2003 Honda Civic hybrid problems

General information about Honda-Civic hybrid
Overview of popular issues
Recalls list

The Honda Civic (Japanese: ホンダ・シビック, Hepburn: Honda Shibikku) is a series of automobiles manufactured by Honda since 1972. As of 2023, the Civic is positioned between the Honda Fit/City and Honda Accord in Honda's global car line-up.

The first-generation Civic was introduced in July 1972 as a two-door fastback sedan, followed by a three-door hatchback that September. With a 1,169 cc transverse engine and front-wheel drive like the British Mini, the car provided good interior space despite overall small dimensions. Initially gaining a reputation for being fuel-efficient, reliable and environmentally friendly, later iterations have become known for performance and sportiness, especially the Civic Type R, Civic VTi, Civic GTi and Civic SiR/Si.

The Civic has been repeatedly rebadged for international markets, and served as the basis for the Honda CR-X, the Honda CR-X del Sol, the Concerto, the first generation Prelude, the Civic Shuttle (later to become the Orthia) and the CR-V (which, by extension, was used as the basis for the Honda FR-V).

The Civic is one of the all-time best-selling automobiles in the world, with over 27 million units sold since 1972 as of 2021.

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Common 2003 Honda Civic hybrid problems

Based on the information from the sources provided, here are some common problems with the 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid based on complaints from owners:

Transmission Problems: The 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid, like other models in the Civic lineup, has been plagued by transmission issues. While the 2001 model year had a significant number of complaints regarding automatic transmission problems, the number of complaints decreased by 2003. However, transmission problems are still a concern for potential buyers, especially with the automatic transmission option.

Peeling Paint/Clearcoat: Another common problem reported by owners is peeling paint or clearcoat on the exterior of the vehicle. This issue is not unique to the Civic but has been a notable problem for the 2003 model year. It is the second most commonly reported issue for this year, with 33 reports indicating this cosmetic problem.

These issues highlight some of the challenges that owners of the 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid may face, ranging from expensive battery replacements to transmission concerns and cosmetic flaws. It's essential for potential buyers to be aware of these common problems and consider them when evaluating the purchase of this vehicle.

How long does a 2003 Honda Civic hybrid battery last?

Wondering how long hybrid batteries last? Your Honda hybrid battery life expectancy is between 6 to 10 years or up to 100,000 miles.

What are the problems with a 2003 Honda Civic?

How does a 2003 Honda Civic hybrid work?

Those familiar with the Insight will recognize the Integrated Motor Assist powertrain used in the Civic hybrid. A 13-hp, 144-volt DC electric motor is sandwiched between the gasoline engine and the transmission to boost power when needed.

Is Honda Civic 2003 fuel efficient?

EPA mileage: 46 city, 51 highway. Highs: Excellent gas mileage. Decent acceleration.

2003 Honda Civic hybrid complaints

The NHTSA has received 0 complaints about various vehicle components related to the 2003 Honda Civic hybrid.

You can leave your car complaint via the special form below.

2003 Honda Civic hybrid recalls

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued 6 recalls for different components of the 2003 Honda Civic hybrid.

2019-06-27

Manufacturer: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)
Components: AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
Summary: 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.
Consequence: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
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.

2019-06-27

Manufacturer: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)
Components: AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
Summary: 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.
Consequence: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
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.

2019-03-06

Manufacturer: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)
Components: AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
Summary: 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.
Consequence: An explosion of an inflator within the driver frontal air bag module may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver, front seat passenger or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
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.

2015-06-15

Manufacturer: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)
Components: AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
Summary: 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.
Consequence: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the passenger seat occupant or other occupants possibly causing serious injury or death.
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.

2015-05-28

Manufacturer: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)
Components: AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
Summary: 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.
Consequence: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
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.

2014-11-04

Manufacturer: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)
Components: AIR BAGS
Summary: 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.
Consequence: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passengers frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.
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.

Additional sources

More sources of information about 2003 Honda Civic hybrid problems:

2003 Honda Civic Hybrid Consumer Reviews | Cars.com

https://www.cars.com/research/honda-civic_hybrid-2003/consumer-reviews/

Lot of reliability issues, very rough ride. When IMA battery dies, the car is useless ; replacement cost is 3500.

2003 Honda Civic Hybrid Longevity : r/cars

https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/6u4vzd/2003_honda_civic_hybrid_longevity/

Aug 16, 2017 ... I'm looking at a 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid with 143k miles on it for $2800. The struts need replaced, which was quoted at $570.

Consumer Reports Blasts Honda Civic Hybrid Reliability | 8th ...

https://www.8thcivic.com/threads/consumer-reports-blasts-honda-civic-hybrid-reliability.314599/

Mar 8, 2013 ... “But more than 10 percent of owners of the 2003, 2004, and 2010 models also needed one.” Click to expand... Read more about the Honda Civic ...

A 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid with 220k miles came in today in stellar ...

https://www.reddit.com/r/Justrolledintotheshop/comments/w1itkp/a_2003_honda_civic_hybrid_with_220k_miles_came_in/

Jul 17, 2022 ... All of those problems were known 10+ years ... The Civic battery also had issues when it was new. ... you often end with a $4k transmission repair ...

Q&A: Common Problems with 2003 Honda Civic Coupe

https://www.justanswer.com/honda/4jpao-known-problems-2003-honda-civic-ex-2dr-coupe.html

Feb 3, 2011 ... the compliance bushings are just something that wears out over time. I own a 2003 civic hybrid and have not had any srtut or compliance bushing ...