2.2

hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
71,220 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.

2005 Honda Civic drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2005 Honda Civic Owner Comments

problem #18

Sep 022021

Civic

  • miles

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

I purchased this car from a Honda dealership used for over 7 thousand dollars in 2021 it's a 2005 car with known issues. I drove it for less than 2 months before it overheated without an indication by the gauge that it was overheating and blew a head gasket. It was acting funny before it happened I brought it back to the dealership a couple times they charged me several hundred dollars to do nothing besides diagnosed it and told me nothing was wrong with it. Obviously there's plenty wrong with a car I'm just finding out that the battery is probably going to die really soon and I had to pay a mechanic to put another engine in it and paid another 2 thousand dollars. Now the transmission is completely gone and I have to figure out how to come up with more money to fix it while I'm out of work because of this I should have done better research before I bought this car but why aren't there any lemon laws for used cars just purchased from dealerships in a lot of states Florida only has one if it's a brand new car very unhelpful and unfortunate for me right now that a multi billion dollar company can do this to me and leave me broke without a car and out of work knowing they sold me a car that was going to have multiple failures really soon luckily I wasn't on the highway when my engine died or after I replaced the engine and the transmission died or it could have been dangerous my advice is don't trust anyone and good luck in this country with transportation gas is $4 a gallon only reason I bought this car and it was a bad idea to say the least I thought buying from a dealership wouldn't leave me completely broke and broken down. Oh and the cruise control malfunctioned once scared me to death on the highway almost caused me to crash into the car ahead of me.

- Middleburg , FL, USA

problem #17

Jun 302022

Civic

  • miles
The car runs good but will not stay in 2nd gear this is the 2nd manual transmission the factory did the same then tran#2 did the same now had replaced for 3rd time and this one's doing the same thing.

- Kingsport , TN, USA

problem #16

Jul 012019

Civic

  • miles
In 2019 Honda came out to fix the air bag recall. I never had problems with the air bag light coming on until after they fixed the air bag. The air bag light stays on all the time along with a check engine light. Also I-€™ve had to replace the whole transmission in 2019. In 2018 my engine cracked and I had to replace it with another engine. Currently the rack and pion went bad. The vehicle will at times steer on its own and sometimes the steering wheel won-€™t turn. I-€™ve spent thousands of dollars over the past few years. I do not believe Honda put in the air bags correctly. I barely had driven my car anywhere and I should not be having these types of problems. It-€™s a safety hazard.

- Winston Salem , NC, USA

problem #15

May 132014

Civic

  • 80,000 miles

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

My transmission is slipping and barley shifting into 2nd gear to 3rd it has 95000 miles on it and the transmission is bad all 2000 to 2005 Honda have bad transmission problems but they never recalled it why"???? now I had to replace the head gasket because it was blown at 75000 miles thats to early for that to be happening I spent 2000 grand on it already why didn't they recall this???"

- Cape Elizabeth, ME, USA

problem #14

Sep 102014

Civic

  • 124,723 miles
This car has a defective transmission. Unknown to me, it came that way from the dealer. A couple Honda dealerships acknowledged the problem. It first started slipping around 40,000 miles. I had the transmission fluid changed ahead of schedule and the problem went away. This was when they told me of the class action law suit and the recommended fixes. The transmission initially failed at 54,300 miles. Stevens creek Honda cleaned the transmission with a special detergent and replaced the fluid. They said if the problem came up again before 109,000 miles they would have to 'burnish' the transmission. What I didn't realize is that the detergent cleaning was a 'band-aid' fix so that the dealership could avoid the more costly fixes they were obligated to perform under the terms of the lawsuit. The car performed normally again. I would have the fluid replaced more that normal during service visits. The transmission failed again at 124,700 miles. Now they don't want to cover the cost because it is now longer under warranty, or covered by the terms of the class action lawsuit. This is essentially fraud. They did a cheap ineffective cleaning in order to avoid and expensive repair they were supposed to do. Also, when the transmission fails, I have almost gotten in a serious accident on the freeway. This is a very dangerous problem. I will never buy a Honda again

- Sunnyvale, CA, USA

problem #13

Sep 252010

Civic

  • 53,491 miles
This car has a defective transmission. Unknown to me, it came that way from the dealer. A couple Honda dealerships acknowledged the problem. It first started slipping around 40,000 miles. I had the transmission fluid changed ahead of schedule and the problem went away. This was when they told me of the class action law suit and the recommended fixes. The transmission initially failed at 54,300 miles. Stevens creek Honda cleaned the transmission with a special detergent and replaced the fluid. They said if the problem came up again before 109,000 miles they would have to "burnish? the transmission. What I didn?T realize is that the detergent cleaning was a ?band-aid? fix so that the dealership could avoid the more costly fixes they were obligated to perform under the terms of the lawsuit. The car performed normally again. I would have the fluid replaced more that normal during service visits. The transmission failed again at 124,700 miles. Now they don?T want to cover the cost because it is now longer under warranty, or covered by the terms of the class action lawsuit. This is essentially fraud. They did a cheap ineffective cleaning in order to avoid and expensive repair they were supposed to do. Also, when the transmission fails, I have almost gotten in a serious accident on the freeway. This is a very dangerous problem. I will never buy a Honda again?"

