1985 HONDA CIVIC — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 14 complaints · 2 recalls
Most-reported system: SEAT BELTS (5 complaints · 35.7%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 4
  • Fires 1
  • Injuries 4
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1984 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution SEAT BELTS appears in 5 of 14 owner complaints (35.7%) in this vehicle snapshot. SEAT BELTS: 5 complaints, 35.7% of reports SEAT BELTS 5 · 35.7% · 2 crash reports ENGINE: 2 complaints, 14.3% of reports ENGINE 2 · 14.3% FUEL SYSTEM: 2 complaints, 14.3% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 2 · 14.3% · 1 fire reports SERVICE BRAKES: 1 complaints, 7.1% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 1 · 7.1% · 1 crash reports SUSPENSION: 1 complaints, 7.1% of reports SUSPENSION 1 · 7.1% VISIBILITY: 1 complaints, 7.1% of reports VISIBILITY 1 · 7.1% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 10 complaints, 71.4% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 10 · 71.4% · 4 crash reports 1 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
SEAT BELTS 5 35.7% 2 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 2 14.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 2 14.3% 0 crashes · 1 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 1 7.1% 1 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 1 7.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 1 7.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 10 71.4% 4 crashes · 1 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jan 1995; the first recall shown was reported in Jul 1988. 1995-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1995-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 1995-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 1996-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2001-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jul 1988 Jan 2001 Recall campaign 88V117000 ◆ Recall campaign 88V117000 Recall campaign 88V180000 ◆ Recall campaign 88V180000
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q1 Owner reports 1
1995-Q2 Owner reports 3
1995-Q4 Owner reports 1
1996-Q1 Owner reports 4
1996-Q2 Owner reports 1
1996-Q4 Owner reports 1
1997-Q3 Owner reports 2
2001-Q1 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 88V117000
Recall campaign 1 88V180000
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (2)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 88V117000

    Report date
    Component:
    FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
    Consequence:
    FUEL LEAKAGE IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT CREATES APOSSIBILITY OF A FIRE.
    Remedy:
    INSTALL AN IMPROVED FUEL PUMP ASSEMBLY.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 88V180000

    Report date
    Component:
    VISIBILITY
    Consequence:
    THIS COULD RESULT IN WINDSHIELD WIPER FAILURE AND WOULDAFFECT DRIVER VISIBILITY.
    Remedy:
    INSTALL A CONTACT UNIT HOLDER THAT WOULD PREVENT LOOSENING.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 14 complaints · page 1 of 1

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources