Civic 2-Door vehicles manufactured February 23, 2016, through May 20, 2016. The affected vehicles may have a damaged LED side marker light circuit board inside the taillight assembly, making the marker light inoperable. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Assoc. Equipment."
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Engine and engine cooling › Engine
Risk: If a circlip is missing or incorrectly installed, the piston wrist pin may not be secure and may drift and damage the engine cylinder causing the engine to seize, and increasing the risk of a crash or a fire.
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and replace the piston assemblies and damaged engine components, as necessary, free of charge. Parts are expected to be available in the Summer of 2016. Owners were mailed an interim notification beginning March 31, 2016, and will be mailed a second notice when parts are available. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's number for this recall is JX9.
Full recall summary
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain model year 2016 Civic vehicles manufactured September 22, 2015, to February 3, 2016 and equipped with 2.0L engines. The affected vehicles have engines with piston assemblies that may have been manufactured without a piston wrist pin circlip or with an incorrectly installed piston wrist pin circlip.
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. To check whether a specific car’s recalls have been repaired, enter its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
2016 Honda Civic crash-test ratings
NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings for the 2016 Honda Civic 2 DR FWD. Ratings can differ between body styles and drivetrains (2 versions tested or listed).
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Specifications
- Drivetrains
- FWD
- Body styles
- 2-door, 4-door
Other Honda Civic years
About this data
Problems, complaint counts, recalls and crash-test ratings come from the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) public databases, last checked 2026-11-03. Complaints are reports from owners and have not all been verified by NHTSA.
How we score reliability: every model year starts at 100. Points come off for the number of owner complaints (on a log scale, up to 40 points), for each safety recall (2 points each, up to 15) and for complaints involving crashes, fires, injuries or deaths (up to 15). Popular vehicles get more complaints simply because more are on the road, so compare scores between similar vehicles. More about our method.
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