2004 Honda Civic Hybrid: problems, recalls and reliability
6 recalls and 35 owner complaints on record; the weakest area is power train (37% of complaints).
Data updated weekly · latest recall Jun 2019
All counts are reports filed with NHTSA in the United States - US market only, not worldwide totals.
Common problems
Computed from 35 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for this exact model year.
“The dashboard airbag "warning light" suddenly illuminated while the vehicle was in traffic moving down the highway during a warm summer afternoon rain storm.”Owner report · Air Bags · Aug 2017
“I was merging onto the interstate from the ramp and the passenger side, seat side airbag deployed for no reason. Honda shows no current recalls for my car. A recall for the main airbags had already been made. Fortunately there wasn't anyone in the passenger seat at the time, or they might have been injured.”Owner report · Air Bags · Apr 2017
“Hello, we have this honda civic 2004 hybrid with cvt transmission. The car has around 68k. There is a recall for this type of issues but honda says there they are not longer are responsible for that. The repair now cost more than the vehicle. Is there anything you can help me with about this issue?”Owner report · Power Train · Mar 2017
Show 7 more owner reports
“Out of the blue my honda rear bumper started paint cracking. My car is in prestine condition and I'm really pissed that the clear coat would do this! !!”Owner report · Structure · Jun 2016
“Takata recall - I was heading straight traveling at about 40 mph and got in a head on auto accident with the side of a semi truck that pulled out in front of me. I could not see the semi truck turning if front of me because my view was hidden by another semi truck and my air bag did not deploy. I had the air bags recall service about a year ago because of the takata recall.”Owner report · Air Bags · May 2016
“While driving car jerks and jumps from start. Car has stopped in place and had to be restarted. Car is dangerous to operate. Cvt transmission has always been a problem.”Owner report · Power Train · Aug 2015
“Tl* the contact owns a 2004 honda civic hybrid. The contact stated that when driving at 10 mph, there was an abnormal noise coming from the vehicle. In addition, the failure occurred when accelerating over 10 mph. In addition, the contact stated that the vehicle burned oil and the transmission failed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 117,000.”Owner report · Power Train · Apr 2015
“Recall was not notified , I have three time accident and none of the time my air bag popup to save glass or anything, address was wrong in dealer's database many tiem corrected but its still mixup no notice received until see in the news, in vendor invoice meter show 160000 in real its 139685 their computer show more in invoice where my warranty denied , 3 time transmission fail paid by us, 2 time big battery fail cost me 4500+4800 like new car, dealer told me its will cover and I end up paying all due to their error , scam in meter and its show only 32/gal it was show 48/gal program change recently”Owner report · Air Bags · Jan 2015
“The car was shuddering when accelerating after a stop. It needed the cvt clutch in the transmission replaced. This is an issue that many owners of 2004 honda civic hybrid have reported and honda refuses to recall the part. There is a defect in the building of the cvt transmissions and honda won't accept responsibility. *tr”Owner report · Fuel/Propulsion System · Dec 2014
“Honda refuses to include my 2004 honda civic hybrid, which was originally purchased in south carolina, in their airbag recall. They are citing the technicality that it was not registered in the south carolina (the original owner lived across the border in north carolina). It is unknown how long the car sat on the lot in south carolina before it was purchased. This is evidence that honda does not actually care about the safety of its customers, just limiting the cost of its recall. Please force them to replace the airbags on my vehicle. *tr”Owner report · Air Bags · Oct 2014
When filing, owners marked a crash in 5 of these complaints and injuries in 2 - self-reported to NHTSA, not verified accident statistics.
Recalls - 6 campaigns
American Honda Motor Co. (Honda) is recalling certain model year 2001-2005 Honda Civic, 2003-2004 Civic CNG and Element, 2002-2005 CR-V, 2002-2004 Odyssey, 2003-2005 Accord, Pilot, Civic Hybrid, and Acura MDX, 2005 Acura RL and 2006 Honda Ridgeline vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in geographic locations associated with high absolute humidity. Specifically, vehicles sold, or ever registered, in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Saipan, Guam, and American Samoa are addressed by this recall. Upon deployment of the passenger side frontal air bag, excessive internal pressure may cause the inflator to rupture.
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger side air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began January 26, 2015. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-800-999-1009.
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain model year 2001-2007 Accord, 2001-2005 Civic, 2001-2004 Honda Civic GX, 2003-2005 Honda Civic Hybrid, 2002-2006 CR-V, 2003-2011 Element, 2002-2004 Odyssey, 2003-2008 Pilot, 2006 Ridgeline, 2003 Acura 3.2CL, 2003-2006 Acura MDX, and 2002-2003 Acura 3.2TL vehicles. The affected vehicles are equipped with a dual-stage driver frontal air bag that may be susceptible to moisture intrusion and other factors, including manufacturing variability that, over time, could cause the inflator to rupture.
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began on July 1, 2015. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Owners may contact Acura customer service at 1-800-382-2238, select option 4. Note: Vehicles that have had their driver frontal air bag replaced previously as part of a recall remedy prior to September 12, 2014 need to have their air bag replaced under this recall as well. Vehicles that, on or after September 12, 2014, received a remedy for a prior driver frontal air bag inflator recall already received an inflator of a different design, and therefore are not included in this recall and do not require additional servicing. Note: This recall fully supersedes recalls 08V-593, 09V-259, 10V-041, 11V-260, 14V-351 and 15V-153. Honda's numbers for this recall are JQ9, JR0, JR1, JR2, JR3, JR4, JR5, JR6, JR7, and JR8.
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling specific 2003 Acura 3.2CL, 2013-2016 ILX, 2013-2014 ILX Hybrid, 2003-2006 MDX, 2007-2016 RDX, 2002-2003 3.2TL, 2004-2006, and 2009-2014 TL, 2010-2013 ZDX and 2001-2007 and 2009 Honda Accord, 2001-2005 Civic, 2003-2005 Civic Hybrid, 2001-2005 Civic GX NGV, 2002-2007 and 2010-2011 CR-V, 2003-2011 Element, 2007 Fit, 2002-2004 Odyssey, 2003-2008 Pilot, and 2006-2014 Ridgeline vehicles. The affected vehicles received a replacement driver air bag inflator as part of a previous Takata inflator recall remedy or a replacement driver air bag module containing the same inflator type as a service part. Due to a manufacturing error, in the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver frontal air bag, these inflators may explode.
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's air bag inflator with an alternate inflator, free of charge. The recall began April 10, 2019. Honda owners may contact customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's number for this recall is O41. Acura owners may contact customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Acura's number for this recall is U40.
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2003 Acura 3.2CL, 2002-2003 3.2TL, 2003-2006 MDX, 2001-2007 Honda Accord, 2001-2005 Civic, 2003-2005 Civic Hybrid, 2001-2005 Civic GX NGV, 2002-2006 CR-V, 2003-2011 Element, 2002-2004 Odyssey, 2003-2008 Pilot and 2006 Ridgeline vehicles. These vehicles are equipped with driver frontal air bag inflators assembled as a recall remedy part or replacement service part, that may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began August 12, 2019. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are Q5A and Y58.
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2003-2006 Acura MDX, 2005-2012 RL, 2003-2007 Honda Accord, 2001-2005 Civic, 2003-2005 Civic Hybrid, 2001-2005 Civic GX NGV, 2002-2006 CR-V, 2003-2011 Element, 2007-2008 Fit, 2002-2004 Odyssey, 2003-2008 Pilot, and 2006-2014 Ridgeline vehicles. The vehicles are equipped with passenger frontal air bag inflators assembled as a recall remedy part or replacement service part, that may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal airbag inflator, free of charge. The recall began August 12, 2019. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are E5D and X5C.
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain model year 2001-2005 Honda Civic vehicles manufactured March 21, 2000, to January 20, 2005, 2001-2004 Honda Civic GX vehicles manufactured June 14, 2000, to August 19, 2004, 2003-2005 Honda Civic Hybrid vehicles manufactured February 24, 2002, to January 18, 2005, 2003-2007 Honda Accord vehicles manufactured February 21, 2002, to August 28, 2007, 2002-2004 Honda CR-V vehicles, 2002-2003 Honda Odyssey vehicles manufactured June 19, 2001, to July 12, 2003, 2003 Acura MDX vehicles manufactured September 19, 2002, to June 19, 2003, 2003 Honda Element vehicles manufactured June 25, 2002, to July 31, 2003, and 2003 Honda Pilot vehicles manufactured November 26, 2001, to August 21, 2003. The affected vehicles have a passenger side frontal air bag that may be susceptible to moisture intrusion which, over time, could cause the inflator to rupture upon its deployment.
Remedy: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began on July 1, 2015. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are JU4, JU5, JU6, and JU7. Note: Vehicles that have already received a replacement passenger air bag inflator as part of the recall remedy for an earlier campaign such as 14V353 or 14V700 (Honda recall numbers S95, JH6, JH7, JH8, JH9, JJ0, JJ1, JJ2, JJ6, JM5 and JM6) are not included in this recall. However, this recall does supersede 13V132 and 14V349. Note: On December 18, 2015 Honda informed NHTSA of an expansion of this recall to include certain model year 2004 Honda CR-V vehicles in addition to additional model year 2003 CR-V vehicles.
How other years compare
Counts are not adjusted for time on the road here - see all Civic Hybrid years ranked fairly for the age-adjusted comparison.
Check your exact Civic Hybrid by VIN
Recalls and equipment differ between individual vehicles. Decode your VIN to see what applies to yours.
Open VIN decoderFrequently asked questions
Is the 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid reliable?
NHTSA has 35 owner complaints and 6 recall campaigns on record for the 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid. The most complained-about area is power train (37% of complaints).
At what mileage do 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid problems usually appear?
Half of the complaints that mention mileage were filed at 123,000 miles or less.
Does the 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid have open recalls?
6 recall campaigns have been issued, the latest concerning air bags. Check your specific vehicle by VIN - recall repairs are free at franchised dealers.
Source: NHTSA recall campaigns and owner complaints (public domain). Counts reflect reports on file and are not a defect rate.