2013 Honda Civic Electrical System
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2013 Honda Civic. The contact discovered a mileage discrepancy after the purchase. The vehicle was a dealer sale. At the time of purchase, the vehicle mileage was 113,000. The contact paid for the vehicle in full, and when the Title arrived, it was later discovered that the mileage on the Title was 224,000. The contact reached out to the dealer. However, the dealer had not responded.
All lights are on the 2013 Honda Civic LX. I took it to the dealer and turns out to be a faulty VSA Modulator... they quoted me $2000 for labor and parts. After extensive research, noticed many other Hondas in the same generation have the same issue. Should be a recall!
The contact owns a 2013 Honda Civic. The contact stated that the steering wheel and seats would frequently shock her and other occupants while inside the vehicle. The contact stated that her check engine and TPMS warning lights would intermittently flash on the instrument panel. The contact had taken the vehicle to a dealer twice for repair; however, the failure remained. The contact then took the vehicle to an independent mechanic where they requested a blueprint of the vehicle's wiring mechanism from the manufacturer. Despite receiving the blueprint and rewiring the vehicle, the mechanic was unable to correct the failure. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure by the contact, but they offered no assistance. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 35,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Honda Civic. The contact stated that after inserting the key into the ignition switch, the ignition switch would not turn, and the engine could not be started. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer who diagnosed that the ignition switch was faulty and needed to be replaced. The ignition switch was replaced, and the failure was remedied. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 57,000.
THE AUDIO UNIT BACK LIGHT FLICKERS. UPPER DISPLAY IS BLANK AT STARTUP. VOL/SELECTOR KNOB OR HARD KEYS DO NOT WORK. MULTIPLE SOURCES APPEAR ON THE INFORMATIO
THE CAR WOULD NOT START AFTER A SHORT 12 MILE TRIP . AFTER THE CAR BATTERY WAS JUMPED I WENT STRAIGHT TO THE DEALER AND THE BATTERY WAS CHECKED AND ACCORDING TO THEM THEY COULD NOT FIND ANYTHING WRONG. THE BATTERY TEST FIND AS DID ALL THE ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS.THAT INCIDENT WAS MY FIRST ON ---12/09/2017------ TODAY 2/8/2018 WAS THE SECOND INCIDENT THE SAME THING HAPPENED AND AGAIN IT TESTED FIND AFTER A JUMP. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE I CAN NOT COUNT THIS CAR AS RELIABLE IF IT IS GOING TO LEAVE ME STRANDED! THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED IN THE UNIVERSITY PARKING LOT AND THE ENGINE WAS OFF. BUT WHEN I GOT READY TO GO NOTHING, NO START. WE HAD TO CALL THE CAMPUS POLICE FOR HELP WITH A BOOST.
RODENTS ATE THROUGH WIRING BETWEEN ALTERNATOR AND BATTERY. DETERMINED THAT HONDA CHANGED TO SOY BASED MATERIAL TO COAT WIRING ON ALL 2012-2015 CIVIC MODELS. THE SOY BASED FORMULA BECOMES HEATED AND ATTRACTS THE RODENTS WHEN PARKED. THE PROBLEM IS PERVASIVE AND DANGEROUS SINCE ELECTRICAL WIRING AND HARNESSES TO ALL MAJOR ENGINE COMPONENTS ARE AFFECTED.
TPMS INDICATOR LIGHT ON. TIRES INFLATED AT THE PROPER PRESSURE. I HAVE TAKEN THIS VEHICLE IN TO THE DEALER MULTIPLE TIMES FOR THE LOW TIRE PRESSURE SIGNAL CONTINUALLY COMING ON EVEN AFTER NEW TIRES INSTALLED. THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE SENSOR OR INDICATOR SIGNAL. NHTSA SHOULD NOT ALLOW IT.
IMA WARNING LIGHT CAME ON AND LOST POWER. SLOWED ALMOST TO A STOP WHILE ON HIGHWAY. I WAS ABLE TO MAKE IT TO DEALERHIP WITH FLASHING HAZZARD LIGHTS GOING 20 MPH. HONDA DEALERSHIP RAN DIAGNOSTIC AND SAYS CODE POAE1. TROUBLEHOT CODE AND TELLING ME NOT IMA BATTERY PROBLEM THAT WOUDL BE COVERED UNDER WARRANYT, BUT MOTHERBOARD PROBLEM WHICH IS NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. MOTHERBOARD PART IS BACKORDERED AND MAY TAKE MONTHS. I ASKED FOR DOCUMENTATION THAT IT IS NOT A COVERED UNDER ELECTRICAL WARRANTY BECAUSE IMA AND THEY SAY NO. SAYS THEY WILL GIVE ME PAPERWORK AFTER IF IS FIXED. $2000
ALL 9TH GENERATION CIVICS ARE EQUIPED WITH STOCK UNDER POWERED HORNS. SAFTEY ISSUE, SINCE OTHER CARS WON'T HEAR IT TO AVOID A COLLISION. SOME DEALERS OFFER A HORN UPGRADE, BUT THE LABOR WOULD BE COSTLY DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE BUMPER COVER HAS TO BE REMOVED AND RE INSTALLED.
