CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2001 Civic has transmission problems, transmission problems & more transmission problems. Did we mention transmission problems? And a dangerous defect with the front airbag that didn't get recalled for 10 years.

Although eventually the defective 2001 Civic airbag inflators were fixed under recalls in 2011 & 2013, that meant for 10 to 12 years airbags were activating with excessive force where metal fragments went shooting into passengers when the airbag deployed.

As for the 2001 Civic's transmission woes? Honda conducted a major transmission recall in 2004 & settled a class action lawsuit for defective transmissions in 2006. But, neither the recall or the lawsuit included the 2001 Civic.

Last thing to consider - the 2001 Civic is the most-recalled car ever, closely followed by the 2002 Civic & the 2001 Accord. The 2001 Civic is the 4th most-recalled vehicle overall, only a Ford truck & two Ford vans have more.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
7 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
4 / 0
Average Mileage:
73,241 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2001 Honda Civic engine problems

engine problem

Find something helpful? Spread the word.
Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2001 Honda Civic:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

2001 Honda Civic Owner Comments (Page 1 of 2)

problem #24

Jun 022018

Civic

  • 58,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

On June 2, 2018, I was pulling into my space at my apartment with my friend in the passenger seat. The car suddenly and uxpectantly acceralted and jumped the curb and hit a tree which stopped the car. The airbags did not employ.both of us were sore for the next few days but no major injuries.

- Ypsilanti, MI, USA

problem #23

May 312015

Civic

  • 151,000 miles
The contact owns a 2001 Honda Civic. After the contact removed his foot from the brake pedal, the vehicle suddenly accelerated. The driver lost control of the vehicle, crashed into the rear of a second vehicle, and drove through a wired fence. The air bags failed to deploy. The driver suffered an injured neck and back that did not require medical attention. The cause of the failure was not diagnosed. A police report was filed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 151,000.

- Valley Stream, NY, USA

problem #22

Mar 212015

Civic 4-cyl

  • 76,000 miles
Unintended acceleration. Engine rev went to 3000 RPM while stopped at a traffic light. Kept car stationary by pressing hard on the break. First and only occurrence; also almost the first and only day the car was driven with cruise control operational.

- Baton Rouge, LA, USA

problem #21

Dec 062014

Civic 4-cyl

  • 98,605 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

While driving on the interstate, the car was no longer accelerating. While stepping on the gas the engine was revving but the speed would not increase. As I was only a short way from an exit, I was able to get off of the interstate, down the exit ramp, and to the stop light prior to the local roads as the car would still drive but only less than 40 mph. Upon getting to the stop light, the car no longer responded to the gas pedal going forward, I was able to back up to a space in between turn lanes. I placed my hazard lights on and called triple a for a tow truck. My car was towed to a local auto body where I was informed the car's transmission had gone, to their surprise as the car is in "great condition".

- Cambridge, MA, USA

problem #20

May 032014

Civic

  • 135,000 miles
The contact owns a 2001 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while reversing at an unknown speed, the vehicle accelerated without warning and crashed into another vehicle. There were no injuries reported and a police report was not filed. The vehicle was not taken for diagnosis or repair. The contact had not notified the manufacturer of the failure. The failure and current mileage was 135,000.

- Waterbury, CT, USA

problem #19

Oct 112012

Civic 4-cyl

  • 104,000 miles
Total transmission failure! while I was stopped at a traffic light it felt like the car would not get in gear. I would press on the gas and the engine would rev up but I was not moving. I was able to let it coast to a side street to get out of traffic. This could have been really ugly if I was on the highway or on a busier street. I had to get it towed to the nearest service station. Apparently the oil pump and torque converter failed which basically caused the rest of the transmission to burn up. I had to do a complete new transmission rebuild. I know my Honda has a few miles but 104K seems too early for a transmission failure.

