10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 2
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
47,230 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.

2005 Honda Civic transmission problems

transmission problem

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2005 Honda Civic Owner Comments

problem #11

Feb 112009

Civic 4-cyl

  • 42,000 miles

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

2005 Honda Civic hybrid cvt automatic transmission failure at 42,000 miles. Car will not shift in any gear. Contact Honda american representative, and Honda will not covered this incident under warranty under any circumstances. $4,500 ~ $5,200 replacement job at local Honda dealer. Most horrible car I'd ever own!!! very disappoint with Honda. Buyers beware with Honda hybrid model.

- Burbank, CA, USA

problem #10

Apr 152009

Civic

  • 27,500 miles
While accelerating moderately, often while trying to pass another vehicle on the freeway or even while trying to maintain speed up a hill, our 2005 Honda Civic hybrid would slip out of gear and the engine would suddenly rev up to redline RPM (it is an automatic transmission). The service technician could not reproduce this event. After a few months, this started happening quite often -- every day in predictable locations on our driving route. In addition, a judder developed when starting from a stop. This latter issue was identified by Honda and a technical bulletin was put out. The judder made the car nearly undrivable, so we again took the car in. The transmission fluid was replaced and the clutch plates were burnished. The tranmission slippage and engine revving disappeared. Now, 5 months later, the transmission slip with engine revving has returned as well as the judder starting again. We purchased an extended warranty, so the cost has not been an issue so far, however our warranty expires in June 2010. We are mainly concerned with the repeated appearance of the problems, especially that the transmission slip/engine revving can be a safety issue when trying to accelerate on an on-ramp or pass a car on a two-lane road. If the engine slips out of gear while passing a car, it may have tragic results.

- Menlo Park, CA, USA

problem #9

Feb 182009

Civic

  • 150,000 miles
Cruise control drops out unexpectedly when traveling at highway speed.

- Vineland, NJ, USA

problem #8

Mar 082009

Civic

  • 75,000 miles

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

Honda recall for judder in cvt on 2005 hybrid. Repaired (I believe by burnishing the clutch?); however, condition is recurring, gradually getting worse. I have heard many other complaints of the same problem in other cvts. My sons recently had the same repair done to his.

- West Columbia, TX, USA

problem #7

Oct 302008

Civic

  • 90,800 miles
I have a 2005 Honda Civic hybrid. It usually seems to happen at 40 mph and above. The transmission slips (like when you're coming out of the tolls). I had the burnish procedure done last in the fall/winter of last year. Within the last month, the transmission has slipped a better part of 10 times. I took it to the dealership to get it under warranty. They said they can not duplicate the incident. Just this past weekend, between 40 and 60 mph, it slipped 3 times in a row. The next day, at about 68 mph, the rpms stayed at 3000. It's normally around 25-2600 RPM. Again, the mechanic could not duplicate the problem. They told me if I bring the car back again, I will be charged $87 per hour, even though it is under warranty. The transmission slippage has been occurring about 3-5 times a week. Never when I am at the Honda dealer. They told me they can only do something if they can see what is happening and told me to bring it back when it is happening consistently.

- Schenectady, NY, USA

problem #6

Jul 102008

Civic

  • 65,000 miles
My 2005 Honda Civic hybrid started to exhibit transmission judder when I would accelerate from a stop and slippage whenever I accelerated while moving with approximately 65,000 on the odometer (my car was still under warranty at this time). I took it into the dealer I bought the car from and they changed the transmission fluid and performed no additional work to the transmission. I started to have the same issues at 90,000 miles and did not have time to take the car back to the dealer but made them aware of my car's problem. My warranty has expired since then but I have learned there is a service bulletin issued for my model and year car. Honda offered an extended warranty for this problem up to 105,000 miles. Problem is that I now have 114,000 miles on my car and they will not fix it. I feel the problem should have been corrected when it first started exhibiting signs of transmission problems at 65,000 miles. The dealer has told me they can change the transmission fluid but they said the problem is likely to occur again. I have a problem with a car company that knows their product is defective and has even issued a service bulletin addressing this problem but will not fix my car, especially when it started having problems and was still under warranty at 65,000 miles.

- Moscow, TN, USA

problem #5

Apr 302008

Civic 4-cyl

  • 48,000 miles

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

The contact owns a 2005 Honda Civic hybrid. While driving 40 mph, the transmission failed. The contact coasted the vehicle to the shoulder. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and remains there to date. The dealer stated that due to the mileage they would not cover the cost of the repair. The contact would be responsible for the cost of the new transmission. The VIN was unknown. The failure and current mileages were 48,000. Updated 06/02/08 the consumer stated the manufacturer refused to take any responsibility for the transmission replacement and even though edmunds.com had a running blog apparently similar transmission failures. Updated 06/02/08

- Silver Spring, MD, USA

problem #4

Jan 062007

Civic 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
This is a 2005 Civic hybrid. A few times the transmission has allowed the engine to increase its RPM's to a "redline" level, then engages and surges forward. This has only happened at highway speed thus far, but could be very dangerous on surface streets. Also, I have issue with the wafer thin windshield. I have 3 cracks in it from 18 months of driving from road pebbles. I have 6 other vehicles, they all get driven the same freeways, and get hit by pebbles, but none get the damage as this Honda has.

- Orinda, CA, USA

problem #3

Dec 012005

Civic 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 2,113 miles
Ltr fm (tx) re his wife new Honda which was totaled in a near fatal accident, the transmission locked up, Honda won't assist them or release the title, car was paid for. The vehicle crashed into a guardrail when the transmission locked up and caught on fire.

- Euless, TX, USA

problem #2

Mar 142006

Civic 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 17,000 miles
Automatic transmission had deficiencies transmission replaced.

- Concord, NC, USA

problem #1

Dec 012005

Civic 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 2,113 miles
Our new 2005 Honda Civic had both front wheels lock while my wife was going to work, driving down the freeway in fort worth tx. The car was totaled, crashing into a guard rail, blowing the air bags, spinning around, starting a fire at the left front wheel and starting my wife's coat on fire as she was getting out. We have an eye witness who has a degree in engineering, photos, a police report and the car itself. The car started to pull to the right by itself and my wife was not able to correct it since the front wheels were in a complete skid. The car had 2113 miles on it and even the police commented that in her twelve years on the force she had never seen anything so strange as this. There are two solid black lines that show where the skid started in the center of the lane ending at the guardrail. Both tires are torn up and melted in one spot. The roads were dry, no traffic, nothing in the road. The transmission just locked up solid, causing a near fatal accident. I contacted the Honda corporation @ 800-999-1009 and the dealer bankston Honda of lewisville tx @ 866-507-6355. Honda said it was an insurance problem, bankston referred me back to Honda. Finally Honda said they would come out and take pictures "only" car would not be moved. The day they were to come out and take picture they said "due to safety reasons the car needed to be taken to bankston Honda to take pictures, breaking our agreement. We hid the car and are seeking legal means as our insurance is having to payout due to a defect. I have a case at Honda #[xxx]. the police report is filed in fort worth tx, loc.05148069 and our witness said she would gladly testify what happened. The vehicle VIN# is [xxx]. information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Euless, TX, USA

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