10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
87,901 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2004 Honda Civic drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2004 Honda Civic Owner Comments (Page 1 of 2)

problem #24

Oct 102022

Civic

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Unknown

- Los Angeles , CA, USA

problem #23

Nov 012020

Civic

  • 85,000 miles
The contact owns a 2004 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while driving, the transmission and check engine warning lights illuminated and the vehicle started to shake and independently decelerate. Additionally, while accelerating the vehicle was skipping gears. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and diagnosed that the transmission failure was due to a faulty cvt skipping or an egr valve and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer and was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 85,000.

- Jensen Beach, FL, USA

problem #22

May 012012

Civic

  • 80,000 miles
This model car has a documented issue with the start clutch performance. This issue creates a safety hazard due to the unpredictable acceleration it causes. Despite re-surfacing procedures, the issue will return. This is not simply a wear issue, the part(s) and/or design are faulty. This is common knowledge among Honda mechanics who are familiar with this model. Please let me know if you need more info or details.

- Newberg, OR, USA

problem #21

Jul 272019

Civic

  • 123,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I have a 2004 Honda Civic ex. Driving to glendale (1 hour from where I live) in the city I started noticing the transmission was jerking. Shortly after the engine light came on. Going up a hill my transmission wasn't working anymore and was revving without going into gear. I was in motion on a hill on a very tight road where only 1 car can pass at a time. And cars were parked on the side of the street. I almost crashed into the parked cars because I could't control the jerking of the car and the transmission slipping. I had cars coming towards me and had the car stalled on the road and had to block the traffic for 30 min before my friends could come and help me move the car. There was little amount of space and parking and had to push the car for a while before finding a parking spot. The car has only 123,000 miles, the transmission fluid is fresh and clean and never had any transmission problems. Within 15 min the whole transmission blew up! I really hope Honda can take care of this problem because I see that there are multiple complaints about Honda's transmission failing in these Honda Civics between 2000 and 2004.

- Fullerton, CA, USA

problem #20

Sep 052018

Civic

  • 35,000 miles
The car transmission is slipping. Sometimes it works and sometimes the engine is fine, but when I accelerate the car does not move forward right away. Engine light stays on. It has plenty of fluid, but the transmission does not engage.

- Newport News, VA, USA

problem #19

Jul 112015

Civic

  • 170,000 miles
The contact owns a 2004 Honda Civic. While driving uphill at 30 mph, the accelerator pedal was depressed but the vehicle did not accelerate. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 170,000.

- El Paso, TX, USA

problem #18

Nov 252014

Civic 4-cyl

  • 107,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Was driving down the street, came to a stop light then the vehicle would not go. When I hit the gas all it did was rev up. I shut the car off and restarted it was able to start moving then the car would not shift into second gear. I had the car towed and was informed the transmission was gone.

- Seminole, FL, USA

problem #17

Sep 032014

Civic

  • 123,000 miles
The transmission dash light came on then the car jumped hard out of 2nd gear and into third. Then the car was jerking like someone was pumping the brakes hard so I tried shifting to 4th and the jerking got worse with a grinding noise causing the car to be extremely hard to control and keep on the road almost causing me to hit a telephone pole at about 40 mph it all just happened with out warning or any indication very unsafe and extremely frightening.

- Lyons, NJ, USA

problem #16

Nov 152013

Civic

  • 77,000 miles
The vehicle is growling and rumbling in low gears, shifting from first to second. I took the car in and they want to rebuild transmission. I find at 77000 miles the vehicle transmission should not be failing. Researching has amounted to numerous vehicles that have the same problem. One mechanic has personally seen 4 vehicles in past few months with the same problem. I believe the manufacture should take responsibility for this matter!

- Portland, OR, USA

problem #15

Nov 112013

Civic 4-cyl

  • 92,625 miles
My transmission in my 2004 Honda Civic 5 speed manual ex model is making a grinding noise and causing the car to decelerate faster than normal, it almost caused a lady to hit me in the read end. It is causing a jerking, lurching of the car while driving. I took it to a local shop and they said it was something in the transmission and it was also causing the drive axes to wobble causing the rotors to shimmy the tires. Took the car to Honda dealer this morning and they said from the sound and a test drive it was the transmission input shaft bearing bad. Honda customer service said they had recalls but not on my VIN number. This can cause the transmission to lock up while driving and is very unsafe. I was told not to drive the car and have parked it. Honda won't acknowledge the problem but online forums are loaded with 200-2005 Civic transmission failures.

- Centerville, OH, USA

problem #14

Sep 122013

Civic

  • 160,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Had problems with the transmission slipping for a couple of months. Then while accelerating into traffic it decided to stop working completely and leave me stranded across the middle of a 4 lane highway with oncoming traffic. I have since replaced the transmission and within 2 weeks the new transmission is doing the same thing.