- Cleveland, OH, USA

problem #18

Jun 082012

Civic 4-cyl

  • 104,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I was driving home, back country roads, when suddenly my vehicle revved up to over 5000rpm while making a very slow turn. I brake, it stopped revving up, but when I started again it shuddered and then completely stopped moving. I could not go in any gear, I tried waiting a while, car runs fine but won't move. Sat by the side of the road waiting for a tow, have now been told the transmission failed and needs replaced. Of course, this will cost almost the value of the care, but that's not my main concern. While this did not cause me physical harm, I was planning on leaving for baltimore within the hour. Had this car waited 50 more miles to give out I would have been traveling at a high rate of speed on 695S along with many other Friday night commuters and could have easily caused a major accident and who knows how many people could have been killed, myself included" this car simply stopped moving within 1 minute - no lights on the dash, no prior notice of anything wrong. I keep this car maintained per the manual and was planning on keeping it for several more years. I have now found that this has been a well known issue for Honda for many years and still nothing is being done. There are so many complaints by so many consumers I can hardly believe there has not been a recall on this. How many does it take? how many will need to die in accidents caused by this before something is done"

- Conestoga, PA, USA

problem #17

Jun 112012

Civic

  • 80,000 miles
Car was driving normally, all of a sudden couldn't make it up a hill, speed wouldn't go past 20mph. Transmission problems.

- Goffstown, NH, USA

problem #16

Nov 252011

Civic 4-cyl

  • 138,000 miles
I am the single owner of the car and been meticulous with maintenance. Then suddenly over the thanksgiving weekend as I stepped on the gas, the car revved up but did not move. Fortunately I was just down the street. Now the mechanic is asking for $2200. Question is if I do spend that amount and get a new transmission, what's the guarantee if that one won't fail?

- Austin, TX, USA

problem #15

Aug 112011

Civic 4-cyl

  • 150,200 miles
Car began accelerating rapidly while driving down a hill. Was finally able to bring it to a stop after driving down an entire stretch of flat road without pressing the gas at all. When I put the vehicle in park, it accelerated furiously but didn't attempt to go anywhere, and finally I just turned it off. My father was able to come to my assistance, and was able to get the car drivable again after pressing on the gas several times while the vehicle was in park. I drove the car to work the next morning without any problems. However, I feel that if this would have happened on a higher speed road, such as the interstate, my safety would have been severely compromised and bringing the car to a complete stop would have been much more difficult. I really don't have any other problems with the car, but I am now very skeptical about driving it, especially on the interstate.

- Boiling Springs, SC, USA

problem #14

Nov 172005

Civic

  • 66,705 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Honda dealership replaced my transmission because the transmission was failing between gears and when I was driving car it will fail to accelerate and not move and this was very dangerous because I did not have control of my car while driving, the dealership installed a "new" transmission because I had warranty and now at 128000 miles the " new" transmission is leaking, the dealership said they will not repair and that there is not any warranty for the transmission anymore. I have heard a lot of complaints for the Honda Civic 2001 transmission, one of the worst transmissions from Honda cars, Honda used to be a good reliable car. All that I can say if the Honda dealer replace the transmission with a " new " transmission why is leaking? it does not make any sense. Now to repair the transmission at a local shop they will charge around 3000 dollars.

- Pineville , NC, USA

problem #13

Jan 302009

Civic

  • 107,000 miles
Left front headlight first failed on 01/30/2009. Electrical wiring to front low beam headlight overheated causing melting of headlight connector to electrical harnesst.. a succession of another 4 headlight connectors have melted between O8/08/2009 to December 14, 2010. First 4 headlight connector replacements completed by Honda dealer. Prior to Jan 30th 2009 headlight connector failure, a different Honda dealer completed NHTSA 304V86000 recall work for headlight electrical overheating recall in 2006 during regular maintenance appointment. Failure #5 happened on dec14, 2010 just 6 days after melted connector #4 was replaced on December 8th 2010. Dealer found cruise control unit inoperable due to electrical melt down. Original air conditioner compressor replaced in 2009 due to melt down. Safety and possible fire hazard due to chronic overheating of original electrical harness & multi-plex unit. Honda dealer unable solve problem of repeated melting headlight connectors. All connectors are Honda dealer parts. Total of 4 left headlight connectors and 1 right headlight connector have melted. 5th melted headlight connector has not been replaced. Using the high-beams to drive at night since 4 previous Honda dealer replacement connectors have melted. Time intervals between connector failure keeps getting shorter and shorter. Due to chronic unsolved electrical overheating problem, the safety of electrical system is compromised.

- Lomita, CA, USA

problem #12

Nov 212010

Civic

  • miles
My mother is a victim of sudden acceleration incident from a Honda Civic 2001. She was driving the vehicle on a small street and had placed it in park. Then, she placed the gear back into drive and before tapping the gas pedal the car surged forward in high acceleration and went out of control. She applied the brakes a few times but it failed to stop the car. The steering was also out of control and the car continued to accelerate about 30-40 mph for an entire block and finally, crashed into a tree totaling the vehicle. She was taken away by ambulance. As a result of the crash, she suffered from a broken ankle and heel, deep gash to the knee, severe chest pain (from airbag) and heart contusion. She spent over a week in the hospital and is still in the process of recovering.

