515 of the 20,273 complaints filed about the Honda Civic are about the seat belts — 3% of everything owners reported. The worst model year for it is 2002.
515
Complaints
3%
Share of all complaints
132
Crashes
3
Fires
SEAT BELTS
I was in a multi-directional wreck and the driver seat belt didn’t engage/lock holding me in place. I was able to move around enough that I broke the console and hit other areas that should have been out of reach if I had been held in my seat.
NHTSA complaint #11755845 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SEAT BELTS
Accident happened while driving on a two-way county road without center lane markings. The driver was leaning to the right of the road. The lane keep assisting overcorrected to the left hitting a culvert. Upon the crash the seat unlocked from its position and slid towards the steering wheel. The seat belt did not lock in time to prevent the seat from considerable forward movement. The airbag located inside steering wheel seemed only partially inflated. No other airbags deployed. The combined malfunctions resulted in the driver's left foot being crushed (various fractures and joints dislodged), and right ankle fracture and dislocation. The driver was the only one involved in the cash. However, other drivers could have been affected by the sudden change of lanes - especially if driving the opposite direction. The issue has not been reproduced as far as known (unable to find any reports, images or videos online). There was no inspection following the accident. The car had previously shown unexplainable lane keeping assistance overcorrections before, but there were no system failure warning lights. The seat sometimes needed readjustment (the locking system would click, but the seat would not remain in place). Summary of issues: -Lane keep assisting - overcorrected leading to hitting a culvert on the opposite side of the road. -Driver's seat unlocked forward toward the steering wheel when car hit the culvert. -Seatbelt did not lock appropriately to prevent seat moving forward toward the steering wheel. I am unsure if the car is still available for inspection. It was totaled by the insurance company. Pictures of the car can be found at this public website: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11737354 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SEAT BELTS
My car turned me into a light pole and was totaled and I was injured!
NHTSA complaint #11733649 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SEAT BELTS
The contact owns a 1990 Honda Civic. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 95V103001 (SEAT BELTS). The contact stated the driver’s and front passenger’s side seat belts failed to function as intended. The driver’s side lap belt failed to retract, and the receiver buckle failed to function as designed. The vehicle was driven without the seat belt. The contact stated that the front passenger’s side seat belt also failed to operate as needed. The seat belt failed to retract, and the receiver buckle failed to properly operate. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The contact was informed that the parts for the recall repair were discontinued. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was approximately 170,000.
NHTSA complaint #11729113 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SEAT BELTS
The contact's son owns a 2022 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while her son was driving at a moderate speed through city traffic, the vehicle drove over a pothole and the front and rear passenger’s side air bags deployed. The contact's son had not suffered any injuries; however, the front passenger’s side seat belt was damaged. Despite the air bag deployment, the vehicle was still drivable. The vehicle was taken to a dealer and the contact was repeatedly informed by various employees that they could not guarantee that any repair performed to the air bags would fix the vehicle. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The insurance company referred the contact to the NHTSA to file a complaint. Upon investigation, the contact discovered NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V064000 (Air Bags); and associated the failure with the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 82,000.
NHTSA complaint #11723514 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SEAT BELTS
The contact owns a 2010 Honda Civic. The contact stated that the vehicle was repaired under an NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V042000 (Air Bags); however, the repair caused the driver’s side seat belt buckle to not be detected while latched closed. The driver’s side seat belt warning light illuminated. The local dealer advised the contact that the passenger’s side air bag would not work as intended due to the driver’s side seat belt buckle warning light. The vehicle was not repaired due to parts not being available. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 108,743.
NHTSA complaint #11713687 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SEAT BELTS
The contact leased a 2024 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while driving at 70 MPH, and making a lane change, the steering wheel overcorrected the change due to the automatic lane corrector and swerved across two lanes inadvertently, and collided with a semitruck and then into a wall. The air bag deployed, and the driver's seat belt independently unlatched. The contact stated that the seat belt unbuckled at some point during the collision. The contact sustained face burns and lacerations, right arm/shoulder, and right side rib injuries. Medical attention was needed for the contact. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a lot where the vehicle was deemed a total loss. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 22,083.
NHTSA complaint #11709941 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SEAT BELTS
The contact owns a 2001 Honda Civic. The vehicle was included in a manufacturer recall 19/076 (NHTSA Campaign Number was unknown) regarding the Takata Air Bag, and the remedy was completed on March 28, 2025. When the vehicle was being repaired, the contact stated that they used their personal diagnosis machine and received the code FF510001. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 MPH, they fell asleep, causing them to rear-end a vehicle in front. The air bags did not deploy, and the seat belt failed to retract. There were no injuries, and no medical attention was needed. The vehicle was not towed. The rear vehicle- ended was damaged and towed. A police report was filed. The dealer was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 186,689.
NHTSA complaint #11709583 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SEAT BELTS
Passenger rear seat beat buckle no longer buckles to keep kids safe in the rear seat.
NHTSA complaint #11680897 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SEAT BELTS
While making a slow right turn into a shopping plaza, I accidentally struck a median curb with only the driver’s side front tire. Despite the low speed and minimal impact, the passenger side front airbag deployed without cause, severely endangering my passenger. Aside from a flat tire, there was no damage to the body of the car. Fortunately, we were moving slowly enough to avoid injury, but had we been going any faster, it could have caused serious harm. After the incident, both front seatbelts locked, rendering the vehicle unsafe for both the driver and passenger. I later discovered that there are confirmed recalls affecting the passenger airbag system (specifically the front passenger seat weight sensor) for 2020 Honda Civics—my car’s exact make and model—but my VIN does not appear to be included, despite exhibiting the same failure. When I brought the car to a Honda dealership, I was told the recall did not apply and was quoted $10,000 in repairs for the SRS and seatbelt systems. Rather than addressing the potential manufacturing defect, I was instead hounded to trade in the vehicle. I believe this incident reflects a serious safety malfunction tied to an existing recall and deserves investigation. My vehicle may have been improperly excluded from a recall campaign affecting others with identical equipment and model specifications.