- Sunnyvale, CA, USA

problem #12

Sep 232010

Civic 4-cyl

  • 53,491 miles

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

This car has a defective transmission. Unknown to me, it came that way from the dealer. A couple Honda dealerships acknowledged the problem. It first started slipping around 40,000 miles. I had the transmission fluid changed ahead of schedule and the problem went away. This was when they told me of the class action law suit and the recommended fixes. The transmission initially failed at 54,300 miles. Stevens creek Honda cleaned the transmission with a special detergent and replaced the fluid. They said if the problem came up again before 109,000 miles they would have to "burnish? the transmission. What I didn't realize is that the detergent cleaning was a ?band-aid? fix so that the dealership could avoid the more costly fixes they were obligated to perform under the terms of the lawsuit. The car performed normally again. I would have the fluid replaced more that normal during service visits. The transmission failed again at 154,600 miles. Now they don?T want to cover the cost because it is now longer under warranty, or covered by the terms of the class action lawsuit. This is essentially fraud. They did a cheap ineffective cleaning in order to avoid and expensive repair they were supposed to do. I will never buy a Honda again?"

- Sunnyvale, CA, USA

problem #11

Jun 142012

Civic 4-cyl

  • 125,000 miles
The car has begun making a loud noise, when in gear, this is a manual transmission car, but whenever I am in drive it makes this loud grinding noise. If I am in neutral no noise at all. And sometimes even in drive is intermittent.

- East Newark, NJ, USA

problem #10

Mar 052012

Civic 4-cyl

  • 125,700 miles
There was a rattling noise coming from transmission, took to Honda certified mechanic and was told it was the throwout bearing and to replace the clutch as preventative maintenance, get a call when they have clutch off and told me its the bearings in the transmission. This is a common problem in this make and model, there are numerous complaints, and videos on youtube of the same problem on Honda Civics around the same mileage.

- Veguita , NM, USA

problem #9

Nov 042011

Civic 4-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 115,002 miles
Horrible noise coming from my '05 Civic LX's manual transmission. Noise has been getting worse; started at 115K miles. I have spoke with a few mechanics and they told me most Honda have a recall for this problem. I called Honda customer service at 1800 999 1009 and they didn't wanted to fix it free of charge.

- Denver, CO, USA

problem #8

Jan 312011

Civic 4-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 123,176 miles

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

2005 Honda Civic dx manual transmission: My car start having a rattling noise from transmission when I release the clutch.I took the car to get it fixed and they told me is the transmission's input shaft bearing(common problem for this model)and it will cost me $1000 to get it fixed. I heard this a Honda recall issue.

- La Mesa, CA, USA

problem #7

Sep 012011

Civic

  • 120,000 miles
The contact owns a 2005 Honda Civic. The contact was driving approximately 70 mph when the vehicle exhibited an abnormally loud noise. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where they advised the contact that the failure was caused by the input shaft bearing, which would need replacing. The vehicle was not repaired for the input shaft bearing. The manufacturer was contacted and they offered no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 120,000. The VIN was unavailable.

- Staton Island, NY, USA

problem #6

Oct 032011

Civic

  • 125,000 miles
Coolant keeps leaking. Went online and found numerous other owners reporting the same problem. My mechanic can't seem to fix the problem neither can any of the other owners online mechanics. Replaced the radiator and cap, water pump, head gasket, etc... but it still leaks. Can you please look into this. There are a lot of people online reporting the same problem but there's no bulletin number in your database for the 2005 Honda Civic cooling system. Thank you for your time and have a nice day.

- San Jose, CA, USA

problem #5

Aug 082011

Civic 4-cyl

  • 83,045 miles
2005 Honda Civic hybrid: Engine light came on and has been determined that the catalytic converter needs replacing along with the CO2 sensors, cost $2000. What causes a cat conv to go bad? Honda could not provide this information and refused to look into any service bulletins or recalls. This vehicle is only 6 years old, 83045 miles. We have had numerous issues with this vehicle, including the clutch, replacement of hybrid battery, seat belts and now this.

- Johns Creek, GA, USA

problem #4

Mar 152011

Civic

  • 57,330 miles
Component 1 ima (hybrid) battery assembly failure, not charging properly component 2 cvt transmission, 'start clutch' slipping & grinding when starting up from a stop

- Corrales, NM, USA

problem #3

Oct 032007

Civic

  • 50,000 miles
When accelerating quickly from a stop, the car makes a huge grinding noise--heard mostly in the front end. When accelerating slowly, no noise is heard. The car also slips horribly on wet or slippery pavement when accelerating from a stop. I have had the dealer say "this is a normal sound" when it failed when they tested it (I have recorded this in my files at the dealer when it was under warranty) and also when I brought it to an independent garage. They found nothing wrong with any of the front end parts and diagnosed it as an internal problem that they couldn't find or fix.

- Rockford, IL, USA

problem #2

Apr 252008

Civic

  • 46,000 miles
The contact owns a 2005 Honda Civic hybrid. The vehicle has a special transmission, which does not shift into gear. When the contact depressed the accelerator pedal, the RPM's increased to 5,200. While driving 25 mph, the vehicle experienced a lack of horse power and decelerated. The dealer stated that the shifter was designed to work in this manner and there was no remedy. The failure mileage was 46,000.

- Delhi, CA, USA

problem #1

Aug 012005

Civic

  • miles
2005 Honda Civic gear position switch was defective and had to be replaced. *

- Scarsdale, NY, USA

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