- Toronto, 00, USA

problem #11

Jul 042010

Civic

  • 130,000 miles
My name is [xxx], my husband is [xxx] and were purchased a care from jack matia in 2006 for the Honda Civic 2001, on July the 4th my daughters took the car to put gas in it when they pulled out into traffic te car stopped and would only go in reverse, after calling not only the dealership and the Honda headquaters I've only been told that it isn't covered under the warranty, but this isn't a warrant issues the reason behind it not being on a recall list is because Honda doesn't think this is a safety issue. My daughter hasd just came off the highway I'm only grateful that it didn't die on them then after having a mechanic check the car out we found out it was the transmission had died. My daughter said no lights (engine or otherwise) had came on that's why she didin't know what happened.they because my VIN # wasn't on the recall list they couldn't do anything about it, that iwas stuck with the cost repair, it may not be a recall but it is a known issue.so now I am making payments on a lemon that was sold to even with the awareness that this was an issue. And I pretty sure there was a lemon law broekn some where, not to mention the risk this put my family at while driving this car. We do alot of highway driving due to my job. No one wants to take responsibilty but someone definitely should forthe risk they put my family and other drivers on the road at. Are we going to wait til we are dealing with a situation like we just did with Toyota"???" I certainly hope not. I've put over $5,000 dollars in payments that's not countng repairs into this car and this is a slap in the face for a consumer who works and has always worked hard for her living. I know I'll never buy another Honda, too afraid especailly after what my daughters experienced. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Lorain, OH, USA

problem #10

Jun 212010

Civic

  • 76,300 miles
The contact owns a 2001 Honda Civic. The contact attempted to brake from unknown speeds but to no avail. The brakes would not engage and the vehicle proceeded through the traffic stop, crashing into the side of another vehicle. The air bags did not deploy. The vehicle was towed to the contacts residence. The vehicle was not repaired however, the air bags were previously serviced under NHTSA campaign id number: 09V259000 (air bags). The failure and current mileages were 76,300.

- San Fransico, CA, USA

problem #9

Apr 102010

Civic

  • 118,473 miles
Was driving on the freeway when my 2001 Honda Civic jumped gears and shifted to a lower gear the check engine light came on and drastically reduced my speed had to maneuver off the freeway exit out as soon as possible and managed to drive it to a mechanic nearby which said I would have to take it to a dealer to fix it. When I took it to the dealer they told me I would have to wait until the light came back on so driving on the freeway it happened again this time took it to the dealer and received the code PO740. Doing research online I found out this was common in Civics and some Accord and that 2001 was the worst. Honda has been using faulty transmission and solenoid parts and has caused problems for many owner that seems to cause problems and not allowing to shift into third gear and allows it to redline. Indeed no problem occurs when not driving to shift into third gear at about 3500 RPM but this causes a problem when the need to accelerate quickly or driving uphill is required, luckily I was able and traffic on the freeway wasn't heavy when this occurred that allowed me to exit quickly but if this had caused me to shift down it would've been dangerous and caused a hazard to me and other drivers. Please look into this as no recall has yet to be made even though the multitude of people with this problem.

- Torrance, CA, USA

problem #8

Apr 092009

Civic

  • 82,000 miles
The contact owns a 2001 Honda Civic. While driving approximately 3 mph in reverse, the vehicle abnormally accelerated at an unusually high rate of speed. The vehicle then crashed into an unknown object. The vehicle suffered major damage but was not destroyed. The air bags did not deploy upon impact. The vehicle was inoperable. The VIN was not available at the time of the complaint. The failure mileage was 82,000 and the current mileage was 82,000. Updated 05/13/10.

- Las Vegas, NV, USA

problem #7

Feb 262010

Civic

  • 82,500 miles
From a dead stop the car uncontrollably accelerated. The foot brake would not slow the vehicle. Somehow the car wound up doing a 180 on the road and slammed into a snow bank. I was able to jam the transmission into park and slow the car with the hand brake.

- Saint Paul, MN, USA

problem #6

Sep 152001

Civic

  • miles
No summary listed for above vehicle.

- Arlington, TX, USA

problem #5

Oct 232001

Civic

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
The vehicle is surging/racing at idle, this has occurred during driving/operation also.

- Jamaica Plain, MA, USA

Read the next 4 complaints »

Not what you are looking for?