2003 HONDA CIVIC Complaints

A/C CONDENSER LEAK DUE TO DESIGN FLAW THAT ALLOWS ROAD DEBRIS TO HIT CONDENSER DIRECTLY AND CAUSE DAMAGE, LEAK, AND FAILURE FOR COLD A/C FLOW. *TR

OWN 2003 HONDA CIVIC EX BOUGHT NEW IN NOVEMBER 2002 FROM DCH HONDA OF OXNARD, CA. THREE WEEKS AGO TOOK CAR THERE FOR SRS INDICATOR BEING LIT CONSTANTLY WHILE VEHICLE WAS IN OPERATION. AT TIME OF SERVICE, LIGHT HAD BEEN LIT CONSTANTLY FOR ONE WEEK- NEVER CLEARED. AT SUBJECT DEALERSHIP, WAS TOLD AFTER VEHICLE BROUGHT INTO SERVICE AREA, LIGHT NOT LIT. FOUND "NO CODES STORED AT THIS TIME." DON'T KNOW SRS CIRCUITRY DESIGN-UNSURE IF SRS INDICATOR LATCHES UPON FAILURE AND CAN ONLY BE CLEARED BY SOME PROCESS. IF LATCHES, FEEL IT REASONABLE ASSUMPTION THAT IT COULD HAVE BEEN CLEARED BY SERVICE TECH'S. PRESUME NO DETAILED DIAGNOSTICS PERFORMED, AS WAS NOT CHARGED TYPICAL $95 FOR THAT SERVICE, PER OTHER DEALERSHIP INQUIRY. WILL NOT RETURN TO DCH HONDA AS RECEIVED SUBSTANDARD CUSTOMER SERVICE AND DCH AUTO GROUP NOT ANSWERED INQUIRIES CONCERNING NHTSA ACTION NUMBER PE05043 (OR OTHER ACTION) APPLICABILITY FOR NO-COST FIX. READ ON INTERNET SEVERAL HONDA/ACURA OWNERS HAVE HAD LIGHT COME ON AND SOME HAVE BEEN SUBJECT TO CASCADING REPAIR COSTS (EASTER-EGG TROUBLESHOOTING) IF NO CODES UNCOVERED. HAVE HEARD THAT BATTERY DRAIN MIGHT BE CULPRIT, ALTHOUGH HAVE NO PROBLEM CRANKING VEHICLE AND HAVE LESS THAN 40K MILES. APPRECIATE KNOWING IF NHTSA ACTION EXISTS TO HAVE FIXED W/O CASCADING REPAIR APPROACH. NOTICED YELLOW MODULAR CONNECTORS UNDER FRONT SEATS (PRESUME P/O SRS SYSTEM) EXPOSED AND SUBJECT TO CONTACT W/SLIDING/ROLLING FLOORBOARD ITEMS. POSSIBLY INTERMITTENT, NO FAULT CODE-RELATED LIGHT LATCHES OR IS CONSTANT DUE TO INTERMITTENT CIRCUIT DISCONTINUITY FROM STRESS TO EXPOSED CONNECTORS/CABLING. PROBLEM STILL PRESENT AND NEED TO GET IT REPAIRED PRONTO, BUT CAN'T AFFORD DEALERSHIP EXPERIMENTS WITH MY ONLY CAR. HAVE NOT HAD A FRONT-END COLLISION, NOR TAMPERING, NOR MAINTENANCE LAPSES (HAVE ADHERED TO ALL PREVENTIVE SERVICE REQUIREMENTS PLUS MORE). APPRECIATE ANY HELP YOU CAN PROVIDE. *TR

WHILE DRIVING MY 2003 CIVIC HYBRID USING CRUISE CONTROL, THE ACCEL/DECEL FEATURE ON THE STEERING WHEEL MALFUNCTIONS. I AM DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY, ENGAGE THE CRUISE CONTROL, USING THE STEERING WHEEL BUTTONS, AND THEN PRESS THE ACCEL BUTTON AND THE CARS BEGINS TO DECELERATE. I HAVE PAID EXTRA CAREFUL ATTENTION TO BE SURE THAT I AM NOT PRESSING THE INCORRECT BUTTON IN ERROR, AND I AM IN FACT PRESSING THE ACCEL BUTTON, YET THE CAR CONTINUES TO DECELERATE. AT THREE DIFFERENT TIMES, I HAVE TESTED THIS FAILURE AND IT IS AN INTERMITTENT PROBLEM. THIS COULD BE A SERIOUS SAFETY HAZARD AS THE FIRST TIME I DISCOVERED THIS MALFUNCTION, I WAS GETTING ONTO THE HIGHWAY ATTEMPTING TO ACCELERATE TO MERGE INTO TRAFFIC AND THE CAR BEGAN DECELERATING. ANY HELP WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 HONDA CIVIC LX. ON DECEMBER 21, 2006, WHILE DRIVING 8 MPH, THE CONTACTS VEHICLE WAS STRUCK BY ANOTHER VEHICLE TRAVELING 30 MPH. HER AIR BAG FAILED TO DEPLOY. THE CONTACTS HEAD STRUCK THE VEHICLE'S WINDSHIELD AND SIDE POST. A NEUROLOGIST STATED THAT SHE SUSTAINED POST CONCUSSION SYNDROME AND SOME PERMANENT BRAIN DAMAGE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT DUE TO THE SEVERITY OF HER INJURIES, SHE HAS HAD TO RETIRE EARLY FROM HER JOB AS A TEACHER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FRAME OF THE VEHICLE WAS SEVERED IN TWO PLACES. THE CONTACT STATED THAT SHE WALKED AWAY FROM THE ACCIDENT UNSCATHED, BUT TWO AND A HALF WEEKS LATER, SHE COULD NOT STAND, NOR COULD SHE SPEAK CLEARLY. THE CONTACT WAS REFERRED TO NHTSA BY HER DOCTOR. THE VEHICLE WAS DESTROYED. THE ENGINE SIZE WAS UNKNOWN. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 85,000. CALIFORNIA SAFETY TRAFFIC REPORT PROVIDED. UPDATED 08/09/07 *TR