NHTSA complaint #11661234 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SEAT BELTS:FRONT:RETRACTOR
The contact owns a 1986 Honda Civic. The contact stated that whether the vehicle was parked, stationary, or driven, the seat belt was difficult to retract. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the seat belts became difficult to retract even more frequently over time. The contact tested the seat belts, and the seat belts stopped recoiling. The vehicle was not taken to be diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was made aware of the failure; however, the contact stated that the dealer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 135,368.
NHTSA complaint #11649594 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SEAT BELTS:REAR/OTHER:RETRACTOR
The contact owns a 1986 Honda Civic. The contact stated that whether the vehicle was parked, stationary, or driven, the seat belt was difficult to retract. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the seat belts became difficult to retract even more frequently over time. The contact tested the seat belts, and the seat belts stopped recoiling. The vehicle was not taken to be diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was made aware of the failure; however, the contact stated that the dealer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 135,368.
NHTSA complaint #11649594 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SEAT BELTS
See attached document for complaint.
NHTSA complaint #11625319 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SEAT BELTS
The driver seatbelt, the portion that accepts the buckle when you "buckle up" has become sloppy over time with excessive free play. This part is free to wobble around. I feel this is a passenger safety risk. The restraint and crash systems in a car work together, and with excessive ship and play in the restraint system, it could experience unexpected forces leading to an interesting or improperly restrained driver. I have spoken to two dealership service departments and neither of them actually inspected the seatbelt, I was only told it would not be replaced under warranty. I told them it is a safety issue, but they do not budge. The seatbelt was inspected by my mechanic who said the part would need replaced, saying there is excessive slop and play in the restraint system. No warning lamps or codes, airbags have never deployed, clean title. Going back to Honda dealer tomorrow to have them actually inspect the restaurant system and put in writing that they aren't willing to replace or repair it, when I went yesterday, neither of the two dealership service departments even visually inspected my seatbelt.
NHTSA complaint #11623564 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SEAT BELTS
I was sold a vehicle with no seatbelt in the middle of back seat . I had called the dealer that sold me the car to explain and they told me that why it took me this long to say something that now they think I took the buckle off myself. Very inappropriate for the manager to tell me that nonsense. I don’t sit in the back so I wouldn’t know until I had to buckle my niece in and I couldn’t because there is no buckle in my middle seat in the back. This is a safety hazard and feel very discourage to even make the report because nobody seem to want to help me!
NHTSA complaint #11603284 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SEAT BELTS
The seatbelt in our Civic became entangled around our child and locked. The more we tried to get her out, the tighter it became. It was so tight around her waist that it left marks. She unbuckled the seatbelt and let a little more back into the retractor, hoping it would unlock but it only got tighter. We were on vacation and had to find a hardware store to buy a socket set to disconnect the seatbelt from the frame of the car, so at this point has to drive on I-70 with a kid tangled in an unbuckled seatbelt. Once we purchased a socket set, there was plastic obstructing access to the bolt, so we had to then purchase a knife to cut away the plastic to access the bolt. All the while, our kid was tangled up tightly in the seatbelt, squeezing her abdomen. There needs to be an emergency seatbelt lock release button. Had this became tangled around her neck, she could have been seriously hurt or killed.
NHTSA complaint #11594282 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SEAT BELTS
Didn’t brake when car accident happened from front also seat belts don’t hold on braking in drivers side
NHTSA complaint #11591710 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SEAT BELTS
On 12/03/2023, We were involved in serious accident. During this accident, only driver door air bag was deployed. No other air bags were deployed.My wife was on passenger side. She was seriously injured and hospitalized for several days. She is still under medical care. I think air bags on passenger side was defective. Due to defective air bags system, my wife had serious injury and had to go for medical treatment, pain and suffering. We like to investigate defect in air bags. My wife was wearing lap and shoulder seat belt.However, seat belt was not activated and remain loose. Due to loose seat belt, she was injured. Please help. Thank you.
NHTSA complaint #11570497 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SEAT BELTS
The air bag light came on in April of 2022 indicating that the air bag will not deploy in the event of a car accident. We took the car to the Honda dealership and the mechanic diagnosed it as a bad seat-belt tensioner and confirmed that the part is under warranty by American Honda. The dealership requested the part from American Honda and they have failed to provide the part to the dealership stating that is is not available. They have given us ETAs for the part but it has never arrived. We requested a rental car to drive while waiting for the part but were denied by both American Honda and the dealership. American Honda's response is that the car just should not be driven. We cannot sell the car while this light in on but need to continue to drive the car for work. The air bag light remains on and still will not deploy if an accident were to occur causing a significant safety risk. We have not involved police or insurance representatives or any other outside parties aside from American Honda and the dealership. We spoke with a representative,at American Honda today who again confirmed that they do not have the part, do not have an ETA on the part and will not pay for a safe vehicle to drive. Considering the amount of time that has elapsed, they are clearly in violation of their warranty.
NHTSA complaint #11569546 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SEAT BELTS
Sticky steering wheel, lock steering, clicking sound, Terrible rear seats buckle, hard to click it. i have a 2023 Honda Civic, with all the recall issues, but my Vin number didnt make it to the recall. I've taking my car to Honda of Long Beach, Ca. They didnt find or fix anything. please help! I don't know what to do!
NHTSA complaint #11558236 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.