After the rear tires wore out on my 2008 Civic EX's first 2 sets of tires, I bought 4 new tires with an extra-long treadwear rating (Michelin Hydro-Edge 205/55R16's), bought a lifetime wheel balance & rotation contract, & a lifetime alignment contract -- all to no avail. At 76,000 miles, (after only 6,000 miles on the new tires), I was told that the rears were wearing prematurely (just as with the first 2 sets!). When checking the alignment, a local Firestone store told me that Honda's rear wheel alignment specs were causing the premature wear; the mechanic suggested setting the rear toe out to zero degrees. I will specify that figure at every subsequent alignment check on this car and on my 2006 Civic LX, which has experienced the same problem throughout its 121K miles. In all of our trips back to dealers with these two cars, why hasn't any Honda dealer's service dept. mentioned the short upper control arm to us??? Not a great way to retain loyal customers, Honda!

"set rear toe-out @ 0 degrees -- says firestone mechanic

The OEM tires were incredibly noisy from Day 1, and the rears wore out in 14K miles. I replaced them with oversized (215/60R16) Goodyear Viva 2's from Wal-Mart, had them immediately aligned to Honda's specs by my local Honda dealer, & religiously kept them balanced & aligned. All to no avail; I noticed vibration soon after buying the new tires. At 34K miles I even paid to have the worst tire "trued," which temporarily made the vibrations less noticeable. Since there was still decent tread depth on the tires, I just continued to have them religiously rotated, balanced, & aligned -- and just drove on them. Finally, @ 69K miles, I was told by W-M that the tires were all "badly worn," due to misalignment. Took the car to the Honda dealer, who told me that the "excessive, uneven wear was due to "driving with oversized tires on the car." The dealer's service dept. told me that it could not even align the oversized tires. At 69,616 miles I reluctantly scrapped the oversized Goodyears (still had decent tread, but were all badly cupped & very noisy & producing significant vibration), and bought 4 new Michelin Hydro-Edge 205/55R16 tires, for $548.20 tire cost + $167.99 installation (incl. lifetime balancing) = $716.19. I also got from Firestone a lifetime alignment contract.

Then, only 6K miles down the road, I am told that my rear tires have worn out prematurely (again). The local Firestone store told me that Honda's rear wheel alignment specs are incorrect (it should have zero degrees of toe-out, the guy said). I've since had that toe-out set to zero degrees, but the damage has already been done to my Civic's rear tires, which are now on the front, and bouncing down the road. I am not happy!

I have a 2008 Honda civic lx. I purchased the civic used at about 25,000 miles. Around 45,000 miles I began feeling a strong vibration in my front suspension and hearing a lot of noise as if i was driving on mud tires. I thought my balance was off so i took the car to discount tire. I was told the balance was great but my rear tires were bald and I might need an alignment. I had to purchase new tires then went to a mechanic for an alignment. The alignment on my civic was way off. Both my front tires were toed in and the camber was way off on all 4 tires. Honda denies that civics have camber issues and they wont fix the problem. They will blame your tires or driving habits. My front suspension was fixed with a camber kit and the rear with a new "adjustable" control arm. The stock control arm on civics cant be adjusted that's why you need the adjustable control arm. The problem is now fixed. It feathered the hell out of my tires but the car drives great.

Been working with Honda trying to get this fixed. Honda had put aftermarket wheels on car 18 inch when we bought car new. thought this might be the problem put some 17 wheels from a si on car still wears tires out, cupping and vibration. Honda says I have too much weight in trunk. Did not have this problem with 07 honda, same weight in trunk. Just some tools etc. Guess you are not supposed to use trunk. I am the only one in car usually. Honda dealer says aftermarket upper rear control arms might fix problem. They wont install because not honda parts. My tires wear out after 20000 miles. The vibration and cupping has ruined my tires at 10000 miles, you cannot rotate because vibration makes undriveable. The dealer knows these cars have problems and don't know what to do. Love the car other than this problem and I did have cracked visors. Honda needs to make this right!!!

Going through rear tires at an incredible rate. Always a terrible vibration from rear passenger wheel leading to tire replacement. Last set (last week showed passenger rear bald and driver rear tire 40%!!). This car feels like its on marbles on ice and snow and back end always feeling like its letting loose to the point its like steering a boat and fighting to keep it straight (yes with new tires). There is an obvious rear camber issue and mark my words this car will leave the highway at some point...

Honda does someone have to get killed to take action on this obvious problem you are aware of.

This 2008 Civic EX has 41,537 miles and both front and rear tires have <2/32 tread depth left. 13,400 miles on tires with a 60k warranty. This would be the 3rd tire replacement in 3 yrs 2 months. The Honda dealership told me I had bad tires, and poor driving habits. My response - why did the OEM tires wear out after only 12,789 miles? The service mgr said there was no service bulletin for my car, so he couldn't do anything. I told him that I knew the rear upper control arm was too short and therefore defective, but he insisted my Civic had the proper control arm. I asked for a goodwill replacement but he was a stonewall.