WHEN ACCELERATING ON THE FREEWAY THE TRANSMISSION STARTED SLIPPING. THE CAR LURCHED , AND THE TRANSMISSION WOULDN'T CATCH. LUCKILY, WE BROUGHT THE CAR TO A SAFE STOP ON THE SIDE OF THE FREEWAY. THEN, THE TRANSMISSION WAS STUCK IN FIRST GEAR AND WOULD NOT SHIFT. WE LIMPED OFF THE FREEWAY IN FIRST GEAR. *AK

TL* - CONTACT STATED THAT ON THE EVENING OF APRIL 9, 2007 WHILE DRIVING AT 35 TO 40 MPH IN LIGHT HIGHWAY TRAFFIC, THE CONTACT HEARD A LOUD NOISE FROM UNDER THE 2003 HONDA CIVIC HYBRID. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT TURNED ON, AND TRANSMISSION GEAR SHIFTED FROM DRIVE TO NEUTRAL. THE CONTACT NOTICED THAT THE RPMS WENT UP TO 4000, BUT THE VEHICLE WAS NOT ACCELERATING. THE VEHICLE LOST POWER, AND WOULD ONLY DRIVE AT ABOUT 15 TO 20 MPH. THE CONTACT WAS WAITING FOR HONDA TO INSPECT THE VEHICLE. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGE WERE 83,000.*AK

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 HONDA CIVIC HYBRID. THE SRS LIGHT TURNED ON WITH AN ODOMETER READING OF 46,000 MILES ON MARCH 29 2007. THE VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED WITH 41,000 MILES AS A SALVAGED VEHICLE, AND REPAIRED FOR ROAD USE IN JUNE 2006. THE SRS REMAINED ILLUMINATED. IN A MINOR FRONT END COLLISION THE AIRBAGS DIDN'T DEPLOY. HONDA STATED THAT THEY WILL NOT DIAGNOSE THE FAILURE SINCE IT WAS A SALVAGED VEHICLE. THIS WAS ONE OF THREE VEHICLES THAT THE CONTACT OWNED WITH A SIMILAR PROBLEM. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 46100. *AK

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 HONDA CIVIC HYBRID. WHILE ATTEMPTING TO ACCELERATE FROM IDLE AT A STOP LIGHT THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO VIBRATE AND THEN SHUT OFF. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ILLUMINATED INTERMITTENTLY PRIOR TO THIS FAILURE. THE DEALER REPLACED THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER. PRESENTLY, THE VEHICLE WILL START,BUT WAS NOT DRIVABLE. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A HONDA DEALER, AND DIAGNOSED AS NEEDING A NEW TRANSMISSION. THE DEALER FOUND A SALVAGED TRANSMISSION. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGE WERE 158,000.*AK

I HAVE A 2003 HONDA CIVIC THAT JUST FAILED NEW JERSEY STATE INSPECTION FOR A LOOSE SEAT CONDITION. IT APPEAREDTHAT THISWAS A COMMON FAILURE SINCE THE NEW JERSEY MOTOR VEHICLE DEPARTMENT HAS FAILED 256 HONDAS FOR LOOSE SEATS IN THE LAST 24 MONTHS. I LOOKED IF THERE WERE ANY RECALLS ,BUT THERE WERE NONE ON RECORD. I BELIEVED THAT THIS WAS PROBLEM THAT SHOULD BE COVERED BY HONDA UNDER DEFECTIVE PARTS OR WORKMANSHIP. THE SEAT ANCHOR BOLTS WERE SECURE.ITWAS THE CHAIR RAIL SYSTEM THAT FAILED SOMEHOW ANDWAS LOOSE. THE DEALER WANTED OVER $500.00 TO REPAIR WHAT LOOKS LIKE POOR WORK MANSHIP OR DEFECTIVE PARTS ON THE PART OF HONDA. *AK

THE CVT TRANSMISSION IN MY 2003 HONDA CIVIC HYBRID TOTALLY GAVE OUT. THIS FOLLOWED MONTHS OF JERKING AND REPEATED TREATMENTS OF TRANSMISSION FLUID REPLACEMENT AND "REPROGRAMMING.," WHICH STARTED BEFORE 30,000 MILES. EACH TREATMENT SEEMED TO WORK TEMPORARILY, ONLY TO HAVE THE JERKING RETURN, EACH TIME SOONER THAN BEFORE. THE EVENING IT GAVE OUT ENTIRELY I WAS CROSSING A BRIDGE, THEN TURNED LEFT ONTO A MAIN STREET. AS I TURNED THE CAR JERKED, THEN ACTED AS THOUGH IT WAS PERMANENTLY IN NEUTRAL. THE DEALER TOLD ME I MUST HAVE BEEN SPINNING MY WHEELS ON SNOW OR ICE, BUT THIS WAS NOT THE CASE. *NM