Honda Civics have a battery charging problem. Unless you have the headlights on, they charge only at 12.5 volts unless the vehicle is decelerating. In an attempt to save gas and maybe some alternator life, they overdid it and the battery keeps dying every 1 to 2 years. Many complaints online about this. Many people wastefully changed alternators and batteries in order to fix the issue but the real problem is with the computer logic. Honda needs to recall the affected civics and have the logic fixed.
Stay away from Honda! I’ve been having a problem with my 2012 Civic SI not starting almost everyday for the past 10 months. Battery and alternator just replaced and still the same problem! I’m in desperate need of a vehicle since my wife if pregnant and the Honda dealerships say there is nothing they can do when I bring it in except charge me $156 to figure out what the problem is and if I don’t let them fix whatever they find wrong I’m out all that money!
There are so many complaints online from literally 100s of people about the same problem I’m having and they get the same response but yet they still won’t do anything to fix the problem since recalls cost a lot of money! If you are out of warranty you’re screwed!! If you are in warranty they will just slap a new battery on and call it a day which works temporary but then you have the same problem all over again. Most frustrating car I’ve ever owned!!!! Even calling Honda of America doesn’t help you.
I will never buy a Honda again!!!! The dealers will only look at my car if I pay them $156 and if they figure out the problem they will put the $156 towards the repairs but let say the repair costs $1000 and I can’t afford to pay them and I wanna find a cheaper place Honda told me that they keep the $156 unless you have them fix it!
There are also a lot of complaints online with people having the same problem as me and there car are shutting off on them while driving and when that happens there is no more electric steering which could lead to a major car accident!! #honda doesn’t care as long as they don’t need to do a recall and be out a lot of money and something that makes them look bad!! This is gonna be just as bad as the whole Toyota gas pedal getting stuck to the floor thing all over again and it’s going to make them look really bad!!
I have just put my FOURTH battery in this car that is just under 4 years old. Each time the battery dies completely and when tested it shows good only to die the next day. The charging system tests OK also. But the ONLY fix that works is a new battery.
The battery went dead suddenly and without warning. I took my wife to the airport and parked in short term parking. Less than 30 minutes later I returned and attempted to start the car. Nothing happened. There was only a brief clicking sound and then silence. But, all of the peripherals worked -- windows, radio, headlights, instrument panel, etc. I had to get a jump from airport security.
Initially, I thought I'd somehow activated the immobilizer system, but since a simple jump start worked, this didn't seem logical. I drove home (50 miles) without incident. Back at home I was able to start the car without any problems for the next five days. I began to believe that it was the immobilizer system after all.
Then, on the following Thursday, the same thing happened. I parked at a local shopping center and returned to the car less than 30 minutes later. The car was dead. This time I had to get a tow to local shop ($55). The mechanic -- someone I trust and have done business with for many years -- ran a diagnostic and to the best of his ability determined that the battery must have had a short. He had no idea how this might have happened. Nor was he able to explain why there was no charging system warning light. If the battery is not charging properly the computerized system should have given me some warning. Adding to the mystery, I never had any trouble starting the car prior to either incident. In my experience when a battery begins to fail the first indication may be that it will take a couple of turns of the key to get it going. This is how it has happened in every other car I've ever owned.
With the tow and the new battery this cost me $195. But that's not the worst thing. Now I always have the fear that this could happen again, suddenly, without warning, and far from home.
Have 2012 civic 7000 miles. I'm on my third battery. If the car doesn't run for two days the battery goes dead. Honda replaces the battery but tells me it's my fault . Went dead today because I was away for four days. This battery is two months old.
- Linda W.,
Budd Lake, NJ, US
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Came out to the garage to go to work and the car wouldn't turn over. Auto Club arrived that night, tested, advised Honda Civic mfg uses a cheap battery to help keep the cost of the car down. Said it should have lasted three years, not covered under warranty and that this one, per the sticker, lasted two years and two months.
When I purchased my barely used 2012 Honda Civic i was so excited. Not the case now...HAHAHAHA.. I love to travel and go places.. So with only 18 miles on my car I was excited to hit the road and listen to my music.. I mean you need to have good beats while traveling or chilling at the beach or park, right???
I had no idea that this car did not have an auxiliary switch on it, so for almost 2 Years I had been using all my juice from my battery while chilling at the parks and beach with friends. I mean I kind of ignored my warning to remove the key once the car was off! oops...Anyway, To make a long story short I ended up buying a new battery because mine was bad. One day I was at the store and it just died.. Pain in the ass... But before all of this happened, one day I was washing my car at my house listening to music and went to start it and nothing!!! Dead battery, so I jumped it and drove it to Honda and the service man checked it out. He said if it starts up within 6 seconds your battery is fine... mind you I told him how abusive I have been with this battery...He said that's not a problem... you don't need to buy a new battery, this one is fine. So, now I leave with the knowledge to never ever play my music unless the car is running...
Months later, Car is dragging when I start it...Died... Jumped It... Took it to Dealership... All I need is a new battery... that's it... Service guy said well, we should test it out first to see if it's bad.. Test didn't say battery was bad... Charged battery retest it... battery should be replaced.. Picked up my car... almost $300.00... I said WHY SO MUCH?? Battery only cost $109.95.. OH, LABOR AND DIAGNOSTICS TEST ON BATTERY!!!! WHAT THE HELL... I AM NOT PAYING FOR THAT..I TOLD YOU ONLY TO REPLACE BATTERY!!! They knocked off some of it, but really??? This is clearly why I don't like going to dealerships!!!! RIP OFFS!!!
BASICALLY MY CAR HAS BEEN NOTHING BUT ONE BIG ASS HEADACHE, THAT I CAN'T SEEM TO GET RID OF!!!!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Honda Civics have a battery charging problem. Unless you have the headlights on, they charge only at 12.5 volts unless the vehicle is decelerating. In an attempt to save gas and maybe some alternator life, they overdid it and the battery keeps dying every 1 to 2 years. Many complaints online about this. Many people wastefully changed alternators and batteries in order to fix the issue but the real problem is with the computer logic. Honda needs to recall the affected civics and have the logic fixed.
- Dorothy K., Wichita, KS, US