STARTED VEHICLE AND NO RADIO STATION APPEAR ON LED COULD NOT CHANGE CHANNELS OR VOLUME. AFTER ABOUT 20 MINUTES CHANNEL APPEARED AND I COULD CHANGE STATION AND VOLUME NOW. THIS HAS OCCURRED 3 TIMES WITHIN THE LAST YEAR. ALSO THE VOLUME CONTROL KNOB FLICKERS MOST OF THE TIME
WENT OUT TO START CAR, WARNING LIGHT FOR AIRBAGS WENT ON. TOOK TO DEALERSHIP AND WAS TOLD WIRING HARNESS WAS EATEN THROUGH BY RODENTS. THEN WAS TOLD THERE IS SOY IN THE HARNESS AND THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM. WHY IS THIS NOT A RECALL? COST $1400 TO FIX. *TR
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 HONDA CIVIC. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VOLUME OF THE HORN WAS ABNORMALLY LOW. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER, WHO STATED THAT THE FACTORY HORN WAS PERFORMING AS DESIGNED. THE DEALER RECOMMENDED THAT THE CONTACT TRY PURCHASING AN AFTERMARKET HORN FROM AN AUTO PARTS RETAILER. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 5.
THIS IS MY SECOND 2013 CIVIC WITHIN A YEAR. MY FIRST ONE HAD AN ISSUE WITH THE IMID SCREEN AND RADIO. BASICALLY, THIS BECOMES AN ELECTRICAL ISSUE THAT AFFECTS THE REST OF THE VEHICLE. I ALSO LEARNED THAT THE HARD RESET THAT WAS DONE TO THE VEHICLE COULD'VE DID MORE HARM THAN GOOD. THE IMID WOULD FREEZE, LAG, BLACKOUT, THE BACKUP CAMERA WOULD STOP WORKING OCCASIONALLY, MY PHONE WOULDN'T PAIR OCCASIONALLY, I COULDN'T USE ANY OF THE STEERING WHEEL CONTROLS OR THE BUTTONS ON THE RADIO SOMETIMES EITHER. EVENTUALLY, MY ENGINE SHUT OFF WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY, MY DOOR LOCKS WOULD EITHER LOCK REALLY HARD, NOT LOCK AS PROGRAMMED BY THE IMID, OR LOCK AND UNLOCK BY THEMSELVES. I THOUGHT THE DEALER WAS GOING TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE SITUATION AND THEY TREATED THE CAR AS A TRADE AFTER THE CAR HAD BEEN TO THE DEALER 8 TIMES FOR TESTS, THE HARD RESET, AND THREE FIXES THE CORPORATION AND DEALER COMPLETELY AVOIDED ME TOWARDS THE END. I WENT AHEAD AND GOT ANOTHER 2013 CIVIC AND 2 DAYS LATER, I HAD AN ISSUE WITH THE REAR-WINDOW DEFROSTER. AFTER I HAD THE CAR ABOUT A MONTH, I WAS USING THE HANDSFREE LINK, WHEN I NOTICED MY CALL INFO WAS NOT AT THE TOP OF THE SCREEN WHEN YOU HAVE THE GAS MILEAGE AND RANGE ON THE SCREEN. THE FOLLOWING MONTH, I HAD AN ISSUE WITH THE BLOWER IN THE CAR FADING IN AND OUT AS I WAS PARKING. THEN ANOTHER 2 MONTHS GO BY, THE ISSUES WITH THE RADIO BACKLIGHTING FLICKERING AND THE IMID START TO OCCUR AGAIN WITH THIS CAR. SO FAR, I'VE HAD TO WAIT FOR MY CAR TO START BECAUSE IT WOULDN'T START RIGHT AWAY. OCCASIONALLY, I HAVE TO START IT TWICE, SOMETIMES I CAN USE THE RADIO OR THE HANDSFREE LINK JUST LIKE WITH THE LAST VEHICLE. I HAD AN ISSUE WITH THE TRUNK, DOOR LOCKS, AND THE SECURITY ACKNOWLEDGEMENT SYSTEM IN THIS CAR AS WELL. I HAVE A WEIRD NOISE WHILE DRIVING COMING FROM THE FRONT AND MY DOORS AREN'T LINED UP ON THE BODY OF THE VEHICLE. *TR
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 HONDA CIVIC. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE STARTING THE IGNITION, THE INSTRUMENT PANEL CLUSTER FAILED TO ILLUMINATE. THE MALFUNCTION RECURRED WHENEVER THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS. THE FAILURE RECURRED IN EXTREMELY HOT OR FRIGID WEATHER. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER WHERE THEY WERE UNABLE TO PROVIDE A REMEDY TO PERFORM A REPAIR. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE PROBLEM. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 35. THE VIN WAS UNAVAILABLE.
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Quick Summary
The 2013 Honda Civic has 15 Electrical System complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.