I am being asked to put on the THIRD SET OF TIRES IN LESS THAN 70,000 KMs (43400 miles) on my 2008 HONDA CIVIC because of excessive and uneven wear on the rear tires. Since the car was new I have complained to Honda dealers about vibrations and poor tire performance. At 39488 KMS I gave up on the Good Year tires the car came with and bought Michelin Hydro Edge tires. Two months after installing the new tires, on July 31, 2009 I took the car to a Honda shop and asked them to check the alignment as my new tire were vibrating. They advised two Michelin tire were defective and they placed them on the rear wheels and charged me for rebalancing my newly purchased tires. A year later with 29835 KMS (18498 Miles) on the Michelin tires I am advised that the two rear tires have 30% wear left and are worn so unevenly that they could not be balanced and that I need to replace them.

It is clear that the problem was with the rear end alignment from the beginning and that the tires wore unevenly and excessively on the rear and when moved to the front wheels the vibrations and steering problems followed. Honda should have been aware of this problem, but my case choose to ignore it.

Although I had my car serviced at Honda dealers (because of volunteer assignments we moved a number of times) and complained about this recurring problem repeatedly and one time (July 31, 2009) took it to a Honda dealer specifically for a possible alignment problem, but nothing was done. HONDA CANADA SAYS that it is Not their problem and "don't expect an assistance from HONDA CANADA". That is the kind of service that I got from my previous car company and I never went back.

I have a 2008 honda civic LX that needed tires at 17500 miles. I purchased new tires at Discount Tire GoodYear Assurance and an alignment at Kuni Honda where I Purchased the car Certified. At 21,000 miles I had vibration and flat spots on my rear tires. I went back to Kuni Honda and they checked alignment and showed me the car on the rack all tires were withen specifications. I was told by their service manager and technician that there is nothing wrong with my car and to go back to the tire store for answers. They said I have the new control arms and there is nothing they can do.I went back to Discount tires and showed them my alignment readout showing all wheels within specifications. They put me in P5s at no charge what a great Company. They said they would send the GoodYears back for credit they just wanted to take care of the customer. What a concept !!! Well now after drivind on my new P5s guess what Yep same problem. I went to another dealer and they said it was a rear bearing covered under warranty. So I forwarded this to Kuni Hondas Service Manager about what they missed. Just after leaving message in the waiting area the service tech came out and said my wheel bearings were fine and there is nothing they could adjust. Wish I didnt call him.No charge but said they could here vibration from the rear. I called the manager of Kuni Honda and no return phone call. Big surprise here. Well back to the P.O.S. civic. I am at 22780 miles on my civic vibrator. With no help from dealers. We know they are aware of civic problems and have no solution for this problem. So if you are reading this and have simimal problem POST IT ! I will leave you with this, Discount Tire has a customer for life. And Kuni Honda had a chance to help me when I told the service manager I hate this car and the fact you cant solve this problem. They could of put me in another car. Honda quality and the fact they let there loyal customers go through this hell is not acceptable. Hope you enjoyed my actual problem with documentation. Any one want a used honda.

Update from Oct 10, 2009: I called Honda Corp. 1-800-999-1009 and filed a complaint with them. So I am very clear. They admitted knowledge of the problem. Their engineers are working on a solution with no time frame.That is from the horses mouth. I called another Honda Dealer in denver, Planet Honda. One of their service techs confirmed the vin number. My rear upper control arms are not recalled because I have a C code. This affected 06-07 civics. They asked about my alignment specs and they are within the correct range. They have knowedge of this problem and no solution is available at this time.They gave the customer real information. Thank you. I know Kuni Honda is aware of the problem and by them sending me to the tire store because this is a tire related problem was the BRUSH OFF. Had they been honest on my first visit, I could have just called Honda Corp. for no answer. But instead they had me go to the tire store three times for balancing, checking for bent rims, ect. and then schedule another alignment. So they wasted everyone's time looking for a solution to a problem they had an answer to, or at least know of the problem. So this is for the Service Manager at Kuni Honda. My complaint did not fall on deaf ears. And for the General Manager who can't return a phone call. Dealers need to back up a customer not brush them off. It is what it is.So if you have a similar problem just find a good dealer or call Honda Corp. As soon as I get a solution I will post it for all who are looking for the truth. By the way if a good car dealer didn't have the answer ,they would call Honda for answers.Not let the customer do his job.

This is my third Honda Civic, 2006,2007,2008. Would have bought a fourth last fall but the Dealer jacked the price by $2000. I travel about 55,000 miles per year, 40k at work. I have had the same problem with the 06 and 08. I rotate the tires every 6k and usually at least one tire still develops a flat spot while on one of the rear locations. Rotating more frequently may help, but does not eliminate the problem. I am typically getting 40 to 45k out of each set of 80,000 mile tires.

Local Honda dealership offers no solution, except buy new tires. Alignment shop suggest replacing upper control arms on rear with adjustable ones. My service adviser at the local dealership was not sure if Honda offered adjustable control arms, but thought there was after market equipment available.

Alignment shop suggest a cost in the neighborhood of $400. I am disappointed with Honda for not offering a solution to a problem that has persisted through three model years. Even though the Civic is ideal for my needs with gas mileage, comfort, room, handeling, etc, I will most likely switch to a Toyota, Nissan, or ?? this fall. The corporate world has discovered they can take continuous advantage of consumers, I guess as a result of our not standing up for ourselves. At this point, all I know I can do is change car companies.