- Pensacola, FL, USA

problem #13

Jan 142013

Civic 4-cyl

  • 72,000 miles
My car started making a growling noise when accelerating. I came to find out from research that it was the transmission input shaft bearing. I have seen and heard many other Honda Civic owners with the same problem.

- Orlando, FL, USA

problem #12

Jul 302012

Civic 4-cyl

  • 123,000 miles
Started hearing noises coming from the transmission when I shifted into 1st and 2nd gear. Sounds like a bad bearing possibly, I'll find out when I take it in to the shop for sure. After doing some research it is apparent that at my mileage it is more than common for Honda's transmissions to start failing. Disheartening to find out Honda doesn't help with goodwill repairs for this well documented trend of transmission problems. Thinking that buying another Honda recently may have been a bad idea.

- Floral City, FL, USA

problem #11

Jun 112008

Civic 4-cyl

  • 90,000 miles
The car makes noise when car is parked on neutral, the car manual it also makes the noise louder on first gear like at 2500 RPM. Sounds like the input shaft bearing.

- Vacaville, CA, USA

problem #10

Mar 222006

Civic 4-cyl

  • 145,000 miles
The input shaft bearing or throw bearing in vehicle is making a loud clicking/rattling noise through all gears. I'm leaning more towards the input shaft bearing being gone or shot. A lot of talk on the web about these going in the earlier Civics. More noticeable in 1st-3rd. I've found through other websites that they is a recall on VIN specific Honda Civic up to the year 2004.

- Morrisonville, NY, USA

problem #9

Mar 252012

Civic 4-cyl

  • 150,000 miles
Input shaft bearing failure...thought it was originally the clutch, release bearing and fork paid and replaced and problem still persisted...this is a common problem with this model and year and is a constant progression of noise and inhibits acceleration and smooth driving...I feel as if the car is ready to completely fail and I've driven manual transmissions all my life so user error is not the cause... I've always stood by Honda and there products all my life and hope there customer service and loyalty is still of highest value and the right actions on their part are done to rectify this recurring issue in there product. I drive over 100 miles a day and hope one day I am not stranded or worse in an accident due to my car suddenly halting due to misaligned gears on the freeway...

- White Lake , MI, USA

problem #8

Dec 012011

Civic 4-cyl

  • 65,000 miles
At 6X,000 miles my Honda should not be making this noise! the noise is a terrible clicking noise when the clutch is up and gets extremely bad when accelerating. I'm embarrassed to let anyone drive in my car. I bought this car to save money not to spend it! if I wanted to waste money repairing cars I would have bought european! I guess I'm not taking any girls out on dates. Thanks Honda!!

- Torrance, CA, USA

problem #7

Nov 012011

Civic

  • 105,000 miles
The contact owns a 2004 Honda Civic hybrid. The contact stated that while accelerating from a complete stop, the vehicle started to jerk violently and hesitated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer who diagnosed that the starting clutch was defective and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 105,000 and the current mileage was 108,000.

- Los Angeles , CA, USA

problem #6

Jul 012011

Civic

  • 98,776 miles
When I purchased this vehicle, I changed the ownership information with american Honda. I later checked if there were any open notices or recalls. Honda told me there was none. However, this vehicle had a notice alerting owners to cvt belt slippage. Honda sent this notice to the previous owner. When the owner changed, Honda should have considered this notice open again. Sending a notice to a previous owner does not inform the owner and the purpose of this kind of notice is to ensure the owner has the information. This failure resulted in my vehicle's transmission failing in operation. Had I received the notice, I would have known the slight shudder was a serious transmission problem and the vehicle could have been repaired safely, rather than failing catastrophically on the road. Honda needs to fix their notification system to consider all notices (unless the problem is repaired) re-opened on change of ownership. Otherwise, the purpose of the notification system is defeated, possibly leading to catastrophic failure in the failed (as it did in my case) or worse. I discussed this issue with Honda and they maintained that once a notice was sent on an issue, the notice was closed with respect to that vehicle. This makes no sense. The purpose of a notice is to alert the owner, not the vehicle.

- Murphys, CA, USA

problem #5

May 042007

Civic

  • 50,000 miles
I have had on going problems with the transmission, started as a judder when accelerating but after the dealership burnished the transmission a few times and changed some parts as per service bulletin because this year car is know to have problems with transmission. The judder has now become a hesitation when trying to accelerate and sometimes will do it multiple times causing the car not to accelerate properly. Now that the only thing left to do is change the transmission Honda says they cannot do anything because they cannot duplicate the problem. I agree that it happens only occasionally but it is still dangerous because when you expect the car to accelerate and it does not it can be dangerous. Especially since it is a know problem with this year model but Honda will not do a recall, I guess so many people have to get into an accident before something is done.

- Opelika, AL, USA

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